The Prophecy

|| Chapter Fourteen ||

Bea lay across the couch in Alexander’s office, typing on her own laptop while Alexander spoke gruffly over the phone. The other Alphas would be arriving in a matter of hours and she was putting together some meeting notes for the weekend. The event would kick off with a dinner in the clearing behind the packhouse and the house was overrun by florists and decorators. She winced as she heard what sounded like a large truck reverse onto the grass. Bea had no shame in admitting that she was in here because she was avoiding the circus out there. 

“OI LULU!” Jasper yelled out from the drawing-room. There was a quick knock and he poked his head in.  

Without looking up from his laptop Alexander just sighed “Why do you even bother knocking if you’re just going to barge in?” 

“I’m not here for you I’m looking for lulu. There are some events people looking for you out there.”  

Bea groaned and swung her legs on the ground. She did not feel like dealing with humans today.  

“Besides,” she heard Jasper continue, “you haven’t marked her yet so it’s not like I can just link her,” 

Alexander growled and Bea threw a notebook at him. “Jasper!”  

“Hang on, Jasper makes a good point though. Don’t I have to do a ceremony to be accepted into the pack?”  

“No,” Alexander grunted.  

“What?”  

Alexander sighed and looked up. It was obvious he wasn’t going to get any work done today.  

“The Lycans in our pack are born or mated into the pack. Mated wolves are officially members when they’re marked. We haven’t had a new, non-Lycan, non-mated member in centuries.” 

“Oh.” Bea responded at the same time Jasper yelled out – “Just mark lulu already and get it over with, I hate running all over the house looking for her.”  

“I have a phone, Jasper.”  

Jasper just waved her away. “Come on lu, those humans are pissing people off back there.” 

 ---

It was late afternoon by the time Bea was done dealing with the infuriating human from the events company and she had rushed up to the bedroom to get dressed. She noticed that a handful of groups had already begun to arrive and would be in the drawing-room mingling. 

“Bea?” she heard a voice call out as she finished pinning her hair.  

“In here Alex.” She was just pinning her hair up in an attempt to tame the curls. She had on an emerald green jumpsuit with a high neck and back. The jumpsuit covered her neck and collarbones but left her arms and shoulder bare. The belt around her waist was tied into a large bow on her back.  

Alexander gazed at her with appreciation and lust and she winked at his reflection before he ducked into the wardrobe.  

“I figured we shouldn’t make it too obvious that you haven’t marked me yet.” She said, fingering the turtleneck of her outfit.  

“Sounds wise.”  

“Can’t have more Alphas fighting over me, now, can we?”  

He was on her in a flash, pulling her back into his chest while he gripped her tightly around the waist. She closed her eyes and tilted her head to the right allowing him to bury his face in the crook of her neck, nipping lightly at her skin.  

“Mine.”  

“You sound like a seagull, Alex. Stop it.” 

 ---

The testosterone at dinner was going to kill her, Bea just knew it. She stood by the edge of the wood floor that had been placed over the grass and sipped at her glass of red wine. The once empty grass field had been transformed; wooden flooring had been placed down and cocktail tables were scattered around it. There were 2 bars to one end and a raised wooden platform on the other. Bamboo poles had been erected around the outer perimeter of the flooring and festoon lighting now hung above them.  

Of the 45 European Alphas, 40 were attending with their betas, or gammas, or both, and only 5 had brought their Lunas. They barely spared her a glance and were not huddled together. Apparently, the Australian lack of filter was not so welcome to the more refined European tastes. Bitches, she felt her wolf roll its eyes at them.  

Matty seemed to materialise beside her and he looked very much as exhausted as her. Aside from the run-in with Lachlan she hadn’t seen him all week but understood that he’d been going between the nearby towns within Dark Moon territory helping other Alphas settle in. There were guest rooms in the packhouse and some room available in the village but given the current threats and what happened with Lachlan, Alexander decided he was not feeling particularly hospitable.  

The rouge sightings had also increased in the past few days and Jasper had also been run off his feet with the need to increase patrols and work out new timings and cycles. He too materialised on the other side of her and watched the crowd wearily.  

They stood in silence until Jasper finally breathed, “I can’t wait till this is all over so I can go back to just guarding lulu instead of attempting to take care of this bunch.”  

Bea nodded solemnly, chewing one something encased in choux pastry.  

“Jasper, why is she lulu?” Matty asked warily, almost immediately regretting his question. Jasper seemed to be the one who assigned nicknames to everyone and sometimes they weren’t at all appropriate.  

“Because she said Luna was too uptight and Aussies shorten everything anyway. So, lulu it is.”  

