The next day I went on a long run with Andrea in the morning. We would have taken Evangeline but she according to Evan 'felt like a wolf ate her brains, regurgitated them, then ate them again.' She definitely went a little too hard with the tequila.
After the run I showered off then headed straight for the pack house. I wasn't sure if Thomas would be there, but I would wait. I would wait because I was sure. After talking to Levi, I realized that he was right. All roads have led to here, and I don't plan on running away. I felt like I had a place here, like I could make a difference, and I wasn't going to let some abomidable twat scare me away.
The pack house was quiet, but I could hear some laughing as I walked in.
I felt him.
Ethan turned the corner right as Amber walking in from outside. "I was looking for you!" she called out with a sweet smile.
But his eyes were on mine. I let the bond twist because I wanted him to feel what this was doing to me, to us. I blinked and broke his gaze then went up the stairs before he could chase after me. Amber's laughter echoed on the wall of the stairs, stabbing me like a knife as it hit my ears.
I reached the top of the stairs and smelled around. Thomas was pretty easy to find, his scent was still dominant meaning he must be here or was just here. I walked around a corner and got to a big mahogany door that I politely knocked on.
"Come on in Thorne, I can smell you from in here," he called out.
I smiled as I pushed the door open. Thomas got up from his big wooden desk littered with paperwork crowded around a laptop and a few empty cups of coffee. Bookcases lined the room that had one big window that looked out over the valley; it was a beautiful view. There was a long couch on the side opposite the window, a small wooden settee with a red cushion, and two modest wooden chairs in front of his desk.
"Do you have a minute?"
He smiled and gave me a side hug. "Course Thorne, what can I do for you?"
I sat down in a chair as he sat in his desk chair. He looked over at me curiously, but behind his curiosity was amusement. I sighed and pushed my hair back behind my ears. "I want to join the pack."
He smiled warmly at me as his eyes lit up a little. "Well, that's great news! The ceremo–"
"No, today." He flickered his eyes to me as a knowing smiled tugged at his lips.
"This wouldn't have anything to do with my daughter and your mate?" Shit. I paled slightly as he started to chuckle and shake his head. "Charlotte listen, I may be her father, but even I know when my daughter has been quite out of line. I don't blame you one bit."
"Really?" I stared at him wide-eyed with an open mouth. My wolf couldn't pick her mouth off the floor either, she was both elated to hear this and curious as to why.
He nodded. "Listen, one day as a parent you'll understand. Sometimes your kids, although they have a good heart, can be well, little shits. When they are young it's easy to punish them and correct that behavior, but as an adult it's harder. Now I may be the alpha around here, but if she wants to go and misbehave then she'll find a way to do it, people always find a way to get the things they really want.
"Now, even though I love her, I know when life needs to put her back in line so her head will get straight again."
I let out the breath I was holding but had nothing to say. I wasn't sure if I should hug Thomas, be in awe of him, or suspicious; either way, right now my wolf was howling in the back of my mind with joy for the blood she was going to taste soon. "Thank you?"
He chuckled and shook his head. "You're welcome, but are you sure this is what you want? I know you're Ethan's mate, but I won't force you to join, no one will make you. I know we have the probation, but you're Ethan's mate and Levi's pup; if you really want this we can do it."
I nodded. "I already talked to Levi. He and I agree that it would eventually come to this."
He sighed what looked like a relieved sigh, probably knowing that Levi wasn't going to be furious with him. "Good." He scratched his scruff a bit then looked back at me with a softer smile. "Don't worry about Ethan. He's a good man, he's going to come around. If he doesn't you have my explicit permission to put his ass in line."
I felt a grin paint itself on my face as I nodded. "Well, I will definitely remember that."
"Good," he chuckled out. He reached into a drawer and pulled out a swiss army knife that he unfolded. "Ready?"
I sighed and nodded. He got up and walked over to where I was sitting then leaned against the desk. "Now, I am going to ask you 'Charlotte Renee Thorne do you accept membership to the Mangata pack' to which you reply yes. Then you'll feel me pull you to the pack bond and link. It will probably be a little overwhelming at first, so it's probably good you stay seated."
"Ok, let's do this then," I sighed out as I rolled up my sleeve.
