Cyrus turned around and walked back to his room. He did not need to hear what came next. Atara only talked to Cyrus when she needed to and when she wanted to discuss how to govern their realm. Everything else she turned to Marcus. Cyrus wished that he could change their relationship, but this is how it needed to be. She was only a small part of his plan to keep his power. He could not allow raising her and wanting a real Father and Daughter relationship deter him from his own mission. One that he faced alone. No one knew much of his history and he wanted to keep it that way. Starting a real relationship would only distract him and he could not let that happen. There was too much at stake. Time to lay out the rest of my plan. He thought.
Chapter Eleven: Zara
Zara was sure that when Xander finally arrived that he would be furious about her displaying magic without the barrier up and changing the young boy. Instead, he pulled her into a hug and asked if she was okay. Especially since she had blood on her. She explained what happened and why she had to do it. She even explained that her wolf told her that she knew what to do. Within minutes after Xander’s arrival, Raven appeared. She said that she felt Zara’s power clear across the realm and reported to Cyrus immediately to tell him that it was her power he’d felt. Cyrus had believed her.
Once they were back in Xander’s home, Zara pulled on her wolf’s dominance to force the young boy back. They allowed him to use their shower to get cleaned up and gave him new clothes. Zara had learned that his name was Sam, he was thirteen years old and he was a human from the Witch Realm; and he and his parents were kidnapped by those men. They had attempted to Change his parents, but they died because the wolf had bitten and ripped them open so much that they died before the magic took effect for them to Change. He had watched in horror as those men killed his parents. Zara and Xander growled while Sam told his story because it angered their wolves that the men had not cared enough to take his parents into a different place, so he did not have to watch.
Xander had explained what a werewolf meant and everything that would occur. Later that night, they would do the ritual to make him a part of the pack and what that would mean. Sophia came into the room at that time, told them to give Sam a rest and had him go to the kitchen with her to get some food and help her make chocolate chip cookies. Sam happily accepted.
Zara was worried that Sam would have a difficult time adjusting to his new lifestyle, but he transitioned well. He was only afraid when the others came by to introduce him and a few growled. Sam handled a few of them well, but Derek did not like that Sam was not afraid of anyone and Sam’s wolf appeared dominant. It did not help that Deck decided to say, “he’s going to give Derek a run for his money for the Beta position.” Derek took it too far and snarled at him and his face began to shift into his wolf’s. Sam jumped behind Zara and Sophia smacked Derek with a rolling pin for scaring him. Deck promised to take Sam out to play some catch whenever he wanted to and gave him his number.
The ritual consisted of everyone shifting into their wolf and introducing them to Sam’s. Zara felt proud when Sam’s wolf held everyone’s gaze and wagged his tail in acceptance. Derek snapped at Sam’s wolf and, surprisingly, Sam’s snapped back at him. Xander growled at Derek and he went to his place within the circle. Xander’s wolf then placed his forehead on Sam’s. Zara saw the light beginning to shine, that signified that Xander was calling the pack bond to accept Sam. Once Xander felt that it had, he threw his head back and howled. The rest of the pack followed. Zara’s wolf then walked over to Sam’s and nuzzled him. Sam wagged his tail and bowed his head. That was Sam’s wolf showing respect to a higher dominant wolf.
Over the next few days, Zara showed Sam around town and signed him up for school. He was not happy that he would need to attend school. He said, “I thought being a werewolf would exempt me from this.” Zara laughed and told him no. All species still had to receive an education.
Sam stuck to Zara’s side since the day she changed him. It was over a week and he did not feel comfortable with most of the wolves in Xander’s pack. He only showed interest in Xander, Sophia, Zara, Deckard, and Weston. Sophia told Zara that she did not feel disturbance in Sam’s wolf, and they appeared to accept one another. However, she also noticed that Sam’s bond appeared weak. Where she and Xander could feel and see all the bonds with each wolf, Sam’s was the dimmest and Zara’s was not as bright as it used to be. Xander was unsure of why that was happening and planned to figure out why.
