by SJ Hayslett
"I already sent everyone there. It was a better safe than sorry scenario." Evony went for nonchalance and added a shrug. Reed, when he looked at her only saw the strongest person in his pack, and he had no clue what could have come over him to doubt her loyalties. He was a fool. The two wolves that had started to accept their assignment fell back and blended with the rest of the troops as the delta of the pack, their general of sorts, started giving orders. The once organized training field was quickly turning into a war center. But the craziness and the business of it all created a sort of bubble that only Reed and Evony were in.
"Good, I need you by my side as we search the perimeter. You know their scents." Evony raised her hand to Reed's cheek and he leaned into her soft touch.
"I can't go with you. I need to get to the safe room."
"No, I've seen you fighting. I need, no we need every available fighter." Reed pleaded.
"Reed, I would love to go out with you, but there's something I need to tell you. I can't shift. My wolf is in hiding right now. Dr. Sade, he doesn't think it's permanent since the mind link is still there and I can still feel the mate bond. I can't go out there with you in this state. If a fight breaks out, we'd be more of a distraction for you. And you can't put any men in danger by protecting us either."
"Wait what?" Reed looked so confused and dense that Evony couldn't help but smile. She reached for Reed's hand and placed it on her barely there belly.
"We need you to finish this. And to do that, we're going to the panic room." Evony's smile only spread wider and wider as Reed finally started processing her words.
"Really? We're really going to be parents?" He excitedly pulled her into his arms. Since meeting Evony, all he could think of was her having his kids. He was only slightly disappointed when she wanted to put off kids, but he could see where she was coming from as well. They were young, with her even younger than he was, and she wanted to have an education. There was no way he could begrudge his mate her desires.
"Yes, mate. You have some affairs to take care of. So do it. And come back to us." Evony waved him off after bringing his lips to hers. Their confrontation may have started off in anger, but with the impending battle between Blood Moon, her father's pack and possibly Alex's pack, Evony knew she couldn't afford to be petty. And she loved Reed with all her heart, so it was easy for her to look past his faults.
"Well if it isn't the bitch who stole my mate."
"What in the actual f-," I couldn't even finish my thought when I was attacked from behind and I succumbed to the darkness that was calling to me like a siren.
Chapter 24
"I can't believe he got you pregnant," Blair's screeching voice was what brought Evony conscious completely. Whoever had attacked her from behind didn't seem to stick around, as it was just she and Blair on the side of the pack house. The first thing that Evony could distinguish was that she was sitting upright against the house with her arms tied behind her back.
"Don't bother trying to shift. With your hands behind your back, it would be quite painful for your wolf. Oh that's right! You don't have a wolf! Did you like my little concoction? The jimson weed is the secret ingredient. While your wolf was dying, you were drifting off into a sleepy land of really weird dreams. Clever right?" Blair was truly psychotic. And dear goddess she hoped that her wolf wasn't really dead. How could she be a true alpha with no wolf?
"What do you want?" Evony grounded out between her teeth.
"Oh dear stupid Evony. You already know what I want. Rather who. We came up with this interesting plan tha-"
"We?" Evony swallowed the excess saliva that was building in her mouth. "Who's 'we'"?
"Alpha Alex Daniels, of course. He's my true mate." Blair rolled her eyes, but she still seemed too pleased with herself. "We rejected each other. Well he went first. For a tiny second, I was hurt, but I knew my second chance mate would make it up to me. He wanted you, I want Reed, and it all works out in the end. Don'tcha think?"
"No."
"Oh don't be such a sourpuss. Alex will make you happy, just like how happy I'll make Reed."
"How did you even meet Alex?" Evony wanted to know.
"I'm not going to bore you with our story. It's not really much of one anyways."
"You're doing this just to get back into Reed's bed again? You're even more pathetic than I thought." Evony laughed humorously.