Thomas sliced his palm and let deep red blood pool out. He handed the knife to me with a smile. "Alright, do you Charlotte Renee Thorne accept membership to the Mangata pack?" he asked formally while I sliced my palm.
I winced a bit as the metal cut my skin and drew the blood out from the safety of my skin. "Yes, I do."
He nodded again then opened his palm to me. I took a deep breath. My wolf gave me a nudge, it was the right thing to do, we both knew it.
I took his palm in mine and immediately felt a strong tug into this warmth, like a blanket. It pushed out the bonds from the Tikanni pack, and replaced it with an energy that felt almost like a warm summer day. An energy was coursing through my veins a strong hum as his blood bonded me to my new home. It was powerful, strong like a bolt of lightening.
Then I felt another pull, in my mind. Thomas pulled me into the pack link that sounded like hundreds of voices in my head at once. I tried to filter them out, tune them out, but it was so overwhelming.
I took a deep breath and tried again. Eventually, I was able to block it all out, and turn it off like you would turn a radio off. I opened my eyes to see Thomas smiling back at me. "Welcome to the pack Thorne."
He took the knife from me then quickly opened a drawer in his desk with his good hand and pulled out a rag. He handed to me, which I gently squeeze between my palm as the skin started to slowly heal itself.
"Thank you, Thomas."
"Course Thorne. Now, stay out of trouble," he said with a knowing smile.
I nodded and stood up from my chair. "Yes, sir."
As I walked out I felt the link in my brain. It was buzzing, like electricity, and strong. I still felt my link to Levi and our family, that one was as strong as ever, never to be severed or broken; nothing could do that.
I trotted down the stairs with a little more bounce in my step. As I came to the landing I saw Ethan, Amber, and the other group of people staring at me with wide eyes. They felt it. They felt Thomas pull me in, and right now, the look on their faces made joining the pack totally worth it.
I cocked a sly grin the walked out the door when I felt Ethan move behind me. I wasn't in the mood for him though, I took two strides forward then lunged into my fur.
My beast landed on her paws then ran hard back towards our cabin, back before Ethan could catch up. It wasn't that I didn't want to go to him, but I had nothing to say until he made things right. Until then, I would wait.
I shifted back to my skin at my front door then threw on one of Derek's shirts that was laying in the laundry room. I felt better. I felt like what I had done was right, and I felt like I belonged. Like there really was a place for me here.
"Oh my God!" Evangeline exclaimed. I quickly walked out to the living room to see her and Evan walk into my house with wide eyes. She shook her head then looked over at Evan who had a satisfied smirk painted on his lips. "You did it, you joined?"
"You felt it?"
"Oh, did we feel it." Evangeline collapsed on a couch with eyes that looked like they were still trying to make sense of everything.
Evangeline looked to Evan who just chuckled then looked back at me with a satisfied smirk. "I don't think there was a damn wolf that didn't feel that in this pack." I felt my wolf surge with pride at his words.
Evan and Evangeline stayed for a while before they had to run off to their other duties, which according to Evangeline, I would be helping her out with soon. I didn't see Ethan that day though, or the next day, or the next day. My heart ached for him, I knew I had to wait and be patient, but the pull felt like it was an open wound that someone was pouring salt into every time I thought of him.
That is until today.
Today Evangeline was going to bring me with her as she did some work for Miranda before we went to train with Andrea and the other females. Andrea joined shortly after I did, I think mostly so she could help her dad start to lay into the other females. We were lucky that Thomas waived the probation period for us, very lucky.
Evangeline, Andrea, and I trained hard under Billy with the other pack females. We made friends with a few, who were sweet girls, but they, like many of the females were afraid of Amber and Larissa.
The thought made me want to grind my teeth.
Amber and Larissa had a few other females with them, cronies that had no brain and did whatever the females wanted without questions. Disgusting. I thankfully didn't have to train with them until Miranda surprisingly invited us. The whole time was infuriating, it was mixed with challenging stares from both Amber and Larissa, snide remarks about my 'mate', and whispers that cut like knives. I forgot how ruthless females could be.
Thankfully Billy didn't have us spar with them, we were always with other males like Evan, Jake, or Ryder. Sometimes other seasoned warriors would be thrown into the mix, but usually, it was Billy who was beating my ass around.
