The moment you've all been waiting for! Sorry for the delay, but I just started my new job...so I'm going to need to adjust my schedule, anyway...enjoy!
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Kane
"They're almost here Kane, you ready?" Tony asks in a whisper, leaning against the tree next to me. I listen closely to the sounds of the forest and hear the sounds of fast moving feet....more specifically, paws hitting the dirt while they chase the normal footfalls of human feet.
Here we go.
"Definitely, is everyone else in place?" I ask, and he nods, signaling the warriors disguised by the magic cast by the witches and witch hybrids here with to stand ready for when we make our exit.
"Then let's do it, I've been looking forward to this since I found out the truth about my parents." From the corner of my eye I see Maka drop down from the trees, her expression best described as a war face.
"You and me both Kane." She mutters, glaring into the shadows of the trees.
Before I can even think of a response, the omegas that have already chosen to follow us break through the dense vegetation, looking a bit terrified as they sprint full speed towards us. I wave them forward, and as they pass me, they pass through the magic barrier set up to both hide their scents and render them invisible to their pursuers...the spell working flawlessly.
"Are all of you alright?" I ask them quietly, looking over their faces as they stare up at me in surprise. All twelve of them are a bit out of breath, toting bags with their belongings stuffed inside haphazardly. They all nod, a slight dazed look in their eyes along with disbelief...but I'll have to answer their many questions later...we have company.
The group of wolves that had chased them down here to the edge of the territory burst through only moments after, all of them looking confused and a bit angry...and one of them being Beta Thomas himself.
~Wes, Jay, escort these guys to the van and go ahead and get them out of here, I have a feeling this is going to be messy.~ I call through the link, and both of the warriors nod as they gesture to the omegas to silently follow them off the territory. I can see Maka and Tony fighting the urge to shift as they glare at Beta Thomas, the sight of him restirring the old resentment and anger without question. I remind them to stay calm, freeing the other oppressed members of this pack comes before getting even.
"What kind of idiots are you mutts?! You had one job of keeping those weaklings in line and you can't even do that right!" The surly Beta yells at the seven warriors in his presence, all of them looking fearful as they lower their heads in submission and drop their bellies closer to the ground. This is the first time I've ever seen him berate the warriors...but it only makes me angry.
"If I don't kill you, Alpha Samson will. This kind of failure isn't accepted, you've lost every wolf responsible for doing the cooking and cleaning for him...who do you think is going to do it now that they're gone?" He threatens, implying that with the omegas gone, it will be the warriors who failed to capture them that will be stripped of their status to fill that space.
I've heard enough from this pompous asshole.
"Maybe for once he could do it himself?" I retort irritably as I make my presence known, the warriors turning to stare at me in shock as they recognize me. Thomas turns around slowly to face me, his appalled face would have made me laugh if I wasn't so angry right now.
"Well if it isn't Kane Simmons...has the flea bitten mongrel finally decided to come crawling back to where he belongs?" He taunts, and my wolf bristles with anger at the obvious and blatant disrespect from the disgraceful Beta.
~Let's teach this wretch a lesson in manners he won't soon forget!~ Ares growls in my head, and I struggle to stop his wolf form from pushing through the surface. I need to keep my head level too...I have an Alpha to confront.
"Trust me Thomas, I'm not crawling anywhere, especially not back to this wretched place. Besides...the only mongrel I see here is you." I retort again, and his furious expression actually gets a chuckle out of me, his now black eyes looking impossibly darker through my sunglasses.
"You little-"
"As fun as it is messing with your head Thomas, I didn't come here to quibble with you," I interrupt, "I actually have some unfinished business with Alpha Samson...so would you make yourself useful and call him for me? It would be most helpful." I ask in a disinterested voice, my smirk only making him angrier.
"You have a lot of nerve showing up here alone and making demands...just who do you think you are?" He growls out as he starts stepping closer, and I chuckle before motioning to my warriors to show themselves.
"Who says I came here alone? And as for my status...that's the business I'd rather discuss with Alpha Samson..." I reply as he looks at the six other warriors standing guard around me. I personally know I can handle this pompous Beta, but I also know that as their Alpha they're going to protect me first and foremost.
"So, if you wouldn't mind summoning him...that would be perfect." I continue, only to look towards the sound of snapping twigs to see the Alpha himself walking towards me. His face one of shock and anger as he stares me down...or tries to anyway. His Alpha glare does nothing to me now.
"You have quite a lot of nerve coming back here mutt, and a death wish to actually want to see me again after you made a fool of me." Samson growls out as he stalks towards me, and I stand my ground as Ares begins bristling with anger again.
Show time.
"If you're expecting me to tremble in fear Samson, you are mistaken. Your threats don't scare me...they never have." I respond, my canines descending as my anger begins bubbling to the surface.
"Is that so?" He asks doubtfully, stopping once he's right in my face, and I wave off my warriors as they start to approach Samson. I can see his carefully masked surprise at how I can now reach his eyes...my height being one of the things that's increased since I've embraced my Alpha status.
"Oh yes, it was quite difficult to pretend to be afraid of you when I wasn't, to pretend to respect you when I didn't, or to take your orders when they rolled over me like water over stone...and I think you know exactly why that is." I answer, and I can see his fearless expression waver at my emphasis on the last part.
