Lady Alpha (The Wolves Of Winter Valley)

Chapter 3 - Thank You And Goodbye

Harmony POV

More than three hundred wolves dressed in white gathered in the field behind the packhouse, around a sea of kindling and dried herbs. On top, lay the bodies of our one hundred fifty-seven fallen, including four more that had succumbed to their injuries after the battle, wrapped in the purest white muslin and draped with blankets of flowers. On an ornate marble altar in the center, the bodies of our Alpha and Gamma lay prepared the same as the others with the addition of flags bearing the shield of their station. After sending troops to guard the perimeter, I wandered through the crowd, keeping an eye out for a rogue hiding among our members. Our security system had been destroyed in the attack and it would still be several days before it could be replaced, making infiltration far too easy.

On the marble platform two feet above the altar, Natasha waited with Isabella Montoya, Seth, Adam, and Gamma Elvira Keller, but my eyes were fixed on my boo. She was beautifully poised in her trim white suit, her porcelain skin glowing in the moonlight. Her wildly curly black hair was tamed into an elegant French twist, and her makeup flawlessly subdued. On her breast, the gold brooch I’d had made for her, a pair of wolves with interlocking hearts. At her ears, her mother’s gold galaxy earrings with pearls representing the moon. The only pieces of her jewelry to survive the blast from the rocket launcher that leveled the packhouse.

Despite her own loss, my love was a symbol of hope and strength, which is what our pack needed in a Luna, in a future Alpha, and I couldn’t be prouder. Only those within our inner circle knew the agony that she hid beneath that perfectly composed image.

As I made my final pass through the crowd, I happened upon my father and stopped to check-in.

“How do we look?” he asked.

I glanced over at the strong line of his profile. Phillip Dickson was a handsome man, nearly 7’ in height, with smooth ebony skin, and so powerfully built that people moved to the side when he passed. His black hair was kept shorn close to his scalp and faded. He was beautiful and he was the only man I would ever love. My heart ached just thinking about how close I’d come to losing him. It had been very close. He’d been right there with Alpha and Gamma, but because he’d taken a step in the right direction, he escaped with only non-life-threatening injuries. “We’re clear,” I said.

His arm came around me unexpectedly and pulled me into a one-armed embrace as if he could read my thoughts. His lips grazed my forehead. “Her father would be proud of her today,” he said, then released me.

I nodded. “He was always proud of her.”

“Terence knew she would be the perfect successor. I have to admit that I argued with him over it. We were both raised to believe that a woman’s place was in supportive roles. He evolved faster than I. I’ve always wondered if his decision was because he and Pamela couldn’t have other children, or if he saw something in Natasha that the rest of us didn’t.” He turned to face me. “It took me a while, but I now know he saw the Alpha in her just like I saw the Head Trainer in you. I don’t tell you often enough just how proud I am of you. That changes today. I love you, baby girl.”

My eyes misted as I stepped into him and locked my arms around his waist. I’d never doubted my father’s love for me or that he was proud. While he rarely said the words, he showed his pride and his love by increasing my responsibility on the training field, by laying a blanket over me when I fell asleep reading on the couch, and by accepting me without hesitation or question. No. I never had and never would doubt this man.

When I heard the slow, steady beat of the timpani drum, I eased away from my father and made my way toward the platform. My eyes met Natasha’s as I ascended the stairs and took my place behind her. Discreetly, I reached out and hooked her pinky with my index finger and squeezed it three times, telling her I loved her in the only way I could while in our official capacities. She sent me a small, sad smile over her shoulder, and squeezed my finger four times in return, then faced the crowd below.

“The Winter Valley Pack gathers before you, Moon Goddess, to offer the spirits of our loved ones, those who laid down their lives, so that we may continue to live and to thrive. They each fought valiantly, without fear, and with the whole of their hearts. Theirs was a sacrifice worthy of the eternal life in paradise that awaits them.”

Three omegas stepped forward and handed Natasha, Seth, and Elvira each a torch. They took their places at the end of the platform. Natasha held up her torch.

“On behalf of your Winter Valley Pack, your Luna thanks you. For your sacrifice, we honor you,” she said and dropped her torch to the kindling below.

Seth raised his, “On behalf of your Winter Valley Pack, your Beta thanks you. For your sacrifice, we honor you.” He tossed his torch to the kindling several feet away from Natasha’s.

Elvira cast a glance at her son before raising her torch. “On behalf of your Winter Valley Pack, your Gamma thanks you. For your sacrifice, we honor you.” Instead of throwing her torch into the kindling, she passed it to her stunned son. His eyes darted to Natasha’s, who offered only a slight nod, then he sent the torch flying.