I was walking towards the pack house with Evangeline, thinking about Ethan while she kept talking about what we were doing today. My mind often wandered to him, and I couldn't help it.
I sighed a little and Evangeline nudged me gently. "Come on there's chocolate in the kitchen," she said as we walked in the door.
The moment I stepped in, I saw Ethan walking towards the doors that led to the backyard. My wolf stirred a bit and whined for her mate. I pushed her back though, he had to be the one to come to us. I saw him tilt his head a bit and sniff the air, he knew I was here.
In the same moment, Amber walked through the doors with tiny spandex shorts on and a tank top that was ripped on the sides so you could see her cheetah-print sports bra. She threw Ethan a flirtatious smile which made the pull feel like someone was slowly sawing away at it.
But there was a low growl, a warning. It was from Ethan. I didn't even realize it until I saw the look on Amber's face as he did it again until she moved out of his way so he could pass through the door.
Evangeline quickly pulled me into the kitchen then pushed me into the pantry and closed the door. "Oh my God. Did you see her face?"
"That was amazing." I was still in awe of the whole thing. I was in awe, but that didn't necessarily make it better.
A one-off, one act did not make it better. I had seen plenty of those before. They were always followed by the fake 'I'm sorry's' and meant nothing. They meant nothing because at the end of the day, it was just a one off and the habit wasn't broken.
He needed to prove that this wasn't just one time, that this was now the new normal for him. That he was willing to step up and grow a pair. I sighed as Evangeline pulled me out of the kitchen and prayed that he wouldn't let me down.
He didn't.
The next day Andrea and I were running late to have breakfast with the other warriors and hunters at the pack house. We hurried in and started to go through the small buffet line that was set up when I felt his eyes on me. God, I wanted to go to him so badly in that moment, but I didn't. I needed to wait a tad longer, he still had much to prove to me; my beast agreed, she could wait patiently for her male.
"Ethan!" I heard Amber said sweetly. She walked to his right, where a seat was empty, and put her plate down.
Ethan looked at her plate then back at his, and even from where I was standing I could hear him clear as day. "What are you doing Amber?"
"Uh, sitting down to eat?"
"No, you're not, that's not your seat."
"What?" she asked with a mask of confusion to hide the embarrassment that was growing on her face.
"That's not your seat, it won't ever be your seat. Go."
I felt my heart beat a little quicker as pride and relief started to wash over me. Amber started to protest but Ethan just growled at her again, causing her to jump back before she quickly took her plate and scurried off.
"Looks like he's pulled his head out of his ass," Andrea mused from beside me.
I nodded as I felt his eyes back on me. "Let's hope."
But I didn't have to. The rest of the week the trend continued. Amber would try to come near him, flirt, or worm her way in and he would push her away. At first, it was mildly polite, but after the first few times, his wolf became vicious with her.
It made my wolf rumble in approval. She liked that her male was fiercely protecting his female, that he spared no mercy for those who dare threaten the pull between them.
I had to agree. The best was when Evangeline ran into the cabin and told me that Ethan's wolf actually snapped at Amber. Apparently, she kept trying to nuzzle next to him during training and he almost took a chunk out of her.
Maybe if I just waited long enough, he would give her a beating for me; but then again, I definitely wanted the pleasure of doing that for myself. My wolf agreed. She licked her lips in anticipation of the fight.
Evangeline and I were heading to the training grounds together. I had just helped her sort through what was in the attic of the pack house, well part of it, for the upcoming Alpha Council Meeting. Miranda wanted to know how many table clothes and other bullshit items were in there. I would have been irritated, but Evangeline and I just used that time to hang out and eat chocolate covered almonds we snuck out of the kitchen.
I was getting low on snacks. Derek had left me for a few days, he had to go meet his maker, Leo, in Anchorage. Elliot was with me, which was fun. I never got to spend enough time with just him, I forgot how much he could make me laugh. I tried to get as much of him as I could before he went back into the field, although he said he was thinking about quitting. He didn't like being away from Derek that long and it was getting harder to lie about his age to Human Resources.
The air was crisp this morning and the sun was warm. I smiled soflty, it was nice to have summer back. Evangeline nudged me playfully, "Ready for a beating today?"
I mock-scoffed. She and I were supposed to spar today and I was more than excited about it. "We'll see about that."