Blair stalked Evony, coming closer until she was able to wrap her hand around Evony's neck. To alleviate some of the pressure, Evony was forced to stand and be crushed against the house with a force that Blair had seemed incapable of when they fought.
"Let's get one thing straight bitch. Reed is just a bonus. I want the power that comes with being Luna."
"That doesn't make sense. Alex is the alpha of his pack. You are the Luna of his pack. Why isn't that enough?" Evony had to wheeze her way through the question since Blair still had her throat in her hand. Blair was relentless in squeezing Evony's threat, barely giving her some relief.
"Honestly, how did the goddess think that you were the one that was better suited for Reed? Alex and his pitiful pack are nothing compared to Blood Moon. Blood Moon flourished under Reed's rule. Blood Moon is the richest and biggest pack in the Northern Hemisphere. It's a no brainer why I want to be its Luna."
There must have been some sort of signal or something because Blair's anger quickly disappeared and morphed into a manic state of glee.
"Come on, let's go. And I promise you, if you try anything stupid, I will end your baby's life and any future chance of having another child." Blair jerked Evony in front of her and began forcing Evony to walk ahead of her.
"How did you know? How did you know I was pregnant?" Only Dr. Sade and Angela knew and she was one hundred percent positive that Reed hadn't said anything. Not that she thought Angela would have said anything either.
"I was watching you with Reed. Such a touching moment." Sarcasm dripped heavily from Blair's mouth and despite her predictiment, Evony couldn't contain the overzealous eye roll. "Move!"
Evony gasped when they finally reached the training ground. The fighting hadn't started yet, it seemed as though Reed and her father were talking across the field. Alex stood next to her father with a smirk she was just dying to punch off his face. The men and wolves that stood behind them were equal to the number that stood behind Reed. What was her father thinking by trying to attack Blood Moon with an equal force?
"I hear congratulations are in order!" I had so much disdain for my father that I wanted to rip his throat out. How he could be complicit in this whole ordeal was beyond me.
"Don't worry," Alex sneered. "I'll let the baby come to term before I kill it. Wouldn't want to do permanent damage now would we. I'll need an heir soon."
"You wouldn't dare come near me and my baby!" Evony shouted back to Alex. Rage and adrenaline were burning within her that she didn't even feel when Blair tried to knock her over. "I will kill every single one of you before you get anywhere near me." Evony growled and started walking towards the middle of the field.
Blair followed closely behind her, not really sure how she should attempt to control Evony. Besides the fact that every time she had punched her, Evony didn't flinch or go down. And on top of that, they were close enough to Blood Moon that if she hit Evony again, someone from the pack could attempt to run to her and take her out. It was bad enough that she ignored some of the gasps of the pack when they saw she was the one oppressing their Luna. 'She's not their Luna! I am!' Blair kept telling herself.
"You're right, I wouldn't kill the child if it's a she-wolf. A male would just cause so many problems. But a female? If her mother didn't act right I'd always have a backup plan." How could Alex be so depraved? How could anyone follow someone so sick?
"That's disgusting. You are not touching my baby." Tears tried to well up in Evony's eyes but the anger dried them before a single one could be shed.
"You know Evony, the turmoil you're feeling now, could have been spared if
you had just listened to me. All you had to do was go to Alex's pack but no. You had to be the disobedient child and run off."
Evony cocked her head to the side and stared at her father hard. "You knew I didn't want my life controlled like mom, and yet you tried it anyway."
"And I killed her for her insolence. I'll do the same to you to." Evony's eyes narrowed as she watched the man she knew as her father. It didn't matter how much of her blood was his, she was not his daughter.
"You stole my mother from me?"
"She wanted to take you and run. I wasn't going to let that happen." Alpha Morris insisted.
"You sent innocent wolves to their death and you killed my mother." Evony recounted, thinking of Georgia and the others that were sent to bring her back to Silver Fang. "ALL FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR EGO?!"
