The Black Forest's Beta

Chapter 17

I hadn't even realized what had happened until my vision began to clear. I was still standing in the same spot, I could feel my body trembling as the room began to spin slightly. 

"Emma." Ozzy's worried voice was distant and unclear, as if he were calling to me from miles away. "Emma, are you okay?" Frozen, my body wouldn't obey my command to nod, nor would my lips move to tell him I was fine. 

"I don't understand vat happened." Gisela sounded closer than Ozzy but still far away. 

"I've linked Beta Raphael." That voice sounded like Keifer. 

"Great, he's gonna come in here and bite our heads off. Good going Keifer." My chest rumbled with a small chuckle at the annoyed voice of Rosina. "I heard that child." The room began to clear as it stopped spinning, I found myself looking into Rosina's clear olive colored eyes as she smiled gently at me. 

"What happened Emma?" I looked over my left shoulder at Ozzy who was giving me a worried look. Not knowing how to respond I gave him a shy, sad look before looking at the floor while bringing my right hand to my ribs. "I understand." His voice was so sad, I looked back up and wiped a tear from his face with the hand I had taken away from my ribs. 

We all heard the door slam, a millisecond later I found myself engulfed in Raphael's calming scent as he held my face against his bare, and sweaty chest. "Was ist passiert?" (What happened?) I sighed lightly and used my left hand to write the letters O and K onto his ribs. He pulled away and cupped my face in his hands, my cheeks warmed as his dark eyes scanned my face intensely, as if he was looking for the slightest scratch. "Are you sure?" My head was only able to move in a slight bob due to his large strong hands. I watched his entire body relax before he brought his mouth to my forehead and lightly placed a kiss on my skin. 

"Was ist passiert Keifer?" I wrapped myself back around Raphael, his head rested on the top of mine and his breathing evened out. 

"Es war meine Schuld, Raphael. Ich wurde wütend und reagierte ohne nachzudenken." (It is my fault Raphael, I got angry and reacted without thinking.)

"Was hat dich so wütend gemacht, Mila?" (What made you so angry Mila?)

"Ich habe ihr gesagt, wer Emma verletzt hat." (I told her who injured Emma.) I felt Raphael's chest rumble slightly so I used my right hand to caress his ribs softly. 

"Gunter will nicht, dass es jeder weiß, bitte behalte das bis nach der Verhandlung für dich." (Alpha Gunter doesn't want everyone to know, please keep this to yourself until after the trial.)

"Natürlich Raphael." (Of course Raphael.)

I felt him tense slightly before using his hand to turn my face so I was looking up at him. "I have to get back to training." I nodded and gave him a small smile before stepping on my tip toes and kissing his cheek. A crooked smile fell upon his lips before he placed a tiny butterfly kiss on my nose. I could tell he was reluctant to leave as he turned around and exited the way he had come in. I watched his back until he was out of sight, once he was gone I looked at Ozzy and lightly grabbed his hand. I was at ease as I looked back toward Mila and Rosina, Mila sent me a shy grimace before speaking. 

"Apologies Emma, I didn't realize how much a growl would affect you."  I sent her a thumbs up as a way of saying "It's okay." 

"Why don't we all go out back, I think all of you would love the koi pond." I raised an eyebrow as Gisela squeaked happily. She practically pushed into a run, showing us to the Koi pond, whatever that was. I could tell Ozzy was just as confused as I was by the way he looked, one of his eyebrows was raised.

We walked after Rosina, with Keifer and Evangeline following us. Upon seeing the pond, I knew why Gisela was so excited, Orange, white and yellow fish swam around the small area. Green foliage and rocks surrounded the pond and a small wooden bridge sat just before a tiny waterfall. 

"Wow!" It was a breathless whisper, and it came from my mouth. I couldn't contain my awe at the beauty that was before me. 