We got to the training grounds where Andrea waved us over to an area on the jungle gym where she was doing pull ups. We jogged over as Billy waved to us from the sparring circles with a kind smile. That was one thing about Billy, he may be terrifying, but the man had a big heart.
"Want do some pull ups before?" Andrea asked as she pulled herself up like it was nothing.
I shrugged with Evangeline. "Sure, why not?"
I pulled the ends of my black yoga pants down a bit then adjusted my loose white tank with a grizzly bear on it that Elliot brought back to me from his last time in the field. I adjusted the straps of my sports bra before jumping up and catching one of the bars across from Andrea while Evangeline followed suite.
We slowly, but surely started pulling ourselves up. I will admit, I hated these damn things, I would much rather chop some wood.
But then I felt his eyes on me.
The hair on my neck stood up as my wolf stirred a little. Andrea looked over my shoulder and smiled at me. "Your mate's looking at you like," she said before she let herself dip. We both rose up, then pulled ourselves up so we could meet face to face. "You're the brownie batter and he's the spoon."
I groaned and lifted my leg over the bar so I could sit for a bit while Evangeline kept pulling herself up. The red wolf had gotten quite strong; her muscles were starting to become more defined, stronger. She was stronger. Her blood was quietly humming like a sweet summer lullaby.
I looked up to see Ethan walking towards one of the rings, shirtless. My wolf purred in my mind at the sight. Hist toned back was sweaty and glistening as the sun hit it through the trees.
Then she showed up.
Amber walked towards Ethan with Larissa in tow while Miranda cast a watchful eye on them. She smiled to Ethan and swayed her barely-spandex covered hips as she walked towards him. "Training hard today?" Ethan just walked past her but she grabbed his arm. She grabbed his arm as her cool facade started to break and rage started to crack through her caked on makeup. "Ethan?!" she whisper-yelled to him.
"If you don't let go of my arm Amber, I am going to make sure you don't have one," he snarled out lowley towards her.
I don't know if I had heard more romantic words. My heart swelled a little. Both Evangeline and Andrea bit back laughs while I hopped off the monkey bars.
Amber was fuming. Her fists clenched and her eyes started to slightly as she snapped them to me. She started to march over towards me with her cronies behind her. My wolf stood up and shook her fur out. She eyed the female before her and licked her lips at the challenge.
Andrea and Evangeline dropped off the monkey bars and stood next to me as a wave of anger and cheap perfume hit us. "Hello Amber," Evangeline said sweetly, she could play that game well too.
Amber's face returned no smile, her eyes were locked on mine. "Have you sparred today Charlotte?"
I shrugged and shook my head. "I have not."
A wicked smile pulled at her lips. She tried to hide it but I could see the twitch in the corner of her mouth. "Well, maybe you and I should have a go?"
"As long as Billy approves–"
"I approve," he called out. His eyes met mine. I could see more than approval in his eyes.
I nodded to her. "Alright then, lead the way."
"Should I get the popcorn?" Evangeline asked. I bit back a laugh as she stepped up on my right. "I'm on your right Char."
"And I your left," Andrea smiled to me.
"Call Evan and the guys, tell them to get over here so her drones don't try to step in. It's more for their sake than mine."
Evangeline smiled and nodded. "She's sloppy, remember that. She just liked to beat on weaker wolves and scare people."
"Just hit her good in the tit," Andrea added.
I cracked my neck then my fingers as I followed her into the ring. Miranda looked at her daughter warily then at Billy. Billy nodded politely to Miranda with a reassuring smile. "It's alright Miranda, they have my approval." She sighed and nodded curtly to him.
Ethan's eyes found mine. He was talking with some of the other warriors when I stepped in the ring. A flash of concern swirled in his blue eyes as he saw me. I felt my heart flutter as the bond pulled at me. I nodded to him encouragingly which didn't seem to help. He stepped away from the conversation and tried to push through the crowd of people that had gathered, and this time, I don't think it was just his beast pushing him.
Evangeline and Andrea were on either side of the circle, my left and my right, while Evan, Ryder, and Jake stood around as well. Evan nodded to me with a small devious smile tugged at his lips, I knew he wouldn't let those minions of her's, that were already yipping at her, interfere. Not like I would care, my wolf wanted blood and she wouldn't mind ripping into one of them as well.