During Sam’s last day before he started school, Zara decided to take Sam to her favorite ice cream shop that her and Lucus often go to. On their way down the road, Sam started to look around as if he was looking for something. “What are you doing?” Sam then started to sniff the air. “Why do I smell vinegar?” Then it hit her too. “Ugh, go away Derek!” He emerged from behind a building with a smirk on his face.
“Hello beautiful. Taking your new pal around town again?”
“I am taking him to get ice cream from Derry’s.”
“I will join you.”
“I rather just be with Zara, if you do not mind.” Sam said.
He looked over Zara’s shoulder. Sam’s eyes just reached over her shoulder with his height. He stepped sideways just enough so Derek would notice that he was speaking for himself. Hmm, Xander may have a new Beta in a few years or maybe must ship him to a different pack to be Alpha someday.
“You know, I have noticed that he sticks to you like glue. Why is that?”
“Maybe it is because I saved his life. What’s it to you?”
“He smells like you. Not like Xander.”
“Are you going to get to your point?” Zara put malice in her tone. She was over his attitude.
“Well, when you accept a new wolf into your pack then the new wolf will smell like the Alpha since it is the Alpha’s magic that pulls from the pack bonds to accept the new wolf. Sam, unlike the rest of us, smells like you. As far as I am aware, it has nothing to do with you Changing him. I have also noticed that you do not smell like Xander anymore. Your scent has changed. I smell the musk of the wolf, your usual mint, and now...magic.”
Zara’s face remained indifferent, if not bored. “You expect me to know why that is or are you insinuating something?”
“You are not who you say you are.”
Zara faked a yawn. “You bore me. Come on, Sam. We are leaving.”
Derek grabbed onto Zara’s wrist and squeezed hard. “I am not finished.” He growled. “I plan to go to Xander about this. You are something more and I know you and Xander are hiding something. So here is my proposition. You tell Xander that you have chosen me to be your mate. If you do not, I will report to our King and see what he has to say about all of this.” Zara yanked her hand away and Derek slapped her. Her face went to the right and Sam growled. Zara looked back up to Derek and her eyes shifted to her wolf’s blue mixed with silver and her aura began to shine around her in the pearl color of her magic. “You made a fatal mistake” her wolf’s voice came out of her mouth. Sam stepped back and whimpered. Derek threw a right hook at Zara’s temple and she jumped back. Zara pushed Derek as hard as she could and her wolf put magic behind it, sending him a few feet away. Zara then leapt and shifted at the same time. Zara was on top of Derek in her full wolf form and her aura shimmered all around her. Derek punched at Zara’s face, but her wolf snapped her jaws at his hands. She managed to scrape him with her teeth a couple of the times as his fist collided with her mouth. Zara’s wolf then pushed magic into Derek, making his head crack against the ground. Zara then wrapped her mouth around his neck and ripped it open. Derek began to panic under her, thrashing around, hoping to escape. Before he could, Zara’s wolf grabbed his neck and shook violently while growling as loud as she could to increase his fear. She heard Derek’s neck snap then she let him go.
She stood above him and growled once more. Her wolf then moved off Derek and looked over at Sam. Zara bowed her head at Sam and slightly wagged her tail in hopes that she was conveying that he woul
d be okay. Sam sat on the ground and looked over at Derek in horror.
Before Zara took a step forward to Sam, Xander emerged from the same alley that Derek was standing in before the confrontation. “It’s okay, Zara. I saw everything.” Xander said with his hands raised in a surrender. Zara shifted slowly to not alarm Sam. She looked over at him, hoping that she did not scare him too much. He looked up at her. “Well, he had it coming.” Xander smiled at him. “What do we do now, Xander? Did anyone else see?” He shook his head no and was clearly thinking. “If anyone asked, you were tired of Derek talking about challenging me for my position and you challenged him yourself. He would not yield when you were clearly winning. Therefore, it became a match to the death. You killed him in his wolf form, so nothing healed like it should when his wolf left his soul.” Zara nodded and looked at Sam. “I can say that, too.”
