Alpha's Fate (Black Moon Saga Book 2)

Chapter 7-2: The Path to War

The next day, they return to the orchard to see Alpha Gregory, who has assembled his warriors so that Kylie and Adam can meet them and learn more about their strengths and weaknesses. Even without a lot of formal combat training, Kylie can tell that this pack uses the term “warrior” lightly and their training is more like conditioning to play a sport.

She turns to Adam, concerned. “I think I might need to call Dad and have him come back over here,” she tells him.

“I was just thinking the same thing,” he agrees. “We don’t have a lot of time, but if anyone can turn these guys into the sort of warriors we’re going to need, it’s Nathaniel Logan. I’ve always said that his skills were wasted on a pack that never goes to war over anything.”

Alpha Gregory notices them whispering to each other and his face falls.

“I know we don’t exactly have what you’re looking for, which is why I didn’t want to introduce you yesterday,” he admits, embarrassed. “Micah tries, but it’s been a long time since serious combat training has been important to our pack. We’re not that appealing to bigger and stronger packs as a target because we don’t have much they’d want. That’s why my grandpa entered into that alliance in the first place. It was right after we lost our original territory, which by the way was to a fire and not a war, and he figured if we needed to fight, that would be how we did it.”

“You can’t expect others to fight your wars for you,” Kylie argues, gently and without a hint of confrontation in her voice. “If the others found out about this, they wouldn’t be happy that you’ve been putting on a front.”

He sighs, sounding defeated. “I know. Understand that I became Alpha way too young, having lost my father early on, and this is the legacy I’ve inherited. My father was beloved, but a lot of the responsibility of being Alpha didn’t interest him. He focused more on building a community than a defensible pack. And when he died, I struggled to get the pack to take such a young person seriously without making them hate me. Micah and I, we’ve been trying, but it’s been a slow process of trying to correct all the laziness and negligence. I don’t know how to get you the soldiers you need by the time you’re going to need them, but I do want to contribute.”

“We’re going to call in backup,” Adam promises him. “You met him at Tall Pines, Nate Logan. He has quite a gift for whipping warriors into shape.”

“And in the meantime …” Kylie’s sentence drifts off as an idea occurs to her.

She strides over to where the warriors are gathered. By this point, their formations have gotten messy and the drills they’re supposed to be doing are getting sloppy. She sees Micah chewing out a group of men toward the front, and notices that many others are chatting and laughing and making half-hearted efforts to stay on task.

No, this isn’t even at the level of practicing for a sport, she thinks to herself. Athletes take their craft far more seriously than this.

She would know. She used to run track at her high school.

I’m going to need someone to bring me some new clothes, she warns Adam over mind-link.

“Uh-oh,” he says out loud, loud enough that only Alpha Gregory can hear him.

He doesn’t give any further details, ignoring Gregory’s questioning look, but does ask him for the clothes Kylie requested. Gregory nods as though he understands the implication, and Adam detects a hint of a smile forming.

She begins walking through the lines of men, making eye contact with one every so often. It seems to hush their conversations for a moment, but it isn’t as much of an effect as she is looking for. She takes a breath and decides to go through with her impulsive plan. She thinks these men need some motivation, and possibly something to believe in.

She heads to where Micah is standing near the front of the formation and crouches down on the ground. In the next moment they hear her clothes ripping and the cracking of bones. They instinctively turn to her and silence themselves as the power of the massive she-wolf before them washes over them. Each man tries to fight the instinctual urge to drop to a knee and submit to her, knowing they are supposed to be loyal to another Alpha, but each man fails. Her power and her will are too great, and none of them can stand against her. The urge to shift in response occurs to a few of the men, but the fear of antagonizing such a powerful beast prevents them.

She slowly and deliberately makes her way down the parted center of the lines of men, allowing them to feel her nearness, whimpering and trembling, wondering what she intends to do to them. After a few agonizing moments of silence, she prowls around to the front and shifts back. Adam hands her his own t-shirt to put on until more suitable clothes can be brought to her. She takes it, though by this point her nakedness seems to bother him more than her. It has quickly become second nature for her to strip in front of strangers.

She stands tall before the men and braces herself to speak out to them.

“I’m sure by now your Alpha has informed you that this pack and its allies intend to go to war soon,” she begins. “It may not feel like it now, but this war will be important to the future of this pack as well as many others. I’m sure you’ve also heard the rumors and the disturbing tales of strange occurrences afflicting other packs in your region, and I’m here to tell you that it’s naïve of you to believe you won’t eventually be affected. None of those other packs knew when they were next on the list, either.”

