Boundaries Are Meant To Be Broken

All my life I've heard stories of Maxwell Cartwright. I've heard my dad muttering to himself about how his best friend could do such a thing. Kill his mate. His one true love and the mother of his daughter; the very source of all his happiness.

Shortly after my birth, my mother was murdered. There was never any proof, no witnesses that Maxwell Cartwright had done it, but my father was so sure. How? I was never sure. He refused to tell me, anyone really. His resolve never wavered though. If there was anything I learned from my father, it was strength. If he believed in something, he didn't give up on it no matter how many people doubted him. If someone needed him, he was there to offer his time and help. For everyone, but the one person who needed him the most.

My father had passed away during the long, cold months winter brought last year. Alone in his bed, not even I was there. He wouldn't allow me in the room preferring the lonely quiet of his empty bedroom.

What did parents usually leave with their children after they died? Beautiful memories to last a lifetime, the heirloom that's been in the family longer than anyone can remember, all the wisdom and advice needed to carry them through life? I received no such things after my father's death. To me, the way I look at it- he didn't leave much, but others would surely disagree. I was left the position of Alpha having no other siblings to take my father's place.

Also left in my possession was the house I grew up in. From an outsider's perspective, it was a pleasant and charming home, but I never felt completely comfortable in it. I don't remember it once feeling like home to me. It was always just the place that held my things, the place where my father lived, the place where I ate my meals and slept at night. It was my house, a place like any other, not my home.

I was also left one more thing. A war waiting to happen. A feud with no end in sight. Us, the Hastings', Them, the Cartwright's, separated by a single boundary.We used to live in peace with freedom to pass through the boundary without worry or concern. Now, if you so much as stepped onto enemy territory, it could very well be the start of a major blood bath.

That was what my father left me.

A knock sounded on the door to my office, bringing me out of my scattered thoughts. I didn't have to guess to know who it was. Will. My beta. He always seemed to bug me at the worst of times.

I groaned, just imagining what he was going to bug me about now. "Come in," I said grudgingly. The door creaked open, revealing a distraught Will who was panting rapidly. I raised a pointed brow at him. "What the hell happened to you?"

I could see his adam's apple bob as he swallowed roughly. "Alpha, you have to come quickly. A couple of the seniors and Cartwright's men got into a fight. Their alpha just got there and it doesn't look pretty. Both sides are saying they crossed the boundary and it's getting more intense by the minute."

I stood up from my seat right away, strutting over to Will where I pushed him roughly to the side. He followed behind me struggling to keep up. I had to handle this and soon, before anything worse can happen. What were these guys thinking fighting with our enemies? Don't people say that the older you get, the wiser you get? Whoever does is tragically wrong because those boneheads are a year older than me and still they can't manage to make what should be the easiest decision. Stay away from the Cartwright pack and don't cross the boundary. They happened to do both in a matter of minutes.

Everyone is about to get a huge piece of my mind. My pack, his pack, and everything else within a 10 mile radius will be getting an earfull.

As much as my body fought it, I wasn't shifting into my wolf form. No, I wanted to be able to talk to the Big Bad Alpha face to face.

For any human, the walk from my house to the clearing would've taken at least half an hour, but for me, it only took a measly 10 and still that wasn't fast enough. If I could've gotten there any quicker I would have, that is only if I didn't know what was waiting for me when I got there.

The woods began to smell unusual. Filled with the essence of citrus and something else I couldn't put into words.

"Gosh, I hate being near this god forsaken boundary. It stinks of them." I could faintly hear Will trying to stifle a laugh behind me, but I could hear him all the same. I whirled around so fast it could've given someone whiplash. Will shut up and straightened into a stiff posture under my harsh glare. "That's what I thought," I hissed and continued on.

I could see the men, the boys in the clearing by now, but the other pack was blocked from my view.

As I got closer, the smell got stronger. I still couldn't place what the extra smell was, but I had more pressing matters to worry about at the moment. And boy was I right, I just didn't realize how right until the moment my pack retreated from my view and I was left staring at the eyes of Everett Cartwright.

The eyes of my mate.