I am now Beta of the Midwest pack…
Chapter Twelve: Atara
Atara was summoned to the throne room. Cyrus had used the pack bond to do so, and that concerned her. He only used the pack bond when something terrible happened and he was too panicked to use a servant or Marcus. She walked that long hall to the throne room and hoped that this meeting was about her being told that she was the Enforcer, finally. She worked hard enough to receive that title and she hoped that meant Cyrus would look at her with pride.
When she walked into the Pack Room, she noticed that Cyrus had called on for more wolves to join them. Cyrus and the top five wolves in the pack were there. Something happened for the top of the pack to be called on, she thought to herself. This meant it was Cyrus, Marcus, herself, Axel, Decebel, and Riley sitting in the room. Cyrus was at the head of the table. His green eyes darkening with a cold look that Atara was starting to grow accustomed to, his brown hair was disheveled like he tossed and turned all night. He was wearing a dark blue robe and his hands were on the back of the chair. What on Earth is going on for him to look like this? To his right stood Marcus. His arms folded across his chest; his blue eyes were fixed on her when she walked into the room. His graying blond hair was composed compared to Cyrus’s hair, which gave the impression that Marcus was not worried about what was happening.
Axel was sitting in the chair to his left. His black hair was messy but looked like it was styled that way on purpose. His hazel eyes took on a gray shade due to the gray shirt he was wearing. Atara would joke with him every so often that his eyes tended to match the color of whatever shirt he was wearing. She told him once to wear a pink shirt to see if his eyes would just magically turn pink. He looked at her as though she spoke in another language and then asked her if she thought he was Fae in a tone that sounded like he was asking if he was gay. She faced palms and walked away. Decebel sat across from him. His massive frame made the chair look tiny. The permanent look of brooding plastered on his face, his dark eyes conveying boredom, and he still had bedhead. Atara shook her head at him and he rolled his eyes at her. Riley was to Dec’s right. His movie star radiant smile could brighten just about anyone’s day. His blue eyes sparkled at her and she returned his smile. At least someone smiled.
She took the seat that was on Cyrus’s left to portray her new rank as third in the pack. She thought she would have beaten everyone but Marcus to the room but being last meant she had to be more on top of things.
“Now that we are all here,” Cyrus said with an annoyed tone, “we can begin.”
Every single person looked at Atara. She wiggled her fingers at him to show them that she did not care at this time about being late. She was told to meet in the room at seven in the morning, sharp. She arrived fifteen minutes early and was still somehow late. So, the sarcasm felt appropriate to her.
“I have received word that the Rogues around the Midwest territory have been taken out. They killed two people that we know of while trying to change them, and almost their boy as well. The boy was successful and is now part of the Midwest pack.”
“Did the Rogue Alpha Change him?” Axel asked.
“He began the process, but then was interrupted by someone in the pack who managed to kill them.” Marcus answered.
“Idiot.” Dec retorted.
“Weren’t you supposed to take out the Rogues?” Axel questioned Atara.
“They managed to get away. Then I lost their scent as if they were never there.”
Cyrus changed the subject. “Two days ago, I felt a death within the pack bonds. It feels as though it has come from the Midwest pack. I am not sure what has happened to cause the death.”
“What about that power surge I felt? That was some powerful magic.” Riley spoke up.
“Apparently that was Raven, the High Priestess of the Lunar Coven.”
“Shit, you serious? That is a lot of power. Remind me to not piss her off.” Riley said in awe.
“She is a High Priestess for a reason.” Marcus added.
“So, what now? What was this meeting for?” Dec asked.
“We are here to announce that Atara is now the Enforcer of the pack.”
Everyone looked at her. Marcus had a prideful look in his eyes with a small smile. Axel and Decebel stared in disbelief. Riley smirked. Cyrus just had his usual cold and distant look.
“I am honored.”
“Wait a minute. There has never been a female Enforcer. You’re telling me you are going to break tradition and give it to a female?” Decebel protested.
“She kicked every single one of your asses in those matches. She officially climbed rank to third in the pack. Did you think we would hand it to one of you when she defeated each one of you?” Marcus defended her.