"Alright, no claws or teeth until I say, got it?" Billy called out.
We nodded then faced each other. Amber smiled sickly and started to square up. "Ready little human?"
That did it. I laughed. I laughed hard and almost clutched my stomach while the crowd went dead silent. Half of them looked at me liked I had lost my damn brain while the other half looked at me with utter fear.
I sighed a little bit and let my wolf charge forward, causing some of the wolves in the crowd to visibly shake a bit. "I am so going to enjoy this."
Amber looked at me curiously before rage covered her face. She marched towards me and swung a fist, which I easily missed. She swung another, which I easily ducked away from again. She growled, pathetic, and swung again, and again I just ducked out of her way.
I chuckled again as she threw a fist that missed its mark for the fourth time. "Going to hit me blondie?" I mocked.
Before she could reply I slammed a fist right in her chin, sending her unbalanced feet back a few steps. She swiped forward, but I turned and caught her wrist while slamming my right elbow hard into her face.
She stumbled back, but I pulled her wrist forwards, pulling her to me so I could jab her hard in her ribs. She swung again but I blocked it then took a swipe at her nose that seemed to freeze her in shock, before hitting her again.
She was slow and sloppy with her movements. Her anger was clouding her judgement while mine was only fueling the beast within me. She tried to respond but I just took my palm and thrust it upward against her nose, breaking it before I kicked her hard in her Achilles, severely stressing the tendon. Her knees buckled and I used that as an opportunity to kick her hard in the chest with my foot, sending her ass back a few feet in the dirt.
I started stalking her now. The real fun for me had barely begun. This female had harmed my friends, threatened my mate, and harmed those in my now-pack. She was about to get a lesson from a chapter out of the Book of Levi and I was more than happy to deliver it to her.
"Get up blondie, I'm not done with you yet," I snarled out as my wolf pushed closer, snapping her teeth that made Amber wince.
She scrambled up and wiped the blood off her face. Her nose was crooked and I couldn't help but laugh. "What's so funny human?" she spat out.
I chuckled and shook my head as I continued to stalk her. "I just really like the new nose job I gave you."
I heard some bitten back laughs before she growled viscously and charged at me. I let her run and think she had a damn chance. Arrogance was one of the key ingredients in making a mistake.
She tried to kick me, but I stepped out of the way then send a hard fist straight into her tit, causing her to grasp herself and cry out in pain. Bad move, I used that as an opportunity to sock her in the stomach, over and over and over again until I pushed her back and nailed her again with my fist right on her cheek.
She fell to the ground, squirming and looking to her brother for what looked like help. I flashed my eyes to Arron who tried to take a step forward, but a low warning growl sounded over the crowd. Ethan. Arron looked at Ethan, whose eyes were like a dark storm, then took a big step back in his spot.
I looked back at Amber then to Billy who was more than amused with the show. "Shift."
Amber stood up and quickly shifted into a blonde wolf that snapped at me as I continued to walk around her in my skin. I shook my head as a devious smile pulled at my lips.
She lunged at me and when she did I lunged too; my beast tore forward with a bloodlust so strong it made my mouth water. She crashed into Amber and nailed her to the ground then sunk her teeth into the muscles, tendons, bone, and ligaments of her front leg. We ground our teeth and made sure that we could here the leg in our mouth crunch while the female wolf clawed wildly at us before we let go.
I sank back and let my beast have this, that is until my beast pulled me forward. She didn't want to do this by herself because this wasn't just her fight, it was our fight. It was our fight, and we would do together. I felt my heart swell a little and nodded to her to proceed.
Amber stood up with a limp and growled at us. The hair stood on our back. My beast didn't like this female, with blood that paled in comparison to ours, who thought she could best us. Who thought she could take what's ours, hurt what's ours, and get away with it.
The blood in my veins started to hum with electric power. I could feel it. I could feel the bond to Levi and our blood light up like fireworks as my beast pulled from deep within us to let out a growl so savage that it made Amber's beast bite back a whine.
Other wolves in the crowd took a step away from us, their beasts couldn't handle what was pouring off of us. We flickered our eyes to Ethan, who stood firm in his place while his wolf paced back and forth from behind his eyes that were locked on us.
Amber snarled then charged at us again. We dodged her then turned quick on our heel before jumping on her back and letting our teeth sink into the shoulder of the arm we had just gnawed at.
