Into The Mountains(COMPLETED)

Chapter Twelve

Lisa POV

Jen got up far more slowly, grunting as she did and carefully stretching her legs. She pulled on a loser fitting dress and shuffled out after me, looking a bit pained. Hanbin was cooking over the cooking fire, and if this was his first attempt he was clearly going to be better in the kitchen than Jennie. It didn't look like a first attempt though. He looked up at us. "Gees Nini, that's quite a face. Need me to beat her up a bit." Jen got down slowly into the couch and blushed a bit. "No, thank you." Hanbin nodded and then grinned impishly at me. "It that case, my gods man that was quite a go you had last night!"

"I may have got a little carried away." I admitted, looking somewhat apologetically at my wife. "I'm feeling better though . . . not just for the sex, my wounds are healing. I'm going to issue my challenge to HyunSuk soon. I'm thinking later this week. I'm worried if I wait too long he'll hurt someone I care about." "Or you. Again. And then you'd have to put off the challenge all over again." Jen said, though she didn't sound happy. She sounded worried, upset. "I keep getting worked up about it. If you're going to be fine it's best to just get it over with." She sighed.

"But if you're not, I'll have only had a month with you." I was bad with comfort. It wasn't really in my nature, but I walked over to Jen and rubbed my head against her. "I'll be alright. I have a lot to live for, a great deal to fight for, and I'm stronger than they think I am." Confidence was a built in part of being a wolf. I had a drive to be Alpha, and that told me I couldn't lose this fight, but a logical part of me told me this fight wasn't one to laugh at. If I lived, it would still be a difficult fight. "Yes! You'll see Nini, Lalisa seems quite capable." Han reassured her too. "I suppose I won't have time to see the Seer, but that's alright. Things will work out." He grinned between Jen and I, and then offered us each breakfast.

The rest of the week went by in a blur. I felt like I was counting down the remaining moments of my life, but there was so much to do I barely had any time to spend with Jen. I'd spent a great deal of time with Solar, figuring out who would be loyal to me when the time came, and who we couldn't count on. Solar seemed to think a good portion of the old pack would support me, but I wasn't so sure about the men that HyunSuk had brought to power after his rise.

I carefully approached men I felt would back me, asking them to stand beside me when I confronted the Alpha, and most of them agreed to do so, but some said they would support me if I won, but that they weren't willing to risk their lives to fight the Alpha. By the time my body was fully recovered I wasn't entirely certain I'd found enough people to accomplish what I wanted, but I knew there was no one else I could go to who wouldn't leak the revolt to HyunSuk. If news got out before we were ready, death would be a certainty.

Finally time ran out. I woke up on that final morning and crawled quietly out of bed so as not to wake Jen. I went to Solar's house and had her summon the men who would stand next to me and together we marched on HyunSuk' home. It didn't take long for word to spread. By the time we got to HyunSuk' he was waiting for us, and his men were assembling. "HyunSuk," I stepped forward to address the Alpha. He was over a foot taller than I was, and huge across the shoulders. His thick brown fur bristled. For years he'd been getting the best cuts of meat and it showed in his fur, his firm muscles. "I've come to challenge you for leadership of this pack." HyunSuk snorted and growled. "I don't accept your challenge, Lalisa. You're not high enough rank in this pack to challenge me." He looked at the men and women standing with me, Among them Solar and her wife Moonbyul.

"This is all you could bring to the fight? A bunch of the old-guard wolves who already lost the fight years ago when I first came here?" It was true that many of the people with me had fought with my father as well and were only spared so as not to dry up the stock of older males, but not all of them, and there were many powerful females with us as well. "I've brought the bravest of this pack to stand with me, HyunSuk, but it doesn't have to be an all out war.