Beauty in the Beast

“I want you breaking down into six groups. Two observers with two fighters. I want each group to be even, but you all need to be prepared to fight and fight to kill. I want the fur of these wolves hanging on my walls.” Nick was pacing as he spoke, but I stood still beside Daniel. “Everyone in their wolves and everyone in contact with me. My top priority is keeping everyone safe. My second priority is getting these rogues off my territory.” He finally stopped pacing. “Questions?” He looked around at his wolves, but no one spoke up. “Good. Let’s move out.” He grabbed my hand and lead me out the door. The borders of our territory were towards the mountains, driving was the fastest way up there, so we all got into our cars. Nick drove Daniel and I, while the rest of the pack was driving various cars and one van which held medical equipment. I reached over the gearshift and grabbed Nick’s hand. The electricity that pulsed through our touch was intoxicating.

Once we reached our destination, Nick pulled off and turned the car over. We got out and he pulled me into a kiss.

“Stay with me, don’t engage unless you have to. Let the wolves do their jobs and observe.”

“Got it.” I nodded. He turned to the Omegas as they were all getting out of their vehicles behind him. “Pair up and suit up!” He called to them as he pulled his shirt off his chest. We followed him by undressing and morphing into our wolves. I instantly linked my mind to Nick’s and went to his side. Daniel’s wolf went to Nick and bowed his head down to him. The wolves of our pack were in six groups of four, just as Nick asked.

“Split up between the borders, I want to know what you see.” He linked himself to all the wolves, letting us all know what the plan was. “Daniel, go with Roland’s group.” Daniel nodded and took off running behind his new group of wolves. Roland was newer to the Omegas and I took him down in a sparring match faster than anyone else here, he would need the extra help of the Beta. “Come with me.” He said to me. I followed him around the edge of a mountain, my eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. My nose was to the ground, searching for any smell that could be associated with another wolf from a foreign pack. We traced the outline of the mountain and inside a cave, but we found nothing.

“Alpha, rogue down.” Alex’s voice brought me comfort, knowing that his group was able to keep our pack safe.

“Good work, we’re on our way.” Nick responded. He turned to me and tilted his head towards the left, motioning me to follow him. We both took off and didn’t stop until we saw the pack. Nick went over to the dead heap of rogue laying in front of Alex and buried his nose in its fur. He snorted and shook his head. “Smells like other wolves.” He lifted his head to the four pack members in front of us. “Stay on guard, there will be more.” I nudged Nick with my snout, and he turned to me.

“Is he from the South pack? Rogues don’t normally run with other wolves.” I unlinked myself to the pack, so Nick and I could have a private conversation.

“They’re trying to mask their scent with dirt and leaves from our land, so it’s hard to tell. If I had to guess, I would say they’re South. I’ll be making a call to Alpha Stefan when we get back, but I want to use the bodies of the rogues as bait. If he wants his wolves back for a proper burial, he’s going to have to come to me for them.” A howl pushed my ears back and made Nick and I lift our heads. It was a cry from Daniel, he was in pain. Their group must be under attack and not able to have time to link any thoughts to Nick. Nick turned to me, knowing he had to go.

“Nick, go.”

“Stay with Alex, don’t move!” I agreed and watched him take off to save his Beta. I walked over to Alex, who was now in conversation with Emmett. They were the two warriors of the pack, while the two observers were Alan and Jimmy. Both were newer than Roland, which only meant their fighting was inexperienced. Alex and Emmett were good fighters though, probably two of the best of the Omegas. Nick knew I would be safer with them than with him fighting however many rogues had gotten to them. It must have been hard for Nick to leave me here with Emmett, but he puts his pack first and Daniel needed him.

I stayed silent as I as watched our territory. I needed to be ready if someone were to jump out on us. It seemed as if our pack was under attack, and I couldn’t let anyone hurt my wolves.

“Emma?” I turned my head to Alex. “That wolf wasn’t an easy take down. Rogues don’t have a pack, so they don’t have training. This wolf—it took both Emmett and I to take him down.”

“I don’t think these are simple rogues, Alex.” I admitted. They had to know what we were up against.

“Incoming.” I turned to Alan who was now on his feet. Taking my gaze to where he was looking, I could see two—no three wolves coming toward us.

