Becoming a Leader

Chapter Thirteen - Pain and a Surprise

 It’s Friday finally and my week has consisted of training with pack warriors and helping Lucy with the celebration for tomorrow. Merrick and I just woke up and we’re getting ready for the day. He has to go back to the office and I’m training again. I pull my hair up in a high ponytail and head to the closet while Merrick finishes shaving his face. I remove the shirt I wore for bed and change into a sports bra and workout shorts. I put socks on and pull on my sneakers. As I’m standing up from our bed Merrick comes out of the bathroom and looks at me. I see his eyes go black and hear him growl. 

“What is it, love?” I ask him.

“I don’t want people looking at what’s mine, especially unmated men.” He answers, I see his body stiffen at just the thought of another man looking at me. 

“Everyone here knows I’m yours and they wouldn’t dare think otherwise.” I say walking over to him and putting my arms around his neck. I feel him relax under my touch and he brings his hands up to my waist. “Plus it’s supposed to be a super hot day and I want to be as comfortable as possible.” 

“Mine.” I hear him growl. 

“Yours, only yours.” I nuzzle my face into his neck. I feel Merricks hands slide to my ass and he squeezes hard. I groan and he lifts me up and takes me to the bed. He starts kissing my neck and moving down to my breasts. He slips one hand into my shorts and finds that I am already soaked and ready for him. He starts to move his fingers into me when he stops abruptly. “What is it?” I ask.

“Rogues on the east border.” He answers as he shoots out of bed and pulls on a pair of gym shorts. I follow him as he runs out of the room and down the stairs. We make it to the main level in record time before we shoot out the front door. We run all the way there in human form to find our warriors cornering three rogues. As Merrick steps closer I try to follow him but someone's hand around my wrist stops me. I look over to see Griffin pulling me back and shaking his head. 

“Luna stay back, let him take care of this.” Griffin says to me through mindlink.

I give him a questioning look before I hear Merrick addressing the rogues. “Shift now!” He yells, using his Alpha voice. I watch as they squirm under his command but soon follow his command. “Why have you come to my land?” 

They don’t answer and one of them looks in my direction. The one eyeing me is a well built man probably in his thirties, with dirty blonde hair and a sickening smirk on his face. When Merrick notices him looking at me a takes two thundering steps and snatches the men up from the ground. I see his hand elongate into a daggered claw as he squeezes the man's throat. I watch as his claws dig into the man's skin, causing blood to trickle down his bare chest. An angry snarl tears through the forest and Merrick tears the mans head clean off his body. A soft gasp leaves my mouth as I watch the body fall and my mate turn around with black eyes, his face full of rage and not an ounce of guilt for taking another's life. Merrick drops the head next to the body and blood drips from his fingertips. He walks over to the other two rogues and says, “If you don’t want to end up like your friend here you better start talking.”

“We heard rumors that you found your mate and our leader wanted to know for sure.” The scrawny blonde guy says, keeping his eyes on Merrick.

“What’s his plan if the rumors are true?” Merrick asks.

“We don’t know, he doesn’t share that type of information with us. All we know is that he wanted to be sure of the rumors.” 

“What do you know? Where he’s planning to attack next? When he might attack here?”

“No, we don’t know anything. We just joined him a week ago from Nevada. We just wanted a place to call home and he promised us that.”

“Well you won’t be getting that here.” Merrick says and snaps the neck of the scrawny blonde. He turns to the black haired woman who’s shaking with fear.

“Please no. I have children who need me.” She shouts, but Merrick ignores her pleas and snaps her neck as well. I’m taken aback at his actions. That woman’s kids are going to grow up without a mother because he didn’t show any mercy. 

“Clean this up. I want extra patrols around the clock.” He orders as he walks up to me. I watch as everyone bows their heads and start to take the dead bodies away. Merrick comes over and takes my wrist, pulling me back to the house. I try to squirm out of his grip but he just tightens his hand around my wrist causing me to whence in pain. He ignores me as we walk out of the forest and in the direction of the pack house. 