It was in that moment that Alpha Morris realized that he may have said too much. Even the wolves from his pack seemed to stand behind him with uncertainty. He never intended to reveal to Evony or his pack that he killed his wife. It was supposed to be a secret that went to her grave. But Evony was her mother's child and was just as stubborn and unruly.
Alpha Morris continued to muse about his wife's wrongdoings when Evony's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
"What? What did you just say?" He demanded.
"I, Evony Jaymes Morris challenge Alpha Jermaine Nathaniel Morris for the title of Alpha of the Silver Fang pack."
"Evony, NO!"
"What?" Both Reed and Alpha Morris looked stunned. It was understandable to Evony that Reed wouldn't want her to fight. She was the one that suggested going to the safe room for the reason that not only was she pregnant, but her wolf was also missing in action. Alpha Morris, of course he'd be stunned. He was so arrogant, that Evony was convinced he never thought the outcome of telling his secret would result in her challenging him for his pack.
"I need to repeat myself once again? I challenge you, you pathetic excuse of an alpha, for your pack. Choose the terms." Reluctantly, Blair untied Evony's ropes. There were too many witnesses that could go to the council and say that Alpha Morris won the challenge only because Evony's hands were tied behind her back.
"This should be fun. You can't shift remember?" Blair reminded Evony, though it wasn't needed. The thought of not having the ability to shift was glaring before Evony, but there was no way she was going to submit to her father and Alex's wishes.
"You know, Reed wanted to ban you after the challenge." Shock radiated on Blair's face and her chin quickly started to quiver as her eyes started to fill up with tears. "I should have let him."
An enraged Blair began her shift and tried to slash at Evony with her claws. Anticipating the move, Evony sidestepped Blair's paw and grabbed onto where her wrist would have been if she were human. Snapping the bone backwards, Blair's shift paused as she bent down on both knees and howled in pain.
Reed watched on in amazement that his mate was taking care of herself, even though this wasn't the challenge. If she weren’t already in danger, he'd probably look on at how hot she looked.
Evony threw two right hooks into Blair's temple and everyone watched as Blair's form crumpled to the ground face first.
With an eyebrow raised, Evony looked first to Alex's face that was grimaced. "Oh please, your true mate is still alive, for now. Suck it up buttercup." Alex fixed his face immediately once Evony mocked him. Even though the two of them had rejected one another, they were still connected since neither had marked someone else. Until then, Alex could feel Blair's pain through the mate bond. Knowing this, Evony smiled at the thought that Alex was suffering almost as much as Blair.
"Alpha Morris," Evony's words oozed with a percentage of the hatred she had for her father. So much destruction could be laid at his feet and he had the nerve to call Reed a barbarian. "Your terms."
Alpha Morris couldn't afford not to accept the challenge, the pack would automatically go to Evony and everything he'd worked so hard to build would be destroyed. However, he also knew that to the death was out of the question since Evony being alive was a major key to the empire he desired. That left only one option for him.
"Submission."
'Don't charge at him. Don't fight angry. Don't charge. Never fight angry. Emotions make mistakes.' Not a true mantra, at least not in the sense that it was short and meditating. But it did calm Evony down and kept her from running at her father. She needed him on the defense and it was already going to be hard to do without being able to shift.
Cautiously, Alpha Morris and Evony closed the distance between them but all of a sudden, it was Alpha Morris that threw Evony off guard by rushing towards her.
He grabbed her torso low and his momentum threw her backwards with him on top of her. They slid to a stop, throwing punches at each other's body. Not really caring where their punches landed.
Evony finally lifted her dominant leg in between them and was able to kick him off of her. "Just submit," Alpha Morris cried out. Evony merely chuckled. If her father thought that she'd willingly submit to the life and torture that being with Alex would put her through, he didn't know her at all. And not only that, he already lost.