“Those aren’t from our pack.” I quickly pointed out.

“Don’t worry, Luna, we will protect you.” Alex and Emmett laughed at Jimmy’s statement.

“Thanks, but I think I can handle my own.” The wolves jumped us, Jimmy and Alan took one, Alex took on one and Emmett flanked the one who turned his aggression towards me. The wolf snapped at me and I stepped back, but the wolf fell to his face when Emmett locked his jaw on it’s hindleg. It turned and pawed Emmett’s snout, breaking the skin open, but he didn’t let go. I swung my paw down his exposed chest, slicing deep into his skin. He yelped and snapped again at me, but Emmett pulled him back with his grip still on his leg. The wolf turned and clamped down on Emmett’s shoulder, which finally released him. The wolf underestimated me and turned his back on me to focus on Emmett. I jumped the wolf and bit down on his neck. I could feel his struggle to breathe beneath my jaw. I clamped down as hard as I could until I heard a snap. The wolf fell to the ground and I instantly jumped off him and on to the one Alex was fighting with. He had Alex in a pin as he tried to bite his neck, but Alex was holding him back. “Help Alan and Jimmy.” I ordered Emmett. Much to my surprise, he ignored me and attacked the wolf on Alex. I didn’t have time to argue with him, Alan and Jimmy were getting eaten alive, they needed help. With the three of us, it didn’t take long for me to rip the wolf’s throat out. They were trained fighters, but it was almost as if they were part of a crash course. It was like someone wanted them to learn the basics on how to kill and none of the technical finesse of defending themselves. Once the wolf was dead, I turned to Emmett and Alex, their wolf was defeated. The smell of blood was filling my nose in a disgusting way. I turned back to Jimmy and Alan who were shifting into their human form. Dammit.

“Jimmy’s hurt!” Alan was putting pressure on Jimmy’s collarbone, but blood was seeping out from under his hands.

“Nick, Jimmy’s hurt badly. We have to get him out of here.” I linked myself to Nick in hopes he was okay.

“Are you hurt?” He asked me.

“No, I’m fine. We’re all fine, but Jimmy needs help.”

“Take him, we’ll be fine here. Go to the hospital and stay there until I come to get you.”

“Okay.” I shifted, and the rest of my group followed suit. “We need to get Jimmy to the hospital.” Alex quickly jumped to help Alan lift Jimmy’s body. He was losing blood at an alarming rate. I turned to Emmett. “What the hell, Emmett?” I asked.

“What?” He acted like he didn’t know what I was talking about.

“I told you to help them and you completely ignored me.”

“Alex needed me. He’s my friend, I wasn’t going to let that wolf kill him.”

“Alex can handle his own, Jimmy can’t. You would let him get killed because Alex needed you more?”

“They need to learn!”

“I’m not arguing with you, Emmett, we need to get Jimmy to the hospital.” I turned my back to him, but I instantly stopped. There was something moving in the woods above us.

“I’m not arguing with you!” Emmett defended himself.

“Shut up.” I whispered. I could see something, like a human form, but I couldn’t quite make out what it was.

“Emma, that’s childish! I have been doing this a lot longer than you have.”

“Shut up!” I said it as a whisper, but more harshly. We were being watched.

“What are you doing, Emma?” His words were coated with an attitude that I did not like.

“Emmett, will you please shut up!” I turned my head to him, but suddenly something pushed me back.

“Emma!” Emmett’s arms caught me as I fell. My chest was burning. What the hell just happened?

“Oh my God, Emma!” Alex’s voice rang in my ear, but I couldn’t focus on where he was. Why was my chest burning so badly? I looked down to see an arrow sticking out of my chest. I screamed as Alex pulled it out. Oh, sweet Moon Goddess, why did it burn so badly?

“Shit.” Emmett reached his arm around me and held a hand to my chest as blood gushed out.

“It’s turning black.” Alex shook his head. “We have to go now.” Black? Just like my vision. I blinked, trying to focus. I needed to stay awake. Turning black and burning meant I was just shot with Wolfsbane. I had to stay awake. Dammit, why couldn’t I stay awake?

“Nick…” My voice barely came out as the darkness took over.