Chapter 4

• Arabella
• Mathias spent almost three hours showing me some new grappling techniques because we have to be strong in both forms in order for us to be well rounded and stand a less likely chance of being caught off guard. Thankfully the surrounding packs are mostly friendly with each other and there hasn’t been any packs that have tried to fight for territory in almost ten years but it doesn’t mean we can’t prepare for it.
• I’m wandering the pack grounds and thinking back to when Alpha Zeke and I were younger and would play around these areas mostly so he could get away from his dad, he was a lot happier then. I think the weight of being Alpha has been hard on him trying to not be like his dad-
• “Are you sympathizing with him?”
• Maya brings me out of my thoughts, “No, just trying to understand why things had to change that’s all.”
• “Well he’s better than his dad so I suppose that counts for something.”
• I raise an eyebrow at her comment and sigh slightly, “Yeah I suppose so, let’s change the topic though, those new pups I think will need to be put in their place.”
• She starts bouncing around with excitement, “Yes yes yes! Do you think dad would let us take a few of them on the pack run tonight?”
• I laugh at her, “He probably would but if we plan on slipping away tonight we may not want to have a bunch of new pups trailing after us because they don’t know what to do.”
• She grunts at me, “I suppose you have a point, who are we running with tonight then?”
• “I think Jake was on the list tonight which works out because he doesn’t like being around us for too long anyway.”
• She laughs at me, “Oh right, because of the one time in school you broke his nose.”
• I laugh at her, “Yeah, he said he let it go but I think his pride is still wounded.”
• “Well he deserved it for the way he was bothering Kelsey.”
• I silently agree with her and remember that was the day her and I became best friends in fifth grade because Jake was being a douche to her and I was tired of hearing her tell him to leave her alone.
• Trying to find something to pass the next five hours was hard especially since Maya was getting anxious but now that the sun has set I feel her trying to force me to move faster to shift.
• “Will you calm down please?”
• She keeps trying to push forward, “No, come on I’ve been waiting hours let’s just shift already!”
• I roll my eyes at her, “just wait another few minutes, Jake hasn’t even shown up yet.”
• She keeps pushing which is getting annoying, “Why don’t we just tell him to catch up?”
• I figure I better reach out to him otherwise she will just leave him behind so I try to open the mind link to him which takes a hot minute but he eventually answers me.
• “Hey Ari.”
• “Hey Jake, where are you at?”
• “Beta Matthews asked me to patrol a different area tonight.”
• I roll my eyes at him thinking that he could have at least told me, “Okay.”
• I cut the link and I’m about to reach out to my dad but Maya interrupts me, “Why don’t we just go? Dad can be mad at us later.”
• “I’m going to tell him it was your idea if he chews my ass out.”
• I stop pushing her back and take my clothes off and hang them on the bush and let her shift, the slipping of my joints as I feel them pop out of place and feeling the stretch of my skin makes me breathe in deeply. My shifts are one of the fastest in the pack, obviously my dad and Alpha Zeke are much faster but it is something that I like to brag about. Maya stretches out and shakes slightly and starts running in the direction of the lake feeling the wind in her brown and black fur, since she is in control right now I reach into the back of my mind for Aurora but she still seems out though not as much almost as if she just went to sleep for the night instead of completely unresponsive.
• The packhouse is almost out of view when I hear the mind link open and my dad’s voice is ringing out to everyone in the pack, “A rogue pack just crossed the boarders! You all know what to do!”
• Maya and I tense at his voice but then at the same time that scent fills our senses, “Maya we probably shouldn’t follow it, it smells like it’s leading further away from the packhouse.”
• She sticks her snout in the air slightly, “I know but doesn’t it just smell so good?”
• I inhale deeply and I would be lying if I said it didn’t, “Yeah but-”
• “Wait…do you hear it?”
• I still my thoughts and breathing and I hear the faintest heartbeat, “Was that the one from yesterday?”
• “Yeah it sounds exactly the same.”
• I can’t stop her as she takes off towards the smell and heartbeat, she’s running and only a dim light from the top of the packhouse can be seen in the distance. She suddenly stops as we hear the heartbeat in the trees ahead of us and she guards up instantly and bears her teeth and the sound of her growling is resonating through my entire being as we see a large black wolf come out of the trees with teeth bared. Even at a distance I can tell that he is gigantic but thankfully it takes a lot to scare Maya and I so she doesn’t back down as he charges us. She runs at him clearly not intimidated as he lunges at us with his claw extended paw coming directly at our head but Maya turns slightly and bites his paw hard and the metallic tastes of blood fills my mouth.
• He lets out a loud bellowing growl as he turns back on us and digs his teeth into Maya’s back, she whimpers slightly as he tosses us back but then charges at us again and he moves so fast but Maya ducks under his opened mouth and jumps over his back and at the same time digs her teeth on the back of his neck and it causes him to roll over on top of us which knocks the air out of us because he’s so damn big. She lets go of him and he spins around and brings his mouth right back so Maya gets her feet back under her and jumps up and bites the side of his face before he has the chance to sink his teeth in. She’s biting down so hard that he lets out a growl and then brings his paws up and is clawing at our side, but Maya will not let go of his face.
• He turns his head to try and throw us off him which he does, and we only have a second to see the blood running down his face before he moves drastically faster and scratches the side of our neck then he suddenly bites the back of our leg and keeps biting until I feel the snap of a bone.
• I try to bite the scream that wants to escape from the pain and Maya is whimpering out in pain as her leg is bleeding and limp I reach out through the mind link to my dad.
• “Dad! Dad help! We’re by the east perimeter!”
• I don’t have a chance to hear if he responded as the black wolf comes closer to us with bared teeth and Maya through her pain shows her teeth as well, she lunges for him but having one leg useless it made her lunge slow and he moved and bit down on the back of her neck and throws her as if we weigh nothing. She rolls and is slow to get up and our leg feels like it’s on fire and the pain won’t go away then I feel something stirring in the back of my head.
• “Let me come forward with her.”
• “Aurora?”
• I feel her presence hit me so quickly it makes my heart race, “There’s no time to waste! Let me forward!”
• She yelled at me, which shocks me she is always the calm levelheaded voice, “We’ve never done that before, we don’t know if it will force Maya to shift back.”
• I feel her anger wash over me, “just trust me Ari! Maya, don’t fight it.”
• I feel Aurora aggressively push forward and when her and Maya feel as if they are one, electricity pours into my veins, and I feel Maya shake her head at the sensation. I see the black wolf walking closer to us, Maya stands up and because of Aurora’s ability to heal, our leg instantly snaps back into place, and I feel us almost get taller and when we look at the wolf he pauses but we take advantage of his hesitancy and charge forward at a faster speed than what Maya started with.
• The sounds of snarling and teeth biting fills the air, I briefly smell my dad’s scent so he must be getting closer, Maya lunges for his throat but he dodges and digs his claws into our back which only slightly burns this time. He goes for the back of our neck, but Maya turns so quickly and is able to dig her teeth into the side of his neck, he pushes us away causing us to roll over, Maya comes up snarling at him and then I hear my dad’s voice ring out.
• “Alpha Pierce!”
• His voice is calm, but the wolf doesn’t look away from me and I know Maya will bear her teeth so long as he does, and he doesn’t seem to be backing down.
• “Alpha Pierce, I’m Beta Matthews, the training was executed perfectly now, will you please back away from my daughter.”