Chapter 45
1169 Words
His alpha is a spiteful creature.
Easily put out.
Angry he can’t get back to his mate.
Angry that she’s in that monster’s possession.
It fueled him to consider no other option.
Digging into the pocket of earth above him was the only new foreseeable option. Padding around in the depths of the cave, hypnotized by her scent felt like an endless cage.
This was better. Covered in chaos, burning his energy only to inch closer to her despite feeling like they were worlds apart.
Kris leaned into the earth, cleaning it out around him, armful by armful. He shoved it out and away, down past the depth of where he came. Dirt packed his wounds making it difficult to heal, but still he pressed on.
Alpha’s don’t give up. They don’t know how.
Only, his claws dragged desperately across stone that would no longer budge. His forward motion halted as he recuperated, digging in another direction.
It can’t be easy.
Alphas have tales to tell.
Alphas save their mates.
Alphas…
“Again!?” he hissed out a breath.
His other hand came to brace his forearm. The burn assured him he wasn’t dreaming. That one got his attention. Whatever it was would meet its match.
His temper grew as he willed his wound shut.
“Fvcking piece of…” his hand slipped against it, finding another unrecognizable stone.
Rough square shapes jutted out from what Kris could only assume was packed bedrock beside him. His claws caught too much for it not to be.
Not that he was an expert in these things…
The thought jogged his mind.
“Can we even reach the witch?” Kris’ alpha asked out loud as he cleaned off the multi-faceted object.
For a brief moment he considered climbing back down and out of his muddied cave for a stone but none withstood his anger.
His arm twitched and he sputtered as his skin reconnected once more. Kris sighed and rotated it, making sure it would be usable going forward.
“I don’t know. Renee could barely reach us and we’re connected to her,” Kris replied boldly.
“We still have the crystal,” he informed Kris without smoothing over the tuft of fur at his collar. The jagged thing sat at his collar bone, reminding him as he moved that it hadn’t fallen out of place.
“Colla,” Kris began.
“The witch can hear us,” his alpha took over; yet another reminder of just who was in charge. “Why isn’t she summoning us back?”
“That’s not how wicca works,” Kris replied, annoyed to be speaking to himself out loud.
“That’s just what they tell you,” his alpha snorted. “Before you know it you’re in time out, stuck in a jar in their freezer.”
Despite himself, Kris grinned.
“You’d be wise not to take over,” his alpha warned his humanism.
Kris relinquished his intentions. If he wanted the witch, he’d have to reach her himself.
“Have we gone blind?” his alpha questioned immediately after.
Have they? His open wounds could have absorbed all types of metals and bacteria in this dump.
“I see light. Faint but there,” he raised his snout, trying to look below his cheek. His mane, flitting light under clumps of earth hanging from the bulk of him.
“Maybe she did hear us,” Kris allowed the thought, then added, “Apologize.”
“No,” he replied gruffly.
“Do it,” Kris urged.
“To who? You?”
“To Colla, moron. She doesn’t like to be referred to as a witch.”
A brief pause shuffled between thoughts.
“But that’s what she is. I’m not being offensive.”
The light began to fade at that.
“Alpha!” Kris roared, worrying that this was their way back and they were blowing it.
“Don’t you have a spine?” Kris’ alpha challenged.
“Just. Do. It.”
With that the light flickered out until it was gone.
“You’re so fvcking stubborn,” Kris swore.
He picked around the odd stone, then gave up. His large mit dove into tangled, disgusting fur to pull out Renee’s mind stone.
“Careful with that!” his alpha snarled. “Do I have to remind you we only have one!?”
“Do I have to remind you how to act?” Kris spat, reliving their past moment. “It started glowing. We need to know…”
“It needs to be safe!”
His Alpha quieted down quickly as the crystal faintly began to glow again.
“H-How are you doing that?” his alpha trembled.
The very fact bewildered Kris.
“Don’t do that again,” he warned. “I don’t know,” he replied after. “It’s almost like it’s reacting to this wall.”
Kris tilted his head in question.
It didn’t make any sense.
“Do you see that?” he asked his alpha.
His Alpha honed in on small smokey quartz. Kris knew when he knew.
“Is that… rock… doing it?” he grumbled through his question, releasing a yawn as he did.
“No idea.”
“Put it over there, genius.”
Kris huffed, not interested in the grumpy old wolf’s attitude. It was just better to let it slide.
Carefully, Kris reached over to the odd protruding object. Its light seemed to pulsate. Its strength barely amplified; not even light enough to cast a shadow.
He frowned, unsure of how it was even possible. Its barely there glow glinted its way across wet clumps of earth, stone and finally what seemed to appear to make it glow better.
Kris, however, couldn’t make heads or tails over its reasons.
“You’re seeing this, right?,” he asked in wonder.
“Break off a piece,” his alpha commanded.
An alpha command was meant to break through the worry of both rational and irrational responses. Delaying the action got under every alpha’s skin, making it clear who to off next, given the chance.
Arguing with his internally was different though.
“You didn’t feel what it did to our arm?” Kris asked condescendingly.
“It doesn’t matter,” his alpha tried pushing him out again. “If the stone becomes a tool, we need its asset.”
Kris understood the logic but that stone wasn’t going anywhere. He should know.
“Punch it again,” his alpha advised.
Kris’ wind up pulled his mind stone back to him. He switched hands, protecting it before following through.
This time, his contact busted the rough, candle thick, columns of blue facets into shards.
Cursing to himself, Kris lunged forward, sorting through the pieces of it to retrieve. He found a few that looked to be about the mind stone’s size, all of which were dismissed by his alpha.
“It needs to cradle the stone, like we did our mate.”
- Writer
