The wolf snarls his teeth. I bow my head, waiting for his first move. It doesn't take long. He pounces on me, knocking me to the ground and taking my back leg in his mouth.
The fight was long. Or it wasn't long. It felt long and I knew she left during it.
Her scent escapes me. I look into the crowd where she should be sitting, but she's shuffling away. The wolf takes me by surprise, knocking into my and digging his teeth into my shoulder. I yelp and lose myself to the wolf.
The distraction cost me a nasty bite in my shoulder. Hours later and I still had Sara nursing my wound. She kept trying to get me to go to a healer, but no one can see the alpha injured. I'm young enough as it is.
Regardless of a challenge or not. I have to remain strong in front of my pack.
Sara finishes wrapping my shoulder. Wincing, I pull my shirt over my arm. When I look up, Sara looks at me with her arms crossed. "What?" I say.
"Don't what me." She hits my shoulder, the good one. "What the hell was that, Dean? You went down. He could've ripped your shoulder off!"
I look down. How am I supposed to tell her that her best friend held my attention for those seconds? I didn't even know she was there until she wasn't. "I got distracted." I look up.
"Alphas don't get distracted, Dean. You represent the pack, protect it." She throws the bloody towel at me and storms off.
I wrap the towel around my fist.
Katie walks into the room, looking back at Sara. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." I toss the towel to the floor. "Have you burnt the body yet?" I stand.
I bite into his neck, spilling blood and releasing howls from the pack.
"Yes. And Darryl just came back from the patrol you requested. There's no sign of an East Wolf." I nod. I assumed they'd be long gone by now. But I know I smelt one. They probably put Zeke up to challenging me. Why are they making an appearance now?
"He smelt one though, right?" It can't just be me that smelt one. Unless my sense of smell is malfunctioning. How else would I have known Anna left?
"Yeah he did. He smelt it faintly around Anna's house." I tried not to clench my jaw.
"Thanks, Katie."
She nods and leaves. I wait for the front door to shut before calling Sara's phone.
"What?"
I walk into the kitchen. "Come home. Its not safe out there. I smelt East Wolves and so did Darryl."
There's a long pause on Sara's end. I hear Anna whisper something about showering and then Sara is back on. "Yeah, whatever." The call cuts and I wait for her.
I don't wait long.
Sara comes home, still mad, and tries to bolt up the stairs, but I catch her wrist. "Can we talk?"
"You're the alpha."
"Sara."
"Dean."
"Please, can we just not fight? I've—"
"Oh you've been through enough today? Is that what you were going to say? As if I've not been through it too?" She stands on the first step to get some height on me. "You froze out there, Dean. Zeke saw the opening. He took it. He pinned you down and nearly had your throat." I look from her accusing stare. "What if I lost you, Dean? Zeke would be alpha. Do you know what would happen to me? The alphas sister?"
"Sara," I say carefully. "I will never go down." Her eyes gloss over. "Never."
She squeezes me in a hug. I flinch but squeeze her back. "I'm sorry." She wipes her eyes. "If you won't go to a healer, at least see Anna's aunt."
"I will." I smile.
Sara nods and rushes up the stairs.
I fulfill Sara's request, even though I'm in jeans and a bloody shirt, and I go to Anna's. It's too dark out for anyone to see me like this. And I don't mind if the Montgomery's see me in casual clothes.
I open up Anna's door. Her Aunt Holland is the one to greet me.
"How are you feeling?" She pulls out a chair in the kitchen.
I hear Anna laugh down the hall.
"I'm fine. Just a little torn." I try to joke.
Holland looks away and I grimace, but not from the pain. "Did Sara send you?"
"Yeah." Holland is a healer we used to have. She works at a human hospital now, being too weak to work with injured wolves. Sometimes even in human form we can be vicious.
"Well let's see what the damage is." She grabs a rag from the counter and wets it. I tug off my shirt in the most painless way possible.
I leave my shirt in my lap when she starts pulling off the job Sara did. I watch her as she pokes at it and I try not to flinch. But it's hard. The bite looks better once most of the blood is soaked up. My shoulder is shredded. There's loose skin and clumps of dried blood keeping torn skin attached. I really hope no muscles were torn.
When Holland looks at the damage on my back I have to stand. Zeke also got a good hold on my back. From what I saw in the bathroom mirror, it was just a few bites and scratches.
"Auntie, did I—" Anna stops short upon seeing me. She looks down at herself and starts to back away when she spots my shoulder. She covers her mouth. "Sara said you went down but I..." She walks towards me, her bare feet sticky against the tile.
"It's not as bad as it looks," I say.
"But it is." Holland comes to face me. My eyes are on Anna though. She delicately touches the damaged skin. Her fingers are so cold. "I suggest you go to a proper healer, get some antibiotics and a skin graft. It's going to leave some nasty scarring."
"Scars are the least of my worries." Anna glances at the tattoos on my arms.
Anna's other aunt—Jenna comes in. She leans on the wall. "As an alpha they should be," she says. "But you will need those antibiotics."
Anna looks up at me and backs away. "Don't be stupid. You can save your masculinity for later. Get medicine. Get help." She wipes her hand on her shorts.
I smile. "I'll go now. Would you like to come?"
"No." She grins. "Not like this anyway." She looks down herself again. I don't think there's a problem with her shorts and shirt. But if she's not comfortable. "Besides, it's past curfew." Her lips curls in a smirk.
