~ Mila~
‘No!’ Callum, my beta, was seriously pissed off by my choice.
‘It’s the only way Callum. There is already a set border patrol within Crimson Blood territory and evacuating rogue families to Crimson blood territory is the safest thing for them.’
After the meeting with our beta’s and head enforcer Asher and I asked for some time alone so that we could asses our findings and come to certain conclusions and points of action. Retreating from Darklight territory was one measurement we wanted to implement. When we called the beta’s back in Callum was not amused by this decision.
‘I won’t let us abandon our territory.’ He claimed seething.
‘And I won’t either.’ I growled back, hating his tone of voice towards me. ‘Just let me be clear. The warriors will come to Crimson Blood pack grounds. They can help with protecting the borders of this territory, we need to draw back. The territories together are too large and will allow the enemy to slip through our defenses without being noticed. You know that it’s true, it has happened before. To make sure that doesn’t happen we will have to secure this area. The reason we choose this is because there is a pack here and because of the sea on one side it’s easily defendable. This plan comes with minimal risks and it will take care of point number three.’
I pointed towards the board we made. I understood Callum, really I did but right now he needed to get real and understand this was the only way.
He growled at me and shook his head in anger after that he pointed his finger at me. ‘You are wasting your heritage young lady.’
That degrading tone had me seething and I stood up, so did he. Standing almost nose to nose I hissed. ‘Now you listen to me. I am preserving the territory best I can. There is nothing there yet, you told me that yourself! We need Ashers pack to help build ours! We have no means to construct a packhouse or even make sure the new packmembers will be fed in the future. In order to provide income we need a backer so we can start for ourselves. If this pack, which is also my pack now, falls as the enemy probably plans, we will have nothing. Do you understand!?’
I poked his chest and he stepped back and bowed his head in defeat. The reasoning behind my words couldn’t be denied, same went for my higher position over him.
I sat back down and Asher stepped in for a moment. ‘I know you have struggled all these years to make sure that the Darklight packgrounds are preserved and you did a good job at it. But you need to realize that no pack will want to claim lands supposedly guarded by lethal warriors who have a reputation of being everywhere and nowhere. If you do this correctly they might not even know the packlands are unguarded for the time being mainly because of your illusive reputation.’
Callum looked at us and said. ‘I am sorry Alphas, you have a good point. And I agree that this is probably the best solution, I just don’t have to like it.’
I nodded but I could tell Asher was seriously pissed off. ‘What’s wrong.’ I mindlinked him.
‘This beta has been in over his head for years and that has gotten to his head. He’s been pressured into taking on an alpha role and that makes him question authority more than any other beta I’ve ever met. It’s understandable but also very annoying. You need to keep him in check and he needs to take on more beta position. Establish and enforce your own rules with your pack and please don’t be afraid to go against him when you feel like it. Heck, if he goes too far you could strip him from his beta rank.’ He replied the same way.
I didn’t reply because he was right. We were having a mindlink chat and Liam sat in front of us totally relaxed, waiting until we were done while Callum looked annoyed and I could feel that he felt left out of the loop.
In our meeting we had established two leading characters and two pawns who were being led to believe they would help rule whatever it is they were trying to achieve. Yet we couldn’t be sure that this was actually the amount of people involved so that meant that apart from Lunar Sky we couldn’t count on any other pack in the area.
Point number two stated that we needed to find out what their goal was. Only finding the Mai Coh couldn’t be just it. Asher claimed it had to do something with Wolfs rock. Our plan of action was to go there and see if the moon goddess knows anything. And hopefully she would be able to tell me more about what happened with my mother and who the Mai Coh is.
I was also hoping that this vision dreaming would kick in a bit because it had been really helpful that one time in the past. I also asked Aaron to tell me about all the dreams he will have in the future, we needed every ounce of help we could get.
As for part three of our plan we decided to fuse the packs together. It makes a lot more sense seeing that I’m the Luna of one pack and the Alpha of the other. Asher told me that an alpha couple would be a first in the werewolf community but that he was sure we could pull it off.
If we would be so fortunate to have children in the future the pack would be chopped up in several pieces and given to all of them. This would make dealing with pack problems a lot easier.
‘We think that Marcus Grey and Dante Greers are the main instigators behind this plan. Harding is not nearly smart enough to pull it off and from what Aaron told me Duke Caskan is out of control due to his bloodlust and not smart enough to cover his tracks.’ Asher said to the three others.
