Chapter 3

 

Her heart beat a fast rhythm against her chest, sadness resonating in her bones as she waited for her father. He stood not far from her conversing with Beta Hokan about their departure. Her beast was anxious at the troubles they faced.

Their trip south would take them a few hours with their enhanced agility, no need to hold back for slower wolves. She would match her father’s pace with ease. The messengers had left a trail for them to follow but they didn’t need it. They both remembered the way far too well.

The memories that had plagued her since the messenger’s announcement the day before had troubled her, blood and death, so much death. It was a sickness upon her mind, her beast howled within her in pain.

She hoped whatever they faced would not be a replay of the past.

She toed at the moss beneath her feet and let her hands brush down the soft material of the long cloak she wore with a sigh. Her breath came out in a puff of white, the cold air bit against her skin but it didn’t affect her in any way. Growing up beside the mountains, in the forest, allowed her to become accustomed to the elements. Their blood ran cooler than their southern cousins, the cold was nothing to her.

“Are you ready, Ada?”

Adelaide turned at her father’s voice and nodded. His cloak matched hers, the furs around the collars brushed their necks. The collars were bear fur and passed down from their ancestors. The one she wore was her mothers, her fathers belonged to her grandfather.

She turned and took one last look at the pack before turning away, a sinking feeling in her gut. Her cloak swinging behind her as she fell into step with her father. Their feet crunching against the hard frost on the ground as they let the forest swallow them.

“Don’t dwell on the past,” Her father said softly as they walked.

“Something isn’t right. If a war is happening, then why would they command us to come as advisors?” She pondered allowed, her brows pulling together in thought.

“I sense your unease. We are merely going to observe and assess,” He told her, trying to comfort her electrified nerves.

“I do not wish to partake in the destruction of more lives. You are risking yourself and the pack by going to this meeting,” She chided.

“It is as if you wish for my death, daughter. It’s all you seem to talk about these days,” He told her.

Mirth covered his features as she looked at him and she bristled. Her eyes flashed with her beast and her canines descended as she released a snarl and snapped her teeth before striding forward.

“Do not joke about such things,” She threw back.

She heard him sigh as she picked up her feet and let her body flow into a run. Footfalls behind her signalled her father keeping up with her pace as the world blurred around her.

Her nose picked up the keen, sharp, smell of the male messenger and she followed it loosely as she made her own was through the dense forest. It was no surprise it had taken them time to find them, they had retreated deep into the wild territories that had not been chartered after the downfall of mankind. While new pack lines were being drawn, they had withdrawn with pride. Warriors did not fight or negotiate over new lands like hyenas.

Their retreat to their ancestral home, the beginning of the pack, had proven a strategic move on their part. They had gone ten years without any disturbance from the national council, now their peace was shattered. Danger lurked in the dark.

Her heart sank as she noticed the change in the environment around them. The harsh rocky terrain of the North changed to soft grass and tall oak trees that towered overhead. The air was still cool, winter had yet to reach them, and no frost graced the ground.

Adelaide slowed her pace and allowed her father to take the lead. They had left their territory not long ago and her father needed to be seen as all powerful with no weakness. If she was seen as his lead, then they would assume he was no longer the leader of his pack. They would assume the loss of her mother had weakened him.

Weakness was not an option in their world.

The hair on the back of her neck prickled as their pace began to slow, the sun high in the sky, it was midday. The forest began to thin around them, and they slowed to a walk, jogging out of their run until their footfalls fell into a steady step. She walked slightly behind her father, their shoulders almost touching as they broke through the treeline. Close enough to shield from any attack.

 

Her eyes scanned the area before her breath caught in her throat. The sight of the stone circle was like a lead weight in her stomach, her eyes flashing rusty red at her disdain. Her guard up and her face blank of all emotion as they continued to walk towards it.

Each step filled her with dread and her beast began to stalk within her mind, the scent of some many Alpha’s in one place setting her instincts on fire. Clawed hands clenched at the fabric inside her cloak as her gums ached, the need to dominate rising. Her father was calm as he walked forward, the complete opposite of her frazzled composure.

“I thought nothing scared you, daughter,” Her father whispered under his breath as voices reached their ears.

Her lip curled at his words as she forced her beast back, diplomacy aced the need to snarl at her father’s words. Her guard stayed up as she stretched her fingers, forcing the claws to recede with gritted teeth and eyes to turn to their usual crystalline blue.

The voices grew louder as they approached, her ears trying to find the difference between friend and foe from their tones of voice. It was hard to distinguish without knowing the context of their summons. She saw them all as enemies, she had suffered greatly at their hands.

Silence greeted them as they came into view. The loud, arguing voices of the Alpha’s quieting down so that a pin could drop in their presence. They knew power when greeted with it. They did not bow and show their necks as a sign of respect to her father as they should have done, he never demanded it of them.

Instead they stood, or sat, frozen in place at the sight of their presence. As if they were not expected.

“Jonah.”

Both of their heads turned towards the questioning, confused voice. His tone was warm and soft, like honey against her ears. He still had broad shoulders from what she could see, he sat at the large round table, his bottom half hidden from view. A long, straight nose was one of the more noticeable parts of his features with a full head of cropped grey hair atop his head. The wrinkle lines around his eyes and mouth curled at the smile he sent to her father at his appearance.

His scent still stank of a spiced musk, even after so many years. She wrinkled her nose, disgusting.

“Norman,” Her father replied, politely.

“What are you doing here?” He questioned, airing the question every Alpha wanted the answer too. He seemed just as surprised as the others.

She watched as they took their seats at the table, their Beta’s standing behind them in a wide legged stance. A strong front. She let her eyes wander over their non-impressive forms. She could crush them if she wanted too, her wolf would take pleasure in it. Their power was nothing compared to that of herself and her father. He was a king among kings.

“I sent for him,” A voice stated from the right.

The smirk on his face immediately grated on her nerves, a cocky Alpha. Normally they were egotistical and had exceedingly high testosterone levels. It also came with a superiority complex. He wasn’t as unimpressive as the others; she remembered his bright green eyes and black hair that stood out against his deeply tanned skin. A scar ran down his face from his eyebrow to his chin, cutting through his lip in a clean cut.

She had given him that scar.

He probably thought he was smart for tracking them down.

He would live to regret it. She thought.

The table of Alpha’s broke out into a jumble of words and sentences that she didn’t bother to make sense of. Her nerves still on edge at the threats each of these Alpha’s posed. Seven sat at the table, seven lives to end if they threatened her father. She had trusted no one since their retreat from the world.

They stayed silent as the Alpha’s argued amongst themselves, it was obvious there was no clear leader between them. Pitiful, even Alpha’s needed a leader to ground them in place.

She grew tired of their bickering quickly and allowed her canines to descend as her vocal cords twisted. She let out a long, guttural roar as they each quietened down and looked to her with wide eyes as silence descended once again.

“Gentlemen, you remember my daughter,”