She yelped out as our teeth dug and dug and dug until they found the bones we were looking for. We bit down hard on them, breaking them, and making her shoulder useless to her as well as the arm that attached to it.
We ripped away from her, taking a piece of her flesh with us as we did. Trotting away, we tossed it at Evangeline, a gift, before we turned back to Amber and licked our lips; we weren't done with her yet.
She tried to stand. She tried to stand and snarl at us, but she was not quick enough. We jumped on her and slapped her face down with our paw, letting our claws slice across the flesh as we did. She yelped again, but she yelped even more when our teeth were on her neck. She snarled some more but we just growled and squeezed until we could taste the blood on our tongue.
She whined a little and thrust her neck to me as best she could, which was good enough for my wolf, her blood tasted filthy in our mouth. I walked to Evangeline who was holding a shirt and shorts for me with a huge grin; like she had won the damn golden ticket.
I quickly shifted; the cracking of my bones were the only sounds in the quiet crowd besides Amber's whimpering. Evangeline helped me slip on the shirt before I pulled on the shorts. I took a step back, away from Evangeline as Arron drug his sister's wolf out of the ring; throwing daggers towards Ethan and I as he did.
Then it hit me.
Someone crashed into me.
Someone crashed into me and send at fist into my cheek, then sent another as they leaned over me.
Larissa.
I snarled. My wolf was fuming. What a low ass wolf, attacking someone from behind in a spar was shameful. She was shameful. She was shameful and we were about to show her the error of her ways.
I snarled again then head-butted her, hard. She gasped but didn't see my fist connect with her jaw, knocking her off me so I could jump up off the dirt.
A small group of wolves yipped for her. I took a step back and felt some of them snap at me tauntingly. They snapped until a merciless growl broke through, followed by another. Ethan and Evan snarled again, together, at the group of boys who were yipping for Larissa, causing them to shut their mouths and step back like obedient little pups.
I looked at Billy who was livid. His eyes were focused on Larissa who was hopping up and down like a boxer who thought they already won the match. His eyes snapped to me and he nodded. "No shifting until I say."
I smiled at him then turned towards Larissa and started to walk in a slow arching circle around her, letting my wolf access her so she could find the weak points we would exploit.
"Caught you by surprise didn't I little human?" God, she was even proud of herself. I snarled. Her long braid was swaying behind her as she eyed me with an arrogant smile.
"I am also going to really enjoy this," I growled out before I stepped forward and punched her hard in the chin.
She swung and I blocked then punched her again close to her eye, dizzying her, while I kicked hard at her kneecap. It cracked a hair, and I knew that a few more kicks and it would be finished.
She swung her fingers at me that were claws and caught my shoulder. Claws. Damn cheater.
I snarled at her and blocked another clawed hand then socked her in the ribs. I socked her there again, causing her to hunch over. Bad move. My hand grabbed a fistful of her braid on the back of her head, then slammed her face right into my knee; where I could feel her fangs, her teeth, crack slightly as they hit my hard bone.
She cried out as I let her fly backwards before kicking her knee in from behind, forcing her to fall on her knees. I yanked her head forward and hit her good in the mouth again, then I reached forward with my hand and ripped one of her fangs out before letting go of her braid so she could fall backwards in the dirt.
I tossed the fang to Andrea who looked down at it then smiled to me smugly while Larissa scrambled to her feet while clutching at her bloody mouth. I didn't care, though. This was a dirty female, a female who was sour. She knew right from wrong and she thought she was above it.
No more.
"Shift," Billy called out.
Before she could shift, I was over to her, kneeing her in the gut before I sent a foot straight to her chest; kicking her a few feet back so she slid up to the edge of the ring. I lunged at her and let my beast come forward while she tried to scramble up, but she wasn't fast enough.
We snarled at her as the blood from our previous fight still dripped from our lips. My beast snapped at her then backed away, she wanted to have fun with this female. She wasn't going to end this just yet.
We started to walk around the edge of the circle, snapping at her and growling while she shifted. Her dirty blonde wolf came forward and snarled back at us. No one yipped for her this time. Arron tried to step forward again, but Evangeline snarled at him venomously, sending him back into his place next to his sister who finally shifted back to her skin.
