Amanda's POV:
"Oh!" He chuckles menacingly as I walk toward him. "You think since you defeated my army and you got your little friends back that I would quietly slink back into my hole empty-handed? Silly girl!" His smirk deepening into a grimacing smile. I want to show confidence, strength, and resilience in the face of adversity. I want to show him that I am not afraid of him or his idle threats.
His eyes swirl making him look unhinged. This man is truly fucking nuts! "One thing I've learned in my years of being an Alpha is how to use my power to get what I want and that means, holding all the cards!" I watch as he brings something from behind him.
"Oh god! MOM!" I scream across the field. Before Bryan or anyone can stop me, I take off running toward the center of the field.
"Nnnnnoooooo!!" I hear Bryan screaming in anguish as he watches me race to what would be my certain death. I see Alpha James and Gamma Nick restrain him from following me. He is on his knees with his arms being held back, his face tortured with fear. He is thrashing against his friends, Max is near the surface. "Mandy, please don't do this! Oh, goddess, please don't do this! Come back! Let me go guys! She needs me! Oh goddess please!" He begs with his anger laced with fear.
I have to do this! I love you, Bryan and I always will! I send through our link while keeping my attentions on this specimen of pure evil as the anger rises in me. I feel the familiar bubbles heat up and warm my core. I see him hold my mother by her neck. She's struggling to breathe, gasping for air, and fighting against his grip.
"Don't be stupid, little girl, or I will slit her throat right here and now!" he growls out. I'm at my breaking point of controlling all the emotions ready to erupt. I hear a clap of thunder following by a streak of lightening. Alpha Marcus raises a claw to her throat and without hesitation swipes it across. My eyes widen. Blood oozes out of my mother's neck as he tosses her to the ground!
"NNNOOO!!! MMMOOOMMM!!!" I shriek. My body begins to shake and I unleash a blood-curdling scream. I fall to my knees. My skin begins to glow and I release a wall of water separating us from all of my friends, family, pack, and Bryan just as Cora taught me. I have to protect them and keep them from interfering. This war, this fear, this fight ends NOW!
"Well, well, well...looks like little bird did have a secret power. Water elemental, huh? That would have gone nicely with wind if your father hadn't been so stupid and just cooperated. I had to kill him, too!" his face scowls at the memory. His words only increase my anger, but little does he know there are more secrets to reveal, more steps to this plan.
Without breaking eye contact, I see slight movement from my mom. I internally sigh. There's still a chance to save her. We can't wait any longer. Alpha Marcus stalks slowly forward. His eyes are zeroed in on me, not an ounce of fear or worry graces his face. He is confident, too confident.
And that will be his downfall! Opal growls inside my head. She's been patiently waiting for her turn. I inwardly smirk at her words. I also know I have to follow my father's advice to be truly convincing. I will have to take a few hits and make him believe he has a chance to win.
As he gets within arm's length, I stand up and hold my chin high. Before I can bat an eyelash, his hand smacks me across the cheek right below my left eye. The pain radiates and I feel my face heat up. Fuck! Opal goes to work easing the pain so I can retaliate.
"You know Marcus, it takes a real WEAK man to come after women and children. You are NOTHING! Stripped of your title, puny army defeated, and frankly, you're just pathetic!" my voice rising to a shout. I can see his face redden with angry. If this were an animation, there would have been smoke bellowing from his ears. He doesn't take a second to hit me again. I hear muffled cries and yelling behind my wall of water. I've blocked my mindlink so I can concentrate on this trash in front of me.
"How dare you speak to me so informally? I am and will always be an Alpha! I don't give a shit what those Elders have told you! Enough of this chatter! I will show you VERY soon how powerful I am! I will suck your powers dry and throw your cold, dead carcass in the trash where you belong!" his anger seething as he moves in closer. He grabs me by the throat and lifts me from the ground.
Whitney, give Cora the signal! I mindlink. Before he could react, I shout "NOW!" My water barrier splits to allow Cora entrance before sealing it again. Cora throws several fire balls, hitting and singeing Marcus' skin. In his shock, he drops me and takes several steps back. Cora is instantly by my side, helping me to my feet.
"What the hell? Two? Two elementals?!" An evil smirk graces his lips as he again thinks of how powerful he will become. "My day just got A LOT better!" He laughs again.
I give Cora a side glance and she understands it's time. We link hands and I grab my father's pendant. We go into our mediation as Marcus' steps grow closer and closer. He is almost upon us again and I can hear various shouts and screams of the pack getting louder which means my barricade is weakening as I focus my energy on Marcus. The most prominent voice is that of Bryan, he is distraught, desperate to protect me. I can tell he is running to intercept Marcus before he can do us any harm. He won't get here in time. We must do it now! Cora must have felt my anxiety spike as she squeezes my hand.
