SWNOVELS Chapter Time to talk
Toni feels the pull as they passed the pack boundary, it’s hard to explain, but your wolf knows the moment you step over the boundary of a pack, it’s like a hidden fence, if you are a member of the pack, it’s more like a warmth that cloaks you.
Tyra feels the pull and is pacing, she can feel the strength of the pack and it makes her restless.
If you have no wolf, it’s harder to tell, but there are ways to see it, usually a worn path of the patrol just inside the border can be seen, there’s a slight smell shift and if you know what you are looking for, the smallest tension in the air.
There’s also a tug to the leadership, the bigger the pull the stronger the wolf or wolves entering, no one will be worried today, for no other reason than she saw the Delta’s eyes grow focused a few minutes before they crossed, clearly announcing their arrival before they got to the guard post.
The Royal pack is the only pack with two Alpha families, the whole Royal family are Alpha born, but to run the day-to-day pack issues, an Alpha, some distant relative she’d guess, is appointed as the Pack Lead, so in effect there’s an extra layer of Alphas.
The Royals run the werewolf Kingdom, to whom every Alpha and pack answers, and they oversee the Royal Pack but not the day-to-day Alpha activities.
The power of the Royal Pack comes down from the King, so all ranks in this pack have the command authority stronger than you may expect of an equivalent ranked wolf elsewhere. They could easily command her to give information, although the more she thinks about it, she hadn’t felt the urge to answer the Delta immediately.
Whatever happens, she’s pretty sure that she’ll at least have to visit her old pack, worst case, she’ll be branded as a traitor, and have her Gamma and pack brand removed by being burnt off before being banished, best case, well, maybe the best case is probably being marked as a traitor, the rest, she doesn’t want to think about.
It takes another forty-five minutes by car to come to the main town, there are smaller village-like groupings before they stop briefly outside the largest pack house she’s seen, what strikes her about it is, that it’s a bad design, take out one house and you appear to take out such a large portion of the pack, she shakes her head, foolish people build big targets.
“You don’t like it pup?”
Delta Alek’s voice breaks through her thoughts
“Not really” she snaps back.
Maybe she’s being a little churlish, but she’s tired of being referred to as a pup, looking him straight in the eyes she carries on
“I do have a name you know”
“Wait here, pup.”
He emphasises the last word with a smirk on his face
The moment he ignores her comment, she realises, he’s trying to get a rise out of her, her task is now to avoid that, so she becomes a fully compliant wolf.
‘Wait here’, that’s a laugh!
She has a warrior on both sides of her, one in the driver’s seat and it's a forty-five-minute drive to the border during the day in a strange pack, where does he think she’s going to go?
“Yes Delta”
She throws as much respect into her voice as she can, he almost looks surprised, almost...
Watching the Delta head inside, she can see there’s a grandiose central foyer with a modern chandelier in the middle and a large wide staircase leading off it, she sighs and closes her eyes
He comes back a little later, before they drive for a short while, into what is either the military or administration district, less form more function and better protected, clearly the fallback position if there’s a problem.
“Out you get pup, time to see the Beta, leave your bags” The Delta commands
“Yes Delta”
She answers, following him like a good compliant wolf, walking through the labyrinth of corridors, the warrior behind her has his hand on her shoulder as she follows the Delta, a typical stance with a prisoner, usually one in cuffs, without them, it leaves the warrior open to a side hit, not that she is going to attack him, but it indicates her status, even without cuffs, to those that pass them.
Everyone moves out of their way, staring at Toni as they go, she keeps her head down, which is annoying Tyra but she is playing a part here.
She’s almost positive that Delta Alek is trying to trigger her in some way, maybe see if he can force a rebellious moment, but she’s not sure why.
Meanwhile, she is tapping out the twists and turns, corridors passed and those turned down on her fingers, as she counts them, reinforcing the memory she is writing, sight, sound, smell, touch every additional way embeds the memory and who knows when this will be useful information, plus, it gives her practice.
