Chapter four
Tana rushed him without a second thought, slamming him into the ground. She was sure that if she hadn't surprised him she wouldn't have been able to knock him down so easily. Straddling him, she began throwing punches anywhere she could reach, favouring his face above all else. She only landed a few to his nose and cheek before he grabbed her wrist and rolled them over, pinning her to the ground.
"You ungrateful bitch. I could have killed you," the brute snarled in her face, before he was suddenly yanked off of her and slammed into the nearest wall by none other than Declan.
"Lay a hand on her again and I won't hesitate to rip your throat out, Blake. Stand. Down," Declan snarled, only loosening his grip to drop Blake to the floor when the brute nodded rapidly. As soon as his feet touched the floor, he expelled a deep breath and looked over at Tana and then back at Declan.
"She's...she's your mate?" He asked, dumbfounded as he glanced between the two of them. Declan nodded, which caused Blake to immediately dip his head in apology to Tana.
"I apologize for my behaviour. It was unacceptable," he said, as if he was the one who had started the fight. Tana merely cocked an eyebrow at him and turned back to look at Sincere, who was calmly playing with her toys as if the whole ordeal hadn't happened at all. It was a sad side effect of previously being a Blood Wolf. She had seen much worse than a few punches being thrown.
"What did you need, Blake?" Declan asked, glaring at him. Had you seen the two together, you would have assumed that Blake was the alpha. However, that big, muscular male cowered from Declan like a scolded pup.
"I needed your signature on a few documents we're ready to send over to the Cedarbrook pack's alpha. They've been waiting for them," Blake explained quickly, earning a nod from Declan.
"I'll sign them. Leave them in my office," Declan said. Blake dipped his head once more, flashing Tana a look of irritation before he quickly left, his muscles tensing as he left.
"The next time you attack my Beta," he stressed the last word, his eyes sharp, "there will be hell to pay. My wolves will not stand for any form of disrespect, be it from their future Luna or not," Declan hissed, storming off towards his room as the two guards who were once outside his room moved to stand outside of Sincere's, no doubt to make sure she wasn't attempting anything heinous.
"Say, Sin, when you go outside to play, where do you go?" Tana asked, earning a curious look from the pup.
"The meadow. Daddy always helps me pick flowers out there," she said, hopping up to grab her hand.
"I'll show you," she said, leading Tana out of her room and towards the stairs. The guards followed close behind, but Tana was sure she could outrun them if it came to that.
Once outside, Tana noticed even more wolves lounging about, talking quietly to each other. When Tana walked out many of them snapped their heads towards her, a mix of judgement and fear creasing their faces.
However, there was one scent that stuck out. One scent that would always stick out to Tana for as long as she would live.
But when she turned in the direction of the scent, she was met with a pair of eyes blazing with anger. Tuk, her twin, her brother, her favourite person in the world, stood there and let out a ferocious snarl that didn't seem like it would belong to a wolf of his stature.
"Tuk," she breathed, pushing Sincere away from her as her brother began to storm towards her, his fists clenched at his sides and his eyes narrowed at her.
"You took everything away from me!" He cried out, a mix of anguish and absolute loathing twisted into his voice just as he swung at her, his fist immediately connecting with her jaw.
Before she could react, he shoved her to the clearing and slammed her into the ground, leaving himself open for Tana to swing her legs out and knock his feet out from under him as well. Clearly, his fighting has gotten much better since she had last seen him because the moment he hit the ground he nearly broke her wrist grabbing it to roll himself on top of her, baring his fangs at her.
"You couldn't just leave it alone, could you? You had to keep coming back and ruining everything!" He growled, slamming an elbow into her nose and a knee into her gut, causing her to groan in pain and turn away.
"Everything I ever did I did for you," she gasped out, but he only landed a scratch over her cheek. Having had enough, she gathered up her strength and rolled them over, using the time to jump to her feet and land a blow to his ribs with her elbow.
She reared back to kick him, but when she raised her foot to slam it into his gut, he grabbed it and wrenched it to the side, nearly knocking her down again. With a snarl, she whirled around and threw punch after punch at his face, landing nearly all of them before finally grabbing one of her arms and wrenching it behind his back.
She then used her advantage and grabbed his other arm, shoving him to the ground as he panted and groaned in pain as she held him there.
"You picked the wrong sibling to fuck with, Tuk," she spat, pushing off of him and dusting her clothes off as he got up and wiped blood from under his nose, letting out a snort.
"You're too screwed up for a pack, Tana. You'd be better off somewhere far, far away," he huffed, shaking his head as he finally looked up at her again. The two guards and Sincere were standing a distance away, explaining something to a very worried looking Sincere.
"If I could leave I would," she replied tartly. He glanced at her suspiciously but then shook his head again just as a very angry-looking Declan began to storm towards her with Blake, who had a shit-eating grin on his face, in tow.
Immediately, Tuk bowed his head in submission, stepping away from Declan.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing? How hard is it to stay in the house? And not beat the shit out of one of my wolves?" Declan snarled.
"If you wanted me as a prisoner you should have kept me in the cell," Tana spat back, crossing her arms with blatant defiance, which only seemed to piss him off more.
"Alpha, I apologize, it was my doing. I initiated the fight," Tuk said softly, bringing Declan's gaze over to him.
"Tuk, stop," Tana growled lowly, but her brother merely shook his head and kept his head low as he spoke to Declan.
"I said stop," Tana snarled, moving forward to shove Tuk, which didn't seem to anger him like his would have a few moments ago.
"Cut it out, Tana. Tuk, I'm well aware of what you did. You'll be put on omega duties for a week. You can continue your training, though," Declan said, turning back to Tana.
"But you," he growled, his fists clenched, "shouldn't have left in the first place. I won't hesitate to lock you in my room until you submit," Declan spat, which prompted Tuk's head to shoot up in alarm.
"His room...you're his mate?!" Tuk exclaimed, his eyes wide as he glanced between the two of them.
"Unfortunately," Tana huffed while maintaining eye contact with Declan. "And I will not submit to you. You are not my alpha and you never will be. And as soon as I get the chance, I'm out of here, whether Sincere is around or not. You're getting yourself into a bigger mess than you're prepared for," she hissed, to which Tuk kept silent.
He’s still after you? Tuk mind linked her. It seemed they still had their bond in tact.
He won’t stop until I’m dead, she replied, and when they both snapped out of it, he had a shameful look on his face. As if he felt bad about something.
In her slight daze, Declan reached out to grab her arm. However, when his hand made contact, all she could see was blood and her former alpha, Talon. With a yelp, she pulled away and jumped back as if she had been burned. Bewildered, he met her eyes and pulled his arm back quickly.
“Go back upstairs, Tana. I’ll come talk to you soon,” he muttered, turning around to walk away. Blake shot her a suspicious glare as he left, which Tana promptly ignored.
“I’m sorry, Tuk. I really am,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around herself as she headed back towards the house, trying desperately to ignore the glares and low growls she got.
Once she got up to Declan’s room, she sat down on the couch and brought her knees up to her chest, hugging her legs with her blank gaze fixed on the ground.
She was safe for now. But Talon would not give up.
He would come to kill her one way or another.