Chapter 6

The sun was shining but the air was chilly, with flurries of tiny snowflakes swirling around, the roaring of the falls was drowning out our laughter as we splashed and swam. Despite the frost clinging to the pebble shore, we were enjoying our swim and our wolves kept us warm. Leah had been forced to miss training, so it was Nico and I alone for the first time in the last 3 months.

Nico had become a silent ally in our climbing of ranks, it was an unspoken agreement that we didn’t mention his help to anyone. We weren’t entirely sure it was against the rules or not, but I think we all had concerns. Would the Alpha be okay with his son wasting time on bronze ranked wolves? The harsh whispers from Troy and Rayna lingered in the shadows when we passed them. Climbing the ranks wasn’t exactly a team building exercise, it was a competition. The packs tradition believed that an army was only as strong as their weakest warrior and no one wanted to be viewed as the weak link. Instead we clawed our way up, fought fiercer to earn respect. I felt like I belonged somewhere when I was training, I felt like this was home. I didn’t feel the ache for my family, I didn’t long to reach out to Jensen.

Nico hopped out of the water and shook off like a dog even though he was in human form. I laughed, and followed him. I had become comfortable being naked, and neither of us bat an eye when I leapt onto his back in an attempt to tackle him. My small stature didn’t help bring him to the ground, instead he hooked his arms under my legs and took off sprinting into the forest. I shrieked and clung to his neck, the air was ice but our bodies together, our hearts racing with adrenaline, we barely felt it. In 5 months, my life had become so focused on training, but my spirit had grown too. I was no longer a timid weak girl, I was stronger, bolder, and had built two friendships I cherished. They would never be the friend Jensen had been, but that brought me peace instead of pain.

I clung to Nicos back, he was absurdly fast even in human form, darting through trees and jumping over fallen logs. I laughed as leaves and branches whipped my head and I buried my face into his neck. I heard his chest rumble as my breath hit his skin. He was sprinting toward a small lake, a spot we often visited after training. It was near the edge of pack territory, so we weren’t interrupted and could relax. But as we approached the clearing, we both froze, a minute passed before Nico gently released me and I slid to my feet. The alpha stepped into view followed by his beta and they approached us.

The air was heavy and felt wrong, the Alpha raised an eyebrow at me and I lowered my head in submission, tilting my neck onto display.

“We were training” Nico said, breaking the silence

“One on one with an unmated female” The alphas tone was stern, not a question, but a statement

“Usually we have another-“ Nico began but the alpha cut him off

“We will have words later son, return to the pack, a rogue was spotted near here and we’ve received news of further attacks in the east.”

“What?” I glanced up

“The rogue attacks out there have begun again and three packs were wiped out last week, news hadn’t spread because every member of the packs were slaughtered” the beta responded to me before meeting my eye, he had a strange look on his face, “you’re Jessie?”

My stomach dropped, I could feel a heavy weight on my chest “I am..”

“The mountain valley pack..” the beta began, Nico gripped my shoulder and I felt my body tremble “I’m sorry..”

Everything began to spin, I felt myself shifting, howling, screaming. I last saw the look of pity on all three of their faces before Nya and I took off toward home. The burning in my chest, the crippling pain was making it hard to breathe, Nya ran hard, a speed we hadn’t experienced, but it made us sloppy. We leapt a fallen tree, but in our rush we failed to prepare for the rocks on the other side. I felt Nya’s paws hit, our front legs giving out as we smashed head first into the rocks, flipping and flying through the air before our left ribcage met a tree and we crumpled to a heap on the forest floor.

An eerie silence fell around us. We whimpered and didn’t make an effort to stand. I couldn’t tell the difference between our physical pain and our emotional pain. My family was gone..

I barely heard the snap of a twig, Nya shifted her ears in the direction and we listened hard, our ragged breathing making it difficult to truly focus on the sounds. We saw a scrawny white wolf step slowly toward us. He smelled foul, his paws and legs were nearly black with dirt, matted fur that was missing chunks and smeared with blood. His eyes narrowed and his ears pinned back a slight snarl on his lips. Rogue.

