Alpha Tribrid Rising

Chapter Seven~ Blood Mountain

~Alicia’s POV~

The shift back to my human skin felt like being forged in fire and then dropped into an ice bath.Every muscle in my body screamed, still vibrating with Aries's power. My hair was matted with the copper-scented mud of the ravine, a dark contrast against the terrifying, crimson stained earth beneath us. Behind us, the forest was a chorus of fury, the discovery howls from the Moonstone Pack were no longer distant. They were hunting us. I looked at my hands, still trembling, and then at Chelsea and Sarah. They were staring at me completely stunned, their eyes wide as they tried to reconcile the girl who served wine with my beautiful auburn furred monster that had just crushed the pack's best tracker.

"We have to move," I rasped, my voice sounding raw. “The second dawn is coming, and if we aren't under his protection by then, the trail runs cold". Chelsea nods in agreement and hands me a pair of leggings and a shirt to cover my naked body since I shifted unexpectedly then we headed deeper into the red clay ravine, where the mountain seemed to literally bleed iron rich water that stained our clothes and masked our footsteps. The air here was different it didn't carry the oily stench of my father or of the pack house. It smelled of scars and silence, of ancient earth and something dangerously wild. As the path narrowed into a jagged throat of rock, a low, tectonic rumble vibrated through the ground. It wasn't a growl it was the sound of the mountain itself breathing.I stopped dead, pushing Chelsea and Sarah behind the shelter of a jagged overhang. My green eyes scanned the shadows of a deep cave mouth where the clay was darkest.

Out of the gloom, a pair of eyes ignited not amber, not blood red, but a piercing glacial blue that seemed to hold the weight of a thousand discarded years. The Exile didn't intimidate, He didn't roar. He simply stepped into a sliver of moonlight, a ghost of the old ways covered in silver white fur and jagged battle scars that told stories of a mercy he had never been shown. He looked at the satchels at my hip, then at the silver lined pupils of my eyes, and for the first time in my eighteen years, I felt a power that made the Alpha's reach look like a flickering candle in a storm. “Selene sent us," I whispered, my heart racing far too fast against my ribs. "She said you owe her a life." The massive wolf tilted his head, his presence heavy enough to make the very air vibrate. The choice was his he could be the darkness deeper than my father's, or he could be the end of our journey before it truly began.

In the blink of an eye he has shifted back into human form. The Exile stood as a monument of frozen time, his glacial blue eyes piercing through the crimson mist of the ravine. When he finally spoke, his voice didn't sound like a man or a wolf it sounded like the grinding of tectonic plates deep beneath the earth. "Selene always was fond of trading things that weren't hers to give," he rumbled, the sound vibrating through the ravine. He took a slow, deliberate step toward me, his long silver beard shimmering with a ghostly light that made me seem extremely young by comparison. "She promised me a life, little 'tribrid.' She didn't mention it would come with two property tags and the scent of an Alpha's fury trailing behind you like a shroud".

He stopped just inches from my face, his scars looming over me. He leaned down, his blue eyes locking in on the satchel where the stolen ledger and gemstones weighed heavy. "I have spent decades as a 'ghost of the old ways,' forgotten by the monsters in that pack house," he hissed, his breath smelling of ancient pine and cold iron. "Why should I wake up for you? Why should I bleed for a girl who hasn't even learned how to stop her own hands from shaking?" I didn't flinch, my green eyes locking onto his icy ones despite the charge still humming beneath my skin. "Because," I whispered, my voice gaining the resolve I had shown Chelsea in the omega wing, "if you don't, you aren't just letting us die. You're letting the Moon Goddess's debt go unpaid. And we both know what happens when a 'lone wolf' denies the moon". The Exile let out a sound that might have been a laugh or a growl. "You have teeth, little wolf. Let’s see if you can use them when the Alphas hounds arrive at the second dawn".

The Exile turned his back and walked away and didn’t say a word as we followed. He didn't lead us toward a traditional house instead, he moved toward a narrow fissure in the rock face that looked too small for a man of his size to enter. “Inside," he commanded, his eyes flicking toward the forest we had just fled. "your father's lapdogs are scent blinded by the peppermint you spilled, but their feet are not. They will be here soon, time to prepare.” As we all squeezed through the opening, the scenery changes instantly. A stream of the mountain's ‘bleeding’ water ran through the center, providing a way to wash the metallic tang of fear from our skin so we hopefully couldn't be tracked inside.

