“It’s Calliope.”
“Callum, get Calliope and her child into another line, ready to go back to her new pack” I said gruffly without turning around.
“Yes Sir.”
Calliope started the floodgates. The warriors, perhaps feeling guilty that they hadn’t offered to go first, got in line, one by one pledging their allegiance. I stared at them hard, but sensed no apathy, at least until the last one who dutifully said the words, but they all rang false. My hand slashed across his throat, my claws practically beheading him as the crowd gasped and stared in shock. I looked at them unapologetically.
“I wanted you that I could tell when the words were said falsely instead of genuinely,” I said as I wiped my hand on the nearby rag offered by Callum, already fully clothed thanks to our foresight in bringing clothes “I suggest you consider your motives when speaking” I threatened the rest of the group.
It was a long day. My mind occasionally flashed back to that girl in the hospital wing, with the glorious blue hair and gentle smile. I had given blood, something that was unheard of for an Alpha, especially in regards to giving it to a lowly omega. But how many omegas had saved an Alpha’s life and risked their own in the process? I doubted few had. If she was indeed the Alpha’s daughter, the bastard had abused her for years. I knew I could get answers from this pack, once they had all pledged their allegiance, but I was concerned what answers I might receive. What if she wasn’t loyal? What if there was a reason for the abuse and I couldn’t see past her beauty? What if this pack all contributed to her abuse? Would I be able to keep my temper in check then?
The last pack member came forward and pledged their allegiance. “Get everyone back to the pack,” I told Callum and glanced at those remaining. “Your lands are now forfeit. They will be claimed for my own. Anybody who tries to help their previous Alpha or his son” I paused deliberately and let that sink in “will also be given the same punishment that is rendered to them. Your loyalty is to me now.”
I shifted and began to run back to my pack, satisfied that my Beta and Gamma had everything in hand. My lands were bigger, my pack was bigger and more extensive. We would have to build more houses in order to accommodate everybody but it was doable. From the looks of the thin frames and threadbare clothes, the pack had been suffering long before I had taken it over. I was wealthy. I could provide for my pack. They would see how advantageous it could be in the Blood Moon Pack, even if it was more difficult in relation to rules and training. I was stern and I was stringent, but my priority was ensuring that everybody in the pack was capable of defending themselves against an attack and rogues. If you relied just on your warriors to save you, you might as well be a goner.
As I headed back onto my own lands I paused debating where to go. I could see my pack members already beginning to welcome the newcomers. They were accustomed to it. This was not the first pack to be merged with mine and they knew how to treat them. I decided to go back to the pack house and eat, shifting to human form and finding some clothes before I went into the kitchen. There was a pale-faced Liandra seated there. Her face changed when she saw me.
“Please Alpha Jaxon, my father, he didn’t mean to” she stammered as I glared at her.
“Liandra, you’re lucky I let you live,” I said icily as she trembled “as did Alpha Maxwell which is strange considering he killed your father.”
She bit her lip “I know. But I’ve pledged my loyalty to you” she cried “before I came here. I had to run away so they wouldn’t kill me too” and I could sense the truthfulness of her words and the sheer panic behind them “please dont’ kill me. Please, I had nothing to do with my father’s decisions.”
“Get out of my sight” I told her coldly “you live now because it’s a waste of my time killing you. Your father paid the price for his stupidity, but I don’t believe children should pay for their parents mistakes. Go” I ordered and turned back to my food.She ran from the room weeping.
Riley POV
Drip, drip, drip. The sound of water filled my ears, causing me to look around in confusion. Where was I? I was in a dark cavern, the floor rough and hard beneath my feet. There was very little light and there was water beneath my feet, with more water dripping down the walls. Drip, drip, drip.The last thing I remembered was being in a room and hearing the sound of the Alpha talking to the doctor or nurse. How had I gotten from what should have been the hospital room to here? I touched the walls, feeling how rough and course they were, and felt my feet as the stones on the ground dug into them and cut them. If this was a dream, it was eerily real. Scarily real.
The water drew me. Even though it was dark, my eyes adjusted and I could see that the water, even dark, was surprisingly clear and I knelt, glancing at my reflection. The water began to shimmer and turned brighter. My hair was longer, the blue brighter. My complexion was pale like porcelain. There were dark circles under my eyes and a haunted expression on my face. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. I was still mute. I touched the water and felt its coolness, cupping my hands and drinking the refreshing liquid that eased my parched throat.Where was the way out? I began to search the cavern, my hands blindly seeking some sort of hole or exit. But there was nothing but the water and the cave. I went back to the water. I sensed I needed to swim my way out. I was wearing nothing but a thin white gown, and I took deep breaths, steeling myself. An instinct told me to dive, dive deep and I did, my body flinging itself head first into the water, my arms sweeping forward and propelling my body forwards as I swam, down and then up, towards the surface, away from the cave, my body surging upwards and breathing in oxygen as I broke the surface and paddled.
Sand. I swam towards it. My body sank onto it and I sat, glancing around in awe. My hair dripped onto the ground and my body was soaked but I felt nothing but the feeling of the sand beneath my toes and the coolness of the water. I felt peaceful. My hands reached down and spread my fingers on the sand, my eyes closing in bliss. My soul sang, rejoicing in the moment. The urge to sing was overwhelming, but I could not and tears pricked my ears. Broken. I was broken. I could not sing and it saddened me. It brought tears to my eyes and a heaviness and despair that I had not felt, at least not to such depths before.
A splash and another woman surges to the surface. I eye her. Something about the woman looks familiar, but I can’t place my fingers on it. She remains in the water, treading the water with ease, though I can’t see her legs properly. Her hair is blue and black like mine. Her teeth are pearly white. Her skin is creamy and she has a welcoming smile on her face. I stand and move to the edge of the sand that meets the water, the woman moving slightly closer.
“Darling girl” her voice is almost singing, my eyes widening.
Is this, it can’t be, but is this my mother? She looks different and yet, I know it has to be her.
“It’s not your time yet.”
Not my time? I stare at her longingly. I want to go back in the water but as I take a step the woman’s eyes widen and she shakes her head adamantly “No.”
I pause. I want to beg to join her. I make several gestures, indicating my strong desire but she laughs and shakes her head.
“Foolish child. Do you not know who I am?” she asks.
I nod eagerly. She is my mother, is she not? But as I look at her, there are signs I missed. The scar on her wrist, identical to mine, the gash on her shoulder, from being whipped by my father. The tiny scar above her eyebrow. It’s me and yet not me at the same time. I look at her confused. How is this version of me able to speak?
“All in good time. What you did was brave, but stupid” she said admonishingly.
I glare. I did what I had to do and the idea of myself, possibly my future self admonishing me was annoying. She laughs.
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