The Last Lycan (On Hold)

Nine

More scouts arrived back at camp and reported to Beta Flynn about what they saw.

Second in charge then went to the Alpha to pass on the message.

“In one week, the high council will be at the Snow Stone Pack for the games”.

His callous laugh rung throughout the tent; Flynn remained silent as he waited for his old friend to finish laughing.

He knew of the things he went through as a boy and it made him what he was now, but hearing that laugh gave Flynn an unnerving feeling that made him want to curl up in fear.

They had never been a part of the games, their pack a rogue pack for thirty years, all those that lived now had never seen a pack game.

The old alpha and Beta weren’t the only ones who died that year. Those who died didn’t follow the rules of the new Alpha, some managed to escape and now live their lives in other packs or as rogues.

“Looks like we finally get an audience with the high council” he says.

It was time to put an end to the control that the council have over all the packs across America.

“Steele are you sure this is a good idea, they are going to have guards everywhere and one sniff of our scent and were all dead, we may be the largest pack in America, but all other packs combined and were dead which is exactly what the council want” Flynn questioned.

He knew where his friend was coming from, when they found his mother’s secret journals when they were teens it was what prompted all of this, it was years of planning in the making and now they were inches from the final steps.

“They are killers, the murdered half of our pack, including a lineage of my family, I will not rest until they are taken down” he roared.

Flynn sighed, “I’m not going to convince you, otherwise am I?” the best thing he could do was to help his friend and keep him from getting himself killed or anyone else in the pack.

“No, but I need you to do something, well Leo, I want that girl” Steele says.

Not only did he want to find out about the scent of the girl, but she was also a potential entry point into the games.

Flynn nodded, “I’ll speak to Leo right away”.

With that Flynn left to the tent to speak to his brother, this wasn’t one to message over mind link.

Leo was in the scouting tent filling in maps from his times out searching the area.

“Hey Flynn” Leo says not looking up from the map in front of him.

Leo was a specialist scout for the Lycan Shadow Pack, his task was to memorise the land and when back at camp complete the maps with the terrain and knowledge of pack borders.

He was one of only five pack members who tracked land and pack boarders. If it weren’t for them Steele would send his pack into places where many of them will reach their end because they weren’t prepared.

“Steele wants you to find the girl Lily, or whatever her name was” Flynn informs his little brother.

Leo stops mapping out the pages and looks up to his brother “Lavender?”.

Flynn nods “Yeah sure here, he wants you to find her like now”.

Leo looks at his brother with creased brows, “You don’t think he wants me to find her again because she might be his mate”.

Flynn tips his head backwards and laughs, there was no way Steele had a mate out there. Not now anyway. At twenty-four, his mate was likely dead or didn’t exist. Not that he cared, Steele had his mind on his pack and nothing else, women were a pawn for his s****l desires whenever he wanted them and that was it.

“Just find the girl and tell Steele when you do”.

Leo sat alone thinking, it made sense, when he was taken to the Alpha’s tent and questioned about the foreign scents on his flesh Leo having not met his mate yet knew what to look for, scent being one of them.

Leo didn’t sense anything different about Lavender when they crossed paths, however a mate was able to pick up their scent even if it lingered on a scarf in a shop.

He couldn’t question his Alpha and did exactly what he asked.

Leo was about to shift when he realised she might not come willingly, if that was the case, he couldn’t fight her, the best way was to knock her unconscious, a low dose of aconite was a chemical used to cause werewolves pain, but in low doses, it can knock a werewolf out.

Shifting into his wolf, Leo took off into the woods, a change of clothes in his mouth.

Many around the camp looked at the wolf in wonder but continued with their work, there was a lot to do to keep a camp running.

The woods were a quiet place, Leo ran freely through the woods for miles until he landed at the camp. he brought the girl when he found her.

It was the best place to pick up a scent of her.

As Leo tried to catch Lavender’s scent again he wondered what would happen once he had found the girl, Steele was an Alpha who had often carried cruel intentions and would use anyone he could to get to the end.

Lavender was a potential means to an end and that could very well result in either heartbreak or worse death.

