Sheila's pov
Noone tries to take my man! I don't even know what possessed that little whore to lie to Alpha Devlin's about being his mate anyway, everyone knows I'm his mate, handpicked by the current Alpha himself and some little upstart thinks he can just come here with my mate's mark on his neck and get away with it?! I mean sure, I may have cheated on him with one of his friends, but that doesn't mean that I don't love him . . . I just had needs that he wasn't fulfilling at the time. I stalked into the house, throwing my purse across the table hard enough to make several of the dishes crash to the floor. I'm going to kill him!
"Calm down. "
I whirl around to see Alpha Charlie behind me.
"We have to get rid of him! Devlin is mine, you promised!"
"And he will be if you calm down and play your cards right. I won't allow you to screw this up like you did five years ago."
"It . . . It wasn't my fault! Someone spiked the punch that night, besides if you wouldn't have pushed him so hard, he never would have wanted to leave in the first place."
"He's the future Alpha of this pack, you're just a hired whore that was supposed to make sure he had no reason to leave."
"I did everything I could, I even let you get me pregnant so I could pass the baby off as his and drugged him so he would think we slept together, if you wouldn't have had him beaten that night I told him he was a father, he would have eventually agreed to mark me."
"Where is my son anyway?"
I crossed my hands over my chest and shrugged a shoulder.
"Probably running around somewhere with his little friends. Look, I have a plan to get Devlin back here for good, but it's risky."
"Do what you have to do."
A few minutes later, Alpha Charlie left and headed for my brother's room, shivering in disgust when I saw his pet snake, Rodney curled up on his usual rock, enjoying the warmth of his heat lamp.
"He'll get over it, after all it's just a stupid snake."
Acting quickly, I grabbed one of my brother's discarded t-tshirts and quickly wrapped the snake inside of it, making sure it couldn't move. Smirking I made my way back into the kitchen, picking up my purse and stuffing the snake inside.
"What were you doing?"
I rolled my eyes at the annoying sound of my brother, Henry behind me before plastering a fake smile on my face.
"I'm just going over to get to know Alpha Devlin's new mate, Jerry."
"You mean joel? Leave him alone, sister."
"Henry, you really need to stop making friends with our enemies after all, isn't that why you have noone but that snake of yours right now?"
Henry scoffed at me, heading in the direction of his room.
"Whatever, I'm going to milk Rodney today. He hasn't been milked in a while, so don't come in my room until I give the okay."
"Yeah, yeah."
I listened to Henry's footsteps disappear into his room and rushed out the door before he realized Rodney was gone.
'Thanks for the information little brother and you don't have to worry, your new pal Jerry will make sure Rodney gets milked for you.'
Henry's pov
Entering my room, I sat my book bag on the bed and walked over to my desk, opening the second drawer to take out a nice sized glass jar that I'd covered in plastic wrap held in place by a rubber band.
"Ok Rodney, sorry I haven't done this in a while, but__________."
I turned to Rodney's cage and froze. The rock he usually slept on was empty and his food bowl hadn't been touched. A sudden sinking feeling hit me and I rushed to the small fridge on the bedside table, threw it open, grabbing the small cooler of antivenin I stored there in case of emergencies and snatched up my bookbag, carefully placing the antivenin inside before rushing out of the house in hot pursuit of my sister. I made it to the pack house in time to watch her leap from a tree next to an open window and slipped inside.
'What are you up to, sister?'
The terror filled cries of a pup combined with the familiar hissing of a copperhead spurred me into action and I quickly climbed the tree, freezing at the scene in front of me. Alpha Devlin's mate was collapsed on the floor, whimpering quietly, an obvious snake bite on his face.
"What if Devlin finds out? You know he'll rush to the rescue."
At the sound of my sister's voice I pushed myself against the trunk of the tree to stay hidden, covering my mouth to conceal my breathing.
"Lock the door. The longer he goes without help, the quicker we get rid of him."
I gulped quietly, where did Alpha Charlie come from and why was he trying to kill his son's mate?
"If he finds out we're behind this, he's going to kill us."
"Then you better make sure he doesn't find out."
I wait until the door slams and the lock clicks before leaving my hiding place and climbing into the window, quickly rushing to the injured wolf's side. He was no longer moving one making a sound and I hurriedly unzipped the bookbag, grabbing a vial of antivenin and quickly connecting one of the needles attached the top of the cooler it.
"I'm sorry, this isn't enough to stop all of the poison, but there's enough antivenin in here to keep you alive until I can get help.
