A Sin of Her Own

Chapter 20

Eóghan marched with a purpose through the training grounds. With a keen eye, he assisted with the morning training while keeping wolves in line. He tried to contain a scowl at the gossip that flittered through the crisp morning of the Duskfall pack lands. 

Alpha Alfonso's voice was not one to be missed as many males discussed the topic of the Highland Alpha, an Alpha that was clearly not well liked by her fellow brethren. 

"Finally gone mad I see, it was about time." Despite saving his life, Alfonso still held contempt for the esteemed Alpha female, "I have been telling the council for years that she needed to be put down. Maybe now they'll finally consider my request."

Another male joined in, "It probably won't be much longer, have you seen her recently?"

"Last I heard she destroyed her cabin. I'll bet that she doesn't make the month, no- make it the end of the week. Then this pack will crumble into the ground like it should have done years ago."

His comrades laughed alongside him while Eóghan's fists clenched tighter, his direction now changed as he strolled towards the bad-talking wolves. Before making it to the group of males, Garth beat him to it.

"She looks like a horse that's been broken in, pathe-"

"Shut the fuck up you Spanish bastard!" Garth's fist cracked onto the males temple, silencing his onslaught, readying himself as Alfonso snarled back at him.

Many of Titania's wolves joined the scuffle, angered and offended at the words directed at their superior; a superior who had, no-matter the occasion, shone through for them and aided them in their daily quest for survival. 

Alpha Alfonso's lip curled at the surrounding wolves. Positioning his body for the fight, a shake of the head from his Beta had his wolf and him frustrated. His legs ached at the very idea of a fight but his headstrong mentality refused to let him back down, not from wolves who he deemed lower in standing than himself.

"What do you think you're doing pup." He sneered at Garth whose eyes were darkening by the second, "Hitting an Alpha without warning? Surely that's cowardly by the apparent standards of Duskfall, no?" He baited while the fellow Spaniards chuckled.

Pushing through the growing crowd, Eóghan caught Garth's lifted fist, "Don't. I've got this." Garth's eyes swirled but seeing the same outrage in his Beta's eyes, he backed off.

"It would be too easy a fight, I've got no time for disrespectful bitches like you." He spat in front of Alfonso before giving Eóghan center stage, "All yours, brother."

Eóghan's hawk-like eyes assessed the supposed Alpha standing in front. Undernourished and weakened by his stint with the Bison he was not surprised to see that trouble had once again followed him, as usual with the Spaniard who was known for his single-mindedness. 

Eyeing Garth and Eóghan with complete hatred, Alfonso jeered, "All you wolves are cowardly. You follow an Alpha unfit to lead and even when she's on the road to madness you still follow, like sheep!"

"That's a little something called loyalty," Eóghan cracked his knuckles and smirked, "Something that we all know your pack does not have." 

"And never will." Garth interjected.

Onlookers watched on as the Duskfall Beta took up position, eyes eerily blank as if he'd witnessed his own harrowing tale while the males postured each other. Chests puffed, claws retracted, fangs flashing and growls tumbling low and deep throughout the valley. 

Many of the other Alphas watched and some shook their heads at Alfonso's idiotic display, some muttering that he would never learn, never get over his prejudice of a female Alpha. It was tiring to see such wasted effort from an old grudge between the two packs.