Finger taps on the left and right hand count the corridors they don’t take on either side, and thumb taps out a turn, it takes practice but it helps embed directions, to everyone else, it looks like a nervous habit.
Stopping outside a door, the Delta knocks once and waits
“Come in” a deep voice calls out
This time the warrior is left outside as the Delta signals her to walk in first.
She was met with a pair of blue eyes, that instantly appraised her, topped with short blonde spikey hair, he was a beast of a man, probably in his early 30s, a real powerhouse and she started to think how she’d take him down.
It’s a habit of hers, not an altogether healthy one but it’s an intellectual exercise her father taught her to do when she was a lot younger.
Her wolf Tyra comes to life
Harry him, take out his achilles, back legs first, she confirms, bite and run, we can do it, try it
She’s giving Toni instructions, and Toni tries to push her down a little, she forgets that with her wolf, the harmless pastime becomes a little bloodthirsty.
He’s a Beta Tyra, chill, we don’t want to start a fight in this office
Toni tries to placate her, bar taking down deer, she hasn’t been able to test herself and she gets a handful if she doesn’t have a regular run, preferably daily, this is the longest she’s been without shifting and running, 3 days of travel, 3 days of sitting in a car or a motel room, but at least she’s not sulking now.
Challenge him, he won’t kill us, we are too young, show him we aren’t scared.
Internally she sighs at her wolf's words before shouting at her
Tyra sleep! before we are jailed for treason against the Royal pack
She huffs and heads off grumbling at her, settling back down in a curl to sleep, throwing her tail over her nose in disgust at Toni.
Toni is aware her eyes have probably been flashing from their normal Hazel to Amber, note to self she thinks, don’t play that game with a frustrated wolf in her head.
The Beta is watching her carefully, and as she finally drops her eyes, a small chuckle escapes him, he saw her wolf coming out, hopefully, he thinks it’s a pup not fully in control, after all being scared can cause a shift.
“So you are the pup that took out the Junior leadership for Deadfalls pack?”
He finally says once he’s sure Toni is calm.
“Yes Beta”
“Name?”
“Toni”
He gives her a look, she knows he was after her full name, but that’s not what he asked.
“Age?”
“14”
“Who trained you?”
“My Dad.”
“Where is he now?”
“Dead”
“Pack?”
“Deadfalls, well until 3 days ago”
She does a side glance at Delta Alek
The Beta leans back, it’s clear he knows that she’s giving him very basic information, just what he asks for and nothing else, a lesson taught by her father so long ago
“Let’s try that again shall we, full legal name, date of birth and Original pack?”
His voice is filled with command and Tyra is awake immediately, climbing into Toni’s consciousness, clearly, he’s done playing, she feels the command, pushing but not compelling, like the Delta, she could probably resist for seconds, but her wolf is upset, pushing her to acknowledge his rank and answer him.
“Antonia Emma Woodfield, 13th March 2495, Nightshade pack” she answers.
“See now wasn’t that simpler.” The Beta smiles
He leans across and taps the details into the computer, nodding, he’s looking at the last pack picture from 3 or 4 years ago and comparing it with the face in front of him, he signals Delta Alek to him, both of whom decide she looks enough like her younger self.
The Beta gets up and walks behind her, pulling down the T-shirt on her left shoulder
“Where are your brands?” he asks
“Left hip Beta”
“Why on your hip?” he’s in front of her now
“I was 5 when I got my last one, so I wasn’t part of the discussion”
She keeps her voice neutral as it’s not a lie, but she knows why, it’s less visible there, so better for the role the Alpha expected her to take when she passed the final assessment.
But it’s an evasion of his question, but the explanation seems to pacify him, after all, why would one so young understand
“Show me” Again it’s not a request, her wolf stirs at the command and she shushes her back, telling her she’s complying.
Undoing her trousers, she holds up the right side allowing the left to drop, before pulling up the left side of her underwear, clearly displaying 2 small brands, clear but far smaller than they expect, but they are there.