All around us pack members shifted into their wolves. One by one, they sent up a sorrowful howl until it became a symphony of grief and despair. Natasha turned from the platforms’ edge and led us down the steps and into the midst of the pack. We each stripped out of our clothes and shifted into our wolf form. The howling died away as the five of us made our way to the north western edge of the field and to the dense forest beyond our borders. Natasha’s wolf, Amalia, took her place at the front of the pack. Her white fur was almost blinding in the light of the moon. She scanned the mourning faces of her pack with eyes so blue they glowed like sapphires. I felt her open the telepathic channel.

Last night, they died for us. Tonight, we run for them.

Our eyes met briefly before she turned and leaped into the forest, running as if her life depended on it.

Natasha POV

Sometimes I hated being Luna. I hated being the one that everyone depended on to give them strength when I barely had any myself. Standing on that platform, facing my pack, and suppressing the pain that I was feeling from the loss of one of the most important people in my life, had been almost more than I could take. It took everything I had to keep from breaking, to put on that brave face and do what was expected. Thank the Goddess that I had had Harmony there with me because I don’t think I could have made it through the ceremony alone. Just her presence was enough to keep me hanging on, but she’d gone further, breaking protocol to tell me she loved me. It had been the salve I needed to soothe my battered heart and get through the most painful hour of my life.

The run was part of the ceremony, but it was the only part where I didn’t have to bury my own feelings. It was the only part where I could exorcise my grief and anger by pushing my wolf’s body to its physical limits. And push her I did. I pushed her to run faster than she ever had, farther than she’d ever gone. I pushed her to her breaking point and beyond to assuage my grief and rage.

We ran for hours. Three hundred twelve wolves thundered through the forest as a unit. Our paws struck the earth with enough force to cause the leaves on the trees to rustle as if being tossed about by a strong breeze. Woodland creatures scattered as we roared through the trees, kicking up debris as we passed. When at last we returned to the Altar of Departing, we all collapsed in exhaustion. Physically and emotionally spent.

An omega was waiting next to me with my clothes when I returned to my human form. I dressed quickly, accepted the bottle of water the omega offered, and chugged it down while the rest of the pack shifted and changed. In the packhouse garden, tables were set up for the departing feast. I bypassed those that were heavily laden with food, buffet style, and assumed my position standing behind my seat at the head table. I wasn’t hungry. I didn’t want to be there, but I had no choice. It was my duty as Luna to be there, to offer comfort to those pack members who had lost a loved one, and to unify the pack. The pack gathered around the tables and looked over at me, awaiting direction.

“Tonight, we honor one hundred fifty-seven brave spirits. We honor our Alpha and our Gamma. We honor your loved ones. It is because of them that we are still here. It is because of them that we will go on and we will thrive. Tonight, we honor their sacrifice and yours with our heartfelt thanks. On behalf of myself, your Beta, and your Gamma female, please accept this meal as a small token of our gratitude.”

I was in the middle of consoling a young woman who’d lost her mate and younger sister the night of the attack when a plate of food was set on the table in front of me. When the young woman saw the plate, she scrambled to her feet, thanked me for my kind words, and hurried away. I looked up expecting to see Harmony, instead, I found Seth staring down at me with a look that was a mix of bewilderment and irritation.

“You need to eat, Nat,” he said and dropped into the chair next to me.

I nudged the plate away. “I’m not hungry.”

“You still need to eat. We’ve got a heavy training schedule starting tomorrow. You need your strength. Now, eat.”

“You’re awful bossy for a Beta,” I grumbled, as I crunched into a raw carrot.

He chuckled lightly. “Yeah, and you’re awful stubborn for a Luna. Need I remind you that you are the one who cooked up that training schedule?” He lifted a brow when I growled at him. “You can snarl all you want, but it is what it is and it’s going to look really bad if you get your ass handed to you by a lower-ranking wolf.”

“And you would be that lower-ranking wolf?” I asked, knowing very well that that was what he meant.

He grinned at me and my heart stuttered.

What the hell was that?

“Me, Phillip, Harmony. Does it really matter who does it?”

I leaned close to him, instantly forgetting how to breathe. The idea had been to intimidate him, but the only thing I accomplished was fumbling like an inept teenager. Quickly, I eased back and put all of my efforts into appearing nonchalant.

“You couldn’t hand me my ass if I were unconscious.”

“Ouch. That was harsh,” he said, an incredulous expression on his face. “We’re not that unevenly match, wise ass.”

It was my turn to grin. “Says you. Where’s Harmony?”

The question appeared to catch him off guard. “Oh… She’s helping Isabella put some magical barriers in place to keep rogues out until the security system has been replaced.”