The Exile stood at the mouth of the cave He began to kick the thick red clay over our trail, his voice dropping to a low whisper. "If you want to survive the night, Omegas, you will do exactly as I say. I have spent years as a ghost. Tonight, you will learn how to haunt this mountain as I do". I gripped the satchel at my hip, feeling the weight of the ledger and gemstones. I looked at the Exile's scarred back and realized the mercy Selene spoke of wasn't a gift it was a weapon I would have to earn. The air in the ravine was thick with an exotic scent as the Exile led us toward a narrow bottleneck in the canyon. In the distance was a rhythmic baying of the Moonstone guards echoing off the stone, they were close.

The Exile stopped where the red clay was at its slickest, his glacial blue eyes fixed on the ledge above. He didn't shift. He moved with a heavy, bipedal grace that felt ancient. “The mountain doesn't just bleed Tribrid," he rumbled, his voice vibrating through my chest. "It hungers. Your father's hounds rely on their speed and their sight. We will take both."

He pointed to a massive slab of sandstone held in place only by a thick vein of wet, crimson clay. "When I give the word, you will use that surge of power I feel humming underneath your skin, don’t hit the wolves. I want you to hit the vein of clay.”

After making sure Chelsea and Sarah were safe and hidden, I stepped forward with my green eyes narrowing. I can feel them getting closer and Aries is pacing beneath my ribs, her power itching to be released. I didn't need to shift into Aries to call on my strength. So I planted my feet in the muck, my hair whipping around me as I raised my hands. “Here they come.” the Exile hissed, melting into the shadows of the rock face. Next thing I know three guards rounded the corner, their blood colored eyes scanning the ground. They were quick, sloppy,arrogant, and blinded by the scent of their own triumph. They didn't see the Exile. They didn't see the trap. “Now!" the Exile's voice boomed like thunder.

I didn't hesitate. I didn’t even flinch, I let the residual energy surge from my core, funneling it into a concentrated bolt of jagged white light. It struck the vein of red clay with the force of a landslide. The wet earth didn't just break, it liquified. The massive slab groaned and slid, but it wasn't a simple rockfall. As the stone hit the canyon floor, it sent a tidal wave of thick, pressurized red mud exploding upward. The hounds were instantly buried to their chests in the heavy, cement like clay.The silence that followed was deafening, broken only by the panicked whines of the trapped wolves. The Exile stepped out from the gloom, his silver white beard ghostly against the red backdrop. He looked at me , a flicker of something like respect crossing his beautiful ancient face.

"They are not dead," the Exile noted, his eyes turning back to the forest. "But they are no longer hunters. They are markers. And your father will have to walk past their failure to get to me." I lowered my hands, the silver glow in my eyes fading as I looked at the trapped guards. The men who had treated me like property just hours ago and I feel a cold, sharp sense of justice. “Let them watch," I whispered. "Let them see exactly what they've been hunting." “I underestimated you little wolf, that’s the last time I’ll do that.” He states with a competitive smirk across his wise face.

The red clay had barely settled around the trapped guards when the atmosphere in the ravine shifted. The menacing aura didn't just arrive it crushed the air out of the canyon, smelling of dark, oily smoke and ancient rot.That can only mean one thing, my father is here. Alpha Ben stepped into the clearing, followed by four enforcers whose eyes were fixed on the ledge. He didn't look at the landscape he looked at the three heads poking out of the hardened crimson mud. His lip curled in a way that made my blood turn to ice."Pathetic," Ben rumbled, his voice carrying the weight of a physical blow. He walked up to the first trapped guard and, without breaking stride, kicked the man's head with enough force to c***k the clay. "I send you to retrieve my property and you become part of the scenery."

He stopped at the edge of the clay trap, his gaze lifting looking for me. I stood tall beside the Exile, my eyes glowing with a silver defiance that hadn't been there a day ago. The Alpha's eyes widened slightly, tracking the auburn tint in my hair and the way the air was vibrating around me. "So," my father speaks, his voice dropping to a dangerous purr. "My little baby monster finally woke up. You think a little mud and a ghost of a wolf can hide you from me, Alicia? You are a Moonstone. You are mine." The Exile stepped forward, and shifted in a blur. His silver white fur bristling as he let out a low, tectonic growl. "She is no one's but the Moon's now, Ben. You are standing on ground that has forgotten your name." The Alpha laughed, a jagged, hollow sound. He reached into his coat and pulled out a heavy, silver weighted whip the very one he had used to keep the myself and all other omegas and servants in line for years. "I don't need to remember the ground to salt it.”