“Why so small?” the Beta asks
“I was a baby for the first, only five for the second so I assume that’s why, but they do expand a little as I grow.”
“Who has trained you since you left the Nightshade pack?”
“Only myself.”
“Why didn’t you return to your pack once you were caught by the Deadfalls pack?” he asks
She stares at the floor, pondering what to say.
“I wanted to experience another pack”
“Did you intend to go back?” the Beta asks
“Probably.”
Because she thinks, she would finally and fully renounce her pack link from their borders when she was of age to break the link herself.
“So why did you run?” it’s a question, not a command
“I had an irresponsible moment”
He taps the table gently with his fingers.
“We’ve established that you can’t refuse my command so why are you lying now?”
His eyes appear to be boring into her, so she drops her own.
As they say, the eyes are the window to your soul, it’s also a good way to see the wolf inside.
But eye contact allows a higher-ranked wolf to make that direct connection with your inner wolf rather than his wolf reaching out for it through the mind and that’s an easier connection to mask a little.
“They would deny it.” she shrugs
“Were you running from the Gamma role?”
“A little” she whispers, and that’s mostly the truth
He sits back appraising her
“What’s the Gamma’s role in your pack,” Delta Alek asked
“To enforce the pack laws, support the Alpha and Beta and guide the Delta’s.
They must be strong, respected and know the laws inside out, as they act as advisors to the Beta and at times the Alpha where laws are not clear or undocumented.
They also need to be strong enough to hunt and protect the pack.” she answers.
“With all that in mind, why would you run, hardly makes you stronger or more respected?”
“I was young and assume they have a replacement now, so I’m not sure it matters if I am not stronger or respected anymore.
However, I survived two years without a pack, so I think that displays strength.”
She bites her tongue, letting her mouth run is not intelligent and breaks rule five.
“Why would you run from the role you described?”
Toni just shrugs
The Beta is tapping his fingers again
“If I were to tell you your pack was on their way to pick you up tonight, what would be your reaction?” the Beta asked
“I’d asked if you had finished searching my bags”
Delta Alek smirks and the Beta’s lip curls slightly
She pauses for a moment, thinking through the implications of what the Beta had just said
“I’d also ask you to not tell them the name of the pack I’d been staying with and to use your command on me not to reveal the information to them in any way”
The Beta looks at her with a curious look on his face.
“You think they’d harm the Deadfalls pack?”
“I think that the Royal pack is known as the protector pack for a reason and the Nightshade pack would want to know why the pack I stayed in didn’t investigate a lone pup properly.
They have a reputation for a reason and I wouldn’t want a mistake to happen if they thought lessons were needed, especially as I lied to the Deadfalls pack.
That should be the prerogative of the Royal Pack.” she adds
The Beta looks at her, she doesn’t know what he’s thinking, but she can see a small element of surprise on his face, that she’s thinking of consequences to others, and, not many fourteen-year-olds would be thinking like that, nor confident enough to ask for something from ranked wolves in the Royal Pack.
“Give me some straight answers, without having to command you and I’ll ensure that the Alpha issues the command to you and those involved if you are sent back.”
The questioning goes on for another ninety minutes about her history within the pack. She’d answered everything honestly, but then there were no questions that put her on the risky ground of breaking her original Alpha’s command.
She noticed he avoided asking her about the Gamma role again and he had to know that she was being evasive, he couldn’t be so much of a dolt to not know that.
How she’d executed the ‘kills’ in the competition, her training before she left, as best she could remember, life with no pack, an average day in each of the packs, but as she touched on an average day in the Nightshade pack, Delta Alek asks one of the few questions he voiced.
“Is that why you had no friends in that pack?”
“It would be fair to say I had limited spare time.”
She’s trying to push down her feelings, James liked her for herself, not for her position, not for her expected power but for herself, and that’s something she’s never had before.
Well as you’re still here, I’ll fill you in on some background about me, you didn’t need to listen to the ninety minutes of questioning to get the gist.
You see, the truth is, until James, I’ve been a lone wolf.