I didn't wait for her. My beast charged forward and bit at her hind leg, shaking it and letting our teeth crunch into it like she did our bear. We released it then trotted around again, crouching low so we could spring forward if we needed to.
The blonde wolf ran towards us, but we turned and rammed into her. We bit hard into the muscle protecting her ribs; we gnawed and gnawed, shaking our head as we pulled the muscle up, while she slashed our back with her claws and teeth.
But we cared not.
We released her and trotted around again, eyeing our prey that was scrambling up. She eyed us a little as her chest rumbled. We snarled back at her then ran towards her again; we turned at the last minute, confusing her and slamming into her front.
We bit hard into her shoulder while our paw pushed her face hard into the ground. We snarled as we started to hear a crunch from the flesh in our mouth. She tried to snap her mouth up, but we just slapped her down hard with our paw. She was too weak to wriggle out of our grasp, we had given her too many injuries for her body to handle at one time.
We let her roll a bit so we were on top of her. We could have had her neck, our paw was there, and our teeth were ready, but we didn't.
I shifted back into my skin; dripping in blood from nasty gashes, cuts, bites, and slices that I didn't give a shit about. I let out a growl that was borderline barbaric; it vibrated harshly off my chest and shook the small pebbles on the ground as it carried to the crowd around us. My blood was on fire now.
"Shift back Larissa," I demanded.
She snapped at me and I just landed a fist right into her jaw. "Shift back now," I demanded again, pulling from a place that surprised both my wolf and I.
Larissa's eyes widened as her skin started to come back. Soon she was looking up at me in her flesh; she was looking up at me as I hit her again, and again, and again.
"Charlotte!" Billy's voice froze my fist that was about to land another blow to her face. "Go run it off, girl."
I bit back a growl as I pulled away from her. My wolf wanted to keep hitting her, but she wasn't worth it. She wasn't worth it at all.
I turned to look at Billy over a crowd that looked back at me with a mix of admiration, fear, shock, and almost a hair of joy. Andrea was holding the fang in her hand, rubbing her thumb over it approvingly before cocking me a sly grin.
Evangeline nodded at me with a smile. Her foot kicked around a small patch of Amber's fur that I had tossed at her before she looked to Amber; her mother was frantically trying to get her to stop shaking while she waited for the pack doctor. Her eyes looked to me and she couldn't hide the fury if she wanted to, but her daughter had lost a fight that she had coming for a long time; I didn't feel bad one bit at all.
I let out a hot breath and walked towards Billy. The crowd parted for me as the wolves stepped quickly out of the way; their beasts knew better than to try anything else today.
"Go run it off girl, you did good," Billy nodded while he continued to eye Larissa with clear disdain.
I ran hard and fast towards the trail that Andrea had told me about before, the trail that Billy only took. I knew that I would have my privacy back there.
The trail wasn't bad this time, but I was still coursing with adrenaline from the fights. It was enough to help me power through the tough trail and to the little creek whose tranquil waters calmed my rage upon sight.
I sighed and quickly walked into the water, then shifted back to my skin before it got too deep. I looked myself over as best I could, I had some nasty gashes, a few deep cuts, and a couple of nasty bites, mostly from Larissa.
My wolf rumbled approvingly, though; she was proud that we defeated the females. She was proud of me, and I of her.
I walked slowly into the water before looking into the deeper area. I knew this would hurt, it would definitely sting, but I needed to wash all these wounds off.
I sucked in a breath then jumped in. It did sting. I bit back a hiss as I surfaced the water and let the pain settle to a manageable level. There was a tiny stream of red coming from different areas of me, the wounds must have been deeper than I thought.
A rumble.
I looked up and felt him before I saw him. Ethan.
He walked out of the trees in his fur with eyes that filled with relief when they found me. His beast rumbled again; desire mixed with pride for his female. He walked forward and I felt my skin heat. His blue eyes were swirling like a hurricane, slow but still powerful as they held my gaze.
He rumbled then whined to me as he stepped into the shallows. I sighed and pushed some wet hair out of my face. I started to wade towards him while he paced a little as soft whines came from his lips.
I didn't want to be mad at Ethan. The argument between us, the twist and pain of the pull, was something we needed to put behind us and move on from. He learned his lesson, I could see it in his eyes.
Need.