"I have no idea what you're implying, you're still the same delusional and disrespectful omega that left this pack." He says with obvious denial, obviously knowing better.
"You sure about that? Because I think you and I both know that it's a lie." I say as I pull off my sunglasses, and as I reveal my silver colored eyes he steps backwards in shock...and I finally let my power roll off of me in waves...making the Black Sun wolves shudder at the sudden change.
"You and I both know that me and Maka were never omegas, that we both were born with a status that would be your demise...that's why you treated us like omegas since the day we were born...even if our wolves always knew the truth."
Maka appears next to me, her glare settled on Thomas just like Tony's is, and the tension in the air is so palpable you can cut it with a knife.
"You don't know what you're talking about Kane-" He starts, his continued denial flaring my anger even more.
"That's Alpha Kane to you Samson, Alpha Kane Robustelli. And I've come to do what my father and Maka's wanted to do before yours killed them!" I growl out, letting my wolf's anger become known to everyone here.
"Those Omegas that left are just the beginning, now that I'm the Alpha of The Gaurdiani Lunari pack of Washington, I'm opening my doors to any wolf who is tired of living in a pack where they are oppressed and controlled...and not just the omega's, but any wolf. My pack is a place where you don't have to conform to rules that make you reject your mate because of their species, or guarantee a life of servitude because of status...my pack doesn't limit a wolf's potential, it's where an omega can become a warrior or a pack doctor..."
I look towards Tony with pride, placing a hand on his shoulder for emphasis.
"Or a Gamma. It's where you can be who you want, and be with who you love without punishment or judgement...where your opinion and life is respected and you're not punished for tiny mistakes..." I look towards the warriors that Beta Thomas berated earlier, and even in their wolf forms I can tell that they're really listening to what I'm saying.
"My pack doesn't punish you for being yourself, or loving a mate that isn't a werewolf or the opposite gender of you...it's a place where you can be free, and I'm going to make sure that every member of a Purist pack, including this one, knows that there is a safe place they can go, that they have a choice to leave despite what their lying Alpha has threatened."
It's completely still for a moment after my speech ends, but that quickly changes when two of the warriors step forward, one dark gray and the other a dark brown. They stop in front of me with their heads lowered, both giving an obvious act of respect before they look up at me with curious eyes...
"Ivan! Brad! Get back here this instant!" Samson shouts, but the two wolves in front of me ignore his orders.
~Kane, they both want to be sure that they would be allowed to be each other's mates in your pack before they side with you.~ One of the witches tell me through the link, and I smile at them.
"Of course you can, I'd never make you reject the mate the moon goddess chose for you. I promise." I reassure, and their tails wag as the gray wolf nuzzles his head under the brown ones chin before they go to stand behind me, and once they do it like a dam has opened in the pack...the rest of the Warriors joining my side as more wolves appear from the shadows, over two dozen either disappearing behind the magic barrier or standing behind me in solitude. Some common wolves, a lot of warriors, she wolves and pups, teenagers and elder wolves....entire families and a few pre-shift teens by themselves...all of them ignoring Alpha Samson and Beta Thomas as they go.
"How dare you come onto my territory and steal my pack from me! Alpha or not, you have no right-!" Samson starts, but I cut him off with a loud growl, Ares wanting nothing more than to rip him apart.
"They are not your property! You do not own these wolves! They have a right to choose which Alpha they want to follow! They have a right to make the decision to leave your dreadful pack for a better life! You don't have the right to use your status to control their lives and who they love! They are tired of you abusing your power!" I return his growl as I stare him down, and I can feel the wolves behind me prepare to fight...their low growls and tense bodies an obvious threat to Samson.
"I also came here to give you my first and only warning, that if you don't change the way your pack is run, I will be the one who tears the hierarchy down and rebuilds it...even if I have to take you down myself." I warn him, and the sudden movement of Beta Thomas almost catches me off guard if not for Maka flitting to my side and Tony knocking him to the ground.
"Go ahead Tommy, make my day. I would love to show you how much stronger I've gotten since they day you nearly killed me." Tony almost taunts as he stands over his former abuser, giving him an invitation to stand up and fight...something Tony wasn't given when Thomas and his like minded warriors nearly mauled him to death.
"Because the only way you're touching Kane or Maka is if you go through me first...and I guarantee you that our rematch will be nothing like our last encounter." He continues, and Thomas stays down as he glares up at him angrily with a bloody nose.
~Alpha Kane, the other wolves have been cleared from the territory and I don't see anymore coming, we are prepared to deliver the exit strategy.~ One of the hybrid warriors announces, and with a silent nod to Tony and Maka, I look at Samson one last time.
"Consider yourself warned Samson." I mutter before I signal for the witches to drop the smoke bombs, and I immediately motion for the new warriors behind me to avoid inhaling the smoke as they clear out, me and the witches the last to clear out as the dense smoke covers our escape as the barrier is dropped and we enter the vehicles and peel out.
The only sounds I hear over the engine is Samson's angry roar of a howl, and the cheers of the liberated warriors that surround me.