“Enforcers! Tear the old wolf apart. Bring the girls to me. I want the Tribrid alive I have a cage waiting for her that even a god couldn't break." I felt the something snap behind my eyelids. I didn't wait for the Exile’s command. I looked back at Chelsea and Sarah, then back at the man who has called me property for eighteen years. “No more cages!” I shouted, my voice amplified by Aries's power until it echoed like a landslide through the ravine. Alpha Ben’s command was the spark that ignited the powder keg. Four Enforcers, their blood colored eyes locked onto us, shifted in a blur of snapping bone and grey fur. The aura of my father thickened, a dark pressure that made my skin crawl as he stood back, his lip twitching feeling like he’s already won.

I look for half a second at Chelsea and mind link her “distract them on my signal.” She nods. I look back at my father and smirk at him knowing he know has no clue of Chelsea’s power. "Chelsea, now!" I roared, my voice sounding less like a girl and more like a tornado. Beside me, Chelsea slumped slightly against a jagged rock, but her hazel eyes flared into that piercing blue that signaled Skye was forward. I could feel her power radiating off it was so strong that it cut through the Alpha's oily stench.

"Look at the clay!" Chelsea's voice carried a

silver chime the hypnotic thread weaving through the air like a physical weight.Two of the lunging Enforcers faltered mid leap, their gazes dropping to the crimson mud as if it were the only thing in the world that mattered.

Their momentum died instantly, and they tumbled into the red clay, their snarls turning into confused whimpers unable to look away from the clay. But the other two were veterans, their blood colored eyes narrowing as they fought the compulsion. They skirted the edge of the pit, approaching us with lethal speed. The Exile met the first one head on, his silver white fur flowing as he let out a low, bass heavy growl that shook the very earth. He was most definitely a ghost of the old ways moving with a brutal, sacred efficiency that sent the enforcer crashing into the stone pillars knocking the enforcer into unconsciousness.

The last Enforcer then lunged for Sarah, who was huddled behind me, her small frame shaking with terror. I fully snapped. I didn't just shift I exploded into Aries. The transition was a white hot light and suddenly I was looking down at the Enforcer from a height that dwarfed him. I instantly ripped out his throat coating my auburn colored fur with his blood spatter. I feel a tingle in the back of my neck and immediately I intercepted another hidden Enforcer mid air, my jaws snapping his wooden spear like a dry twig before I slammed my shoulder into his chest. The physical fight was quick my father’s lapdogs were no match for me at my full strength. the sound of tearing fur and bone chilling snarls echoing all the way back toward the pack house. I knew more guards would be coming soon and as strong as I am, I’m already exhausted from the escape alone I cannot keep fighting all night we have to get away to regain our strength.

"Run!" I projected the telepathic command into Chelsea's mind as I pinned the Enforcer to the red slippery ground. The Alpha's face was a mask of shock and irritation as he watched his elite guards fall to a "baby monster" and an exile. My father reached for his silver whip, but the Exile was already moving, his glacial blue eyes fixed on the man who had called us property for too long. All of a sudden the aura around us changes and I feel Chelsea’s power spreading like a wildfire. “ I thought I told you to run.” I scold her. She just smiles at me and then focuses on the alpha. “ go to sleep, NOW!” Her voice boomed not sounding like her at all I didn’t recognize this voice not a bit and it kind of scared me if I was being honest. My father instantly dropped into a slumber and the guard I was pinning down also fell instantly asleep. I’m not sure how long her power will hold but it’s giving us enough time to escape further into the cave and regroup for now. “ I guess I underestimated you both how silly of me. Little Sarah is there any unknown powers you have hidden in there ?” The exile jokingly says trying to lift her spirits. “Um.. n-n-no sir i-i-i don’t think so..” Sarah stuttered out still shaking uncontrollably from fear. Chelsea scooped Sarah’s small frame and hugged her close running her fingers through her hair reassuring her, “ you have no reason to be afraid now I promise we will protect you from any harm. You are finally safe and free.” Sarah gives chelsea an unsure smile and whispers so soft you can barely hear “thank you, I owe you both my life.”