It took the wolf scout an entire night to find Lavender’s scent, and the only reason he caught it was the morning run she did on her own around the Snow Stone Pack on her own.

When he reported to Steele this information, Leo could already feel the cogs turning in his Alpha’s mind through the link and Lavender was the key.

‘Bring her too me’ Steele ordered through the link to Leo.

Still in wolf form, the young wolf sighed, he knew this was going to go wrong.

‘Yes Alpha’ there was no point arguing with him, it would only cause more grief in the end.

Leo watched the border of the territory at a safe distance, if he were to get too close, the Alpha of the pack would sure know he was there and their warriors would be on him before he had chance to get away.

He was currently in no man’s land which meant any wolf, pack or not could chase him for miles.

Bing in wolf form was sure to scare Lavender and alert the pack of a potential intruder, besides, she hadn’t seen Leo’s wolf and would be confused as to who it was.

Shifting into his human form, Leo changed into the clothes his had brought with him and laid in wait behind a bush.

It wasn’t long after a girl, barely breaking a sweat came running towards Leo.

He steps out of the bush he was hiding in and in doing so snaps a twig under his bare foot.

Lavender stops running and is suddenly on alert as to what was around her.

At four forty-five, the only one awake aside from her was the Alpha and Mason was too busy drinking coffee and reading the newspaper to be outside.

The wind carried a scent right to Lavender’s nose. A familiar scent.

She automatically stepped over the border and followed the scent.

“Leo?” she speaks finding him bare foot and in a pair of shorts. The wear she first met him in.

“Hi?” he speaks with a lopsided grin.

She could hear the nerves in his tone.

“What are you doing here?” Ava questions.

“Um, I was coming to see if you were okay, ya know after the last time we met” he was stalling, he needed to think of a way to get Lavender to agree to come with him or else his last resort would be to carry her back to the camp and a fighting werewolf on his shoulder for a three hour run was not what he had in mind.

Ava eyed the guy, she had only met him once, and most of that time she was unconscious for it which made her more wary of the situation.

“I’m fine, thanks. But you didn’t need to stalk me in the woods”.

Leo laughs nervously and reaches up to scratch the back of his head.

Now Ava knew something was up. No one acted this nervous.

His eyes darted around the place as if he were waiting for someone to leap out of the trees. But it was silent, aside from Leo and Ava.

“Are you okay?” she inquired. Asking out right could result in something bad and Ava wanted to avoid that.

Leo nodded but it was exaggerated.

Ava was curious, she takes a few steps towards Leo, he wasn’t a threat, else he would have done something to her when she was unconscious in his arms the other day.

Leo watched as Lavender slowly moved to the edge of the territory, she was getting close he could reach out and grab her.

“I just came to see if you were okay, after the rogue” he spoke.

Ava continued to walk until she crossed the territory line, Leo watched as she did so and took a deep breath.

“I’m fine thanks, nothing a little werewolf healing couldn’t handle” that was true, the attack from the rogue healed as if it never happened, it took a little longer with the other wound, but healed well.

The burn however was only just healing over, still a small area to be fixed, but the burn scar will forever be on her back shoulder to remember that day.

Leo nodded his head and leant against a tree, he was too nervous, and Ava noticed it.

“Leo what’s going on? You seem shifty” pointing out the obvious.

“My Alpha wants to meet you” the words rushed out of his mouth, not giving chance to build up to it.

Ava looked at Leo with surprise, why would his Alpha want to meet Ava? There was no association to Leo other than him helping her when she was injured, and she was unconscious for most of it.

“Why? I didn’t cross into his land or do anything” Ava spoke.

Leo shrugged his shoulders indicating he knew nothing about it, but that was a lie.

“He heard about the incident and wanted to see if you were okay” Leo rambled out.

Ava wasn’t fully convinced but accepted what he said.

“I’m not going to a location I haven’t been before to speak to an Alpha whose name you have yet to tell me, I’m sorry Leo I won’t go”.

Ava turned around to head back.

“I’m sorry Lavender” Leo mutters.

There was no time for Ava to turn around and react.

Leo came up behind her and a cloth covered her mouth and nose.

