Chapter 26
I disappeared again. This time, I had good reasoning. I graduated from college and got a job in accounting. That means tax season happened and I was working 10-11 hours a day. It was a lot, but worth it.
Aside from that, I do plan on finishing Felicity's story and then I'll either work on some major re-writes, finish River's story, or start a few new ones I've been toying with. I don't know, but I've got a lot of ideas floating around in my head and I would really get the words down somewhere.
This chapter is dedicated to Akiro_Rise! Thank you for the lovely comment and I hope I can relieve some of that suspense =]
Anyway, I hope everyone's doing well. Let's get on with this story.
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Felicity
I was horrified by the sight before my eyes. Every wolf in this clearing was matted with blood. Every wolf was engaged in some type of conflict. Every living wolf.
My mother had brought more warriors than there were men in Cole's coalition. In fact, it didn't even look like all of Cole's men were here. About half of them seemed to be missing. Was there another fight going on in another location?
My eyes scanned the battle field looking at the sea of wolves fighting against one another. I'd never seen a battle happening before my very eyes and I could tell by the expressions of most of Cole's men, that many of them hadn't either. Still, many fought with the skills of seasoned warriors. They're animalistic instincts helping them fight for their lives.
Yet, as I scanned the ground before me, I noticed that not all of them had been so lucky.
Oliver.
My breath caught in my throat before a small whine escaped my jaws. On unsteady legs, I stumbled over to his body as if I were a newborn foal walking for the first time.
As I approached, the scent of his blood became stronger and stronger. The clothes on his body were in tatters with claw marks and crimson stains. His throat had been torn out and it was hard to stare at anything other than the shredded flesh that was still pooling blood under his neck. The worst part was his empty eyes looking back at me. Those eyes once held so much joy and energy. Now they were just blank.
Once I was next to him, I phased back and dropped to my knees. My hands hovered over his body as I tried to process what was happening. I didn't know whether I should check for a pulse I know wouldn't be there or reach down to hold his lifeless hand against my chest.
Beyond me, wolves were still fighting oblivious to this moment. With shaking fingers, I closed his eyes and then ran them gently along his face. "I'm so sorry," I whispered.
This shouldn't have happened. I should've found a way to prevent this fight. Oliver shouldn't have died at seventeen. He shouldn't have died in a battle against my pack.
Except he did and I can't help but feel responsible for it.
Just as I was about to get up and do something to stop all this madness and chaos going on around me, I heard a loud bark. I scrambled to my feet and swung around to see the fight going on between my mother and my mate.
I phased back to my other form and watched as two white wolves covered in dirt, sweat, and blood attacked each other. It looked as if their fight had been going on for some time. A few wolves from my pack that were not engaged in combat, stood aside to watch what must be a historical confrontation.
My mother had quite a few bites and scrapes, but Cole looked to be getting the worst of it. He wasn't putting all of his weight on his back left leg and he had a nasty bite just above his rib cage on the same side. What stood out to me the most was the deep cut just under his right eye that my mother's claw had most likely inflicted.
I watched as my mother's claws swiped him again and Cole barely dodged it. I didn't understand what was happening. Cole was a better fighter than this. I'd seen him train and he was able to take down his opponents easily. He seemed distracted or he holding back.
That must've been it. Cole had to be holding back. My mother was striking to kill, but he was only trying to fight her off. After everything, he wasn't trying to kill her. Was he doing this for me?
I didn't have much longer to ponder the thought because my mother faked a lunge towards Cole, getting him to put a bit of weight on his bad leg before actually going in for the hit. Cole let out a piercing yelp. My mother's teeth sunk into the side of his neck just above Cole's right shoulder. My mate struck back as he furiously clawed at her side to shake her off. She hung on a bit longer before jumping back, leaving Cole to fall to the ground.
No!
I bolted towards their fight, dodging wolves that stood in my way. I kept my eyes trained on my mother as she crouched low and bunched her muscles. She was getting ready to deliver the kill shot as Cole struggled to get to his feet.
I pushed myself faster than I ever have. My legs ate up the ground, but it seemed to take agonizingly long to get to the white wolves. Just as I was about to break through the crowd of wolves that were watching the scene unfold, my mother lunged in Cole's direction.
In a last-ditch effort, I launched myself towards my mother.
We collided midair as my head found her ribs. She cried out in surprise as she tumbled to her side a few feet away. I landed ungracefully on my feet and shook my head, trying to shake off the slight pain. Behind me Cole whined and I my heart broke as I saw him laying on the ground, bleeding profusely.
Quickly, I made my way towards him and nuzzled his face with my snout. I would not let things end here for us. I maneuvered my body so I stood over Cole and braced myself for what was coming next.
My mother steadily got to her feet and shook out her fur before letting out a fearsome growl. She bared her teeth and stalked towards us. After a moment, she seemed to realize I was the one who knocked her down. Her steps faltered as she regarded me stationed over my fallen mate. Her gaze was cold and calculated.
I bared my teeth at her and took up a defensive crouch. There was no mistaking it anymore. I'd chosen a side in this war and it wasn't hers. It was time to make her see what all of these years of fighting was doing to her family.
Fighting around had ceased for the time being as everyone on both sides of the battlefield looked to see what Clarity would do. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Garrett and my father push through the crowd of wolves surrounding us. I heard steps come behind me and when I briefly glanced over my shoulder, I was relieved to find Declan and Zach at my flanks.
My attention turned back to my mother and I watched as her body trembled slightly before she stood on two legs once again. "Well, now I know where your allegiance lies, Felicity," she said in a hard tone.
