|| Chapter Seven ||
1987 Words
“Alex! More Attacks!” Jasper yelled, rushing into the dining room. He skidded to a stop at the doorway, taking in the scene before him; his Alpha, still naked, holding Beatrice by her neck against a wall. Alexander turned to glare at Jasper who dropped to his knees and bowed his head.
“Alpha…”
Alexander dropped Bea and walked away from her, brushing past Jasper. “Send some clothes to the office, and make sure she eats.”
Bea shook against the wall and wrapped her hands around her neck. Her vision swam as she struggled to breathe.
“Luna, Luna come on.” Jasper gripped her shoulders gently and brought her to her feet. He settled her into a chair and whispered to an Omega who had appeared. She brought a bowl of yogurt and muesli.
Bea just stared into the distance, still cradling her neck. She shook herself from her thoughts and grabbed the spoon, shakily bringing some yogurt into her mouth.
“You must think I’m weak” she whispered to Jasper.
“Luna… No…”
“All I’ve been doing is cry. I can’t even run. I can barely walk. I was a warrior.”
She felt Jasper take a seat next to her. “You’re mourning, you’ve traveled, you were injured, and you haven’t eaten in days. Please, Luna, eat.”
Jasper’s eyes glazed over for a moment and he stood. “I’m sorry Luna, I must go.”
“Bea.”
“Sorry?”
“You can call me Bea.” She sniffled and looked up at Jasper. “Thank you.”
Jasper nodded and headed for the office.
---
“HOW DID THIS HAPPEN.” Alexander roared. The walls of the office almost shook from his rage. His eyes black and he bared his canines at Matthias and Jasper.
News had arrived of another series of attacks. More creatures had invaded a small, peaceful pack in central Europe but this time, there were no survivors. Their Alpha had been impaled on a stake and placed in the middle of the field, surrounded by the mutilated corpses of his warriors. The corpses of the pack had been scattered across the land, but the pups had been taken.
Another pack in Asia had met the same fate. Both packs were small and had kept to themselves, preferring to live off the land and support their small community. They did not pose a threat to anyone.
Alexander stalked angrily across the office. Matthias stood in the corner of the room with his arms crossed and eyes shut while Jasper fidgeted on the couch. “We can’t send another team of warriors to them. There’s nothing left to protect. And we can’t afford to send a team to every pack in the world.”
“What do they even want” he grumbled in response.
“The defeat of our kind…” a voice called out from the doorway.
Willow walked into the office, the leather book back in her arms again. She placed the book on Alexander’s desk and opened it to the page she had been studying. The page was illustrated with a picture of a pack of wolves standing on the bodies of a pack of Lycans. A meteor shower hung above them.
“Rouges” Matthias breathed.
Willow nodded sagely. “When the lupine stars shower the sky the lycans will be at their weakest, their power will be drained. Shifting will be incredibly painful and we will be more sensitive to silver.”
She traced the words on the page as she read. “The rouges will take this opportunity to attack us and wipe us out.”
“So why are they attacking the other packs? And the vampires?” Jasper asked.
“I’m not sure, this doesn’t say. Maybe they’re just announcing their intentions…”
“So how do we stop them? Kill them before they kill us?” Matthias offered.
“No, we will lose too many if they’ve teamed up with vampires and bears,” Alexander growled.
“You need your mate,” Willow stated, shutting the book loudly.
Alexander rolled his eyes and glared at his grandmother. “Not this again. She’s just a small wolf who currently has no regard for her own wellbeing.”
“She will complete you, make you strong. She will protect you against the shower, her love will protect you.”
Alexander laughed. “Love?” He spat. “She doesn’t even want anything to do with me.”
He winced and gripped his chest as a wave of pain passed over him. His other hand gripped the edge of his desk and his knuckle went white. Waves of pain crashed into his chest leaving him breathless.
“Lex?” Jasper rushed to him, guiding him into a chair.
“What. The f**k. Is happening to me.” He wheezed out at his grandmother.
“You silly boy. Where is she? Bring her here.”
Alexander nodded to Jasper.
---
Bea was still in the dining room, her spoon hovered over the half-full bowl of yogurt. She had heard the shouting, could feel his rage in her chest. She took in a shaky breath and attempted to swallow another mouthful of yogurt as she heaved.
“Lu – Bea.” Jasper appeared at the doorway again. She looked up at him.
“We need you in the office.”
She took in another breath, but it was caught on a lump in her throat. “Alright.”
She got to her feet unsteadily and Jasper rushed to support her. He held her elbow and the small of her back and lead her slowly to the office.
