*Rush*
He didn't go in the castle that whole day. Instead, he went out into the training grounds and unwound the strain in his muscles. The pain of the rejection was gone, and he needed to get back on grind. He didn't appreciate how much of his time her little fiasco took, and he would train all day to regain his agility.
He didn't care if the sun was beating down on him. He didn't care if he was growing lethargic from its scorching rays. He didn't even care that it was springtime and the afternoons were long and unbearable. They were good distractions from her. He didn't want to think about Aletha, especially not when harboring any thoughts of her made him physically hurt.
When an already-claimed werewolf was marked by another who was not their true mate, it destroyed the mate bond. Rush never knew how real it was until now. His mind was strained, and it was hard for him to breathe. His muscles were still in agony worse than being stabbed by a blade, because it burned and gnawed at his soul too. He was almost incapable of moving at all, but he forced his muscles to tear and his soul to rise from the torment. His fingers clenched tightly and he could feel his blood struggling to flow against his darkening veins.
This was bad. The bond was so shattered that it was slowly trying to kill him. The veins around his wrists and neck were dark, painful. He would be dead by now if he were mortal.
She must have known it would do this. Everyone did. It was one of the laws of this realm, to never betray your mate, to never let another mark you. It was a dangerous territory to enter. And what was worse was that she hadn't cared at the time. She had been willing when Lucien had marked her. She had felt nothing but lust. She must have known Lucien's mark would make him suffer.
Before Rush could let his mind consume his soul, he stopped himself. He had to vent. He needed to drink blood or kill or just go to sleep. Yes...maybe he could bring Alpha Anya of the Winter Pack and convince her to give him another dose of her blood magic so he could slumber for a very long time. She'd done it multiple times when he had been trapped in his mother's castle. It had saved his soul from breaking even more when his body had been used for endless games of sadistic pleasures.
He didn't sleep at all the entire day, not that he needed sleep. His kind could go on without sleep for years, because their blood intake replenished them with spiritual energy. Sleep was useless, a luxury for those who had extra time in their hands. While it did prolong bloodthirst, most vampires willingly drank blood because of its delicious flavor.
Rush brought his axe down and sliced the block of wood into two. The two halves fell onto the ground, looking lethally clean in their cut. No jagged edges, just one swift motion and they were split.
Sweat beaded his forehead and trailed down the sides of his face and neck. He could feel more sliding down between his shoulder blades. He was breathing roughly, at the edge of losing control. He somehow unknowingly pissed himself off, and no amount of venting it on wooden logs was going to help. And to think this was his best method to relax. He'd taught the Luna of the Death Pack to chop wood as hard as she could to direct her anger elsewhere. For her, it was surviving the Death Alpha and her urge to get revenge on him, but for Rush, this was for coping with the strain in his bond he had with Aletha.
He wasn't angry at her for defying him—he thought every time her eyes sparked, she looked absolutely stunning. Although he didn't like the words that came out of her mouth, he liked her rebellious spirit. This was about betraying him, about going against fate when it was right in front of her, trying to get her to understand that Lucien would never be for her. Rush wanted to demolish her one-way thinking. She'd been nothing but complaining and self-centered. She had to have it her way. She never had the consideration to once see things through his eyes.
She was remorseless too. She'd willingly gone out of her way to inflict damage on the bond. Her words made his insides burn. He didn't know how many times he almost lost his control around her when she opened her pretty little mouth. Every fucking time he approached her, trying to pacify with her, she didn't listen and instead demanded to be let go so she could see her lover again. Didn't she realize how much torment it caused him when she said that? How could anyone hear their mate blatantly desiring another and keep their cool? Rush tried, but now he was exasperated. He wouldn't keep his cool around her anymore. He'd done it, and she'd run back into Lucien's arms the first opportunity she got.
That kind of behavior was pathetic. No matter how much she loved Lucien, that was no way to go about the situation. She lacked the very common sense needed to survive in the Darklands. And he would give that to her. If he wasn't harsh with her, she'd not only crumble but she would ruin their mate bond completely. And Rush needed to protect the bond no matter what, even though it was already in pieces.
The Alpha-Luna bond strengthened the pack. It made mating cycles stronger, ensuring escalating fertility rates. It warded off unwanted enemies because of the crackling aura it presented to outsiders. Although the Night Pack was frightening enough, Rush wanted all he could get. All Alphas did. It was a primal desire to protect your possession, and his pack meant everything to him.
Most of all, this was going to be the last Alpha-Luna bond. He didn't want to let it go. He wanted to protect it.
The sun was finally beginning to set when Rush decided it was time that he stopped. His muscles needed to relax before he trained his men again. He had plenty of commanders to train his warriors, but Rush never liked watching from the shadows. He liked involving himself with his pack. That was what kept the pack strong, because they knew their Alpha was right beside them, feeling everything they felt.