"I've never seen anything this beautiful before." Ozzy said mirroring my thoughts, as I looked at the scene before me it changed. I saw myself standing on the bridge with a really large stomach, Raphael was with me, his hands were on my belly and he was smiling. 

His mouth moved as he spoke soundlessly, "Our pup". My heart nearly skipped a beat as the image from my mind faded and I was left in the moment with everyone else. 

"What did you see?" Inasya asked, I looked at her in confusion, not knowing when she had arrived. "I was already out here, I come here to think about things sometimes." I nodded and gave her a small grin. "So what did you see?"

My hand went to my tiny stomach, and I longed for the large belly I had seen myself with. Inasya beamed anyway, her teeth on full display as she took my hand. "I can't wait until I get my first grand baby." I felt myself blush, Inasya grinned as her eyes got a dreamy haze in them. "Oh a little boy who looks just like Raphy, he always wanted a little boy."

I felt myself smirk, I would love to have a little boy who looks just like Raphael. Inasya chuckled as she grabbed my hand and led me around the pond, Gisela fell into step beside us along with Mila. The more mature women began telling us stories of Alpha Gunter, Elias and Raphael, the mischief they got into as kids and the bond all three had from growing together. 

"Ven I vas young I dreamed of having a mate like Gunter." Gisela said dreamily as we stopped on the bridge. "He iz everyzing I have ever wanted and more." I smiled at her and took her free hand as we looked down into clear glassy surface. 

"I didn't want a mate." I said, my throat was no longer sore, so I was able to talk. All eyes turned to me as I went on to speak. "I've been hurt all my life, the only person who never added to that pain was Ozzy. After everything I figured my mate would just add to the pain." I sighed and a small smile graced my lips. "I realized last night that I'm falling in love with Raphael." 

Inasya and Mila beamed as Gisela giggled, her hand went over her mouth as her eyes sparkled. "Emma! I found a bull frog!" I looked down at Ozzy as he held up a huge frog, Keifer and Evangeline were standing with him, looking at him fondly. I smiled myself and shuffled down to him and ran a finger on the big slimy head of the green frog. 

"He's gorgeous." I said lightly, Ozzy beamed as did Keifer, when they heard my voice. "Hello Evangeline." I said offering her a small wave. She sent me a small smirk back, "We should let Mr. Bull Frog get back to his family now Oz." He sighed and pouted sadly before setting him down next to the water. 

I ran my hand through his hair and smiled at him, he grinned back before taking my hand in his. "What should we do now?" I shrugged and looked up at Gisela who walked down to us, Rosina joined Mila and Inasya on the bridge. 

"I vould like to see ze training grounds." Ozzy, Gisela and I looked at Keifer who chuckled. 

"Are you missing that Alpha of yours already Luna?" He teased, her cheeks turned bright pink in response. 

"Oui." She spoke softly as her entire face blazed. 

"Well then we should get you to him." Keifer winked and we all waved at the older generation before heading off to see the warriors train. We moseyed to the tree line where Keifer turned to us, his normally calm easy expression was serious and hard. "The warriors like to do ambush drills near the training field, stay behind me and don't wander off. I have to cover us in my scent, it will let the pack members know we are off limits in their game. Understood." 

"Yes." Ozzy and I said at the same time, his voice was confident while mine was meek and unsure. 

"Oui." Gisela answered a second later, her voice was wavering as mine. I took her hand, both of ours were shaking, I looked at her and we gave each other reassuring smiles. I found myself calming, her hand stopped trembling in mine, which I counted as a victory. 

"Good, let's go." Keifer took Evangeline's hand as Ozzy took mine. His scent wafted around us like we were told it would. The three of us were only a step behind Keifer's strong back as he led us through the forest confidently. I heard a growl from behind us and Gisela squeaked in fear. We all turned to see a large blond wolf behind us, it's yellow eyes showed confidence before making a "move ahead" motion. 

