Chpater 8

Three Years Later

When I met the Alpha King, he greeted me like a long lost friend. Dan and I got closer as did the King and I. He told me to call him Dylan, but I would only do that if it was him, Dan or me alone. If any of the other pack members were present, I would call him Alpha or Sir. And when we were any where formal, I’d call him Sire; and he hated it. The second year I was in his pack, I showed him what I could do. When he found out that he could shift into anything as well, he made me teach the rest of his pack.

By the second year, I had created a new division. I dubbed them the watchers, and the name stuck. Their role was similar to that of the guards, but during any kind of battle, they’d shift into birds to help give us an advantage on the field. It puzzled everyone how we kept winning fights without the use of spies and the like.

My third year in the King’s service went by with hardly anything exciting happening. I’m not complaining, but sometimes, I looked forward to fighting. In my off time, I train the upcoming warriors with Dan since we are still unbeatable. Every now and then both of us will fight. And our fights always end up in a draw, much to the surprise of the newbies.

I’m now two months into my fourth year here, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Even with all the friends I’ve made, at night just before I slip off to sleep, my thoughts will go back to Elvis and Charles. Tonight is the same, except I can’t sleep. I’ve been staring at the ceiling thinking about my ex-mate. Sighing softly, I slip out of my bed and pull on my housecoat. Stepping into my slippers, I make my way to my office. Turning on the computer, I wait for the log in screen to pop up. Quickly typing King’s Men as my password, I pull up the files Dylan kept on every alpha under him.

It takes me five minutes to find Charles’s name. The pointer hesitates above it, and for a split second I wonder if I really want to know the truth. I click on his name before I could stop myself and I watch as his picture appears in front of my eyes. Scanning through the information quickly, my eyes slow down as I come to the family part of the report. “Elder Alpha and Luna Brook still live. Alpha Charles Brook and chosen mate, Clara Cain Brook, have four children. Their eldest son, Edgar, will follow as alpha upon his 21st birthday.”

Scrolling down the page, I stumble upon a picture of the two of them taken just a month ago. Jess missed him dearly, but she didn’t complain. But I felt her pain, because it was mine as well. Hearing footsteps in the hallway, I quickly exit out of the files and delete my history. Pulling up a game of solitaire, I act like I’ve been playing it for hours. My office door opens and I slowly look up.

Standing in my door way still dressed in what he wore earlier stood the Alpha King. Bowing my head, I wait for him to speak. “What are you doing still up Tami?”

“I couldn’t sleep sir.” He growls softly at me and I jerk my eyes up looking at him. “I told you to call me Dylan Tami.” I smile shyly and laugh. “Sorry si…Dylan. Old habits are hard to break. Why are you up so late, if I may ask?”

“We’re friends Tami. And I couldn’t sleep as well. I never can sleep where there’s a storm brewing outside.” I nod once and motion for him to come in. He shuts the door behind him as he takes a seat in front of the blazing fire. Turning my computer off, I pick up a blanket and join him. As I sit on the couch, I lay the blanket across my legs. “Anyway, as I was trying to read in my room, I realized that I don’t know much about your history. I know that you don’t like talking about it, but I’ve noticed that you’ve been looking a little sad lately. I’d hate to lose my best warrior and friend.” I smile at him and turn my gaze to the flames.

“What would you like to know Dylan?”

“Whatever you feel comfortable talking about is fine with me. I don’t want to push you into telling me something you’d rather I didn’t know about you.” Silence falls between us as I mull over what I want him to know. I knew that he could find out everything about me in a heartbeat if he wanted, but he wouldn’t do that. Not unless he absolutely had too. “Well, I was born into the Righteous Goddess pack to the Beta and his mate. I was their only child and because of that Dad started training me to become a warrior since I could walk. He wanted me to have something to fall back on if I wasn’t chosen to follow in his footsteps.

“At the age of fifteen, I was the best non-shifted fighter in the entire pack, but Alpha Brook wouldn’t let me fight officially. I was also fifteen when another pack started a war with us and I lost both of my parents. The Alpha took me in and chose a new Beta. The Alpha kids and I used to be like family, but after I moved in with them, our relationship became strained. And I found myself unable to deal with everything that was happening to me, so I found myself withdrawing. I became quiet and started keeping to myself. I’d only talk when spoken too. But I was still the best pack fighter. I would never give that up.

“My senior year I was eighteen and I still hadn’t shifted. A week before graduation I found my mate. He rejected me because I wasn’t Luna material and in his eyes I wasn’t strong enough to help him lead our pack in the years to come. And I did something that went against everything my parents raised me to believe. I accepted his rejection. It was plain to me that he would never change his mind about me, so I gave him what he wanted. I didn’t say anything to Luna or Alpha Brook and I knew Charles didn’t either.

