My Laughable Fate

LEIA POV Trying to remain composed and appear unworried was becoming challenging. I couldn’t show my warriors how worried I was, since it wasn’t an emotion I often expressed, unless it had to do with my family and friends. Of course, it just so happened that my family and friends were in potential danger and here I was far away, unable to help them. Logically, I knew that it didn’t matter that the West were the only ones with movement going on around them. Mainly near Golden Moon and Sol. If they had witches on their side, they could appear out of nowhere and wreak havoc. Everything else could be a distraction. That thought might not comfort me, but it’s reality. It’s because of that reality that we were stopped mid trip. It’s also why all the packs are on lock down. Everyone had to be safe, including us. “Are these fuckers trying to be poetic or something?” I growled internally. “Tone it down lady, you’re becoming a real potty mouth.” Sian warned. It was true that spending most of my time with a bunch of meatheads that had no filters or shame had jaded me. “Where do they get the balls to threaten every pack in the US??! Obviously, they think too highly of themselves. Or maybe we haven’t proven we aren’t to be fu… messed with.” I corrected myself before Sian could tsk like my mom. Even if it wasn’t my fault that the male wolves didn’t realize there were shewolfs in the were army and spoke and acted as if they were in a boy’s high school locker room. I wasn’t necessarily offended by any of it, but it ruined my feminine eloquence. It was a good thing that no one expected me to be the Alpha’s prim and proper daughter. Win was the closest to prim and proper and was more well known since she was the first born and rightful heir. Becoming a Beta kept her in the limelight even when she gave up the Alpha position to my brother Alex. As for me, some warriors didn’t even know I’m an Alpha. I made it a point not to flaunt who I am. EVER. The last thing I wanted was for someone to do me any favors to get on my parents’ good side. I can’t hide my army rank and I would never want to, but my Goddess-given rank is something else altogether. While most warriors from our pack and allied packs know who I am, who my family is. Not everyone else does. We don’t use last names around here, just rank and first name. Most of the warriors that know who we are also know that both Luke and I like to keep a low profile and keep it to themselves. It’s not like we're trying to hide who we are, we just don’t promote it. If someone asks our wolf rank, we simply say warrior because that's what we were at Golden Moon. Not Alpha's. So, unless they were told by me, or some loose-mouthed ass…. jerk, they had no idea my parents were their elders. That my brothers were very powerful Alpha’s and that one of my sisters-in-laws could make them look like an empty toothpaste dispenser. There is no need to add that I'm superior in rank than most of them. Not only in the army, but as a wolf. “Easy there, your head won’t fit through your uniform shirt.” Sian warned in amusement. “With all these meatheads around here, I need a big head to compete.” I reminded her. “They may be the majority but were in charge here.” Sian snickered evilly. “We are in charge of the twenty-five men that are just as tired of teaching common sense as I am.” Traveling doesn’t help. Having just finished in the South, where thirty-one packs were waiting with very defensive attitudes. We were all looking forward to a break, a long, quiet break. Instead, we’re here, in a cozy little hotel in New Milford, Connecticut. “Pack members must be scared to death while hiding in bunkers. And I’m here sitting on a crocheted bed spread.” I grumbled. “But what can you do from here?” Sian pointed out. Nada. We were in the middle of nowhere with the minimal supplies we had brought with us. Everything else was being sent ahead to the pack by Commander Jordan. All we could do was listen to the radio and hope to catch some good news. Which would be no news. “Sarg. You think they’ll really attack?” Herc asked from where he sat on the one chair provided by the desk. I had all twenty-five grown and very fine men in my tiny room, and they were all hands off. “Slut.” Sian chortled. “Just because I’m imagining some really dirty things to get my mind off of the current threat, doesn’t make me a slut.” I defended myself. “The things you imagined would make a w***e blush.” She scolded me. “Then she shouldn’t call herself a whore.” Not a good one. What’s the point of fantasizing if you’re going to picture yourself doing some guy missionary style on a bed? Boring! “In the doggy style position, your favorite, we can take three wolves. Maybe even four.” I pointed out, and she sneered. I almost laughed out loud at her reaction before I remembered the very serious danger that one or more packs were in. Any of them could be the pack to get attacked. Which is why we were all staring at a radio that was on the desk. As if we could see what was going on when all we could hear were random check-ins from the Alpha’s. “Hard to say. I wouldn’t send a warning, not if I was serious. I would just