"Gamma Elias." Keifer said with a bow of his head, I felt much more relaxed, knowing who the wolf was, as did my Luna, her grip loosened as we continued walking. We came upon a large field a few minutes later where shirtless men and wolves were running around. Some were sparring while others were doing drills. I felt Cassie stir in my mind as she whimpered longingly, she wanted to join them, especially a rather large dark grey wolf who was sparring against two mid sized wolves. 

I noticed on his front right leg was light grey almost white color, mismatching the rest of him. (I want to shift.)  

(Me too.)

One more day, then I could finally fully, reconnect with my wolf. I was so lost in my own head I hadn't noticed the huge black wolf that had trotted up to our group. Once I noticed I bowed my head in submission to Alpha Gunter. I heard him lick his nose as he walked over to Gisela, she was watching him with a dreamy expression. His wolf towered over our heads standing at what had to be six feet tall. Gisela was a head shorter than myself so he towered over her as well. I found myself covering my eyes when he shifted back into his human shape, I did not want to see his private area, though I could smell Gisela's arousal as she stood beside me. 

"I have clothes on." I took a small peek to be sure before taking my hand fully away from my face. "What are you doing here?" He tone wasn't angry, just curious. 

"We wanted to see what the training grounds looked like Alpha." Ozzy said easily. 

"Luna Gisela and I wanted to see you and Raphael." I said my cheeks turning a shade of pink, Gisela giggled lightly beside me and Keifer chuckled easily. 

"Did my little mate miss me?" Alpha Gunter asked teasingly with a low growl in his throat, Gisela's eyes turned black for a second and her arousal permeated the air again. He chuckled and pulled Gisela into his chest while beaming. "Why don't you shift Kleiner." He said easily after taking a step back while keeping his arms on her shoulders. 

"It iz going to hurt." She whimpered, I walked over to her and took her hand in mine before walking into the trees with her. I could feel Alpha Gunter trailing behind us.

"It will hurt." I said as I stopped. "But after a few times, you wont feel a thing." I spoke confidently, even though I had no idea whether it was true or not. "I promise I wont leave your side." She smiled at me and a tear rolled down her face. I wiped it away and looked back at Alpha Gunter, he tilted his head questioningly. "Please turn around Alpha." He did as I asked before I looked back at Gisela. "And no peaking." I added, I heard him growl lightly which made both of us giggle. 

Gisela began taking off her clothes, handing them to me as she went along. Once she was completely naked she began her shift. As I had promised I didn't leave her side, I set her clothes on the ground and wiped her sweat away while she was still in human form. Alpha Gunter joined us and held her head, offering her some comfort as her bones broke and re-alligned. 

Her wolf was beautiful, her fur was a light strawberry blonde, her paws were a creme color and her eyes were electric blue. One of her ears was black while the other was the same as the rest of her fur. She was a tall she wolf, taller than her human height, even with my head. 

"You're beautiful." I told her once she stood up, if a wolf could blush I swear she would have. Cassie again whimpered longingly and I almost found myself whimpering out loud. Gisela shook her fur and rubbed against Alpha Gunter who had shifted while I was in my own head. I realized coming to the training field had been a bad idea when I felt myself giving into my urges. My body began to sweat and my heart raced, Cassie was trying to force a shift, and I did something nothing to stop her. 

Leaves crunched behind us and I turned to see my mate walking toward us, his eyes were calm, until he noticed the sheen of sweat on my head. "You can't shift yet Emmaline." I shook my head and cried out as a pain in my gut crippled me. "Scheiße." (f**k!) Raphael kept me from falling to the ground as Gisela whimpered from close by. "Don't let her force a shift."

"I want this." I found myself whimpering as I looked up at Raphael, he looked taken aback by my confession. "I need to.." I stopped talking when another agonizing jolt hit my gut and head. I cried out as a snap echoed throughout the forest. I gave into the shift, picturing Cassie in my head. I hadn't been fighting the shift before, but I also wasn't giving in making it worse on myself.