They stopped a passing waiter and picked up fresh bottles of beer and they went back to staring at the crowd.  

It wasn’t just the male presence that made her uneasy. Every male werewolf exuded some form of powerful aura but the higher the rank, the more overwhelming the power. Now, surrounded by 40 Alphas and another 60 betas and gammas, all with varying levels of egos and large frames, the air was oppressive. So now she stood as far away as possible to get away from the overwhelming male presence while still close enough to snag food from passing waiters. 

“That one makes me uncomfortable.” She jerked her chin at a tall blonde man laughing in the crowd. His heavily accented voice carried over the crowd and made her curl her lip.  

He was large and tall, like they all were, with a sharp crew cut and blue eyes that seemed to penetrate your soul. The boys followed her gaze.  

“Oh, Alpha Schneider from the Black Forest pack,” said Matty. “Not so worried about him. More worried about Alpha Ricci over there.” He moved his elbow in the direction of a very serious-looking man with a mop of curly hair.  

“Either way, there better not be a pissing contest tonight,” Bea sighed.  

“Oh, there’ll be one lu, just you wait,” Jasper grinned as he took a swig of his beer.  

“I’m going to check on patrols, you stay here Jasper.” Matty nodded at the two of them and walked off into the woods.  

As if the night wasn’t already difficult enough, a shout rang out followed by a mild scuffle.  

“See!” Jasper said as the pair ran forward to break apart the two alphas who had their hands on each other’s necks. They were yelling at each other in French about territories and land and looked about ready to shift. Their betas were already busy trying to break them apart, but they weren’t having all that much luck.  

With a sigh, she pushed her way through the crowd and approached.  

“Lulu I wouldn’t get in the way of two Alphas…” Jasper started but she ignored him and marched her way to them.  

“Bonjour, Alphas.”  

The feminine voice seemed to break the testosterone cloud over them, and they stopped struggling. They still had their hands on each other, but they had both turned to glare at her.  

“Are you not enjoying my party, gentlemen? Come on, let’s not fight.” 

She got closer and gently lay a hand on each of their shoulders, pushing lightly to separate the men. One of them scowled at her and jerked away from her hand. He looked at her with disdain and crossed his arms.  

“Who are you to tell me what to do?” he sneered.  

Well. That’s what she gets for refusing to have Alexander introduce her to the guests. She pushed back her annoyance and replied – “Ah, Beatrice Rhodes. Or may you know of me as Luna Knight?”  

A hush descended on the small crowd that had gathered around them. The men visibly paled and began stuttering their apologies but she just waved at them and flashed a big smile. “That’s alright gentlemen. Please, have some champagne, enjoy the party. I would hate for Alexander to have to come break up this little party.”  

“Ah no Luna Knight…”  

“Good. All sorted then.” One last smile and she turned away, taking Jaspers arm. The crowd parted to let them through.  

A hand snaked around her waist and pulled this tight and she would’ve thrown a punch if she didn’t catch the whiff of peppermint. “That was very Luna of you.”  

“Why do you sound so surprised?” 

“I thought she was going to bash their heads together.” Jasper piped up from her left, “I would’ve paid big bucks to see that.” 

Suddenly, howls pierced through the air and Jasper and Alexander stiffened. Their eyes glazed over and simultaneously went dark. Jasper growled.  

“Jasper, break up the party, get warriors to escort our guests back to their lodging. Bea, go to our room.”  

Jasper nodded and ran for the platform and Alexander had turned and headed into the woods.  

“WAIT! I’m not hiding!” she kicked off her shoes and began following Alexander through the woods until they came to a clearing on the edge of their borders.  

Some of the border patrol warriors had already shifted and were growling into the dark woods on the other side. Before them, a downed Lycan had shifted back into his human form. He was in a pool of blood and when Bea got closer, she realised she could see through his body. A giant hole sat where his chest should be, it was as though somebody had thrown a bowling ball through him. She also noticed how young he looked, and not young in a “I’m immortal I don’t age” young, but truly young. He was just a pup, probably newly recruited into the border patrol detail.  

Bea felt her heart clench before rage overtook her body. She could hear the warriors growling and she could feel their pain and anger. She saw Matthias rush forward and lift the pup in his arms and bring him back towards her. When she saw his wound, her heart stopped; it was rimmed black and green pus oozed from the edges. 

“Matty, what’s going on?”  

“Rogues. And they have human weapons.” 

20 more warriors arrived, already shifted, and moved towards the first crew. They positioned themselves behind them and took a defensive stance. Even though already in wolf form, they wore armour. They had gold chest plates and shin guards and their claws seemed to be reinforced with metal.  