More and more pack members began to come out, starting their night. Warriors began to file in, ready to train. Mothers and wives started to prepare meals for their families. Fathers and husbands gathered food for the pack and their families by hunting. Others forged weapons, produced textiles, crafted pottery, or even made jewelry and shoes. Life in the pack required no currency—all lived in peace, regarding everyone as family.
Rush's Gamma, Marik, came beside him, taking the axe. "You can't be swinging this around every time you're pissed. You know it doesn't work that way."
"You're the wise one, are you?" Rush grumbled.
Marik cracked a smile. "My words are enough to stop wars."
Rush started to snicker. "It was one time when you delayed the war, not stopped it."
"I did stop it from happening," Marik said with a lazy shrug. "Just on the day of." Then his face grew more serious as he looked at his Alpha more closely. "You are fighting another war, but it's inside of you this time. It's the Luna isn't it?"
"Yeah," Rush admitted. "I don't want to distress her more. She can't stand my very presence."
Marik sighed. "You know you have no choice in this matter, right? The Luna Trials will be best for her."
Rush nodded. "I don't doubt that, Marik. It's just, I think she'll despise me more for it."
"Maybe she will, but she'll learn to get over it when she finally realizes how much of her ass you are willing to save. She's so hard-headed, no offense."
Rush chuckled. "None taken." Then he studied Marik. With Kyla gone, Marik would have to take up the position as his Beta. Which left his strongest female warrior the next in line for the Gamma. "By the way, why were you limping? Don't tell me you fucked more than you should have."
Marik froze and a sheepish look crossed his face. "Kyla beat my ass yesterday."
Rush's brows shot up. "Why is that?"
"It's her way of training," Marik said. "Damn, she's a fucking beast. She won't have any problems with Lucien. He's no match for her."
"I hope you're right," Rush agreed with a sigh.
Marik slapped his back. "Remember the day I first met him?"
"You told him to go fuck himself so yeah I remember." How could he forget that mortified look on Lucien's face?
"And then he challenged me."
Rush grinned. "And I stepped in and said if he wanted to fuck, I'd willingly fuck him over. That's what I do after all, I fuck people over."
"In more ways than one," Marik reminded him. Everyone knew Alpha Rush as lethal yet promiscuous.
"What? Is it wrong to fulfill a female's fantasy? You know I can't resist, especially if she wants me."
Marik rolled his eyes. "I can't believe the day has come where you pledge your promiscuity to only one female."
"Can't believe it either," Rush said, and then he remembered something. "Tell your sister to stay away. Not that I can't handle her, but I have a feeling she's not taking this well. And Fiona might do something unpleasant...something very unpleasant. It's better if you tell her before I do."
Marik's eyes darkened. "She wants to challenge the Luna. Fiona is possessive over you. You know that."
And Rush couldn't really blame Fiona for it either. She'd lost her mate years ago to a brutal rogue battle. At the time, Rush had been a friend to her, and soon they became something more when she began to offer him blood. They grew more intimate over the years, and so her brother decided that since she carried power in her veins, she would be a suitable match for Rush. So Fiona was to be his Luna--it had been a promise Rush made with Marik, that if Rush's final mate had somehow died before her time or before Rush met her, he would take Fiona as his Luna. Of course she wouldn't bear his children--she wasn't his true mate--but she would ensure a stronger connection in the pack.
"If she doesn't understand, don't blame me for what I will do to your sister," Rush told him in a warning tone. "I won't spare her. I don't overlook disobedience. The Darklands won't overlook it either."
Marik nodded. "I understand. I will talk to her."
Now, all of the warriors filed in, and Rush spotted his female warrior, Sirka, striding in with her strong presence. Many lusted after her, especially because of her nearly pure vampire pedigree. She'd been alive for nearly as long as Rush—and that was several centuries.
Sirka spotted Rush and Marik and strolled over to them. "Alpha, I've heard Kyla isn't coming back?"
He nodded. "She's ruling the Shadow Pack. Took over Lucien's position."
Her brows shot up, as she was clearly impressed. "I'm proud of her."
"So am I," he replied. He looked at Marik and back at her, and then he made his decision. "And since my Beta's position is vacant, Marik, you will be my Beta from now on. And Sirka, you will be my Gamma."
"Are you serious?" she demanded, clearly taken aback. She never expected any role as high as this because of the overwhelming male dominance. But Rush looked for strength, not just males to fill in roles that they weren't suitable for.
"Of course I'm serious. I don't lie about shit like this," Rush told her. "Now go on, warrior. I don't want you slacking off."
She grinned wryly. "You never have to worry about my slacking off." And then she was off.
Marik was still stunned. "Are you sure about this?"
Rush chuckled. "When wasn't I sure about something?"
"Never."
"That's right," Rush agreed. "Never." He noticed that it was dusk now. Perfect. It was time that he started the Luna Trials. She would hate him for it, but she would learn to be stronger this way. Bring her to the training grounds, he ordered his two guards that stood in front of his chamber doors to oversee her. It is time to turn her into a real Luna.