Born of the Moon

Chapter 2: Mated

CARAMIA:

The day of the full moon is finally here. Thought Rex had protested at first he sent a messenger to pass on my words to the Alpha of the pack that seemed h*ll bent on invading us. The reply came the next evening, they agreed, but only if we did it at the border of our two territories. Three days I’ve had to wait, trying to come up with a plan. 

I honestly just want to talk to the Alpha and hear what their intentions are. Establish whether they are allies or an enemies. You would think that the answer to that question would be obvious, but my Father always taught me that it is a mistake to punish a pack for the sins of an Alpha, or to assume that an Alpha's successor would be exactly the same as the previous Alpha. All the same, being more wolf than human sometimes got the best of us, making it hard to settle disputes with civilized conversation. So, I’m ready for the worst and so is my wolf.

I wish I could take an extra change of clothes with me in case I need to shift, but I’m hoping this Alpha isn’t as savage as the black wolf that killed my Father. I know better than to think it won’t be necessary, because I am a female Alpha they will test my power. Even if they don’t want to fight they will try to bait my wolf out of me. 

I walk out of the pack house, the silver light from the full moon hitting my skin, calling to my wolf. Rex and several of our best warriors are coming with me, to show our power. Most of them are already waiting for me at the treeline. I feel Rex step into place next to me.

“Are you sure about this?” Rex asks, concern in his brown eyes, the same as his wolf's.

“Yes. I’m not going to wait for them to come to us again. I won’t let anyone else in this pack die.” I say with steel in my voice.

“That should include you.” He says, a soft undertone to his words. My wolf jumping with rage at his comment. I wish he can see how different she is from me and start treating me as if I was her. If she had control, this conversation would be going very differently, but her outburst three days ago when she grabbed him by the neck hadn’t done much to phase him.

“I’m insulted that you think I will.” I reply before walking off to join the others.

They all look at me expectantly, waiting for me to take the lead. “Let me do the talking and do not interfere if the Alpha attacks me. Only if the others engage may you act. That is an order.” I say, allowing some of my wolf’s growl to enter my words.

Since communication isn’t possible between packs if everyone is in their wolf form I stay in my human form and start at a brisk jog towards the point they had requested we meet. The same place the scout showed me days earlier.

We reach it in no time, our speed doubled by the stamina of our wolves. The other pack already there when we arrive, as I catch sight of them my stomach drops. Every single one of them are in wolf form. Clearly they had different intentions for this meeting. 

I take a steadying breath as we approach. Hearing the soft growls emanating from my pack, they’re all itching to shift. “Do not shift unless I do.” I command the warriors behind me. I can’t help but notice the worried glance Rex gives me. “That goes for you too, Beta Rex.” I add under my breath so only he can hear.

I sniff the air and immediately find the Alpha’s scent emanating from a snow white wolf standing at the front of the pack, a long jagged scar across the left eye. Smaller than I would expect, and that combined with the white fur is the exact opposite of the previous Alpha had been, large and black. 

I scan the body of the Alpha for similar scars to the one on its face, but stop dead in my tracks as I realize something else. This Alpha is also a female. I recover quickly and keep moving, hoping the other Alpha didn’t notice my hesitation. Female Alphas are extremely rare and I can’t believe the odds of two of us being so close together.

I stop a few yards away and take a deep breath to make sure my voice carries the power it should. “I only want to talk. Shift into your human forms and we will not harm you.” The white wolf lets out a nasty snarl at my words.

“I don’t think they want to talk.” Rex says under his breath and I shoot him a warning look.

“We can leave the past in the past and be allies. Lets just talk, one new Alpha to another.” I say, eyeing the white wolf hopefully, but suddenly she lunges forward into a strike. 

I lift my hand to calm the warriors behind me. “Wait, not unless she enters our border.” I say over my shoulder. I hear snarls ripping from the warriors at my words, even my own wolf barks within me, but I focus on separating my mind and keeping control. Just as I hoped, the white wolf stops dead in her tracks just as she reaches the border of our lands.

Drool drips from her muzzle as she snarls viciously, looking too savage for such a beautiful wolf. She is trying to bait me into shifting, trying to anger my wolf. I quickly assess her size. I am pretty sure her wolf is considerably smaller than me. 

My wolf is large for a female, even one with Alpha blood. She even towers over some of the smaller warriors, but you certainly wouldn't know it from looking at my human form. I won’t give her the satisfaction of shifting before she makes this into a fight neither of us can back away from. 

I take in the rabid look of her and can’t help but wonder if she’d win in an altercation. She seems like the kind of fighter than knows how to hold her own, how to fight not only with power, but technique. How to sniff out an opponents weakness and use it against them.