“Bronze 3, change guard!” Jasper yelled, running up with the tail end of the new warriors. Immediately the first troop moved backwards, still snarling, their places taken by the second troop. Bronze troop moved backwards, keeping their eyes on the dark of the woods until they arrived where Bea and Alexander were standing.  

Dr Elliot had also arrived, and it was then that she smelled the blood in the air and noticed the gouges and scratches on the wolves in front of her.  

“Bronze 3, shift.” Immediately they heeded Jasper’s commands and shifted. A few then collapsed immediately, some others were already on the ground. They were warriors in training, yet to become full-fledged fighters. For the moment they were simply trackers and patrol guards and would have been no match for rogues armed with human weapons. Another wave of rage swept through Bea and her hands formed fists. Dr Elliot busied himself with their care. Even though wolves healed fast, some deeper wounds needed assistance. 

Snarls echoed from the woods and figures began moving towards them. Rogues in both wolf and human form approached, the humans all armed with guns. One of them c****d their shotgun loudly.  

“Silver 2, hold.” This time it was Alexander. He looked at Jasper and said something over the mind link, Jasper only nodded and moved in front of Bea.  

Alexander and Matthias stalked towards the rogues. Both their eyes were black by now and Bea could see Alexander tremble with rage. 

“I am Alpha Knight and your rogues have trespassed on my territory and threatened my pack. You have killed one of my warriors. Leave. Now.” Alexander said coolly. His eyes were now black, but his face wore a cold expressionless mask.  

A few rogues took a hesitant step back. As the Alpha of Alphas, Alexander’s commanding tone could inspire lesser wolves to do his bidding but the one who c****d his shotgun stepped forward.  

“No,” he said in a southern drawl, “I don’t think I will.” 

There was a snarl, could have been from either Alexander or Matthias, but neither moved.  

“You are not a wolf.”  

Hunter 

Realisation dawned on everyone at once and the warriors growled.  

“What do you want, scum?” Matthias spat out.  

Bea looked at him, shock. The usually calm and soft-spoken Matty was gone, in his place stood the fearsome Beta Matthias. Unlike Alexander, his eyes betrayed the bloodlust brewing inside.  

“Oh, thanks for asking,” the hunter grinned, “I want your Luna.”  

His eyes flicked through the crowd and landed on Bea – “Ah and you’ve brought her to me. How convenient.”  

Jasper growled in front of her and moved to further hide Bea from the hunter’s sight.  

“Why?” Alexander growled, his jaw was clenched, and his eyes were narrowed.  

“Well, my bed has been awfully cold lately.”  

With a loud roar, Alexander shifted and lunged towards the hunter, his dark suit ripping to pieces in the air.  

Silver 2, go! The command was yelled to his warriors and they lunged towards the enemy.  

The warriors of Bronze 3 growled and having been taken care of by the pack doctor immediately shifted back and looked to Jasper for instructions. Jasper nodded. “Go, but watch for the bullets, you do not have armour on.” 

Alexander’s wolf had lunged for the hunter, to try and wrestle the shotgun from his hands. Bea watched and winced as she saw the hunter bring the butt of the shotgun heavily across Alexander’s snout. She snarled and began marching forward.  

“Lulu no! You stay.” Jasper grabbed her shoulders and held onto her.  

“LET ME GO JASPER I CAN FIGHT.”  

“No Luna we can’t risk you.” She struggled against his arms and brought a swift kick to his chest. He stepped backwards, off-balanced lightly, giving her the opportunity to move out of his grasp and land on her hands and knees.  

Immediately she shifted and ran into the fray.  

All around her wolves were tumbling around each other. Fierce snarls and growls echoed in the darkness and the smell of blood hung heavily in the air. The hunters and rogues in human form had disappeared, leaving on the wolves and the hunter with the shotgun.  

Snarling, she lunged for the hunter and brought him tumbling backwards. Alexander came running to her side and he landed on the hunter’s chest, baring his teeth in his face. Bea grabbed the shotgun away from him and threw it to the ground, baring her teeth in return. 

Instead of looking afraid, the hunter smiled and laughed at them. Confusion flooded her eyes, but she caught a strange look on his face. She followed his gaze and looked up into the trees. There, high up in the branches, other hunters and rogues had taken a position with their shotguns aimed at the kerfuffle below.  