Decebel went back to brooding. He knew he could not storm out without answering Cyrus for leaving without permission. Now that she climbed ranks, she could also order him to stay and he would have to answer to her. She knew Axel and Decebel would need to adjust to this. Neither of them has ever had to answer to a woman before.
“We also have a new assignment for you.”
“Ha, let’s see if she manages to complete this one.” Axel said under his breath.
The Wolves could easily hear that, so Marcus growled. “She made the Coyote Clan comply to our request for allegiance...by killing the Alpha”
“Am I supposed to be impressed? It was just a shifter. Not to mention, did not Raven have to come to your rescue because they were going to ambush you without you even realizing that was their plan?”
Atara began to growl and she felt heat underneath her skin. Her wolf was preparing to take over if need be. “Listen here, you mongrel. I have earned my rank, unlike you. I have trained all my life for this position. If you need reminding of why I have been given this rank, let’s take this to the dojo.”
Before he could answer, Cyrus growled and stopped him from answering. Atara did not want to stop, even though she should have felt inclined to stop. “Enough. Meeting is over. Go back to your daily routines.” Everyone got up and left, except Atara and Marcus. Cyrus looked at her. “You’re going to the Midwest territory. Investigate the death. Make sure there is no foul play going on.” He left the room before she could answer. Marcus looked at her and smiled. “Enforcer, good luck on your mission.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Once again, Raven was in the castle at the break of dawn and teleported her to where she needed to go. This time, right outside of Xander’s house. Raven then teleported to leave her to her mission. She expected her to at least introduce her to the Alpha, but apparently that was not going to happen, and she was on her own. Well, time to finally meet the infamous Xander and Sophia.
She knocked on the door and was greeted by a five-foot, dark haired, brown eyed woman that radiated calmness. She lit up like a Christmas tree with a warm smile. She sniffed the air and then her eyes went a little wide. Do I smell?
“You must be Sophia. I am-”
“You’re Atara.” Her arms were by her side and Sophia looked conflicted. What she was conflicted about, Atara did not know.
“I am. I a
m here to see you and Xander.”
“Yes of course, come on in.”
Her voice was flat and seemed as though she was confused. Did Cyrus not make Xander aware that she would be coming? Xander was in a small room which she assumed was a “study.” It was decorated with earth tones and felt cozy. Xander was reading a book, but she could not tell what it was about. He was the size of Decebel, but his Alpha power radiated off him. It was quite entertaining to see him domesticated when she only heard of stories where he was a badass Alpha. He sniffed the air and then looked up at her. His eyes went a little wide like Sophia’s. What is going on? Do I smell? Do I need a shower?
“Atara?”
“Yes. Cyrus has sent me.”
“Of course. It is a pleasure to meet you.” He stood up and put his hand out to give a handshake. She shook his hand. She then started to pay attention to scents as well. Something smelled familiar.
“Did we meet before?”
“I do believe we have, but you may not remember. You were quite young then.”
“Oh, that could explain it. Is there a room I can freshen up in?”
“Of course. Is there anything else you need?”
“No, but I would like to discuss a recent death at your earliest convenience.”
He nodded his head once and then Sophia showed her to a room. It was clear that the theme of the home was neutral colors and then earth tones inside of the rooms. Her room had two single beds in it. There was a bathroom nearby. She used it to wash her hands, arms, face, and neck, because Xander and Sophia had sniffed the air around her.
When she came back downstairs, Sophia showed her to the dining room. There were some eggs, bacon, sausage, and toast with different jams on the table. Xander was the only one at the table and Sophia was in the kitchen washing up the mess she had made. Atara sat to the right of Xander and began to fix herself a plate when Xander held out his hand to tell her to eat while his mouth was full of food. Everything smelled delicious. They ate in silence, Atara filling her mouth with as much food as she could. She had never tasted food this good in her life. I wonder if we could convince Sophia to become the Kingdom Pack’s cook… Once they were finished, they began to discuss the death.
Wolf Unleashed (Hybrid Prophecies Book 1) Page 8
