Winter's Pup

Chapter Five

Riven

The summons this time was peculiar. This was the first time that Kayn summoned me to the war hall, but I knew that Moon Stone was planning for a war. Although Kayn wasn’t willing to participate for the Alpha and Luna of the pack, he was going to protect his own.

The chatter of the war room rushed over me. I noticed that all of the ranked members were here. Kayn was leaning over the table with a big map, a pen in his hand, as he marked out what he knew about the landscape. Mason was listening, typing in orders on his phone, likely texting the leaders who were reachable. Luca was nearby, Rhea at his side with her hand on her stomach. She looked queasy, but her pregnancy was progressing. She was about ready to pop, but I remember hearing Doctor Vex say that her baby was delayed in feeling safe.

“Riven, good you are here.” Brett was the first one to notice me, greeting me with a soft smile. He was kind, somehow the kindest of the ranked members.

Kayn looked up, piercing me with his intense blue gaze. He held out a letter for me. “I need you to take this to the southern border.” He didn’t leave room for negotiation.

I opened my mouth to question him, then quickly shut it. This wasn’t the time for questions. This was the time to obey him without question. So instead, I gave him a nod, feeling the tension begin to coil in my gut. I knew he was asking me to do this for a reason, and that fact was giving me a sense of dread.

He turned back to the maps after I nodded and took the letter. He paid me no attention, and that was almost worse than whatever was going to happen if I failed to deliver this letter.

No one followed me as I moved to leave, and I suddenly realized that there was going to be no escort. I hurried out of the room before they saw or smelled my fear.

I closed my eyes, standing in the hallway for a moment.

He is setting me up for failure, but I have to try. Failing to try would bring me a punishment worse than whatever he intended to do.

I wanted to run and hide, not even attempt it, but I knew better. So I steeled myself, holding my head high as I prepared to leave. The trip to the border would have been fastest if Senna were speaking to me, but she wasn’t. The years of abuse at the hands of Kayn had somehow psychologically suppressed my wolf, yet I still healed as fast as I would if she were present.

Instead, I would have to hike and run.

My trip through the snow was initially uneventful. My footsteps crunched in the snow, the fresh air making it easier to breathe. The further I got away from the packhouse, the tension of the expectations of the pack was gone in the snowy landscape.

It was like a breath of fresh, cold air. The further along the path I got, the more I could linger on my thoughts, and realize that… what I was doing was wrong. I could almost feel the moon goddess looking down on me with pity as I gave my body willingly to a man who would never be mine.

Though we were s****l creatures by nature, I knew that the mate bond was considered sacred. It must be a disappointment for the goddess to see her children making such disappointing choices, the way that I had.

I had been so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t even hear the sound of the footsteps behind me closing the distance until it was too late. The cajoling voices reached me first.

“Is that the Alpha’s w***e?” A voice called from behind me, the laughter that followed it making me shudder.

I tried to ignore the voice, but another voice joined the first. “I wonder if she would give us a taste of what the Alpha enjoys so much.”

“The Alpha would kill us.”

“No, he would kill her for allowing herself to be touched, and she deserves it.”

They were right. Kayn wouldn’t have been angry at those who were rapidly approaching me, but I would be. I knew I couldn’t outrun them, so instead, I turned and looked at the men who were stalking me. The two were low-level omegas who rarely attended training, as they thought they were superior to it. I didn’t remember their names, something with a J maybe. Jordan? The fact that I couldn’t remember their names just makes my point for me.

“Can I help you?” I asked, my voice sounding stronger than I felt.

The first one was small, smaller than average for a normal male werewolf. I scrutinized him more, wondering why he was smaller than male werewolves in the first place. The answer wouldn’t matter.

“Yes, you can give me a taste of what the Alpha enjoys from you. I would have asked that cute little red-headed thing, but she has disappeared. So that just leaves you.” He drawled, clearly drunk off of werewine. His eyes lingered on my body, undressing me with his eyes.

His friend finally emerged, slightly larger than normal, but still smaller than normal. “Where are you going in such a hurry?” His speech was equally drawn out, and the alcohol was present on both of their breaths

What happened next happened in a blur; they reached for me. Unfortunately, I hadn’t been able to get away quickly enough. Their fingers held my arms, and though I cried out, fighting them, they pushed me to the ground.

“If you won’t give me what I want, then I will take it.” The first slurred, sloppily trying to strip me out of my attire.

They managed to get me out of my jacket, shoes, and shirt. They were leaving sloppy hickeys along my skin that made me sob, my skin crawling at the sensations they were leaving on me. I kept saying no, though they didn’t listen. I finally kicked one in the right spot, and they ran before I could do more damage to them.

It was cold, my skin turning a faint blue as the snow touched me. I picked up my jacket, pulling it on as it shivered against my skin. I thought for a moment, trying to decide if I should keep going in the freezing cold or turn back now.

I’d probably die if I continued now, and I had to swallow the remainder of my pride as I made my way back to the packhouse with my stomach aching from the pain, and my freezing skin hurting and pale from where the bruises they had left remain.

She walked back into the packhouse, the message was supposed to deliver in her grip. She looked exhausted as she walked back, only being stopped by Kayn in the hallway with a gruff expression.

“What the hell are you doing back here?” He demands roughly, grabbing me by my hair to pull me back into his office. “Show me.” He orders harshly.

I put the letter on his desk as I shivered mostly from the cold, but also his cold, demanding gaze. I pulled off my jacket, my arms still nearly white where they grabbed me, my body cold to the touch.

“Who touched you?” His voice was low and dangerous.

“Two stupid omegas.” I admitted.

“And you allowed it?”

“I fought it.”

“Well we can’t have someone touching what is mine… let me remind them what your place is…” I screamed as he grabbed me, his hand clamped over my mouth.

“You will shut up and take the reminder, the reminder of what happens when someone touches what is mine…”