"ow he eal ame egins."

"Just tell me what happened, Beta Ezra!" I exclaim for the thousandth time, as he speeds the car down the smooth roads leading to our Pack, his eyes tight and backbone taut with tension. He glances at me for a split-second, then fixes his eyes steadily on the almost empty road, his fingers tightening around the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip.

"Nothing, Aleph. Our Alpha will take care of it." He replies, trying to act indifferent, but the tight lines around his eyes and the hard line he has his lips pressed, suggests otherwise.

"You have never let her go by herself before, have you?" I guess, trying to put the pieces together, surmising up their odd behavior. A tight nod is the only answer he gives, as he goes back to fretting internally.

Oh, how he must hate me right now for keeping him from protecting his Alpha from Goddess knows what might be the problem!

"Is it rouges?" I prompt, trying to get a clue of the situation. I'd thought it'd be easy to get the answer out of Beta Ezra, due to his loud mouth and cheerful demeanor, but surprisingly, he's being extremely tight-lipped about this situation.

A harsh, humorless laugh bubbles from his throat and he casts me a look before turning away.

"If it were Rouges, I'd probably be getting it on with Emerald right now, not having a care in the world. 'Cause believe me when I say that Alpha has no problem holding her own against weak, pathetic creatures, who are powerless without a leader." He says bitterly, trying to maintain the poker face, which is rebelling so hard against him to drop.

I blanch at his bold admission about his private life, but my worry for Seneca overpowers my prudent need to blush at such comments. My pale face pales further in evident displeasure, but no matter how much I try to convince myself, it doesn't work. He takes a look at my ghastly pale features and his face pinches in concern, finally emotion penetrating his insouciant façade.

"Don't worry about it, Aleph. Alpha Mates will be able to sense extreme emotions of their other half even before Mating at times. Your added worry will only make things worse. Please." He rasps, his dark brows drawn together in an expression of mixed feelings.

I nod slowly, trying to erect the walls that kept me sane in the aftermath of my 'Mother's' drunk escapades and tantrums and keep all my emotions tucked into a neat corner in my mind. Fortunately, it works, and my palpitating heart slows down, calming down to a steady tempo.

Suddenly, the car slides out of control, the speeding tires screeching across the road with a deafening roar. Quick as lightning, Beta Ezra takes control of the wheel, slamming his foot down the brakes and regaining equilibrium. The car lurches to a jerky stop, inches short of running over three humungous Wolves, standing with their teeth bared and hackles raised.

I know better than to suggest that we run them over with the car and escape because that would cause more damage to the car than to the Wolves before us. Beta Ezra's furious snarl surprises me, and I turn to him in panic, fearing that he might shift inside the car itself, as I observe the quakes of his bulky frame.

His canines extend and his eyes flash gold, so different yet powerful than his usual baby blues. "Please stay in the car, Aleph." He growls, and I don't know whether it's him or his inner Wolf speaking.

"But—" I start to protest, only to get cut off by an angry glare. "You're not trained enough to fight Warriors, Aleph boy! Your safety matters more than your pride! Just do as I say!" He commands, and I stifle my Wolf's morbid urge to tell him off for irrespective behavior to a person who outranks him.

'We may be higher in rank, but we're still not trained or powerful enough. Until then, you can't expect him to respect us, or submit to us!' I snap at him, pushing him down.

I nod obediently at Beta Ezra and he hurriedly undoes his seat belt to get out of the car. He pauses, breathing deeply. "If I don't make it, tell Seneca that I love her and not to blame herself for something that's my decision," With one last look, he throws the scissor doors open and leaps out of the car, bursting into a majestic black wolf midair. His once fashionable clothes tear into barely recognizable pieces of tattered fabrics, as they fall to the floor.

Woah, that was impressive. I didn't know anybody could shift like that . . .

He lands on the ground on all fours, snapping his teeth and growling. His power emanates off him in threatening waves, as he stands taller than the three obviously powerful opponent Wolves.

It's easy to say that they're powerful and not weak like Rouges, because their eyes are of different colors, unlike the standard pitch black ones that the Rouges possess. And their furs are also well-groomed in shades of grey, a sandy color, and the last Wolf a white color with dark brown patches.

In the blink of an eye, the grey Wolf launches himself on Beta Ezra's black one, his jaws snapping at anything he could find. Beta Ezra dodges his attacks effectively, snapping and biting and things seem to go well until White one pounces on his back.

One of Beta Ezra's paws pushes the grey one off his feet, and before he could recover, Beta turns to White, pushing him off his back. He goes for the kill at White's exposed neck when Sandy intervenes, biting hard on Beta Ezra's leg from behind.

Beta Ezra yelps and pulls back, pushing the Wolf off him, and I squint, trying to see if his injury is fatal. Fortunately, the teeth marks are barely visible, which would heal within the fight finishes. I itch to go out and join them, but going there would only distract Beta Ezra as he would try to protect me if I'm getting beaten.

Just then, something slams into the passenger door of the car, violently smashing it. I jump and slowly peer out the dark-tinted window to see Grey. He's now taking a few steps back to slam his body again against the door. In mind freezing fear, I turn around to see Beta Ezra struggling to hold himself against two Wolves equally trained as him, caught in a crucial hold.

Before I could explore any further options, there's a rattling bang, and this time the bulletproof glass cracks, sending shards and pieces of sharp crystal showering over me. Instinct kicks in, and the moment the smashed, mangled piece of metal that was once the door falls off the hinges, I jump out, calling to my inner animal.