‘But we can’t be sure?’ Quinn asked.
‘I have a feeling that Sandy knows more, I want to interrogate her.’ I said and looked at Asher. He nodded. ‘We can go there after the meeting and update you three when we are done.’
Quinn and Liam nodded. Callum on the other hand only shook his head. ‘There are too many variables in this plan of your. Why don’t we find the place they are holding the she-wolves?’
‘We try to do that as well but they could be anywhere.’ I said and thought of Kate must be going through. I knew I couldn’t help her right now and that thought was truly killing me. ‘Going in blind won’t benefit us in any way, it will only get people killed in the process. We just told you that we have people looking out for information.’ I answered
‘We need to come up with a plan. I can send my finest trackers.’ He said and flinched, quickly realizing his mistake.
‘Your finest trackers Callum?’ I asked him politely. Calia growled in my mind, he had vowed allegiance to me but Asher was apparently right. He had been on his own for far too long and switching into beta position was hard for him, he was too used to being in control and make all the final decisions.
‘You know what I mean, the trackers I’ve trained. They are really good.’ He corrected himself.
‘I believe that, it’s a good idea and it’s worth considering pairing them up with the team we have already assembled to find information on the whereabouts of the she wolves.’ I looked at Asher because I could use his leadership and experience as an alpha. Callum really did have a point sending out trackers and Darklight warriors were excellently trained. I just couldn’t do nothing to find Kate and the other missing she wolves.
Asher nodded. ‘It is a good idea. Send the men you think are suited towards us and we will instruct them on who to contact and how to proceed further.’
At that Callum bowed and we all stood up.
I mindlinked Asher. ‘I want to talk to Callum on my own for a minute.’ He smiled at me and mindlinked back. ‘Alright, I’ll talk to you in a bit. Do what you think is best sweetheart.’
At that moment I realized just how in tune we were with each other and I smiled back at him. ‘Thank you.’
‘Just a moment Callum.’ I said and sat back down signaling him to do the same. For some reason I liked sitting down when I thought I would have an argument with someone.
When the door closed I looked at Callum. But before I could start he already started talking. ‘I’m sorry Alpha. I know I spoke out of turn.’ He looked at me but his look was in no way remorseful. In fact, he seemed to be defiant and disappointed.
I didn’t answer his words but I spoke my mind as I usually did. ‘Does the fact that I turn out to be a woman disappoint you?’ I had been thinking this since I met the man, little things about him made me think that.
His eyes widened but he didn’t speak and I just couldn’t help myself. ‘Answer me truthfully.’ I barked at him.
His eyes turned into slits. ‘Yes. A man I can train but a frail woman for an alpha? How can I tolerate a woman in such a precarious position? You are a strong girl but a man is superior in every way, you would die in battle. This would have been easier if you were a man.’
Calia growled in my mind and I couldn’t help but laugh. ‘You really think that?’
‘Without a doubt, a man is more equipped to take on an enemy.’
‘So what now? I won’t tolerate a beta with this kind of attitude towards women.’ I asked but I already knew the answer. He had gotten used to power and being respected like an alpha, so he would challenge me for my title and I was about ready to wet my pants because I knew his reputation and the fact that I just lost from several warriors who claimed that they were no match for Callum.
Calia sighed in my mind and then startled me by shouting. ‘You are capable of much more then you think. You need to realize that! You are the descendant of pure blooded alpha’s and you know you can take him on.’
I flinched at that, Calia had a point and I hadn’t been trying to grasp the flood of raw alpha power coursing through me since the Darklight warriors plead their allegiance to me. Would I be able to do so in time?
Calia growled at my insecurities. ‘You have to or we will lose more than just the warriors within the hour.’ She said, which was in no way comforting because I was so stressed I couldn’t think straight.
He stood up. ‘I Callum Smith, challenge you to a duel for alpha position. If you lose you your position as Darklight Alpha will be mine, if not I will revoke my beta rank and comply to your every wish.’
Calia wasn’t finished with her ‘pep’ talk. ‘Your mother has trained you since you were old enough to walk. She wanted you to be ready because she knew where you stem from even though you didn’t know yet.’
That’s when it hit me, my mother had known about me and the warriors and given her talent for visions she must have known a lot more than I was able to imagine. If she had dubbed it a lost cause she would have never trained me since I was barely old enough to walk.