Bea glared at Alexander, annoyed that she still can’t mind link with him but when she jerked her head towards the hunter and the trees, he understood. With a fearsome growl, Alexander swiped a large paw across the hunter’s chest earning them a blood curling scream. With his teeth, he ripped at the flesh and buried his snout into the cavity of the man. When he brought his head back up, he held the man’s heart between his teeth. The screaming had stopped. 

Bea nodded approvingly and began running backwards. With a breath she sprinted towards them, jumping on Alexander’s back and using him as a springboard to launch herself into the trees. She landed on a thick branch and bared her teeth at two hunters who had thought they would be safe.  

She heard the sounds of the warriors following her lead and jumping into the trees, grateful that Alexander had understood and passed on the message. Bullets began raining down on the ground and the Lycan warriors began moving. She was completely mesmerized by the sight of the warriors dodging and weaving around the bullets and in that moment had truly appreciated Jaspers tough training.  

“What the f – “, the man exclaimed and Bea whipped her head around, remembering where she was.  

With a growl she jumped on the men, bring them off the tree and falling hard on the ground. She swiped at them as they attempted to recover. One managed to push his upper body up and swing his shotgun towards her but she danced away causing him to miss and hit his own partner. In their disorientation she jumped forward, catching one around his throat with her teeth. She pulled back and a geyser of blood erupted. The man gurgled and stilled.  

The other man shocked at the sight of his partner, jumped to his feet and aimed his gun at her. She jumped towards him, knocking the gun up causing him to misfire. The recoil shook him, and she slashed wildly at his abdomen. He screamed as he fell to his knees, clutching the open wound. In anger he had reached for her; she turned and went for his wrist, shaking her head like she would prey, ripping his arm clean off the socket. He too collapsed.  

More bullets rained down and a pained howl brought her to attention. Alexander was flying through the air and his back connected with a tree. He slid to the ground. She sprinted towards him and spared just one look at the spray pattern on his chest before launching herself at the man holding the gun.  

He had looked momentarily triumphant that he had managed to hit Alexander, but his face now frowned at the sight of Bea charging towards him. He fired wildly, the edge of the spray just catching her right shoulder, but she ran through the pain and landed in front of him. She jumped then, splitting his thigh open with her hind claws and slashing her front claws across his neck.  

Her shoulder began to burn but she growled and ran back towards Alexander. She was fixated on his still form praying that he was still alive and that she could reach him. She ran and was so close to him, but she was rudely knocked off her path by a rogue.  

The rogue snarled wildly at her and charged her as she moved to recover. He caught her front right leg in his teeth and bit down, shaking his head. She howled, and tears clouded her vision. But this soon cleared and was replaced with a red fog of rage. Gritting through the pain she shifted back into her human form and in that momentary confusion, she brought her fist towards his snout, punching him with a left hook and following it with a jab to his eyes. He released her wrist, snarled, and jumped at her, pinning her body down.  

“You need a breath mint, mister.” She thrashed and punched wildly but he would not budge.  

A red wolf appeared in the corner of her eye and the rogue was tackled off her. Jasper caught him around the throat and ripped at the flesh. Bea nodded her appreciation and got up, determined to be at Alexander’s side. She could see him just over there and noticed he had already shifted back to his human form. Curiously, the spray pattern had begun to ooze green pus and what was only just small puncture wounds had begun to spread across his chest. Dread filled her as she remembered the body of the young border patrol warrior.  

She began to run towards him, but pain shot through her side and began to burn. Before she could react, another wolf had tackled her assailant, this time grey with bright green eyes. She nodded in appreciation but collapsed in pain. Breathing hard she pulled herself towards Alexander and pulled him into her lap.  

“Alexander, come on, please.”  

He was limp in her arms and his breathing was shallow. His face was pale and getting paler by the second. She was losing him.  

WHAT DO I DO, she screamed at her wolf as she stifled a sob. Her chest was constricting, and her arms tightened around his shoulders.  

PLEASE I NEED TO SAVE HIM HOW DO I SAVE HIM. 

The pain in her own body burned through her and she screamed aloud fighting to stay conscious so she could save her mate.  

Please, she whimpered in her mind, begging her wolf. I was supposed to save him from the enemy, not watch him die.  

Beatrice, she finally responded.  

She felt her canines elongate and her wolf came to the forefront of her mind.  

Mark him.  

With that, she brought her canines down on his collarbone, just at the base of his throat, and sank her teeth in. He shook in her arms, but she held on tightly, pouring all her love and grief into her mark. She felt his heart rate quicken and a moment of happiness spread through her. Her canines retracted and she licked the blood off the mark.  

Satisfied she had done what she could, she laid her head on his chest, mimicking their position every night, and she closed her eyes.