Her Forever

Theon’s POV

“Rogues,” I mind linked Thaddeus. Thaddeus stood up and threw Trinity over his shoulder while she protested. The entire dining room was now in organized chaos. Tables were slung to the side, and the giant rug that covered the floor was pulled away. Pregnant, nursing women, children, and a few older warriors walked down to the cellar below.

We haven’t had a chance to tell Trinity that our own world was full of dangers itself. That includes the random rogues that wish to take women back with them to their own worthless packs. Rumors that the goddess strips them of their mates wore heavy on those who were cast out of their packs or turned away from organized packs to seek their own selfish desires. Their evil clouded their souls. Thus Selene took away the privilege of a mate. Hence the need to attack the more sturdy packs and retrieve their own women. A chosen mate.

These rogues were different. The warriors came in breathing heavily, and their lips and nostrils were coated with silver. This only meant one thing: more of those silver smoke bombs will invade the lungs and burn an ordinary werewolf from the inside out.

Trinity fought with Thaddeus; she pulled a gun and pushed him away to get in on the action. As much as I find it heroic of her, we couldn’t guarantee her safety if she stayed out with us. The last of the smaller pups jumped in the cellar, several women pulling at Trinity’s shirt, trying to get her in so they could close the door.

“Let me go; I can help!” She screamed again; the warriors glanced at Thaddeus for permission to take her down the stairs, and he nodded.

“Take her, keep her safe, or it is your hides,” he growled. Trinity pushed and eventually kneed one of the warriors, who let go. Trinity wiggled free and rushed towards the door, gun in hand. Not paying attention, she ran into me.

“Trinity!” I yelled at her. Her eyes were full of fear, yet running towards the fight. “You need to stay here; you are not equipped to handle a were. Not yet. Both my hands cradled her face. “We cannot lose you; we just found you; please do this for us. I swear to you there will be times you can fight with us and not be locked in a cellar. I promise you this.”

Trinity stopped struggling, her eyes softening. “I swear to you, Trinity. Right now, I need you to stay with the others. Protect Lenhi, the pup, the children. Please, I beg you. You will have your chance.” Trinity bit her l*p, looking at the cellar and back at me.

“Please be safe,” Trinity breathed. “I can’t protect you in a cellar.”

Trinity thought she was to protect Thaddeus and me? The swell of my chest was apparent when her head went to my chest. “I saved you from the pound; I think I should protect my babies from other animals too.” Wrapping my arms around her, I placed a chaste k**s on her head.

“You have already saved us, more than ever thought possible, my mate. Please stay in the cellar. Promise me.”

“I promise.”

With that, the warriors dragged her down the darkened room. Her eyes never left mine until we shut the large doors with a slam. Rugs were placed on top of the doors and a table on top to camouflage the area. No werebear would be able to get in the unscented room that had been covered by an unscented ward from Lenhi.

“Let’s go kick some a*s,” Thaddeus was already naked, half shifted by the time I had my clothing off. Dozens of wolves were already outside, ready to face what could be a b***d bath if we genuinely were under attack by this mysterious gas.

Hearing only the tail end of the conversation, the borders were attacked with gas. The rogues came and stopped at the border, waiting for us to attack. I could smell the rotting flesh. The stink of disease wasn’t just coming from the borders but within the territory as well. Our noses took in full breaths of air, smelling them out immediately. They were poorly prepared, and the stench of their betrayal on their own packs leaked up our noses.

Part of me wanted to find Josiah. I wanted to scratch the stupid mug off his face and use his fur as a pelt. I’d wear it during our alpha ceremony to prove to others that we would not be walked all over, to fear us. Just because we are King Seth’s sons doesn’t mean we expect special treatment, that we are weak. We have trained just as our father, if not more so, at the age of thirty.

Alpha Big Paw took the lead while we flanked him. This was his pack and showing mutual respect to another alpha was proper etiquette no matter how much we wanted to lead. This was his territory, and he knew it like the back of his hand.

Up ahead, bears jumped from the trees, four of them, none of them Josiah. Their smells were familiar; one came out staggering with a limp. A bullet hole was pelted into its fur, Trinity had shot this one, and it had yet to heal. My thoughts of why he had not healed left me; I charged head-on, going straight to the throat. Bear’s skin was tough, thick, and hard to penetrate. My maw was more substantial, many, many moons of training to find the perfect spot on all shifter animals for a deadly kill.

One turn of my jaw locked on its throat, and it layed dead. I would have preferred to have the bear suffer, but not when Trinity and the Red Moon Pack’s lives were at stake. Who knew when the silver gas would begin blowing through the territory. If there was one bomb, there would be more.

Thaddeus finished with his bear; he wasn’t as graceful in his killing like I was. B***d ripped from the throat, spraying the ground and the paws near it. Alpha Big Paw was wrestling three wolves, covered in mange, fleas, and dirt; he swiped them away easily. These shifters were weak, only meaning they were a distraction. Sensing my distress, Thaddeus and I howled at the same time. Letting the wolves around us know something was afoot.

Two men dressed in black suits appeared behind a grove of large trees. Faces were covered entirely with tight ski masks along with reflective sunglasses. One of their hands reached in their suit pocket, the other tightened its grip on an AK-47 style rifle. The pine-cone-sized metal contraption was pulled from the pocket. It was the invention we had been looking for. Another howl ripped through the air, Thaddeus seeing the danger.

The weak bears and wolves fighting against us were almost gone, dead, or ran of fear. Our warriors stood at attention, waiting for orders. Thaddeus and I didn’t hesitate. We ran in different directions, confusing our prey; we charged the men and let Alpha Big Paw control his pack. This had gotten much bigger than just a few isolated incidences. What if these devices reached our home in Bergarian? Devices such as these needed to be destroyed along with the people trying to control them. The question was who. What person or group of people or supernaturals dare to try and take down shifters?