“Merrick you’re hurting me.” I say after I can’t take the pain his grip is causing me. He still doesn’t loosen his hand, like he didn’t even hear me speak. We walk into the house and straight up the stairs until we reach our floor. He continues to drag me into our room and throws me on our bed. My wrist is throbbing and I hold it to my chest as my mate leans over me. It’s like he isn’t even himself right now. I reach one shaking hand up to his face but he swats it away. “Merrick?” I say trying not to let any of my fear be heard in my voice. I reach up again but this time he grabs my hand and pins it above my head. Again his grip tightens, almost crushing the bones in my hand. I scream out in pain as I feel several pops in my hand. It’s like a switch flipped inside of him and he releases my hand and falls to his knees. Tears start to fall down my face and I scoot away from him, clutching my hand. 

“Sky I’m sorry. I couldn’t control myself. I’m so sorry.” Merrick says. He stands up and starts to walk over to me. 

“Go away!” I shout at him and I see pain plastered on his face. He tries to reach for me but stops and leaves the room. I look down at my hands, one wrist is puffy and bruises start to form, my other hand is already starting to swell. I hear a light knock on the door before Emma walks in with an ice pack in her hands. She rushes over to me and starts to examine my injuries. “I’m fine.” I state.

“No you aren’t, this is not okay.” She replies while looking at my hand. She quickly wraps my hand in the ice pack then helps me stand up. “I’m taking you to the pack doctor.” 

Emma walks with me down the stairs and takes me out the back door. The pack has a small hospital in the woods behind the house and that’s where we’re heading. As we are walking to the woods I can’t get the image of Merrick out of my head. His eyes were completely black, face full of rage, stiff body, and fangs appearing behind his lips. I’ve never seen him like that, not even when we were in the dungeons talking to that rogue. We walk into the hospital and there’s already a doctor waiting at the door for us. 

“Luna,” He says while bowing his head. “Please follow me, I have a room ready for you.” 

Emma and I follow the doctor to a private room at the end of the hall. Emma helps me sit in the bed and stays near me the entire time. 

Zanes POV

“Zane you may want to go check on Merrick and Skylla.” Griffin says to me through the mindlink. “We just found rogues on the east border and it didn’t go well.”

“On my way.” I reply and run back to the house from the training grounds. 

I look around and see Shane coming down the stairs with a concerned look on his face. “Have you seen the Alpha and Luna?” I ask him. 

“They just went upstairs. He’s not-” He starts to say.

“I know just make sure people stay out of the way.” I yell over my shoulder as I run up the stairs. As I make it to the third floor I hear a blood curdling scream. I run as fast as I can up the last set of stairs to find Merrick coming out of his bedroom looking distraught and tears forming in his eyes.

“Have Emma take her to the pack doctor.” He growls and runs down the stairs. 

“Emma go take Luna to the pack doctor, I think she’s been hurt by Merrick. I’m going to make sure he calms down and tells me what happened.” I mindlink her while still following Merrick downstairs.

“I’m on my way. Be careful.” She replies. 

I try to keep up to Merrick but he runs so fast out the front door and shifts into his wolf. I shift too, following as fast as I can behind him. We run into the woods and after a few miles Merrick stops and starts destroying everything around him. He shifts back to his human self after a couple minutes and starts screaming. 

“I hurt her man. I don’t even know what happened but I hurt her. I was so f*****g angry that I hurt the woman I love. I saw the way one of those rogues looked at her and I snapped. She’s afraid of me now and I can’t imagine her ever forgiving me. I can’t live without her man.” He has tears streaming down his face and he drops to his knees. “I never meant for her to see me like that.” His shoulders shake and his face drops into his hands. I walk over to him and shift back. I kneel down and put my arm around his shoulder.

“She’ll forgive you, just give her some time. I’m not going to justify your actions, because what you did was wrong but she’s your mate and she loves you. Emma is with her right now making sure she is taken care of so you need to calm down and get yourself cleaned up before you try to go see her.” I tell him. “I’m gonna tell you this because we’ve been friends since we were little you’ve gotta get it together man. You have to learn to control yourself.” 

“I know, I know.” Merrick says while standing up. “Let’s go back to the house and I’ll get cleaned up so I can go see her.” 

We shift back and take our time to get back home. After I watch Merrick head inside I make my way to the hospital. When I enter someone brings me a pair of scrub pants and directs me to Skyllas room. I shift before entering and quickly pull on the pants. I walk in to find Skylla sitting on the bed and the doctor wrapping her hand. “Hey I wanted to come check on you and see how everything is going.” I say while I look around for Emma.