Pressing my fingers against one of his hind legs, I sought out a vein and stuck the needle inside of it, making sure the vial was empty before lifting him onto the bed and covering him with a blanket. With nothing else I could do, I quickly searched for the pup that had been crying and saw three pairs of eyes watching me warily. Carefully checking over each of the pups I let out a sigh of relief when I didn't see any wounds, dropping to my knees to check on the snake. My eyes went wide and I shook my head in disbelief . . . even with his head ripped from his body, I recognized my best friend that I'd raised from birth and I had to hold back my tears.
"Rodney."
Anger grew in my chest at the betrayal from the only family I had left, but I knew now was not the time. I closed my eyes, narrowing my pack link until I could only hear Alpha Devlin's thoughts connecting with mine.
'Alpha Devlin, please bring the pack doctor and come to your room right away, your mate needs you!'
As I waited for Alpha Devlin and the pack doctor to arrive, I debated with myself if I should protect my sister or give her up. By the time the footsteps reached the entrance of the room, my mind was made up.
"What happened?"
Anger and sorrow combining to form a hard pit in my stomach, I picked up Rodney's lifeless body and held it out so Alpha Devlin could see it.
"My sister tried to kill your mate."
Alpha Devlin's face became grim and I could tell he was fighting the urge to tear her head off. Taking a soothing breath, he summoned the doctors into the room.
"Doctor Peterson, you will do whatever it takes to keep my mate alive. Henry, I want you t come with me, right now."
"No."
"What?"
"I'm not leaving this man or any other member of this pack alone with him. I'm sorry if I've overstepped my position, but noone here can be trusted with the life of your mate."
"I . . . I see."
"I'm sorry, but you don't . . . your . . . your sire is working with my sister and she's not the only one loyal to him. I think . . . for the safety of your mate and this pack, you should take your mate and leave."
"So you'd doom this pack to save an outsider?"
Alpha Devlin and I turned to the doctor who was steadily preparing the equipment he needed for Alpha Devlin's mate and a sense of unease went through me.
"Luna Joel isn't an outsider. He's the mate chosen by Alpha Devlin himself. Even after five years of waiting for his return, you and everyone else still look down on him like he can't decide who he wants to stand beside him."
"Your sister is his Luna, handpicked by Alpha Charlie . . . he doesn't have a choice."
He lifted Luna Joel's arm and felt for a vein, an evil grin crossing his lips as he pressed an IV needle to it. Instincts kicking in, I spun him around, while simultaneously jerking the needle and tube of the IV out of his hand, pressing it against his neck.
"Idiot, I gave you the chance, but you're so loyal to a man who cares nothing about you or this pack that you'd try this?"
Instead of answering, he continued to smile, his eyes glowing silver as his wolf came to the surface.
"Long live Luna Sheila."
I shook my head, smiling sadly.
"I'm sure it'll bring my sister comfort as she faces the end to know you were willing to die for her."
The man remained silent and I plunged the needle into the side of his neck, holding him until the poison took effect and letting him fall to the ground.
"How did you_______?"
"Rodney taught me alot. Thanks to him I can detect snake venom whenever I'm near it. Good thing he was too arrogant to make me leave the room or there would be nothing I could do for you mate."
I made my way over to the doctor's equipment opening his black bag and checked the vials inside one by one before finding the one I wanted.
"This one."
Pouring the antivenin into my mouth, I carefully pried Luna Joel's mouth open and slowly fed it to him, massaging his throat to make him swallow. I expected a jealous growl from the Alpha and when I didn't hear one, I turned around to face him.
"He's going to be fine, Alpha Devlin. I don't know when he'll wake up and he'll be in alot of pain when he does, but he'll eventually recover."
Almost like he didn't hear my words, the Alpha collapsed to the ground on his knees, his head bowed as if he was to ashamed of himself to lift it.
"Why did I bring him here . . . oh I know, because I thought I would be strong enough to protect him, but . . I'm such an idiot!"
"Alpha, stop it! This wasn't your fault!"
"Then whose fault is it?! I'm the one that brought him here! I'm the one that said I would protect him! And I'm . . . I'm the one that left him alone when he needed me the most!"
"He would have been attacked whether he was here or not!"
Alpha Devlin lifted his head, his narrowed eyes focusing on mine.
"What do you mean?"
"Alpha Charlie has been watching you this whole time, Alpha Devlin. The only reason he didn't make a move before is because you never even looked at anyone else since my sister, then all of a sudden you're mating a wolf from some pack we know nothing about instead of the puppet he set up for you. The reality is no matter where you take your Luna, he will always be in danger until you put a stop to it."
"Are you saying___________?"
"The only way to protect your mate is to challenge the Alpha for control of this pack."