The man pulling the device from his coat pocket dropped it in shock without pulling the pin to detonate. Scrambling to the forest floor to pick it up, Thaddeus pinned him with his paws, landing him straight on his back. I wasn’t so lucky. A gunshot ripped through the silent air, hitting me right in the shoulder. I yipped in surprised but continued with a full-frontal assault. The one bullet couldn’t stop me, not in a long shot.

It was laced with silver, but the silver to an Alpha was hardly anything. However, getting in our lungs would have been disastrous until it cleared the air. That we were confident of. Ripping the gun from his hands, my maw crunched the metal in two. My teeth were snapping, snarling, and drooling heavily. My wound was bleeding, not healing as quickly, but it was doing its best. The bullet squeezed out of my shoulder, still steaming, hitting the wreckless human in his sunglasses.

Pawing the glasses away, the men started seizing violently. The foam generated from the mouth with their bodies spasming. “The hell is going on?” Thaddeus screamed at me through the link. “What are they doing?” Shaking my head, I pinned one down only to smell rancid breath. It was a suicide pill of some sort because now the men were not breathing. They had to of put it in their cheek for such an occasion of being captured. Cowards.

We were close to finding out who was doing this, only to have both of them kill themselves. What kind of men or supernatural beings were we messing with that did not value life for themselves?

“Your highnesses,” Alpha Big Paw’s mind-link came through.

Thankfully, being royalty, we heard all of the alpha calls. It was the first time listening to his mind-link come through loud and clear.

“There is a group of rogues at the packhouse; they are trying to get into the dining room.” Everyone snarled. Leaving the dead wolves and bears behind, our claws sunk beneath the cold Earth. The borderline wasn’t far, and we quickly arrived in the center of the territory. The bonfire was roaring to life, ready for the celebration that was to happen after dinner.

Rows of rabid wolves, breathing heavily, stood in front of the packhouse. They had lured us away to take over the packhouse. Several of the Red Moon warriors laid on the ground in a submission form. One false move they would be done for, along with their mate, if they have one.

“Surrender,” Alpha Big Paw walked plainly into the center of the war line. “And you shall keep your lives today.” Foaming saliva dripped from the mouths of the rabid wolves. Bears, standing on two paws, towered over the youngest warriors.

Big Paw continued his speech, Thaddeus and I took in the scene to play the perfect means of attack.

One bear, in particular, was standing at the front door. High on his legs to make himself appear taller was none other than Josiah. How dare he come to this pack with his horde of useless friends. Alpha Scott was warned, there would be bloodshed this day. Whether Josiah smells of another Tribe, both Thaddeus and I would rip him to shreds and feast on his bones.

With a scornful roar, saliva sprouting from our jowls, we sprung forth and bolted up the stairs without warning. No other wolves mattered; the bears running towards us steered clear once they saw who we were. Josiah never even told them that the princes of shifters were even here; what a sorry piece of work he was.

Josiah was a bit larger than other bears, but he was no alpha. One of us would put up a great fight, but two would mean certain death to the cub. He was either extremely dense or had a trick up his sleeve.

The way he has betrayed his own pack, I’m assuming the former. A click was heard from behind, the wind’s swoosh sound landed right on the deck of the packhouse. Smoke poured forth; it was the gas we had encountered months ago before we found our mate. Shaking our heads, we covered our noses with our paws backing away. Josiah roared, landing back on his hind legs. He was unaffected, charged to my side, and ripped a chunk of the shoulder that was wounded earlier. The ripping of muscle could be heard around the roaring fire.

The squeal of surprise didn’t deter Thaddeus; his maw clamped on Josiah’s face. One of the weaker points of a bear. Thaddeus controlled the shift of his hands; the claws came forth and plucked one eye from Josiah. Even when Thaddeus’ landed on his back, the screams were music to my ears. He hissed in triumph while stomping the eye to the ground with a back paw.

Josiah’s thrashing opened the packhouse door. “Find Trinity,” Thaddeus yelled through the link. Thaddeus’ hand, which was still human, grabbed the smoke like a bomb, threw it into a trashcan wheezing. Alpha Big Paw put on the lid, fighting in his human form.

“Go,” he yelled, transforming back into his wolf.

Dashing up the stairs, my claws clicked through the hallway leading to the cafeteria. Tables were moved, wolves were scratching at the flat surface of the floor, trying to find a way in. Several wolves behind me announced our arrival. Immediately they turned to fight. Many foaming at the mouth, many too busy trying to figure out how to get inside.

My jaws clamped on the back of a random wolf’s hind leg, pulling it away from the cellar door. Pulling just enough, his leg came out of his socket, slinging him to the opposite wall. Thaddeus soon joined us, like the rest of the pack. It was a quick victory inside the house, which I was grateful for. The three wolves were left alive, huddled in the corner, and forced to shift to human form by Alpha Big Paw’s command.

“Is all accounted for?” I shifted. Alpha Big Paw’s body hovered over the three rogues that would be sent to the cells for further questioning. “Several have gas inhalation poisoning. I do not know the extent of their injuries,” he shook his head in disbelief. “Lenhi is going to have to reach out for help and create a ward to protect the pack. They came out of nowhere, from what the scouts told me.”

Banging from the cellar door echoed the room. The beta went to the far wall, hitting it with his fist and typing in a series of numbers. The door opened, and we lept inside. “Trinity! Please, let him talk!”

Thaddeus and I looked at each other while we approached the corner of the room. Trinity had Elijah pinned against the wall with her forearm, b***d streaming from his nose.

“Traitor,” she growled out.