Calia was right, I could do this. Callum might have muscles and experience in training but I had my stronger alpha heritage, my own experience and the knowledge that someone had probably already known the outcome of this fight.
With this conviction I felt my confidence rise and so did my power level. I stood up. ‘I take you up on that challenge.’ And I felt the authority laced words leaving my mouth.
Smith seemed to notice my change in demeanor but he wasn’t scared by it, he simply smirked at me. Was he overly confident? He was used to fighting outside and using his surroundings but how would he do under different circumstances? And he hasn’t seen my skills firsthand, hell I haven’t even seen my skills enhanced by alpha power.
Without further warning I assumed the fighting position and I saw him look at me in shock . ‘Don’t you want to go outside? I wouldn’t want to mess up your pretty library.’
‘Don’t you want to get this over with?’ I asked sarcastically and looked at him, challenging him with my eyes.
He growled and attacked so fast I was barely able to dodge his first blow. But as Calia had said before, my body was highly trained and able to deal with shifting situations and it took me no effort to defend myself and avoid the power behind every strike.
‘Come on kiddo, show me what you got.’ He teased and I growled at him but didn’t go for his opening. As usual with fighting at a certain point I got in the zone where no one could interrupt my focus and I would strategically asses my opponent.
‘You are not bad but not good enough.’ He said and dodged while moving towards me and hitting me in the gut. Fuck! That hurt like hell!
Calia was like my own personal cheerleader and said. ‘Don’t let him get to you, you did great but tap into that power, what needs to happen to make that burst out?!’
I took another blow to the side of my face and I spat out blood at the floor. Callum moved back. ‘Are you ready to give up?’
I just laughed. ‘Give up? I thought this was just a warm up.’ And I attacked him. Ten minutes later we were both panting, I had several bruises and probably a black eye and he was a little less battered. ‘Give up Mila, I could do this all day.’ He said.
‘So when did you decide you wanted the alpha position for yourself? Seeing as you did such a terrific job at it in the first place. Leaving the packhouse, not able to hold on to the packmembers and living an idyllic nomadic lifestyle with your band of warrior brothers.’ I goaded him, seeing as he was such a talkative person while fighting I figured I’d return the favor.
‘Do you think I liked doing that?’ He asked in disbelief. ‘Moving from one place to another? I don’t want to do this.’
‘Apparently you do because why else would you challenge me? I want to rebuild everything you tried to preserve and have the means to do so.’ I hit him in the gut and threw in a kick to the leg before he could recover.
‘The pack won’t be strong enough when their leader is not. You are not strong enough. Give up this fight.’ He said and to prove his point he got behind my defense and his blow smacked me into one of the high chairs after that he stood over me and started bashing in my head.
The pain was agonizing and everything started to fade into black but then I remembered something and that’s when everything changed. Time slowly came to a standstill and I looked into Callums eyes. He seemed hurt and betrayed, and in that moment I felt his mind.
Not in a mindlink kind of state like we were on the telephone but his actual mind, the essence of his being, I felt the loss of his mate, the years of preparation and anxiety that accompanied the loss of his alpha and the search for me. And also his fear of being obsolete and unwanted. But his most primal fear right now was not being able to defend his new alpha and losing her like he did his mate and former Alpha, that’s why he wanted to resume as a makeshift alpha, to protect me.
He looked strong but he was a house of cards ready to fall apart at the slightest touch. I now knew what motivated and drove him to do what he’s doing. Then the moment faded out and I yelled at him. ‘You will never be without family Callum. The Darklight pack will always be your home and I will not die. Let go of that fear.’ Shocked at my words he stepped back and I pushed him but this time he was floored by the sheer force behind that one single push and I looked at my own hands.
He looked up at me and then to the ground. There we were, both battered and bruised and when he looked up again he looked me straight in the eye. ‘Goddess, what have I done?’ He whispered and tears started streaking his cheeks.
Calia smiled. ‘Well done. That was a bit of Alpha power and a whole bunch of she wolf awesomeness.’ She said knowingly.
‘Wait, is that what Ashers father was referring to? This female power?’
‘The ability to look into ones soul and know the other? Yes, knowledge makes us powerful and our opponent vulnerable, when they said knowledge is power they were not kidding.’
I looked at the crying older man who was falling to pieces in front of me and said to Calia. ‘I wish he had just told me instead of making his own plans.’