“A few broken bones but since the Luna is a fast healer she just needs to wear a wrap for a few days. Lots of ice and use pain meds as needed.” The doctor states while clipping the wrap into place. 

Emma steps out of the bathroom looking flushed. “You okay, love?” I ask. She nods at me and goes to stand next to Skylla.

“I’ll bring that thing in that we talked about if you two want to switch places.” I hear the doctor say.

“What thing? What’s the matter?” I ask looking back and forth between Emma and the doctor.

“I’ll give you two some privacy.” Skylla says while standing and leaving the room. 

“Zane nothing is wrong, quite the opposite really. I’m pregnant. I took a test this morning and the doctor is just bringing in an ultrasound machine to check on the baby.” Emma tells me, taking a seat on the bed and extending her hand out to me.

“I’m going to be a dad?”

Skyllas POV

After I step out of the room I hear Emma telling Zane about being pregnant. I’m so happy for them, they are going to make great parents. I take a seat outside of the room and shiver at the coldness of the hospital. 

“Sky?” I hear the voice of my mate. “I am so, so very sorry. I never meant to hurt you.” 

“I know you’re sorry, I just need some time okay?” I reply through our link.

“Alright babe, I love you.” 

The doctor wheels an ultrasound machine down the hall and into the room. “Sky if you want to come in you can.” I hear Zane say from in the room. I get up and go in, standing at the end of the bed. I watch as the doctor squeezes jelly on Emma’s lower tummy and brings a wand up and starts rubbing it into the gel. He moves the wand a few times before we all hear the beautiful sound of a heartbeat and a tiny little blob on the screen. I see Emma cry tears and a huge smile spreads across her face. Zane looks so unbelievably happy as he leans down and kisses Emma’s head. 

“It’s still too early to tell the s*x of the baby but from the looks of it it’s healthy and you’re around eight or nine weeks. Congratulations betas.” The doctor says. He hits a few buttons and some pictures of their little blob starts to print. “Make sure to set up an appointment with an OB and start taking some prenatal vitamins as soon as possible. I’ll have the nurses print you out a few things you’ll need to know.”

 He gives the pictures to Emma and stands. Before he leaves he bows his head to us and leaves. “I’m so happy for you guys.” I tell them. “I’m gonna head back to the house. I’ll see you guys later.” I turned to leave but Zane stopped me. 

“Hey Luna, before you go I want you to know Merrick is beating himself up for what he did to you. I’m not trying to make light of the situation but he knows what he did was wrong. He has always had problems controlling his temper, he’s always kind of blacked out when he gets that way. If you’re willing to talk to him, when you are ready of course, just listen to what he has to say. I think he is willing to work on himself and his temper, you just have to steer him in the right direction.” 

“Thank you Zane. I’ll think about what you said.” I say before I finally make my way out of the hospital. My hand still hurts a little bit but I know it’ll be healed soon so I can handle the pain. Zanes words float around my head and I know I will forgive Merrick but right now I just need some space. I walk around the grounds for a while to clear my mind and just relax before I return home. Soon my stomach starts growling and I realize I haven’t eaten anything today so I turn to head back to the pack house. When I’m about a mile away I see a brown haired girl around my age talking on the phone. I don’t want to eavesdrop but when I hear Merricks name I stop and stand very still. 

“Yeah babe, Merrick found his mate at one of those packs you destroyed about 200 miles north of here. She brought some of her people with her. I swear they’re like lost puppies.” She says into the phone and lets out an evil laugh. “She is his weak spot, so you get a hold of her you can finally have what’s yours.” 

I watch as she continues walking without paying any attention in my direction. After a minute or two I finally start running to the house to find Merrick to tell him. As Luna of this pack I can’t allow traitors to be here. I break out of the woods and sprint as fast as I can to the back door. When I finally make it inside I see Zane and Griffin looking at me in surprise. “Where’s Merrick?” I yell.

“In his office, what’s wrong?” Zane says.

“You might want to come with.” I tell him and we make our way to Merrick’s office. I burst through the doors and Merricks head snaps up from his papers lying in front of him. “We have a traitor!”