Finian POV
Soft music is layering underneath the buzzing conversations, everyone excited by the new expansion of territory. Some of the unmated male wolves stopping me, trying to hide the desperation in their voices asking if they could have a sniff around the Eastern Territory now that the borders are opened up.
"Yes, of course, it's okay, go tomorrow, bring a group, I'll let them know you all are coming." Hopeful eyes give thanks to me, I never realized how much some of my pack have been suffering since closing our borders down.
My mother's old hens are mixing in the crowd, drinking as if they were at a juvenile party again.
The females of my pack slithering up to me, all hips swaying, chests pushed out, lots of skin showing, these females don't look happy with me, still they peacock themselves in front of me. Wanting me to pluck them, except not one of them is Victoria.
"Alpha Fin." Sally always the lead female, positioning herself as my unofficial right.
"Yes." Crossing my arms over my chest, I'm sickened at their sight.
"I thought you said you never were going to claim Victoria, that you were going to have one of us stand on your right." All their eyes are on me, looking as if I played them.
"Females, not once did I ever say that you or they could stand on my right, all I ever did was screw you, nothing more, nothing less. It's all of you that have the wrong idea. You're the ones that heard things I never said. So don't be upset because you keep spreading your legs for the lies you were telling yourselves."
Shock
Disgust
Hurt
Their eyes are reflecting emotions back at me.
"You aren't marked yet?" Sally eyeing my neck.
"I will be soon. Victoria is my mate; she's fought with teeth, not with spread legs to stand next to me." A low toned growl percusses out of her chest.
It's fast, the way my fingers curves the smoothness of her throat, whose skin is caustic against mine. "Get out of my sight." Throwing her into the rest of the females who think they were more than what they were used for.
Getting myself a drink the wolves surround me again, always wanting to talk my ear off. It's a game of patience; they need to feel as if they are heard and understood. That's what my father always told me, make everyone from the lowest omega to the top ranking Beta feel as if they belong, that they are heard, that they are special and part of the pack.
Looking up, Victoria is walking in with my mother.
Dressed in pure simplicity, the black dress is form fitting. My mother is weaving her through the crowd, as if showcasing my Queen. A side angle shows off the perfect curvature of her thighs. Another angle has her calves balled up delicately from those black heels. Another angle has her bare back exposed to my hungry eyes, whispers of the whips mark crisscross her skin that wants me to trace every line with my finger.
She's a torturing display of seductive movement.
Her whole front is covered in black, not even a little dip in the neckline that would reveal a rise of soft skin.
She's dressed to be undressed.
My demon shuffles himself on my shoulder; a little pleasurable moan escapes him as her hips sway from side to side with her walk, it's just her natural movement, nothing is forced.
Victoria's standing close to my mother, watching her greet friends. She's mimicking my mother's smile without teeth. At this moment I can see how socially awkward she is. The smile is forced, shaking slightly with the way she's trying to hold the muscles. Looking at my mother constantly, trying to seem relaxed and casual, following her example.
No social upbringing on her part, she learned at an early age not to smile because when she did, she was laughed at about her rotten teeth, it was easier for to keep her mouth in a straight line than with the effort it took to smile. Also if she smiled it meant she was happy and her father would pounce on it, drive it off her face in the most creative ways possible.
Smiling equals pain, a hard lesson learned all before the age of four.
Rarely ever does she smile, it's been beaten out of her nature.
Scanning the crowd all un-mated males looking at her with eyes that scream want. My mother is parading her around the room as if she's the featured item on tonight's menu.
She's mine.
One foot goes in front of the other at a direct path towards her, my eyes never leaving hers. Morning Glory Blue stunning against her black hair. Her unskilled smile instantly drops into a straight line once again because she knows deep down that I will wipe it off her face, just like her father did.
I don't want to be her smile killer.
The demon's laughter sounds hoarse as if his throat is scratchy and irritated from the constant vibration of sound.
Everywhere her eyes touch my body it just fuels my fire with the oxygen she's providing it with. My own demon blushes with the desire that's pounding through my body. She stimulates my most basic needs as a male.
Skin on skin
Spreading my hand out on her lower back so I can touch as much exposed skin as possible.
Personally intoxicating.
Pulling her body against mine so I can feel the length of her against me. A groan tries to escape lips that are already naturally finding my mark against her skin.
A new world of pleasure, somehow I'm having a hard time blaming the moon on the need for Victoria.
A sigh moans out low, feminine as I take a little taste of flesh that's not satisfying what I need at this moment. The wolf scanning the males, letting them all know they will have to go through me to get to her.
Jealousy
Catching a glimpse of my mother, she and her friends smirking to one another as if this was their plan all along. My wolf holds my mother in the highest esteem.
Letting her go, but still continuing to touch her, my thumb drawing little circles over her raised scars on her back.
"What are you doing?" She tries to pull away, my grip won't allow her to step away.
"Showing these males that you're mine." Again I lean in, taking the addiction of her into my lungs. Putting on a show for everyone here that this female is taken, I have never done something like this before.
A good feeling invading my body, she's bringing out my goodness that I never thought possible being so close to a female, to my female. I could stay like this all night.
The demon kicks my neck, begging me to stop it. He falls again in laughter hitting the ground softly as my foot moves to crush him against my shoe. He disappears laughing into the grey void he just came from.
"Why don't you guys start, go get some food, start eating because the pups are getting hungry." The happy voice of my mother leaning in close to us. I catch a glimpse of Victoria's face, she's flushed red. The beginning touch of a small smile graces her lips while she feels her mark before she replaces it with her usual tight-lipped stare.