“I also stand before you to tell you that the showing you have given me today is disgraceful,” she continues. “You have no discipline, and no respect for authority. You have nothing to offer to me and my army as of this moment, and if that does not change immediately, then my army will have nothing to offer you. That means when Black Moon comes for you, you’ll be on your own. If that’s what you want, then continue as you were. Enjoy yourselves. Life is, after all, a party, and nothing bad could ever happen to you.”

She pauses, looking over the crowd sternly.

“But if you want to be a part of my army, and fall under my protection,” she goes on, “then you had better get serious about your training and quickly. My father will be joining you shortly, and when he arrives, you will be expected to dedicate your days and possibly even your nights to his intensive training and preparing to meet a standard that as of this moment, I’m skeptical you’re even capable of. And when I return in a few weeks to witness your progress, if you can’t manage to impress me, then you can find another alliance.”

When she finishes addressing them, she simply turns and walks away from them. Adam joins her and together they return to where Alpha Gregory waits, smirking. She notices that behind her, there is only silence for a few moments more, until finally Micah begins to bellow out orders to his men once again.

“The same goes for you,” she informs Alpha Gregory, which seems to wipe the smirk off his face. “I understand your situation, but you need to understand that the excuses stop here. You could have reached out to your allies at any point to ask for assistance and show your pack that you are serious and someone they need to respect and follow. You can’t rely on your title; you have to show them you mean business and will settle for nothing less than greatness. And I can tell you right now that I can’t afford to settle for what I saw out there today. Those men will do nothing but drag everyone else down. Fix it or get out.”

Alpha Gregory looks defeated for a moment, but then something occurs to him and his mood shifts to anger.

“You’re not even Alpha of a pack yet or part of that alliance,” he argues defensively. “You don’t make these decisions, and you don’t get to threaten me like that.”

Kylie hears Adam start to growl protectively, but she holds a hand against his chest as a signal for him to cool it.

“No?” she challenges Alpha Gregory. “You saw your men just now. If I wanted to, I could be Alpha of this pack today.”

She hears Alpha Gregory growling in warning now, but it doesn’t faze her.

“And if I need to, I can pretty easily convince the other Alphas to support me on this,” she continues. “But no, instead I’m choosing to do you a favor. I will keep the state of your pack and your men to myself, for now, but I promise you that if things don’t soon change, the others will hear all about it. So, get yourself in check, Alpha, and do what you should have been doing from the moment you stepped into the role.”

You’re pretty sexy when you’re in Alpha mode, Adam tells her over mind-link.

Stop it. You know I’m sexy all the time, she retorts, and he smirks at her in agreement, appreciating how confident she has become since she connected with her wolf.

Alpha Gregory sighs, knowing she is right and regretting that he spoke to her the way he did.

“I’m sorry, Kylie,” he apologizes. “It gets overwhelming, the state my pack is in. It’s not how I want it, and I know you’re right that a big part of it is me. I may be Alpha, but I have difficulty being as heavy-handed in my authority as I need to be. That is, unless I'm putting on a show for other Alphas. 'Fake it until you make it,' as they say.”

Adam decides to chime in and offer the young Alpha some wisdom and advice from his own experiences as Alpha.

“It can be tough to accept that as Alpha, you don’t need their friendship,” he tells him. “You need their respect. Wolves follow strength. You’ve got to put your foot down and remind them you’re in charge. It’s for their own good, and when your pack finally begins to prosper and function as it should, they’ll thank you for it, in their own way.”

They continue to chat with Alpha Gregory for a while longer, watching his men training with Micah still. Kylie is pleased that they do seem to be taking it more seriously, though she is still certain that her Dad will be needed. Alpha Gregory seems to be a lot more forthcoming now with information about where his pack actually stands on things, which she appreciates though it concerns her. He doesn’t seem to realize it, but his financial instability as well as the lack of preparation for his warriors puts him on top of her list of packs most vulnerable to Black Moon tactics.

Tian joins them again before too long and reports in that he has made some progress with finding some more potential recruits to help with handling Black Moon’s witch. He tells them he has set up a meeting with a coven of witches not far from here, and suggests they make that their next stop. Adam agrees to head out that way the next morning, wanting to be able to spend one more night with his family.