Between being schooled privately and training, I didn’t have friends, the position of Gamma in that pack was a lonely one, and friendships were not allowed.
Remember Rule Number Ten – Attachments breed weakness
If you don’t care for anyone, they can’t be used as a weapon against you.
There are reasons people don’t mess with that pack, and the Gamma is the one that usually gets to deliver that message, whichever way it falls, so friendships, well they just get in the way if you have to deliver the bad news.
Inside the pack, the Gamma is the enforcer, the one to dole out punishment, and whipping, or condemning a friend to be whipped, isn’t generally considered a highly desirable trait in a friend.
You may have also noticed that I mentioned earlier that my father was a killer, he’d broken it to me when I was about five.
’Daddy sometimes has to kill people for the Alpha, they are bad people, who are out to hurt us, like rogues.
One day, when you become Gamma, you will need to also do this, but always remember they are bad people, okay little one’
So yes, I left that part out of the Gamma’s roles and responsibilities, but then I’d been commanded to keep it quiet.
But I was fully aware that my training was to help me become an assassin, being female there was always going to be a disadvantage in my size, which is why training started at two.
You have to learn to fight smarter, not harder if you are to compete against larger opponents, and also being good with weapons helps balance the equation.
So when asked if I ran from the role, I did and I didn’t, I’d been brought up with the concept of killing to protect the pack and it’s kind of inbuilt in your wolf side, the strong protect the weak and the pack, almost a badge of honour, but I didn’t trust the Alpha.
Not then, not now, not ever.
But we are about to get why I ran so I need to go back to concentrating, but you, the one that’s had music playing all the way through so far, this track, it’s a good one, pump it up loud and let me know what it is!
“Finally, if you want that command issued by the Alpha, tell me why you ran?”
Biting her lip, Toni starts.
“When I was eleven the Alpha and Beta came to dinner, at that point, I lived with my second cousin once removed and his children, I was eavesdropping as I’d recently undergone a round of testing, so was interested to hear my results, before you say it, eavesdropping is a bad habit I know, but I was a pup.” she shrugs
“They were, however, discussing the fact I was to undergo a Mating ceremony, only the ceremony though, once I had my wolf, so I could be marked, to feel the bond grow, they would administer drugs to keep my heat away.
If my Fated mate was lower ranked than me, or came from within the pack, I’d be allowed to reject the one they had chosen for me, essentially, they wanted to keep the Gamma bloodline in the pack.
The complications came if they were higher ranked, they would command me to reject them.”
She can see the slight surprise on their faces
“They’d never had a female pup in those positions, it’s always been a male, so this was new territory for them.
They were keen to not lose the bloodline in case I was mated to a ranked wolf and I had to move packs.
For some reason, mostly it’s just been a single pup in my family tree, bar my great great grandfather, who had two sons, hence the distant cousins”
She stops and takes a deep breath for the last part.
Toni can already see they are unhappy; the Royal pack puts a lot of faith in fated mates.
“Should my mate be the future Alpha or Beta of our pack, I would be required to bear two male heirs, the firstborn for the Alpha or Beta position and the second for the Gamma position, before we rejected each other and took chosen mates.
The Gamma and Luna or Female Beta positions are considered very different in that pack, they deemed I couldn’t do both but they recognised the children of fated mates would be a stronger bloodline choice.
But I’m sure they will deny this, but I’d planned to stay away to give myself free choice, so I ran that night.”
The Beta nods, his face is blank
“Where are we placing her tonight?” his question shifts to the Delta
“As long as she’s in my custody, she’s promised not to run, or her friend loses his training place.
In fairness, I gave her a lot of easier opportunities to try and escape than from the centre of this pack, which she didn’t take.
She’s proven herself trustworthy.
I planned to put her up in the pack house, on my floor so she’s close to my mate, or myself if needed, she doesn’t hold this pack's scent so being on our floor avoids issues.” Delta Alek confirms.
“Get her settled in with a guard, to be on the safe side and meet me at the Alpha’s” He adds