In her weakened state Ava was out cold almost instantly with little fight. Her body fell limp in his arms, Leo sighs, he didn’t want to do this to the girl, but he had an order from his Alpha.

Her nose wrinkled from the smell of the aconite; it had dulled her senses immensely making it difficult for Ava to completely focus on her surroundings.

Her sight was the first to return, the ringing in her ears were slowly fading and her smell was filled with moss and wood.

She was confused, the last thing she remembered was…

“Leo” her voice growled out.

Upon realisation of what had happened, it was as if she had gained her strength back and more, Ava was angry.

Getting to her feet from the cot she was laid in, she stumbles for a minute but makes her way out of the place she was in.

The bright light of the sun blinded her as she walked out, trees surrounded her from every angle, she was in the middle of the forest.

The hustle and bustle around her drew her attention to the people looking her way, they were all curious as to the strange person in their camp.

Ava looked with wide eyes at the people and the tents. Looking behind her, she finds she emerged from a tent.

Taking a few steady steps Ava walks around the camp, no one talking to her but they stared, watching with caution, they never have anyone new in their camps and definitely not a girl, females were forbidden to be in the camps, they remained at home with a few pack warriors.

It may not seem like it, but women were deemed sacred to the Lycan Shadow Pack and never left the grounds, not since they were announced as a rogue pack.

Ava had no idea where she was going, only that she needed to find Leo and rip him a new one.

The tents were closely put together but there was a centre where a fire was lit and enough room for the men to gather around.

There he was stood next to his brother Flynn chatting like he hadn’t just kidnapped Ava.

“Leo” she screams. Everyone nearby stops including the brothers and look at Ava with shocked faces, Leo however carries fear in his eyes.

“Lavender, I can explain” Leo pleads out as he takes a few steps towards her.

Ava wasn’t having any of it, she was pissed off.

She marched towards him “You drugged me” she shouts.

Leo holds his hands up in surrender, “I didn’t have a choice, I had orders”.

Ava didn’t care, when she reached him, her force of anger was all she needed, with one hand on his chest she knocks him from his feet and slams him into the ground.

His back hits the hard ground and Leo groans in pain, “Ow” he whines out.

Flynn looks at his brother, he didn’t know whether to laugh or rush forward and try to help.

“I’m sorry” he calls out again.

Ava laughs, but it was full of anger and malice “Sorry my ass, order’s or not, you ever do that again and I will rip you from head to testicles, am I clear?”

Leo nods struggling to say any more with his jagged breathing.

Ava got to her feet and suddenly felt dizzy, her body began to sweat again, she hadn’t even taken a step before a layer of sweat coated her body.

“Lavender, are you okay?” Leo questioned from the ground.

She nodded but it was a lie, something was wrong, she just couldn’t tell anyone about it.

“Leo what did you do to her?” a deep voice commanded an answer.

Leo got to his feet and bowed, “Nothing Alpha, she just started acting funny, she was fine a minute ago, throwing me to the ground” he says with his head bowed.

Ava turned to look at Leo then followed the sound of the other voice.

Her eyes landed upon a man whom she suddenly wanted to climb all over. Her entire body was being forced towards him, the way his eyes penetrated to her soul when he looked at her.

Her body suddenly felt a lot cooler.

“Lavender” Steele spoke, the way her name rolled off his tongue sent shivers down her spine. He looked at her with curiosity, but other than that there was no other emotion on his face

It was then that she realised, and began to shake her head, “Not again, I can’t go through this again” she uttered.

“What?” Steele’s deep voice boomed through the forest.

“Rejection, I already had one asshole try to rip my heart and soul from me four years ago, I can’t do it again”.

Steele soon understood what she was saying, and a growl ripped through his lips. “You have another mate?”.

Leo’s eyes widen, he was right, he had found the pack Luna.

All the other men listening to the conversation look at their new found Luna in surprise and before anything more could be said, they all kneeled to the ground and lowered their heads in respect to their soon to be Luna.

Ava looked around, she was confused, she had never seen anything like this before, wolves bowed their heads not kneel “What’s going on?” she asks, completely forgetting about the anger radiating off her seconds mate.