I scan her body again, she is covered in scratches and bite marks that have long since healed, but if you're attacked by another wolf it leaves a scar. Not even our supernaturally fast healing can erase the evidence of a werewolf bite. Her beautiful white fur is marred with countless marks like these. Marks from fighting other wolves and I know she's seeing the opposite of what I'm seeing since I don't have a single scratch on me.

I've been trained, of course, but my Father was always very careful who he let go up against me. I know that is another reason the pack doubts me, they've never seen how I act in a fight I'm not sure to win. I regret it now, not insisting I fight larger and stronger opponents. H*ll, half the wolves behind me would back my wolf into a corner, no problem.

“Stop underestimating me!” My wolf snaps at me, silencing my train of thought.

My breath catches in my throat as the white wolf places one paw in front of her, crossing our border, and I swear I can see a smile playing on her wolf’s face as she breaks into a run. I feel the fur sprout on my arms, I can't hold my wolf back anymore. My neck elongates and thickens. I hear my legs breaking as they reform and a howl rips from my mouth as my face elongates. 

What is this Alpha playing at? Crossing the border at a peace talk, why would she make an enemy of us before discussions have even begun? I fall forward as my paws form, my wolf growling and jumping into a charge. 

I scan the rest of the pack behind the white wolf as I dart forward, they're still holding their positions, though all of them are lunging and biting at the air in rage. Finally, I allow myself to lock eyes with the white wolf, now only feet away from her. As we finally lock eyes I stop, whimpering, as a pain pulls at my heart and the mating bond snaps into place.

The white wolf slows and whines, shutting her eyes in pain for a split second before meeting mine again. “Mate, huh?” A sultry voice says in my head. I can’t stop the panic on my face at the unfamiliar voice. I shake my head, whining, as if I can shake it out of my mind.

“What’s happening?” I hear Rex’s voice in my head. My pack must have shifted when I did. 

“I am no one’s f**king mate.” Comes the voice again, the words laced with venom. She lunges forward and before I can will myself to move she takes a bite at my neck, sinking her fangs into me. 

Long before I even realize what’s happening she’s gone, and her entire pack with her. 

Rex races to my side. “What the hell happened? Are you hurt?” The concern in his words makes me want to wretch, but I manage a look down at myself. My golden fur tainted with blood. Without so much as a look at Rex I turn and start running back towards the pack house.

My mind is a mess. ‘How could my mate be from that traitorous pack? Not just that, she is their Alpha. My mate is a she… My mate is a woman.’ Relief floods me at this last thought, but my dread is renewed as the next thought enters my mind. ‘My mate is the Alpha of the pack that killed my Father.’ I whine in pain, not physical pain, not pain anyone could understand. ‘My mate is a traitor.’ I can’t help myself, my whines are high pitch and uncontrollable. 'My mate bit me.' 

I slow to a halt, not able to control my thoughts, not able to push past the pain, the sting in my neck where my mate sank her teeth into me. I can still feel the sticky, warm blood oozing from the wound. It must be a large gash if my werewolf's healing hasn't closed it up by now. She must have nicked an artery. If I was human I would have been dead in minutes. 

“She’s not the one who killed our Father. You don’t know that she had anything to do with that.” My wolf’s words appear in my head, soft, almost a whisper. Not her usual demanding tone. She is also lost in the sea of thoughts attacking us. 

"She wants me to bleed out. She tried to kill us." I hiss back at her.

"You don't know that. It could have just been an accident." She pleads, already trying to defend our mate.

"Going straight for the kill is no accident, besides...Why would she attack her mate in the first place?" I'm growing annoyed with my wolf, she knows better than to be this forgiving.

"She was in our territory, she was probably just scared." My wolf says, trying, but failing to convince us both.

“Caramia, what’s wrong?” I realize Rex has shifted and is standing by my side. He must not have been able to get through the wall of confusion in my mind. That’s the only reason why he would shift and risk my wolf hurting him in my confused state. I look at him, still whimpering uncontrollably.

“It’s okay. You’re okay.” He says, slowly raising a hand to stroke my fur, but this has my wolf’s attention. In my deranged state she sees her opening and takes full control, snapping her muzzle at Rex’s hand before he can come any closer.

“Stop it! He’s just trying to help!” I yell at her in our mind.

“He’s making us look weak in front of our pack.” She replies, and I can’t deny the truth of what she’s saying. He didn’t call me Alpha again and trying to comfort me in front of my strongest warriors is definitely not a show of strength. My wolf just turns and starts to walk back to the pack house. I allow her to remain in control, because if I took control back I might start whimpering again like a hurt little puppy.

As soon as we break through the trees I see the pack paramedics running towards us and as if on cue my wolf lets go of our shaking limbs and falls to the ground. I shift back into my human form as I feel a jacket being pulled across my bare skin. They lift me onto a stretcher and finally, I allow myself to drift off into the darkness.