The Beta's Arrival

Chapter 8

James' POV

She shifted. I should be enraged with how she responded to me, but I can't be. She is so beautiful, magnificent, her beauty was beyond true description. I couldn't help staring at her in wonder as she stood a few feet away from me. Her gaze was captivating. She tilted her head and then turned and darted away. As she moved toward the treeline, others shifted as well and followed her.

Without giving it a second thought, I also shifted and went toward the trees. Before I could go too far, she was suddenly in front of me. "Go back home," her wolf commanded.

"I'm the Alpha to be. I can do as I please," I shot back at her.

"You are not wanted here," she hissed at me.

"Make me leave," I goated her. I wanted her to try. It would be entertaining.

She turned to face me, bearing her fangs at me. Bloodlust in her gaze. "Go back home," she commanded, but her tone made it sound more like a threat.

I didn't like her tone. "You cannot command an Alpha," I growled at him.

"GO BACK HOME!" She growled at me.

Without giving it a second thought, I lunged at her. She would submit to me. She would mine. No matter what I need to do. She would come to accept and love me. It may take time. But it would happen. To my surprise, she was able to overpower me and pin me to the ground. Her strength only made me want her more. She was of Beta descent, she shouldn't have the strength to pin me, but somehow she did. I stopped struggling for a moment, long enough to feel the shift in her weight and then she was under me. I nipped at her, warning her. She snarled back at me and tried to bite at my legs. I moved my paws out of the way and in doing so, she was able to get back onto her paws in a flash. She slashed at me, making contact. I felt my skin tear under her claws. I swung at her, drawing out her blood. She whimpered in pain, but she didn't back down. Instead, she continued to fight and we did for another few moments before the other wolves stepped in, pulling us apart.

"Please, future Alpha, let our daughter live. We will teach her where she belongs in the pack," I heard her father plead with me.

"You have had years to teach her that she is of Beta blood in name only. I am the future Alpha, she should respect me. She should be flattered and desire to be my mate. Instead, she is fighting with me," I huffed as I stepped toward him and his family.

"Yes, we should have taught her better. We are extremely sorry," he said with a bow and I watched as his wife did the same. However, the look of rage and distain remained on Helen's face.

She needed to learn her place and her parents weren't teaching her so I would, but not tonight. There are too many eyes. I'll wait. When she learns her place, she will be my Luna. She will be mine. "Fine, I'll go," I conceded. Then I was gone.

Helen's POV

He left far too easily. He was planning something, but I wasn't sure what it was. All I knew was I needed to stay on guard for whatever he was planning. I tried hard to shake the feeling of impending doom and finish going on the run with my family and friends. The run ended around one in the morning with everyone leaving to head home either by car or on paw.

I slumped into my bed, exhausted. Shifting was far more strenuous than I had expected. I knew it would be hard, but it took more of a toll than I had thought. Within a matter of seconds, I had passed out.

Sunlight streaming through my opened curtains woke me. Then came a sudden knock at my door. "HELEN!" I heard Diane shriek in terror.

I jumped out of bed and raced to my door. Opening the door, Diane nearly plowed me over. "HELEN... HE'S HERE," she nearly screamed in my face as she wrapped her arms around me. I could feel her shaking.

"Who, what's... what's going on?" I asked as I closed my door and locked it.

"James... he's here... Dad told me to run. He told me to get you and run. He and Mom are confronting him... he's not himself. He's lost it. He's completely lost it," she responded, shaking hard. "We have to go..."

"You stay here. Let me go talk to him. Maybe I can fix this," I whispered as I pulled her arms from me.

"No!" Her grip tightened. "You don't understand. He isn't himself. He's worse. He's blindly determined. He wants..." her voice trailed off.

"He wants me," I concluded. " I have to go, I can stop him."

"Or he'll kill you," she shuddered at her own words.

"He wants me. He won't kill me," I tried to console her. "But he might just kill Mom and Dad." I felt her stiffen at my words.

"But..." she wanted to object. I knew she did, but she was scared I was right.

Her grip loosened and she let go of me. "I'll be careful," I promised. "But before I go, I need you to hide." I pointed to my closet. Without a word of objection, she went into the closet and closed the door.