Following me to the head of the line, I take my food, while she takes a portion. Nothing like the gluttony I just showed. Her's is just what she needs, nothing more, nothing less. Does she even realize she does this? Only taking what she needs, never exceeding her limits because she can if she wants to.
Food to Victoria is complicated, it's a show of her struggles, social status, her climb to the top. Now she eats second which I wonder how she feels about that now?
Sitting at our places, Victoria looking around at the head table, looking at me, pushing her plate away from her in disgust. Watching her pour herself the biggest glass of wine, almost to the rim full. She actually leans down to take a sip off the top, so it doesn't spill out when she lifts it.
The first glass empties easily before she's pouring herself the second. All the while she's looking around the room getting angrier and angrier. My mother squeezing her hand overtop the table.
I'm really not sure what's going on in this female's head at this moment, but her eyes are looking at me the same way I use to look at her.
Disgust
A little gag in her throat as if she want's to vomit up her wine. With liquid smoothness, she gets up. " I'm sorry, I'm not feeling well, please excuse me."
My hand reaching out in concern. "What's wrong?"
"I think Victoria just found out why your room needed to be gutted, Finian." Looking around the crowd, sharp teeth, smirks of gloating hitting Victoria. All those nameless females that I have had a piece of taunt her with their eyes, goading her, almost laughing at her without smiles.
With unrelenting strength as if she has the Moon deep down inside her to draw power from, she turns her back on her tormentors, a first for her.
No fight
Grace
Dignity
Victoria leaves, the females watch her back, all with looks as if they won some kind of fight that they didn't even need to bring out teeth for. Do they not understand to challenge Victoria it is to meet the moon.
She's already changed by the time I enter our bedroom. She's pulling the blanket off the bed, a pillow in her hand.
What do I say to this? How can I explain what I have done to her?
"You stay, I'll sleep somewhere else." Somehow this shirt feels too tight around my neck, choking me, while I try to undo the buttons, trying to rid myself of the confines of it.
"Fin, you need to stay here tonight. You need to lock the door behind me, it will be your only defense against my wolf is she decides to rip your throat out during the night." She's not playing, she means every word she just said.
At least she gave me a warning, she never gave anyone a warning. A memory of her walking in someone's front door, silver blades held in her hand. Letting herself in, she takes a knife deep to her gut, but it doesn't stop Victoria, it only guides her on, she's so lost in bloodlust that she doesn't even feel the pain anymore. A quick throw has the she-wolf pinned to the wall, severing her tendon to render her one arm immobile. Another quick throw embeds the blade deeply, another tendon severed. Her useless arms just hanging limply at her side.
Victoria, licking the healer's neck, whispering things that she's going to do to her, things that she fantasized about in her sleep all these years. The female screaming as the first finger gets cut off, it's not a clean slice it's more of a sawing action. She does this to every finger, leaving only the thumbs.
A satisfaction building up inside her with the way the female screams are feeding her hunger. She doesn't end her, just leaves her pinned up against the wall coming back every couple of days to remove more flesh. Letting her linger for weeks on the brink of death, a festering smell that surrounds the home. No wolf will get close to it, understanding that Victoria's responsible for what's happening inside.
That is the real smell of rot. My nose crinkles with the smell, just like Victoria did as she left my room.
I know exactly what she's feeling, how tainted she see's me, how absolutely unworthy I have become to her.
It's everything I felt towards her.
A sharp pain drops me to my knees, holding my flank, bringing my hand away expecting to see blood. Nothing there, searing hot pain over my left shoulder takes my breath away. The wolf in me rages, trying to break the bars inside me to be let loose. Already my shift is starting, fur replacing skin, a deep need of protection is calling to my wolf from hers.
She's getting attacked on our territory, and it feels as if she's losing with all the pain I'm feeling. Something on my back, taking the flesh off, it wants to cripple my legs, all my strength is needed to get up and run to where she might be at.
Fighting growls, snarls hitting my ears, more wolves running to the same area where the noise is coming from, dread is filling my gut, the fierce battle ending, nothing but silence as we all reach the clearing. Her fur form swaying from side to side, teeth bloodied. Ears pulled flat against her head; she is bristled up, a darker patch of black fur raised along the spine of her back. Everywhere she is bleeding. Her legs are overtop the form of my mother who isn't moving; she's just laying on her side, tongue out a glaze to her eyes.
Bodies of she-wolves litter the ground, necks all twisted and bent at odd angles. Not able to move until they heal. Their eyes all look up at me, and I don't even remember any other names.
The bringer of death is looking into my eyes, holding me to her. No menace noted, no displaying teeth towards me, just overwhelming exhaustion as her body tips over, crawling on front paws to get close to my mother's fur form.
A begging howl is tumbling out from her chest up to the moon. Plea after plea for my mother's life she begs for. Victoria hasn't said a prayer in years.
She stopped asking the moon for things she knew she never deserved.
The whines of her voice slowly become less powerful as her energy is all used up. She's my mother's protector against a horde of wolves intent to destroy them. It would have been easy for Victoria to run away, protect herself but she decided to take the point and protect what means a lot to me, my mother.
Great pride wells up inside me of my female who would give her life to save my mothers. She's not the wolf I thought she was; she's becoming so much more.
"Alpha Fin, who do you want me to treat first your mother or your mate?" Lana's the healer of the Western Pack looking on at the carnage before her.