Nya tried to stand, but our front leg was clearly broken and the pain made us collapse again, rattling our broken ribs and she hacked up blood. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t..’ she told me before I felt myself shift back.

The pain in human form was almost blinding and I felt myself vomit, my face on the forest floor. The rogue watched, but his predatory stance shifted, he stepped closer and I moaned in pain, trying to scoot away. I felt his breath on my head, he sniffed and nudged me. I was trembling, from shock and fear. Was I going to die here? Broken on the forest floor, not even able to fucking defend myself?

A blur of brown suddenly burst through the trees and I heard a loud crash and a yelp. Growling and snapping jaws sliced through the air before I blacked out.

“What do you mean you let him escape?” The anger in the tone woke me

“She was half dead-“

“IRRELEVANT” Nya coward in fear at the alpha aura radiating through the voice “your plaything is not more important than the safety of the pack, you will be wise to remember that in the future lest I have to teach you a lesson in priorities”

“He was pathetic, even for a rogue” Nico growled, “he’s not a threat”

“Then you should have killed him quickly, never underestimate a rogue boy, you’ll never be alpha material like this” his voice was low and deadly, “and stop fucking around with an unmated female, neither of you are of age and your future mates won’t be pleased if you ruin yourselves for a few minutes of lust”

“We’re just friends”

“I’m not stupid Nico”

“It’s not like that”

“And what exactly do you gain from training with a low ranked wolf?” His voice boomed, “Anyone with eyes can see how you feel, you need a powerful Luna, that she-wolf is not good enough to lick your fucking feet, she may be a looker, but she’s a threat to your future”

I could feel a blush burning my face as a door slammed shut,

“I can see your embarrassment” Nico said in a harsh whisper tone “you don’t need to pretend to sleep any more”

My eyes snapped open and I looked over at him. He was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed and his face dark with anger. “I’m sorry.. I didn’t mean to listen” I said quietly, sitting up and wincing as pain radiated through me.

“You broke your back, and a few ribs, there was also a punctured lung” his face softened as he saw my discomfort “the pack doctor said you’ll be okay to leave in a few hours, you just need some rest”

I nodded and laid back down, not wanting to discuss what was said between him and his father, I pulled the soft white sheets up and curled onto my side. “Nico.. is it true?” I asked, my eyes prickling with tears and I gazed at him “about my pack..” I added

He was stiff when he nodded, looking away. I turned and buried my face into the pillow as I sobbed, my whole body shaking with the force of my anguish.

The door clicked open “I’m back, I brought sandwiches, the hospital food was awful” Leahs voice drifted in, but I didn’t turn, I didn’t want to face anyone right now. “Is she-?” I’m guessing Nico nodded because Leah stopped talking and approached the bed. I felt her hand stroke my hair, before a crinkling and an Italian sub held near my face. “Jess, I brought your favorite..”

“I’m not hungry” my voice was muffled in my pillow, but Nya whined in my head and my stomach let out a large grumble. I heard Nico chuckle quietly. I sat up, my eyes puffy from crying and I took the sandwich with a pout. My breathing shuddering from the sobbing I had done. I chewed angrily, just eating enough to quiet my stomach before I curled up again.

Leah and Nico spoke quietly, with my wolf senses I could hear them but ignored them until I heard them discussing the rogue situation.

“There’s talk that it’s going to be a full on war” Leah whispered, she sounded scared

“We’ve already sent warriors to the east packs to help aid in defenses” Nico said through a bite of sandwich

“So it is war then?”

“No, but we can’t allow them to keep destroying packs, if it continues then it will be a war and it won’t be one we can win at the rate our numbers are declining”

Nya pushed to the surface, her wolf voice rougher than my own “I’ll fucking kill them all”

Nico and Leah flinched at the sudden outburst.

“We will bring the rogues to their fucking knees and rip their heads from their necks” she growled before I was able to take control again.

Leah looked startled, she always had the view that she would be a happy wolf mate, lots of pups running around and her training was just to impress her future mate and be able to defend herself and her pups. I knew the idea of fighting wasn’t one she was particularly keen on.