I let out a soft sigh before transforming back into my human form. I stepped in front of Cole and gave her a sad smile. "This isn't an us versus them situation. But until you realize that, I choose to protect my mate and fight with him."
The wolves from my pack that weren't aware that Cole was my mate, turned to look at each other. They may have known that the situation was complex, but the fact that Cole was my mate complicated things further. Having my pack fight against my mate was an impossible test of loyalty for me and now they knew it.
"How can you say that?" Clarity ground out. "He declared war on me."
I only shook my head. "But you made the first move."
Her hands tightened into fists at her side, but didn't move from the few yards of distance between us. "War is war. It's inevitable. If I didn't make the first move-"
"No!" I cut her off sharply. "War is death and violence." My gaze looked to where Oliver's body lay. Dustin and a few other wolves now sat next to it, mourning the loss of their brother. I cleared my throat and took a deep breath. "That is war."
Clarity's eyes followed mine and her body stilled. No one under twenty-one ever fought in her army. Seeing a boy of seventeen dead at the hands of her warriors couldn't be a welcoming sight for her.
"He was my age," I said after a moment. She turned towards me again. I couldn't get a read on her. She was stone cold as ever. "He didn't join Cole and his men to fight in a war."
"He still joined them," she said. "He still made the decision."
I shook my head and bit my lip. I let out a huff and gave her a small, sad smile. She just didn't understand. "No. He joined them because he had no where to go. He didn't have a pack or a family and they welcomed him into theirs. He is here fighting for his family as they fight to survive."
"You don't survive by threatening packs with armies twice the size of their own," Clarity said incredulously.
I glanced back at Declan. He phased and stepped to my side. "We sent thirty-seven men home last night," he stated. "We didn't have the intention to fight today. We wanted to make plans for peace. The men that left were the ones that were after war. The ones that stayed, stayed for Cole."
Clarity's eyes narrowed. "How can you expect me to believe that?"
"I don't," he said. "But I don't believe the spirits would put two white wolves on this planet at the same time just so they could fight a war with each other."
That silenced my mother. The spirits were sacred and they protected our kind. White wolves appeared to fix mistakes made by our kind. Clarity was here do extinguish the oppression of women in our world. Cole was here to rid our world from the violence that plagued it.
"Neither do I," I said. "I think Cole was put here to stop the violence that you engage in. The violence you started when you were rising to power."
"I rose to power to give women of our kind a chance to prove themselves. So they had the same privileges of men. So they had a chance to be more than child bearers and housekeepers. We were not meant for that life!" Clarity exclaimed.
I could see the pain in her eyes when she spoke. It was the first time in my life that I could detect some type of emotion in them. She had always been stone cold, but talking about her past brought something out in her. Clarity was born a powerful wolf and she wasn't meant to bow at the feet of a man. She was meant to stand out.
That is not the issue. She did a lot of good for our world. In some ways, she just lost sight of that.
"I'm not disagreeing with you," I told her. I pursed my lips and glanced over to where Garrett stood next to my father. "Today when we left, I realized something. When you helped women get to power, you also took it away from some men. Now, it's either a man or a woman is an alpha. It shouldn't be that way. An alpha should rule as a pair with his or her mate. We are nothing in this world without our mates."
Clarity opened her mouth to respond, but closed it. She looked over at my dad and they seemed to have a silent conversation with him when they made eye contact.
"You make all the decisions and he lets you. It works for you, but there's no balance of power. You fought for equality. But in this pack, you and Dad are not equal," I finished.
Her attention was back on me. "I can't change the past, Felicity."
"I'm not asking you to."
"Then what do you want?"
I looked at the wolves surrounding us. They looked at me expectantly. It was a strange feeling to have people look to me for an answer. They'd always looked through me. Right now, they're seeing me.
"Remember this day. What I've said. And try to change where our futures are heading. If you really want to achieve equality, and not just power, be better than this." I turned to face my pack and Cole's men. "We need to be better than this. The only way this stops is if we stop it. If we don't, then we'll just destroy each other."
A few of Clarity's wolves exchanged glances with each other. A lot of them had their eyes on me and looked at me like they would look at Clarity. They looked at me like an alpha. After a moment, about half of them phased back.
My brother took a step towards my mother. "Felicity's right, Mom. We can't keep living this way."
Clarity closed her eyes. She took a deep breath before opening them and looking towards the sky. No one said anything for a moment. Then, she turned away and walked back towards the woods. Once she got to the tree line, she shifted back to her stark white wolf. She gave me one last, hard look before disappearing through the foliage.
Her pack members started following after her. I stood my ground as I watched them leave. Everyone of them that had come, left on their own. None of them were carried away. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to say the same about the wolves that had fought against them.
Besides Oliver, three others had fallen today. Almost everyone else was injured or one way or another. Most of them would be able to heal. I was uncertain about the others. I could only hope that those who could help them were able to save them.
As Clarity's pack vanished through the trees, I thought about the look she'd given me. It told me that she was not coming back here, but it also told me that we were done. I wouldn't be welcome home anytime soon, if ever again. I had finally stood up for myself and what I believed in. In doing so, I lost my pack, my home, and my family.
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There's chapter 26 uploaded and completed. Not edited because I have no time to do that if I want this to get out and keep writing. Plus, I feel like I'm in the home stretch so I just want to keep going. If anyone notices an error and wants to politelypoint it out, I would be very grateful.
Thank you all for reading and keeping up with my erratic writing schedule. You're all superstars for putting up with me!
Until next time,
OlympusPlayer