Need mixed with apologies that reached out to me almost desperately. I sighed out my emotions as my beast swirled in the back of my mine, she wanted to be closer to our male.
Relationships are messy, but what's important is that you learn from your mistakes. You admit your fault, forgive, and redeem what was broken by moving on. We were not going to be perfect, and that was ok. No one is.
I got to a shallower area where I was still covered but closer to him. His beast whined some more and laid in the water, scooting closer towards me as he eyed my wounds.
My beast pushed me forward. She trusted our male. She wanted our male. She saw the pain in his eyes caused by the marks on our skin, he only wanted to help. We couldn't be mad about that, about the instincts that were driving this moment, and I was too tired to push him away.
I sighed again and walked closer, covering my breasts while he looked away. I smiled to him, even in this form he was still always polite and considerate. I sat next to him and pulled my legs to me while tucking my feet towards my rear, protecting the area of me that I was still not ready for him to get near.
He whined softly and slowly approached me, cautious and careful with every step. Soon his breath was on me as his chocolatey beast eyed me over with a look that seemed unsettled.
He walked near my arm, where a few cuts from a claw mark were, and sniffed at it a bit before licking it. It felt good. It was cool and almost minty; it masked the pain and left the area tingling with tiny bits of pleasure.
He walked around me and looked at my back. A low whine came from his lips before I felt his cool tongue lick at all the scratches, bites, and gashes that littered my back. I bit back a soft moan, it felt insanely good. I felt like my back had some odd cool minty gel on it that tingles and sent tendrils of bliss across my skin.
I heard him sigh and back away before he walked around and looked at me again. He walked forward carefully and licked at my leg that had a good sized gash on it before carefully making it to my face and licking at my cheek that I knew would probably be black tomorrow.
I chuckled and pushed him away. "Enough, I'm fine."
He huffed then licked my cheek again before trotting over to the trees. He quickly returned in his skin, wearing shorts with a large shirt in his hands. He set it on the ground then turned and sat down with it behind him.
I smiled to myself before getting out of the water and walking towards him. I could see the hair on his neck raise when I got closer, it made my skin heat again and my cheeks flush.
I quickly slipped the shirt on then carefully walked around to the front of him, to face him. Conversations like these were meant to be face to face.
Ethan's eyes snapped to mine, a little surprised as they filled with hope. He reached his hand out to mine, grasping it, then he pulled it to his lips where he kissed the back of it. "Come here," he said softly as he started to tug me towards him.
He pulled me down so I was sitting sideways in his lap, cradled by his arms and blanketed by his scent. I closed my eyes and let the mix that was all him, all male, stir the tingles that were starting to form in my body.
"You were right. You were right and I was a fool not to see it, I was so stupid for not seeing it sooner. I should have done something sooner, I should have done something before you even came." I looked up at him as he pushed some wet locks away from my face, flickering his eyes to my injuries before looking back to me. "I don't want to push you away, I know I can be a dick. I'll try harder, I'm trying harder. You just make me feel things that I haven't felt in a long time, or ever, and I would be lying if I said it didn't scare me."
"Things like what?" I whispered back as my wolf flickered her ears forward.
"Things from the past, things I thought were dead," he murmured. I wanted to say something but something told me to wait, something told me to wait for the right time. "You did something today that should have been done a long time ago. You did a good thing. They had that coming and I can't tell you how proud I am, and grateful, that the moon paired you with me when you ripped out Larissa's fang."
I felt a devious grin tug at my lips as my heart started to swell. My wolf rumbled in approval. They did have it coming, and my beast would have liked if I ripped out more of her fangs.
I lifted my head towards him and kissed him gently. A long chaste kiss that would start our road to redemption, our healing. Being strong doesn't mean that you're so strong that you don't let anyone break you. Being strong is breaking, shattering, then rising amongst the rubble to stand again. Scars and cracks on our hearts are a sign of strength, not a weakness.
I pulled back a hair. He kissed my forehead then leaned his forehead against mine. "Want to get out of here?"
I smiled gently. "Where to?"
"I would say a surprise but I feel like you need some bandages and probably some food?"
I sighed and nodded. The talk of food made me realize how empty my belly felt. "Ok, what about after?"
Ethan smiled and kissed the corner of my mouth. "After is definitely a surprise sunshine."