Then I turned and walked out of my room. I slowly made my way down the hallway, trying hard to listen to whatever was happening. They were all at the front door. James was demanding to see me. He was demanding to have me. Then there was a loud sound, my mother's scream and my father's yelling. Then came a crashing sound along with growls. Someone had shifted. I poked my head out to see the entryway. James and my father had shifted. Mom was on the floor next to the wall with a small trail of blood making its way down from her forehead. He had hurt her and now my father was preparing to fight a future Alpha. He may be young, but that doesn't change the difference in their strengths.

I rushed to get between them. "STOP!" I screamed as I put up my hands.

"Come with me, and I'll stop," James spoke in my mind. Only I could hear him.

"Don't," my father said as he turned to me, his gaze pleading with me. "Don't go with him."

"I have to. To save you, Mom and Diane," I told him. It was the only way I could save them all.

"No, you don't need to protect us. I will do that. All you need to do is live happily. Find your true mate. Don't settle for him," my dad tried to reason with me.

"But if I don't go, we might all end up dead," I tried to explain. I needed him to understand. I would be okay as long as they were all safe.

"I will not sacrifice your happiness," he growled at me.

"I am not sacrificing my happiness. I promise," I tried to ease his concern. "Please, Mom is already injured. If you start a fight now then she might not be okay." I needed him to see reason.

He glanced back at Mom, who was still slouched against the wall, unconscious. "Fine," he said as he shifted back.

I thought everything would be okay. I thought Dad shifting back would have been enough, but in the blink of an eye, I was knocked to the ground. James wrapped his teeth around Dad's arm. He had just barely raised it in defence. "STOP!" I screamed. "He shifted back. I'm going with you!"

"You will never be all mine as long as they are alive. They will sway your opinion and even try to take you from me," he hissed back at me as he tore Dad's arm from his body. He stumbled back, finding the wall to support him.

I saw red and shifted. I lunged at James' back, tearing at his hind leg. "This will not persuade me to be your chosen mate. Taking my family from me will only make me resent you," I tried to reason with him. But I knew it would be futile. He was no longer himself. He was no longer reasonable.

"I will make you," he grunted back as he shook me off and continued to attack my dad.

Before he could sink his teeth into him again, Mom had shifted and knocked him into a wall. She swayed on her feet, appearing dizzy. "Helen, get your sister and run!" she commanded me.

"But I can help," I cried.

"I know you can, but your sister doesn't have her wolf. If he gets through us, then she will never survive," she responded, trying hard to appear steady.

I took a deep breath and launched myself over them. I landed on the other side, near my room. Before I turned down the hall, I glanced back. Mom was fighting hard. Dad had a puddle of blood around him, but he was still trying to remain on his feet. Possibly trying to shift. "Listen to your mother and go!" He yelled at me.

Quickly, I turned and raced to my room and burst through the door. I tore open the closet and knelt down, trying to get Diane to get on my back. It took her a second to realize it was me, but then she was on my back, and we escaped through my bedroom window, shattering it. I raced toward the forest. I could hear Diane crying. She knew that we would never see Mom or Dad again. I wanted nothing more than to turn back and rip James' head from his shoulders, but it would be nearly impossible. I may be strong. However, he would be stronger.

I didn't stop running until I came to the border. Once I crossed it, I would be a rogue and so would Diane. "Go!" Diane urged me. "Being alive and a rogue is better than being a beta and dead."

With her words, I stepped across the line and then we were moving fast once more. I needed to get her as far away as possible. If we were caught maybe I could hide her. It would be easier to fight if I didn't have to protect her. With every step, the pain in my heart grew. The image of Mom and Dad fighting flashed through my mind. "They are protecting you and your sister. Do not regret their sacrifice," Celestria tried to comfort me.

"I will make them pay," I muttered back. "All of them. One day."

"Do not let revenge consume you. Right now, we need to focus on surviving," she tried hard to refocus my attention, but the faces of those who had harmed my sister wouldn't go away.

"Just for now," she pressed.

"For now," I agreed and then focused on where we were and where we were going. We had to be careful rogues were not known to be very inviting. Instead, they welcomed newcomers for sport. Not to mention the other packlands we could accidentally cross onto.