strike, so I would say no.” That was probably why I wasn’t overly worried that Golden Moon or Sol would be attacked. Only reasonably worried. Then I considered something. “Then again, the warning and all that movement in the West could be a distraction. That is something I would do before attacking a completely different pack or area.” Honestly, I wasn’t all that sure anymore. Sometimes their actions are well thought out, which is how they’ve been able to hide from us for so long. Then there was the warning letter that sounded like the words of a delusional person. “Tonight, one pack will offer a sacrifice. In honor of me, Onyx, the great and powerful.” If Onyx wrote those words, he or she needs to seek help. Before the metaphorical house, that is me, drops on the asshole. Crazy as O might sound, that doesn’t mean he or she isn't capable of hiding several hunter armies from a well-organized team of wolves, but I expected… more. A riddle would have been less lame. Still, you never want to underestimate the enemy. So, our trip to Mt. Washington in Boston was put on hold for the time being. The Dark Mist pack is a medium sized pack with around six hundred pack members, two hundred and fifty of them warriors. They were the most receptive to our visit, so we decided to leave the larger packs for another time. Maybe they can work on their attitudes while they wait. Which is good for the Alpha’s of those packs because the lack of f***s I’m giving is not Master Sargent's approved behavior. Too much has happened and is still happening. I need to get it together and remember my short and long-term goals. Right now, preparing all of the packs was my job. Therefore, it was my short-term goal that benefited my long-term goal. "Sneaky." Sian snickered. "It's fate." It felt like it because my current long-term goal was to find Onyx and confirm he was the asshole who squeezed the insides of my men and me. To face him and his army in a bloody battle where we end all of them and solidify what we've built on top of their graves. “Once we catch him and pluck his eyeballs out, we won’t be so prickly and morbid.” Sian assured me. “Maybe.” I didn't disagree with her, but I won’t be satisfied until I complete my goals. I can't let the anger I, and everyone else, felt when they disappeared like smoke affect my judgment and performance. It can anger me that even after we were able to stand we struggled to see in front of us. It didn't even register to me that we couldn't smell anything but ourselves. It wasn't until later that Maeve explained the fog was created to blind the senses. Since it only seemed to dull them, Maeve concluded the size of the fog diminished its strength. That means they only had one witch that day. If Onyx is the one with demonic powers, who is the witch? Too much time has passed for us not to know all of this. If it wasn't for that damn love letter they sent, we wouldn't even have a name to call the turd stain. I get that the US is a huge territory and there are A LOT of camo-wearing hunters like humans out there. Which means Commanders Jerry and Jordan probably have several drones out there, with several wolves watching for them to make a mistake. No one was sitting around twiddling their thumbs. "Things are just happening too slowly." I grumbled to my wolf. "This is when you learn patience." She said, choosing this time to have a philosophical moment. Meanwhile, I was fantasizing about finding that asshole and crushing his larynx with my bare hands. “He would have to be staying in the room next to ours for that to happen.” Sian snarked. “It may not be today, this week or month, but I will find him. I’m going to make that asshole pay for almost making me cry.” No man is worth crying for, even when he’s strangling your innards. A frantic voice started all of us, it was hard to hear them clearly. The only thing we could make out was “We’ve been breached!” Then there was screaming and static. Then nothing. “Who was that?” I was asking myself and all the men in the room. The voice didn’t sound familiar enough for me to shift and run home… but I recognized that voice. “No one we’ve seen recently.” Herc assured me. “Leia!” I heard my name and searched for my personal radio. “Luke.” I muttered and pulled the radio from my bag and rushed to a quieter spot in the room. “Leia, you there?” I pressed the call button just as Luke spoke again. “Here. What’s going on? Who was attacked?” I asked, trying not to panic. I couldn’t make up my mind if it was a good thing that Luke called me or a bad thing. What if something happened to Golden Moon, Sol or even at the council? He would want me to hear it from him, is that why he’s calling? “I need you and your team to get Dark Mist first thing in the morning.” He didn’t answer my question. “We will leave before the sun up. Now answer my question Senior Sergeant Master Luke.” I used his title because he wasn’t going to brush me off like he would his little sister. He sighed deeply and my heart tightened. “Blue Moon was breached. Two unknowns got in and thirteen wolves were killed, one of them was the Beta female.” He explained and equal parts of relief, guilt and sadness hit me.