"He's gonna shift and our backup is too far away!" I whisper.
"Hold on one more second, Amanda. Focus all your energy. In five...four...almost there...three...two...one...NOW!" At the same time, Cora and I unleash all of our pent-up energy. Our skin glows and we are surrounded by an explosion of colors: greys, blues, greens, reds, yellows, and oranges. The winds swirl around the three of us and Marcus's face goes wide with shock for the first time.
Cora's fire encases my water as the streams hail down on his body like flaming arrows. Marcus doesn't even have time to shift before being singed by the fire and pelted by the tidal wave of liquid concrete breaking his skin and crushing his bones. The wind from the pendant slams his body through the trees and into a stone hill. I run to my mother on pure adrenaline who, thankfully, is now being attended to by the pack doctor. I kneel beside her and she looks at me with a small smile. She starts to speak, but I stop her.
"It's okay mom, don't speak. Let the doctor check your wound. How is she?" I direct my question to Dr. Walters.
"Luckily, in his haste to get to you, his cut to your mom's neck is superficial. She'll need a few stitches so I'm going to take her to the hospital, but she will make a full recovery with minor scarring." I nod. I squeeze my mom's hand and whisper "I love you" before standing.
Before I allow my adrenaline rush to disappear, I run over to Marcus who is hunched over, breathing shallow and raspy. Seeing a shadow looming over his head, he lifts his head, locking his dull, brown eyes with my sparkling green ones. In an instant, I allow Opal to take over. Opal stands tall over his battered body. I watch some emotion flash across his eyes, but I can't make out what it is.
"It can't be...you...you can't be the white wolf. It's never been heard of! You think this is over? You're standing there like you won! Pfft, you're still a weak, scared little..." several growls fill the air behind me; however, it is Opal's ferocious growl that causes Marcus to visibly shiver. Opal is done. Without a second to register what she is doing, she reaches her sharp canines toward Marcus' neck, sinks them deep inside, and rips his throat out. His head hangs from his body by a thread. Opal circles to the growing crowd behind us. Our fur is stained red, our badge of victory. Bryan slowly walks up to us, running his hands up my snout, over my head and scratches behind my ear. Opal purrs in my head.
I'm so proud of you baby, but...never EVER do that again! Bryan breathes out a sigh of relief that I'm safe and it's over. Before responding, I walk behind a tree to shift only to realize I have no clothes to change into.
Uh, Bryan, I, um, seem to not have any clothes. I hear him chuckle from the other side of the tree.
I gotcha babygirl. He comes around the tree and hands me a shirt and sweatpants to slip on. He leaves me to shift. I take a minute to process what's just happened and calm my nerves now that the adrenaline has subsided. I put my hair up into a messy ponytail and walk to face the crowd. I see Bryan talking with Alpha James and Gamma Nick. Several warriors congratulate me on defeating a powerful Alpha. Although, technically he was no longer an Alpha and with his title stripped, he was weaker which is the only reason my plan worked. I make my way over to my friends and mate. Everyone is smiling and obviously relieved. The only stern face in the crowd is Bryan's which I understood. He was scared. Genuinely scared which for a Beta is new territory for him.
"You have some explaining to do." he scoffs coldly. I try not to take his cold words personally as I know his reasoning. I take a second before speaking and I glance at Cora. She smiles, knowing exactly what I was about to say.
"Well, as my trainer once told me, the first rule in war is each person is only given a portion of the plan in order to protect the pack as a whole. What can I say? You trained me well." I say with the straightest face I could muster. It doesn't take long for the entire group to burst out laughing. Bryan's mouth hangs open in shock. He tries to cross his arms and pout, but I rush into his arms and finally relax in the arms of my mate. "I love you so much, Bryan."
"I love you, too, crazy!" He leans down and snuggles into my neck. After several deep breathes, I feel him relax. "I was so scared babygirl. I've never felt anything like that before. When you said you loved me, it was like you were telling me goodbye and then your wall went up. Max and I were going out of our minds. Please, never leave me again. My heart can't take it." I chuckle into his chest.
"You can't get rid of me that easily. Maybe now we can settle into the simple life." I whisper.
"Now that's a plan I can get behind." He holds out his pinky signaling he wants me to pinky promise. I smile as I latch our pinkies together. He leans down and gives me the sweetest kiss. He rests his forehead on mine when suddenly, my entire body feels drained. My head gets fuzzy and the ground is off balance.
"Bryan?"
"Yeah?"
"I—something is—I..." before I can put into words what's happening, everything goes black and I feel myself fall into a dark abyss. What is happening to me? Bryan catches me and his worry pushes out through our bond. I have no choice, but to let the darkness take me.