Against the Black

Chapter 8

Are you ready, Kalua? My wolf was snarling to get out. She was pure Alpha and refused to be disrespected.

I will gut him and hang his head on our pack borders. She snarled and rushed forward. We shifted while sprinting toward Alpha Brian. He seemed shocked that we would make the first move and stood motionless for a millisecond too long. Kalua bowled into his side, knocking him off his feet and rolling him twice. Kalua was almost twice his size.

He calls himself an Alpha. Look how little he is. Kalua chortled, realizing she was toying with a mouse. He stood, shaking the blow off, and began circling us.

Don’t play with your food. I admonished with a soft chuckle. We need to show them they can no longer disrespect the Obsidian Falls pack. Embarrass him, then take him down brutally but don’t kill or permanently maim. Kalua gave a small mental nod and bent to pounce again, watching him stalk us.

Alpha Brian lunged at us, but Kalua dodged easily and pawed his face, the wolf equivalent of a b***h slap, as he passed. His wolf whirled and snarled. He lunged again, and again Kalua pawed his face. His wolf was foaming at the mouth at this point. They were feeling the disrespect, he and his wolf did not like it one bit. He lunged again, only this time, Kalua lunged back and met him in the air. She knocked him back and pinned him to the ground with her jaws around his neck. She poured all of her Alpha aura onto the wolf beneath her and roared for him to submit to her. He fought it at first until her Aura was too much for him and he relented. She stepped over and away from his prone wolf, giving him space to get up.

Kalua turned to find the man holding my dress when Alpha Brian’s wolf attacked again. He snapped his jaws for Kalua’s ankle, but she was faster. She spun out of his reach and wrapped her mouth around his throat again. Only this time, it wasn’t a warning. Instead, she clamped down and used his wolfs momentum to spin and throw him across the clearing. His wolf slammed into a tree and fell to the grass, limp but breathing shallowly.

Show off. I scolded playfully, and she laughed softly before releasing control back to me. I stood in the clearing as the attendant walked forward, holding my shoes and dress for me. He helped me zip back into the dress and placed my shoes on the grass for me to step into. I could see that every wolf in the ballroom was standing in the large opening, watching what had happened. There were quite a few shocked faces, which I’d expected. There were even a few angry faces, which also didn’t surprise me. Alphas didn’t like the idea that a female could take any of them down in a one-on-one fight. I kept my face neutral until I leaned over to secure my left shoe and let a small smirk cross my hidden face. That’s when I heard a roar that shook the mountain top.

Two men stood side by side, staring at me with the intensity of a mountain lion about to pounce. One was tall, maybe three inches over six feet, give or take an inch. He had dark brown hair and was extremely muscular, like Dwayne Johnson in Hercules buff. His eyes were a bright blue, so bright I could see them clearly from across the clearing. The other man was taller, maybe six foot six, but he had a leaner muscle build, though his muscles were still clearly defined under his suit. His hair looked to be a dirty blonde color with dark eyes. I couldn’t make the color out from this far away. I assumed these men were from Alpha Brian’s pack coming to avenge their Alpha until they simultaneously snarled one word.

“Mine.” They both took a step in my direction before stopping to size the other up. I took that brief distraction to bolt. Kicking off the shoe I had just secured, I sprinted in the opposite direction.

Where are you going? Kalua shrieked in my head. I could also feel my mother trying to mind link me. Ignoring the link, I focused on my sprint. I could hear the tearing of clothes and snarls coming from behind me. Picking up my pace, I sprinted harder until I realized they weren’t chasing after me, but fighting each other.

Stop! Kalua screamed, and I did. I was breathing hard from the sudden cardio. Where are you going? They are our mates. Why would you run? She sounded as if I’d gone insane.

We are an Alpha female; they are both Alpha males. They will never accept us and will reject us as soon as they realize who we are. And what’s up with having two? That can’t be right. Something is fishy here and I don’t trust it. And if I’m being completely honest, I panicked! Kalua snorted.

They may not reject us. You’re right that having two is extremely rare, but we are a lot of woman for one wolf to handle. Maybe the Moon Goddess knew this and gifted us two. I could feel her wiggle her eyebrows at me suggestively. Also, you should know better than to run from a wolf. They’re only going to chase you and they won’t stop until they do. You’re now their mate and their prey. I sighed heavily.

I know, I just wasn’t expecting to find my mate. Scratch that, I was hoping I wouldn’t find my mate. But finding two mates was worse than I’d feared. But it sounds like they’re too busy fighting over who’s going to reject me first to bother giving chase. Kalua growled softly, and I winced a little, knowing my mates were probably going to kill each other. I hadn’t scented them out, so I didn’t have the same connection to them as they had with me. They’d been downwind of me. So they caught my scent but Kalua couldn’t scent them, forming the bond. Even so, there was no denying they had both tried to claim me as their own. And my instincts knew it was only a matter of time until we would scent them and claim them as well. The snapping of my mates’ wolves could be heard all the way through the trees. I looked back down the mountainside I had just sprinted up to escape my mates. I groaned loudly and began walking back in the direction of the castle. Kalua giggled with excitement. It thrilled her to be meeting her mates. I, however, was filled with dread.

Don’t be so gloomy. They won’t reject us. I can feel it. Kalua stated confidently.

Even if they don’t reject us, we will have to reject one of them. They’re both Alphas and I can tell from the friendly conversation they are having currently that they won’t like the idea of sharing. I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. Kalua pouted slightly at having to reject either mate. We’ll have to make a decision, but how do you choose one, mate? Especially when the goddess saw fit to gift you with two? I groaned again, not looking forward to handling this situation.

Well, we will just have to size them both up. If they’re worthy of us, then they will have to earn us. Kalua stated firmly and confidently. The longer I thought about that, I had to agree. They would have to earn us. Prove they could handle having an Alpha female as their mate. I felt slightly comforted by that as I stepped into the clearing where the battle had come to a screeching halt.