Amanda found herself slowly return to consciousness. The world remained black and she couldn't move, but she began to hear voices around her. Some were too quiet to discern, while others she could pick out sometimes. Jade's voice came through the most, asking people not to bother Amanda and responding that obviously she's not awake yet. Amanda figured she was the one watching over her.
At one point, Amanda heard Nina's smooth, lilting speech, but couldn't pick out the words. A few minutes later she heard a door gently shut. Jade hummed softly a tuneless song and Amanda felt a light breeze across her face. Concentrating a little more, she could begin to feel Jade's fingers stroking through her hair. With all her effort, Amanda pushed her eyelids opened. They fluttered a couple times against the strain before she could see light. Gaining control over her body, she blinked slowly to refocus her eyes.
The ceiling came into view first and Amanda slowly turned her head from left to right to judge her surroundings. She was not quite ready to test the rest of her body. Quickly, she noted that she was in her room, on her bed. Jade hovered over her, a worried expression clouding her face.
"Oh, thank God! Are you okay?" Jade yelled in her face.
Amanda opened her mouth to respond, but she coughed instead. After swallowing a couple times to clear her throat, she answered, "I think so. What happened?"
"Apparently you walked two steps outside and then just passed out. Dominic and Chase grabbed you before you hit the ground, fortunately. Then Chase carried you up here," Jade explained.
"How long was I out for?" Amanda asked.
"About two hours. Not too long, but long enough for everyone to freak out." Jade gave a forced laugh. "Actually, we should go tell everyone you're awake."
Amanda tried to sit up causing stars to dance in front of eyes. She groaned and covered her eyes with a hand. Jade reached around to hold her shoulders.
"Slowly, slowly. They can wait. They've been waiting this long anyway," said Jade.
Feeling like she had been hit by a bulldozer, Amanda rose from her bed at a snail's pace leaning more heavily on Jade than she was willing to admit. Sorting out her thoughts, she decided that she should wait until she was steady on her feet before attempting the stairs. Jade helped her sit on the side of the bed and handed her a cup of water that had been sitting on the table.
A few minutes later, Amanda nodded resolutely at Jade and pushed herself to her feet. Moving slowly with Jade holding her elbow, she made her way down the stairs successfully. As she reached the bottom, she could hear raised voices coming from the kitchen. Jade and her exchanged a look and hurried towards the sounds. As they approached, they could begin to understand the words.
"Who...to speak...our alpha..." said a voice that sounded like Dominic.
"...stop it!" yelled Nina, surprising Jade and Amanda. Clearly everyone else was just as surprised, as the yelling seemed to stop for a moment.
Jade quietly pushed open the kitchen doors and the two women peered inside to assess the scene. In the kitchen, Devon leaned against the counter with his arms across his chest. Dominic stood across from him, red faced and panting. He was looking at Nina who was holding his arm. Although her body was positioned towards Dominic, her gaze rested across the room where Chase stood. Unlike the others, his face betrayed no emotion. His arms hung loose at his side and his stance was wide. If they were humans, Amanda would have thought Chase was an innocent bystander, but being a werewolf, she could see that he was ready to transition at any moment. A look at Chase's eyes showed that he was the most fired up of them all.
Concerned for the safety of the others in the room, Amanda took no time to make her presence known. "Hello, guys. I'm sorry I scared everybody, but I'm alright," she said bursting through the doorway.
Four pairs of eyes snapped to her and the tension in the room faltered. Everyone stood stock still for a moment, then Devon walked to Amanda and enveloped her in a hug.
"I'm so glad you're okay. You scared me," he said into her ear.
Amanda didn't move a muscle as he held her, arms dangling at her sides and eyes wide as saucers. Once Devon let go, she stared at his face like he was a stranger. The pack members in the room looked back and forth between Devon and Amanda with confusion.
Devon's expression turned sheepish and with a shy smile and a shrug he said "She's my mate."
The confusion turned to fear. Nina and Dominic backed away from the center of the room. Jade grabbed Amanda's elbow as Amanda bumped backwards into her.
Chase, still stone-faced, strode closer to Devon closing the distance between them. When they were almost toe to toe, he stopped.
"I'm sorry. You must be mistaken. You meant 'was'," Chase said, his tone low and even.
"Excuse me?" Devon said. He pulled himself up tall, matching Chase for height.
"You said Amanda is your mate. You should say Amanda was your mate. You missed out on that opportunity," Chase said through his teeth.
Now it was Devon's turn to be confused. "Well that doesn't make sense. Once mates, always mates. Isn't that how the whole thing works?"
Devon's question was met with silent stares as he glanced around the room. Amanda noticed Chase's frustration and stepped out to speak.
"Um, Devon? You rejected me, remember? So, if that's why you're here, I think you should just go," Amanda said.
Her headache increased briefly, making her dizzy. She took a step forward and grabbed Chase's sleeve to steady herself. Concerned, he turned towards her and grasped her hip to support her.
Devon's eyes flashed at the exchange. "So, what your parents have been saying is true. You've found another mate." His face turned red. "This is not acceptable. Amanda, get away from him."
It was Amanda's turn to look confused. "I'm sorry, what?"
"You are my mate, Amanda, and I'm not giving you up to some pretend alpha just because he's impressed you with his house and his city. I'm not going home until you come with me," Devon declared.
Amanda looked at him with horror. She remembered all the years she had had a crush on Devon, waxing poetically on how handsome he was to Cassie. Although he barely spoke to her, she remembered him being kind and polite to other pack members and had been impressed at his relationship with his parents. Now he was even more handsome, yet his family had left him to move west and Cassie had mentioned that he had been struggling in the pack recently.
As Amanda righted herself, she tried to come up with the words to explain to Devon that her feelings weren't so simple anymore. Before she could gather her thoughts, Chase pushed her behind him and growled.
"I will not allow you to take Amanda anywhere. Amanda is my mate now. You lost your chance." Chase's voice sounded more beast than human.
Devon snorted. "Fine. Be that way. I challenge you to a duel then. The winner will be the one most worthy of Amanda."
Enraged, Chase yelled back. "Fine! Tomorrow at noon then. Prepare yourself."
Satisfied, Devon stomped out of the room and up the stairs.
Those remaining in the kitchen glanced around at each other nervously. Chase took a slow, deep breath and turned towards Amanda. She stared into his eyes, searching for his impetus in his actions. Seeing her expression, Chase grabbed her hands, but she ripped them away. Wordlessly, she pushed past Jade and retreated to her own room to process what had just happened.
Author's Note:
So...that happened. Devon challenged Chase to a duel, which, if you remember how Chase became alpha, that might not have been the best move. Do you think Devon has a chance?
Amanda seemed pretty pissed afterwards. What do you think she wanted to have happen? Who do you think she's the most mad at?
Also, are you wondering where the hunter went? Don't worry, I didn't forget about him. It will all make sense soon...I hope.
Thank you for continuing to stick with me. Please vote and comment to let me know how I'm doing and ways I can improve!