I can't help but smile. "But you're with the alpha. It'll be fine."
"Nice try Blackwood, go get some medicine."
I grab my shirt from the chair and follow Anna to the door. I feel her aunt's eyes on us.
Anna opens the door. I step outside. "Goodnight," she says.
"Night, Anna." I step off the porch and she shuts the door.
When I get on the sidewalk I hear her call my name from inside. I stop and look at the front door.
Anna pops her head out. "Do you think I can photograph your wolf sometime this week?"
"Yeah, we'll set something up."
She smiles and shuts the door for the final time this night.
I sit in the office with Katie and my Uncle Warren.
"We can talk to Alexia," Warren says.
"There's no talking to her. She's too stubborn," Katie replies. I nod. I wish Sara was here.
"She might see that as a threat, Warren. It was probably just one of her pups checking us out. I know Sara, Anna, and I did the same before my parents passed."
Warren looks at his hands. "May they rest in peace."
There's a long silence in which Katie sorts through her papers. Warren shifts several times in his seat, looking anywhere but at me. I can smell the anxiety on him.
"If you want to leave..."
Warren nods and rushes from the room.
"Now that he's gone," Katie says. "What are we going to do about the memorial?"
"Shit, is that coming up?" I rub my face.
"We are still doing one right?"
"Of course, of course, I would never dishonor Anna like that." I pull out my phone and look at my calendar. "We also have a meeting with the alphas. Shit," I say.
"And your birthday isn't too long away."
I shake my head. "Let's take one thing at a time. Make a note to bring up the East Wolves and territories. I think we all should make a note about meeting with Alexia about keeping her wolves east." Katie nods while scribbling everything down.
Katie is my right hand. She's my beta and second in command. Wolves joke that her and I are mates and that Matthew is just a cover up for her. But if we were mates, it wouldn't be a hidden thing.
She's also older than me by many years, 5 to be exact. But only when I turn twenty in a few weeks.
Katie met her mate in high school, one of the youngest we have here. They were 16 when they met and made the connection.
She has brown pixie hair and dark eyes. By that I mean they're just black. It helps her beta status and people listen to her more because of it.
They take her more serious than me sometimes and I know it has something to do with my age. I'm the youngest alpha there is and it's why my uncles wanted my status until I was of age, but I know my father wouldn't have wanted that. When I did become alpha at 16 I had a choice of a new beta or the old one. I kept Katie for two reasons: one, she worked with my father and would know what he would do in some situations, and two, I remember how understanding she had been when my parents passed. I needed the understanding and caring beta.
"What's next, the memorial, or your birthday?"
I wave her off. "Let's not even discuss my birthday. I don't want to think about it." I pause. "But we'll have the Montgomery memorial in the woods where the lake is. I want lights hanging from the trees and some fake candles by the tree that hangs over the lake."
"Fake candles." Katie laughs while writing it. "And I'll send a notice out for everyone to wear black. Should I tell the Montgomery's?"
I clear my throat. "No I will." It'll be best if it comes from a friend. Anna will be mad, upset even, but the Montgomery's were my parent's best friends. They were basically family. It's why my parents moved Anna and her aunts next door when they passed.
"On to other matters, the pups keep begging their parents to let them howl at the moon and run around the neighborhood in their skin."
I sigh. "They ask every month. The only place they're allowed in their skin is in their homes, in the woods, or at the park under supervision."
"I'll get Darryl to tell them that. Then they'll listen." Katie chuckles. Everyone listens to the black wolves.
I tap my screen and check the time. It's time for more medicine. Why did I ever agree to get looked at? I wouldn't have gotten an infection anyway. And now I'm stuck taking pills twice a day for ten days. I'm not even allowed to shift until I'm healed. I'm never listening to Anna again.
"I'm gonna go take a shower, you know where to find me." I push off from the table and head to the door. The second I step outside, my wolf nearly breaks free. I lean against the wall, pulling myself back to my human mind.
Wolves howl and snarl. I call Katie and she's out in a flash. Her wolf doesn't jump on her though. She's perfectly fine and I know why.
"Are you okay?" She reaches out a hesitant hand, just hovering over my bad shoulder. "Are you about to shift?"
"Someone didn't take their suppressants." That's all that I need to say before Katie is running off, shifting to her white wolf mid-run.
I take a deep breath and follow her, fighting my wolf the closer I get to the scent. I don't know what Katie can sense but she runs straight for the fighting wolves. And I don't know what does it, the female (somewhere) in heat, or the adrenaline from the fight, but my wolf breaks free.
My shoulder tears and I know there's fresh blood seeping through my fur. I bear my teeth and growl before pouncing on the nearest wolf. I grab his neck and pin him down. I spot Katie do the same to the next wolf.
But it doesn't stop there. More and more males are enticed to fight. My shoulder gets torn further and I yelp. My tail gets nipped and pulled. I turn around, snapping at the wolf. He sees who I am, and cowers with his tail between his legs.
The one cower sends many more to. I snarl and growl, making sure to show my teeth and quivering lip.
I snap one bark at them and they all go running.
Katie comes up to me, nuzzling my neck and shoulders. She inspects me for any damage, but I already know where I'm hit. The only thing keeping me standing is the female in heat. There's something about it that makes me want to make a claim.