Once let out of the harness, my Wolf tears out of my walls, exploding into a mass of chocolate brown fur on four legs. I growl at the Wolf before me and try to summon some, any of the power, or authority that an Alpha's Mate has, and is said to be born with, but it just doesn't work!

He doesn't bow his head or shrink back slightly the way Wolves tend to do when faced with the fury of Wolves from the Alpha family. Much to my terror, he growls back, but I sense a hint of mockery in his tone.

'He's underestimating us. We can use it to our advantage,' I observe, as I devise a strategy to attack.

Grey charges forward, and I use my wiry frame as a bonus, sliding under his foot to the other side. He blinks for a second before turning around and at that small second, I go for his rear leg, my teeth clamping hard. But before I could bite him hard enough to do real damage, he pushes his leg back with such force that I tumble to the ground at the impact, the right side of my body scraping against the rough pavement.

Through a bleary pain-filled haze, I see that Beta Ezra has gotten out of the chokehold he'd been stuck in, and has taken a huge chunk off White's left shoulder. leaving him whimpering in pain. Now his only competition is Sandy, who's proving to be the fastest and most agile of the three.

A roar grabs my attention and I turn just in time to see Grey charging forward, his jaws open, going for the kill. The danger of the situation pumps adrenaline into my weakened body, giving me enough boost to roll away from him in the last second.

Before he could lean back and turn his big head to catch me, I leap forward and clamp my jaws hard around the pulsating flesh in his throat, where I assume his voice box would be.

Grey howls in agony, and his paws fumble around trying to push me off. I bite harder, but in a particularly forceful shove, his front paws land hard on my chest, scratching and shoving me off him brutally. I land on the ground with a pained whine, my head hitting the hard ground with a sickening thud. Pain blinds my vision for a solid length of time, and my limited strength completely drains at the blow.

I curl to a fetal position as my head throbs with unbearable pain, making me dizzy and disoriented. Distantly I hear a roar and Grey looming over me, before a blur of black leaps in-between us, throwing itself at Grey. The two Wolves fight and push each other, rolling around and growling past me, and as I'm struggling to pull myself up, something strange happens.

The ground under me vibrates slightly.

Is it an earthquake?

It takes me a second to realize that it's actually the sound of paws hitting the ground at full speed.

Three Wolves burst into the road from the forest, their multi-colored furs a blur of color emerging from the thick cover of green trees. The One in the middle is huge, and Black as well, with a few stripes of white down its back, but what catches my attention is the power of an Alpha radiating off it.

For a fraction of a second, just for a fraction, I think it's Seneca, and then I realize that the Wolf is actually a male and not a female.

The fighting Wolves—Beta Ezra and Grey—continue as if nothing's going on around them, but I catch a moment when Grey meets Alpha's eyes, a silent message passing in between them. All the hairs on my back raise as Alpha nods his wolfy head at the two Wolves flanking him, and in one horrifying second, they leap forward, the Brown and Black one joining the hassle and the other—reddish-brown one—heading away from them.

Which is towards . . .me.

'No!' I think, as I try to move off the ground, but the sudden movement of my injured head causes black spots to blind my vision. I yelp in pain, and the Wolf lands on me, clawing at my already injured and exposed midriff. I reach out and blindly scramble at the Wolf atop me, hoping to hurt him in a lucky attempt.

In a lucky twist of fate, one of my paws hit against something soft—which must be his eye—because the Wolf rolls off me with a loud moan, howling out in pain. This buys me enough time to muster up all my strength—or what's left of it—and stand up on all four legs. The pain in my head worsens as all blood flows up, but I try to ignore it and face my Fate.

This is it, Micajah. You don't know who they are, or what they want from you. All you know is they're Seneca's enemies. So, you either win for her, or die trying...

I look heavenwards and let out a loud howl, preparing myself for what might be the fight that will probably end my life, when I feel the ground vibrate again.

How many reinforcements have they managed to bring to kill us?!

I almost collapse to the ground in exhaustion, giving up when the sound of footsteps becomes closer. When I wonder about this, gazing at the treeline, a weight launches itself on me, catching me off guard.

Seriously, Micajah? Who has time to think when a Wolf—or wolves—are set on killing you?!

Red grapples at me, trying to get his jaws on any part of me, and I struggle to push his weight off me. When his front paw comes close to my mouth due to his attempts to push me, I close my teeth around it, inflicting as much damage as I can. In an instant, Red rolls me over, and the roles have changed. His paw slips from my grip in the movement, and he stands over me, his teeth bared in what is obviously a mirthful grin.

Just when Red is about to bite my head off and finish me for good, a loud howl breaks through the air, capturing the attention of all the Wolves in the vicinity. Red freezes and turns around due to the unmistakable command in the howl, and so do I.

Thank Goddess.

There standing tall with head held high in a size bigger than most she-wolves and almost equal to the Black Alpha, is a Silver Wolf. Her fur gleams a beautiful shade of celestial silver, the sunlight glinting off the shiny coat almost making me blind. It forms a halo around her looming frame, making her look like a Wolf that just jumped to earth from Heaven.

Beautiful.

Don't ask me how, but looking at the Mercurial Silver Wolf, with her canines bared and eyes burning a dark shade of oceanic blue, I just know that it's Seneca. My Wolf calls to her, and he's filled with pride at how Regal and Ethereal she is.

A group of ten Wolves and She-Wolves flank her—five on either side—and together they are a mind-blowing sight.

I resist the urge to grin and stick my tongue out at Red.

Now the real game begins...

❉❉❉

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