Steele didn’t like being ignored and marched up to his mate, Ava felt the anger roll off him in waves, but she didn’t care, “You will answer my question” Steele shouts.

Ava jumps back from the sudden burst of noise right in her ear. “What the f**k asshole, sensitive ears remember”.

“You are my mate, no other man will go near you, I will rip his head off” Steele growled out.

When he spoke again Ava remembered the beginning of this conversation and she shakes her head in denial.

“This is impossible, I already had one mate reject me, I shouldn’t have a second mate, we don’t get second mates”. Ava tried to convince herself that this impossible thing was happening right now.

“Well you do and your mine now” Steele growled.

Ava looked at him stunned, “You’re not rejecting me?” she questions.

Steele walks up to his mate and snakes his hand around her neck until his fingers dug into her hair at the nape of her neck, he yanks her a little too hard to pull her close to his face.

Ava gasps in pain and shock being so close to him.

“You are mine; I will not reject you and you will not reject me, understand?”.

His touch sent flutters of excitement through her body, though there was fear mixed inside, she knew deep down he wouldn’t hurt her.

“What is your last name?” he demands with a scowl.

Their bodies were flushed against one another, Ava was unsure if she was able to speak.

He saw this and removed his hand from her head but kept the close distance.

“Adams, my last name is Adams” she whispers.

“I Alpha Steele Everhart of the Lycan Shadow Pack accept Lavender Adams as my mate” just like that.

Ava’s eyes go wide with shock when she hears his name and pack, stumbling backwards, Ava falls onto her butt.

“No” she says.

Steele looks at her, his anger starting to build, she was yet to accept him. He may be a lot of things, but he wouldn’t force her to do things she didn’t want.

Ava backs up and Steele eyes her, “If you run, I will chase you down and you won’t like what I do afterwards” he threatens.

“Why are you here?” she asks, there was no way she had travelled thousands of miles back to his territory, and they wouldn’t be in tents, they were near the Snow Stone Pack, but for a reason she was yet to find out.

“The high council have to pay for their crimes” Steele snarls out.

Ava looked at him with an open mouth of shock.

“Why what have they done? If I remember correctly, your father was the one to cause the trouble and that’s why your pack are rogues”.

Steele growls “My father is a lot of things, but what the council have damned us as being isn’t down to my father, the high council are the ones to make us who we are. We lost half of our pack; generations because the high council you look up too so much, murdered them”.

Ava couldn’t believe what she was hearing, in fact she didn’t believe it.

But why would a rogue pack who chose to be rogues blame the council for it.

Nothing made sense. “What the hell is going on?” Ava says.

But that soon went to the back of her mind when heat began to rise in her body once again, this time it got worse.

She cries out in pain and curls up on the ground.

Steele’s walls of anger drop at the sight of his mate in pain, he reacts and is by her side instantly before he had time to think. Ava was in too much pain to push him away.

“What is happening to her?” he demands, wanting to know right away.

Ava cries out again.

Steele looks for anyone to give him answers but no one knew.

“Where’s Drew” he roars out.

The pack doctor came rushing to the Alpha and bowed his head before turning his focus on the girl on the ground.

“I haven’t seen anyone in this much pain since their first shift, but they’ve never had burning skin like this” Drew observes.

Steele places a hand on Ava’s cheek, and she sighs, a cooling sensation travelled through her body from her cheek.

Her cries silence for a moment and the wolves believe it to be subsiding, even though they have only just found out about this girl being their Luna, their connection to her was strong, and when she was in pain everyone knew about it.

Steele pulls his hand from her face about to scoop her up when she screams in agony again.

“Why is she doing this?” Steele yells, getting angry no one was giving him answers.

Drew shakes with nerves, he had seen what happened when you made the Alpha angry and he didn’t want to receive that.

“I don’t know, I have never seen anything like this, but she went silent when you touched her” Drew observes.

Steele growls as he places his hand back on her cheek and the pain once again subsides.

“It must have something to do with the connection you have with her, either way, she’s in less pain when she has skin to skin contact with you”.

Steele scoops Ava up into his arms and carries her into his tent. The pack automatically got back to work but their minds wandered to the girl, their soon to be Luna.