It was supposed to be an easy job. Get the phone and run like hell. Make a few hundred bucks for food, a nice hot shower, and a warm bed to sleep in for a night or two if I'm feeling greedy. I was fast on my feet, could blend with any crowd, and kne...
I could hear the fighting before Mason and I got to the mess hall doors. Running in, I linked for everyone to stop, using my alpha voice, but two men were still rolling around and punching each other. Quickly glancing around, some members were in their wolf forms, and blood had smeared in a few spots on the floor. Tables and chairs were flung around the room.
"I said stop!" I barked as me and Mason putting apart the last two fighting each other. "What the hell is the meaning of this? You're both pack brothers. We are all pack. You know the rules." I yelled at them.
"Fuck you!" The man Mason was holding spit on the ground by my feet. Mason nearly through him into the crowd behind him, putting himself in the middle of us as he growled at the man. "You think you have a right to stand here and bark at us?"
I growled at him. "I do. I'm the alpha of this pack, or have you forgotten who you were talking to? Are you challenging me?" I asked as I felt my alpha eyes flash across my eyes. How dare this lower warrior try to challenge me right now. "You think you can beat me for the spot?"
"No, but some of us think you need to be replaced with someone who can protect this pack!" He growled, showing me his teeth.
"Really? I know we have had a rush few months, but everything I did was for this pack, or would you rather I let the Hunters take over the city, run us from our homeland? Or how about letting them continue kidnapping our race, cutting them open, and continuing experiments on us to take away our wolves' freedom and control? Can you live with yourself knowing someone you loved was being starved, beaten, drugged, and forced to keep their wolf inside as they sat in a cage too small to stand in? Because that's what was happening down there. I know you were assigned to stay here in case something happened, so you didn't see the horror down there, but many of your pack brothers and sisters did."
"That's a lie. All you cared about was getting your mate, the one who got us into this mess. If you cared about the pack, you wouldn't have gotten invalid, and my younger sister would still be here as would many others. Now witches and another pack come and go as they, please. We have lost hunting lands, are at war with Hunters, and now a vampire clan is here too. Revere is right about you from the start! I vote to throw you out!" he raised his hand and looked around the room to the others. "Who stands with me?"
Looking around the large room, a few standing behind the man raised their hands, but more moved behind me. "See, Alpha! The fuckers were asking for a fight. Running their mouths about our alpha and Luna like that! That's what started the fighting. They wouldn't shut up!" The man still in my hold tensed as he growled. "No fucken respect! Now look at you, outnumbered and looking like fools!" He tried to lunge for the man again but he wasn't going anywhere in my hold.
"So my father is putting doubt in your heads just like he did Brian's. He is using your emotions from your loss to cloud your judgment. You are nothing but a pawn in his game," I said. "A game that ends here and now."
I released the man and walked out of the mess hall to find my father. Mason ran over to Viv to ensure she was okay. The fighting in the bond must have been painful for her to bare, but I needed to end this.
♠♠♠
My father stood in the main hall talking with another member. She caught me walking up first and backed away quickly, making him turn his head and smile when he saw me.
"Well, if it isn't-," he started to say, but my growl stopped him.
"What the hell are you doing?" I asked as he turned around.
He just tilted his head, still wearing the same smile. "Be a grown-up and tell me what the hell you're talking about pup."
"I'm over this game you're playing, pinning the pack against each other and filling their heads with what you what them to believe. You're done! Get out of my pack house and off my grounds," I snarled, showing him my teeth.
"I'm not going anywhere. This was my pack long before it was yours, and it will always be my pack," he said and growled back, showing me his red alpha eyes.
"Fine. If you want to be the leader of this pack again then we will fight for it. Either way, the games behind my back are finished, and you'll be out of here by sunrise."
He let out a laugh. "Luck was the only thing that got you in the place you are now, pup. Don't think my age affects my strength because it doesn't. If you want to fight, then fine. I challenge you right now. I've been looking forward to the day I put you back in your place. Let's go to the ring. I don't want to bloody up my floors."
Everyone stood behind me in stunned silence. Even Mason didn't know what to say before the others began making their way to the ring, but I needed Mason to do something for me.
I grabbed his arm and pulled him aside. "Get Sam and Lily out of here," I whispered. "If something goes wrong, my father will go after them first. I'll meet you at Vincent's packhouse. Take your mate with you, and don't forget to call him before you cross."
"You really think he would let you leave if he somehow won? And Sam's not going to leave you here," he said, looking worried. "How the hell am I supposed to do that?"
No. I didn't think he would let me leave alive, but this wasn't the time to discuss that. "Mason. You do whatever you need to to get them out of here. As long as he is safe," I said. "I can't keep letting that man manipulate anyone else."
He looked like he wanted to argue more about it but grinned his teeth instead as his fists clenched.
"You're the only one here right now I trust that can protect them, Mason. Please," I told him, and that was the truth. No way in hell would I trust Brian after he attacked Sam once before, and I knew Sam would be safe in the Crescent Moon pack if something went wrong. My father was too confident. I wouldn't put it passed him to pull something.
"Fine. I'm calling Felix now and have him get ahold of Baxter before meeting me outside while I get Sam and Lily. Where are they?"
"They should be in my room. You know the code."
"I don't like this, Emmett. Not one fucken bit. You will have no one to protect you if you get injured and other alphas decide to take advantage. You're not just my alpha but also the brother I never had. It's not right to leave you here alone."
"Mason, please. Go."
I didn't have to tell him again, but he growled and walked away while pulling his phone from his pocket. I watched him leave just in case that was the last time I saw him. Then, I pulled out my phone to give Geo and his coven a heads-up about what was happening since we had just started sharing the forest with them again. No doubt my father would try taking the land back.
.
Don't forget to hit the like button! Thank you!
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