“Silly, silly boy.” Willow chided. “You haven’t been listening to me.”
Alexander was now laying across the couch with his head tilted back over an arm. “Enough, grandma, enough riddles.”
The door creaked open and Bea entered hesitantly, her eyes flickering between Willow, Alexander, and Matthias. She stopped, making to turn around as Jasper pushed her gently into the room.
Willow’s eyes lit up and she broke into a smile before anger clouded her eyes. She gripped the book in her hand and turned to Alexander “You. i***t. Boy. What. Have. You. Done. To Her.” Each word was punctuated by the smack of the heavy book against his head.
“Ouch, ouch, grandma, stop, STOP.” He attempted to push her away, but he was no match for the furious older woman. She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him off the couch, then gestured for Jasper to bring Bea to the couch. There was a snicker from the corner of the room as Matthias covered his face to stifle his laughs. Alexander shot him a look.
Willow raised her hand and Bea flinched.
“Hush sweetheart, let me see.” She brought her hand to Bea’s neck and gently stroked at the bruises that Alexander had left behind. She turned her attention to her grandson again.
“You i***t, why would you lay your hands on her.”
“She’s so infuriating!” Alexander bellowed, gesturing at Bea.
Bea glared back.
“Sweetheart, are you eating?” Willow cooed at her.
“N-no, I can’t. I shouldn’t be here… I should be with my pack… It should’ve been me…” Bea managed, fighting back tears again.
“Oh, honey no…” Willow whispered and took Bea into her arms.
“I’m a warrior!” Bea hiccupped, “And I couldn’t even protect my father.”
Willow shushed her, stroking her back “it’s ok, it’s ok…”
“And he doesn’t want me,” she whispered.
At this, Willow turned to glare at Alexander. Her canines extended and her clear blue eyes darkened.
“What did you do to her Alexander…” she snarled.
Alexander raised his hands in defeat. He may have been the Alpha but nobody in their right mind would get in the way of the furious matriarch of the pack.
“You haven’t been listening to me!”
“Grandma, what are you talking about!”
“Mates!”
“YES! WHAT ABOUT THEM!” he roared in frustration.
“You are inexplicably linked! Now that your wolves have sensed each other you must accept the other or risk their loss. Can't you feel their pain??”
Alexander rolled his eyes and Bea had now stopped crying, both now staring at Willow.
“Stop rolling your eyes at me, insolent child.” Willow snapped.
“I’m not a child grandma!” Alexander responded, and sighed. “I can’t love her grandma. I can’t. She shouldn’t be marked, trapped, by me.”
The only response from Willow was another smack on his arm.
“Grandma! I am the Alpha!”
“And I’m your grandmother! Look at her! Look at yourself! You’re both in pain. The moon lord blessed you with a second chance and you spit in his face. The pain of rejection and loss will consume you. Both of you. Until you mark each other. And until then, she can’t protect you when they attack.”
“Wha – “
Alexander growled in frustration and stalked out of the office.
---
Alexander stalked across the field and ripped off his shirt, transforming into his beast as he leaped in amongst the trees. He ran.
Alexander his wolf whined in his head
What?
Why don’t you want our mate?
I don’t deserve her.
We need her, Alexander. She makes us strong.
She makes us weak! Just another target on our back. One more thing our enemies can use to hurt us.
No Alexander! She makes us strong!
Another wave of pain and longing washed over him and he stopped running, panting heavily.
We need her, Alexander, please. I need her…
---
Days had passed and Bea grew weaker. She avoided everyone in the house, smiling at Willow or the Omegas who had brought in her food but didn’t speak to them. She ate just enough, but she laid in bed and slept, wrecked by nightmares.
She could hear Alexander walk through the hall as he headed to his bedroom. She could hear when he paused at her door. She could hear when he had come running as she screamed herself awake and yet, he stopped at her door. Refusing to come in.
Images of her father torn apart played in her mind. Then her mother. Her brother. Gabby. Slowly the pile of bodies grew, and the dreams grew more vivid; her father impaled on a stake, surrounded by everyone in her pack.
The door to her bedroom creaked open and the smell of peppermint flooded her senses. She opened her eyes but didn’t get up. Her eyes followed as the tall figure approached her bed and slid in. The light of the moon shone through the window, illuminating his sharp features and bright blue eyes.
She stared as he wrapped his arms around her and held her, curling his large body around her smaller figure. He adjusted her head into the crook of his neck and drew circles on her shoulder with his thumb, soothing her to sleep.
She slept then, and for the first time, there were no nightmares.
- Writer