Isabella, the only witch in the Winter Valley Pack, was like a sister to me. My father had found her hiding in the shed of his beach rental in Venezuela when she was just 15 years old. Venezuela was in chaos at the time. A band of religious fanatics had learned about the existence of real witches and set about to rid Venezuela of them. Thousands perished at their hands including Isabella’s parents. Pop arranged for her escape and asylum in the United States, then brought her here to live among us where she would be protected. When she turned 18, she asked for only one gift. To be made a full and active member of the pack. Her chief responsibility was to give our security a magical boost, but she also helped in the hospital with healing and often used her gift to keep abreast of any lurking dangers. Somehow, she hadn’t seen this attack coming and her magical boost hadn’t stopped the rogues’ advance. That told me that whoever was responsible knew we had a witch among our members and had found another to help him bypass her powers. Rage began to bubble within me, and I quickly stamped it down. Tonight, was for grieving. There would be plenty of time for revenge after I assumed my role as this packs’ Alpha.

Harmony POV

We should have been back at the feast. Natasha needed support and Isabella and I was all she had left in the world. So, what was I doing standing in the middle of the road leading to Winter Valley, hefting a huge bag of crystals for our resident witch?

“How long is this going to take, Izzy? Nat shouldn’t be dealing with all that by herself, she needs us,” I said, following her off the shoulder and into the tall grass.

She looked back at me, her brown eyes glinting, as she concealed a crystal in the thick brush. “I know she does, Harmony. I need her too, but I also need her to be safe. She’s all the family I have left.” Without giving me a chance to respond, she spun on her heel and stormed off toward the opposite side of the street, mumbling in Spanish.

Ashamed of myself, I hurried after her. “I’m sorry, Iz. I’m just worried about her. She was already stressed before the attack about her birthday and the chance that we won’t be mates. I’m just worried that all of this is too much for her,” I explained.

Isabella stopped and faced me, furious. “I do not understand your Moon Goddess. Why allow you to fall in love only to rip you apart when you are 25? Is cruel! La Diosa esta loca! I do not like it. Causing pain and for why?” She went off on another heated rant in Spanish as she placed another pair of crystals in the brush. I couldn’t understand a word she was saying, but I understood the emotion behind it.

“It’s not her fault, Izzy. As easy as it is to blame the Moon Goddess, Nat and I knew the risks. We had a choice just like every other wolf. We chose to take the risk and now we are paying for it. We will suffer for that choice until we each find and mark our mates. That is the only good thing about all of this. Once we form that unbreakable link with our mate, the pain will fade away.”

She marched up to me and snatched the bag from my shoulder. “I still don’t like it. I am glad I haven’t such things toying with my heart. Our Gods and Goddesses have much to worry about. The loves of their children does not concern them.” Crouching down, she fished out another pair of crystals.

“Many would envy that about you, but there is a kind of relief knowing that you won’t have to live out your life alone and that your mate will always love you and be faithful to you. I have human friends who drive themselves crazy looking for someone to love them for however long possible. Forever is a dying concept in their world.”

“At what cost is that relief? You and Natasha suffer. It hurts me to see it,” she said quietly with a shake of her head.

When she walked away from the bag, I picked it up and slung it over my shoulder, then followed her.

We worked steadily and as quickly as possible, picking our way through the thick, overgrown grass along our perimeter. Isabella stopped periodically to place crystals or to stretch her sight beyond our borders for any impending danger. When we’d finished, we headed back toward the ruins of the packhouse and the departing feast.

While the bulk of the pack had already wandered toward their homes or the underground bunkers, many still milled about. Some seeking a word of comfort from their Luna, others simply finding comfort in being with others. I saw the fatigue in Natasha’s eyes as we approached and the irritation in Seth’s. I c****d my head at him in question, he nodded in her direction and I understood. He’d been trying to convince her to go to bed and she’d been ignoring him. My boo could be stubborn as a dozen mules. I sighed, knowing I would have no better luck.

Isabella rushed forward as Natasha rose and embraced her. I circled around to stand next to Seth while Natasha and Isabella grieved for the man who’d made them sisters.

“How long have you been trying to get her to leave?” I asked him in hushed tones, slicing a glance his direction.

He looked at me. “Nearly an hour. I had to goad her into eating, too.” Concern was easily read in his expression.

I shifted my gaze back to Natasha. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t here. Izzy is terrified something’s going to happen to Nat. I couldn’t put her off until tomorrow, I tried.”

“She has the sight, why doesn’t she use it?”

I turned to face him fully. “I think she’s afraid of what she’ll see.”