Chapter Two
Luca
“This is a fucking mess,” Ryan mutters. His brown eyes go glassy as he sends a mindlink before giving me his hand and hauling me to my feet.
The world tilts for a moment before I steady myself.
The blood flow from my gashes has already slowed down, but shit, do they sting as I assess the scene in front of me.
A dead alpha and six dead warriors. Mess is one word for it.
A fucking disaster works too.
“Maybe we should have told Sofia what Caleb told us yesterday.”
“Nah, man,” I reply. “She never would have let Emily go, even if she knew it was to save others. It’s not as if Jackson was going to stand back either.
It was a decent plan to follow the Blood Moon group and gather intel, but in hindsight, it was never going to work if there was a risk to Emily.
You wouldn’t have stood by if he had started hurting and it seemed he had no plans to wait till they got home. ”
Because, unlike me, who only cared about Sofia’s safety, Ryan is a good person and a great alpha.
“That’s true. Fuck, Aidan Blackwood deserved to die, but I just wish we could have gotten some answers first,” Ryan replies, referencing the dead alpha.
Five warriors emerge from the tree line moments later.
Their jaws hang open, and their eyes are wide, taking in the chaos in front of them.
I can’t blame them. It’s chaotic as fuck.
Six warriors in wolf form lay dead, as well as their alpha in human form, with his throat slashed.
The choking coppery stench of so much bloodshed and the beginning of decay is already rising, assaulting our sensitive shifter noses.
Sasha, one of the warriors, tosses Ryan some shorts as his clothing was shredded when he shifted and jumped into the fight. “What happened, Alpha?” she asks.
Ryan lets out a loud sigh and pushes his hands through his hair. “I don’t have time to explain right now. We have an alpha challenge starting soon. Burn the bodies, and we will debrief later today. Keep it quiet for now.”
Fuck, it’s been an intense twenty-four hours.
First, John Anderson, the alpha of the Iron Fang pack, assaulted Emily.
Then his beta, Caleb Cooper, intervened, not only to stop him but to challenge him for his position.
And if that wasn’t enough, then Caleb told us an insane story about missing omegas, faked deaths, and potential trafficking.
All before Emily’s ex turned up and tried to grab her.
And he just so happens to be the fucking alpha of an equally shady pack to Iron Fang, and Caleb thinks they were working together.
Or he was before Emily rejected their mate bond and ripped his throat out.
My head is spinning trying to make sense of it all.
“Yes, Alpha,” the warriors chorus. They won’t question him, no matter how confused they are.
Hierarchy is clear for shifters, leaving no room for questioning their alpha’s authority.
Part of me wonders if that’s how these wolves ended up dead.
If they had been born into a different pack, is it possible that they could have been decent or even good?
But it doesn’t matter. Not really. The excuse of following orders isn’t good enough. Not when it comes to torturing those weaker than you. They’re still culpable.
Ryan and I walk away from the chaos.
“Do you need to go see Doc?” he asks.
“No, I’m fine,” I reply. My voice is rough and pained. Each step pulls at my wounds as my wolf works to heal me. I probably need stitches, but it can wait until after the challenge.
Ryan raises an eyebrow and stares at me.
“I’ll go afterwards,” I relent with a sigh.
“Yeah, okay. Thank you for keeping Sofia out of it. I know she can handle herself, but I wouldn’t have been able to keep a clear head unless I knew she was safe.”
“She was emotional. No one thinks straight when emotions are that dominant,” I respond with a shrug that has me wincing in pain. Not that it matters. Sofia is an alpha wolf; she’s more than capable, but I couldn’t bear to see her in danger all the same.
“I get it, man,” Ryan says. “She’s as much your sister as mine.”
I swallow down the bile that threatens to come up at those words.
Goddess, I wish I could still see Sofia as a little sister.
The way I used to see her when she was a little kid, following her big brother and his friends around.
Or how I saw her when she was a young teenager with an obvious crush on me.
It was sweet in a never-going-to-happen-because-she-is-a-literal-child kind of way.
And she knew it too. She knew she was way too young for me and never made it weird.
So why did I miss it when she stopped looking at me that way?
Like I hung the fucking moon. She stopped seeing me that way right around the time I started to notice her.
When I came back to the pack after two years away, Sofia was eighteen and had curves for days and a bratty new attitude that had me wanting to dominate her and shut her up by crushing my lips to hers.
Fuck. I’m sick. Twisted. And nowhere near good enough for her.
But that doesn’t stop me—or my wolf—from pining for her.
Ryan pulls me into a one-armed hug and tells me to get changed and meet him at the pack house. We have an alpha challenge to facilitate.
“Couple of SUVs coming your way for the alpha challenge,” a mindlink from the warriors on duty gives us two minutes warning that the Iron Fang elders are almost here.
Our own pack elders wait patiently with me and Ryan at the front of the pack house.
We’ve briefed them already, sharing only what we need to for now.
It’s not that we don’t trust them—their role is vital to pack governance—but we don’t even know what we know at this point.
Gravel crunches under my boots as I pace back and forth.
Ryan, in contrast, is the picture of composure again, nothing akin to the sliced up, half-dressed Alpha of thirty minutes ago, wearing loose shorts and the remnants of a shredded shirt hanging from his neck.
Now he’s wearing a white button-down, black dress pants, and boots.
He looks every bit the distinguished pack leader.
The visiting elders climb out of their jeeps, and approach Ryan, sensing his alpha authority instantly.
An older shifter with gray hair and a sharp face leads the group.
They appear unsettled; some exchanging glances with one another, others more eager to listen to what’s happening.
I can’t say I blame them. Ryan steps forward and introduces himself.
“I’m Noel,” the first male says, before introducing the others.
Unlike our elders, who are a mixture of genders; I’m not surprised to learn the Iron Fang cohort are all male.
Considering their alpha attempted to rape Emily within half an hour of arriving on our pack lands, I’m guessing this pack doesn’t value its females.
I can’t get a read on them, though. They don’t seem too worried about their alpha being challenged, and I have no idea if that’s a good thing or not.
“Is there really a need for this challenge to go ahead?” Noel asks. “Iron Fang has been governed by the Andersons for generations. I see no reason we should accept an outsider.”
Ah, that’s why. They think they can weasel out of it.
“The council rules on alpha challenges are clear,” Ryan replies firmly. “Once a challenge is initiated, it must be upheld within forty-eight hours unless extenuating circumstances call for a council waiver or delay. As no such circumstances exist—”
“Yes, of course, Alpha Rivera. No need to quote council rules,” another elder cuts Ryan off, shooting Noel a glare so withering it would make Sofia proud. There are definitely some weird dynamics going on in this pack.
“Right, the challenge will take place at our training center. Beta Cooper is already there. I’ll escort Alpha Anderson momentarily, and we shall see you all there.
My beta, Luca, will walk you over now.” Ryan’s voice is casual, and if I hadn’t known him my entire life, I probably wouldn’t have noticed the tension in his posture.
But it’s clear as day to me. The way his jaw ticks, how tight his smile is, the way his arms hang loose yet flexed and ready to respond.
“This way,” I chirp, forcing positivity into my usually grumpy tone and striding away, making it clear they are to follow me. And they do. I might not be their beta, but they understand to follow my lead. The elders are silent other than their steps behind me as we walk towards the training center.
I tune into their scents, and they are so varied it’s suffocating. There are notes of excitement, fear, anger, and maybe even hope? Whatever is going on, it’s clear this group of elders is not on the same page about who they want to be their alpha.