She straightened her body from a defensive stance and watched as he huffed and puffed trying to catch his breath. "Mom was repulsed by your touch. She'd rather go rogue than to stay by your side. It must eat you up inside that not only did she want to leave you, but her grown up daughter turned around and did the same thing. I left your house, knowing that my appearance here could be seen as a rogue. But it didn't stop me. My hatred for what you tried to make of my life fueled me and my desire to leave your grip. I succeeded where she failed!"
The anger was apparent on Alpha Morris' face as he tried to tackle her again. Seeing that he had intended to go low again, Evony dropped to one knee and clocked him in his throat. Alpha Morris made some horrendous choking sounds after he crashed to the ground. Evony straddled her father's chest and started laying out punch after punch on his head and chest.
Alpha Morris only allowed that to go on for a few seconds, even though Evony's blows made it feel like it was minutes before he lifted both of his legs up on her sides, and pushed her back with his leg strength. He crossed his legs to pin her down.
"You will submit, he growled with his wolf close to the surface, even as she struggled to get out his hold. Alpha Morris knew that she couldn't shift, Alex confirmed it with Blair that enough of the poison did get into her system. If he shifted, with his wolf in an aggressive state, there was no way to know or control his wolf if he felt she should be taken out. And a fatal result was out of the question.
"SUBMIT!" He yelled again, this time in his alpha command, though it had little effect on Evony as she continued to search for a way out of his hold. He failed to realize that while she was his daughter, she was a fully mated alpha female. He could no longer control her, not that he really ever did.
Evony looked on and watched as realization dawned on him and felt the tiny slip in his hold on her. She used her right leg as leverage to flip him over. She was able to get a couple of punches to the back of his head before she felt something stirring that threw her off balance. The cramping she felt immediately was bad enough for her to curl into a fetal position and made her worried for the baby. The fighting wasn't good for the little pup and she was scared that she did far more damage than she should have. She was completely foolish for instigating a challenge in her condition. She was so stupid.
'Not stupid, well, maybe just a little bit,' a voice said that Evony was so familiar with and had come to miss in such a short period of time.
'You're back?'
'I was gone for what a week? How did you manage to get into so much trouble without me?' Her wolf teased, but Evony didn't care what she had to endure from her wolf as long as she was definitely back.
In no time at all, Evony's wolf took over and forced the shift. Alpha Morris stood in shock and looked back at Blair who had went over to stand beside Alex. Before he could even l
ook back to Evony in her glorious wolf, Evony pounced on him, the force throwing them back onto the unforgiving ground. It didn't take long for him to submit to her when her wolf bit down, though a little harder than needed. Everyone who witnessed the submission practically felt it when Evony loosened the grip she had on his neck.
Evony shifted back to her human form and was as naked as the day she was born. A wolf from Blood Moon trotted over with a shirt in his snout and nudged her hand to take it. Just one whiff as she lifted it past her head and she could tell that it was Reed's shirt.
"Silver Fang, as your alpha, I COMMAND YOU TO HOLD AND DETER ANYONE FROM THE GREY SKY PACK. AND BRING ME ALEX AND BLAIR." Reed came up behind Evony and held her in his arms. She didn't want to seem weak, but she was grateful for the support since she definitely felt weak.
"You are amazing," Reed affirmed in her ear before playfully nipping her lobe.
"I'm tired is what I am."
Alex and Blair were brought before her, both struggling desperately to be released from the grip of their captors.
"Alex, we can't really punish you or your pack because technically you were within the terms of being in an alliance with Alpha Morris. It was misguided and foolish to show up against the biggest pack in North America. You have a lot to think about. Not only is Grey Sky smaller and weaker than Blood Moon, but also this isn't even our full force and you're still outnumbered. On top of that, your biggest alliance with Silver Fang is no longer valid. You're all alone out here. So here's what's going to happen. You will take every single member from your pack and return to your home. I will file a formal complaint with The Council and be completely done with you. Or you can challenge me for Silver Fang, but I promise you my terms will be to the death."