“The day I graduated, I went to my room while everyone else was at a party and I made sure that nothing remained of me and I left. I found a nice little town in Washington, Ferrytown, that didn’t have a single shifter for miles around. For five years I lived there with humans. And I liked it. But then Alpha Elvis and the Midnight Lunar pack bought the territory and moved in. I knew that it would be only a matter of time before they found me. I didn’t want to die and I didn’t want to be shipped off to the council or worse back to my mate, so I shifted into a dog and tried to get out.

“They caught me, but I made them believe I was just a normal dog. For a year I lived with them as their pack pet, and life was good, except for the constant reminder that my mate didn’t want me every night. Then one day while I was going for a run, I knew that he had marked another, and I awoke in a hospital bed. And my secret was out. But Elvis let me stay; he didn’t try to get rid of me.” Pausing here, I get up and add a few more logs to the fire.

I couldn’t bring myself to look at Dylan. Settling back on the couch, my eyes return to the dancing fire. “I spent almost two years with them, and I was content. Charles came once for a week, but I hid out in a hidden cave I had found. It was in the afternoon of that day that I decided to run a small portion of the border as most of the guards were closer to the pack house and I ran into three rouges. The first two weren’t much of a fight, but the third one did. He somehow managed to slip wolf’sbane into me. I spent two weeks in that cave. By the time they found me, I was almost dead.

“Towards the end of the second year, Elvis started acting off. He’d snap at me, which he had never done. Then I found out that he made a deal with Charles; something about me training him and his men. I was upset at Elvis. He knew that I couldn’t be around my ex-mate. Just seeing him caused both Jess and I so much pain. So, like I did when I left the Righteous Goddess, I cleared my room of everything and left. Jess and I decided that we’d go see the council. We had three choices, death, become an assassin, or join your warriors. Since we weren’t ready to die, and I didn’t like the thought of killing people who weren’t trying to kill me first, we choice the last.” Finally, I look at him. “Now, my Alpha, you know everything there is to know about me.” I say softly. “Why didn’t you go back to your mate before he marked another femme?”

I shrug and glance at my hands. “It was his choice, and he didn’t want me. I wasn’t going to try and change his mind Dylan. That’s not who I am. He’s happy with Clara, and they have a family now.” Dylan raised his eyebrow in surprise. “You’ve been keeping tabs on him have you?”

“No sir. He’s just been on my mind a lot tonight, so I pulled up the files you keep on all the alphas on my computer to see how he and the pack was doing, that’s all.” He opened his mouth to speak, but the sound of breaking glass interrupts him. Dan, there’s an attack. Get the King to safety. Now. I yell as I jump in front of Dylan. Standing before me stood two rouges.

Shifting, I glare at them until I hear Dan behind me. They rush out of my office and I jump on the rouges. Killing them quickly, I leap through my broken window and race across the lawn looking for Dylan and Dan. I pick up their scents heading towards the bunker and I run after them. I find them just ten feet from safety surrounded by rouges. Letting out a growl, I barrel through them killing several as I do. Dan and I slowly back Dylan towards the door. We distract the rouges just long enough for the King to slip through the door. I knew that he hated leaving us to fight, but it was our job to make sure he remained alive and safe.

Dan and I stood back to back fighting. Every now and then, a few pack members would make their way to us to help. Before I knew it, the odds were on our side. And then just like it started, the attack was over. I was checking the bodies to make sure that they were in fact dead, as Dan and the Beta, Jones, went to get the King out of the bunker. Dylan was checking on the members, when a sudden movement behind him catches my eyes.

A deep warning growl rumbles out of my throat and every turns to stare at me. Dylan flattens his ears and growls softly back, thinking that I was threatening him. Taking off in a dead run, I could hear Dylan and Dan telling me to stand down as I raced towards them. But I was only focused on the rouge that was planning on sneaking up behind my Alpha. Just as I reached them, I jumped into the air and that’s when they noticed the rouge.

The fight between us was bloody and brutal. He gave me several deep gashes on my side and stomach. And I managed to rip several large chucks from him. He broke away from me and we circled each other. He lunged towards me and I quickly stepped aside snapping at his neck. As my teeth sunk into his throat, I felt his teeth sink into mine as well. Ripping his throat out, I collapsed onto the ground. The wound he dealt to my throat was a bad one, and I could feel my blood gushing out into the dirt beneath me.

My friends rushed towards me as they shift back. I felt Dylan’s hands rubbing my head. And I wanted to laugh when I heard Dan ordering someone to get the doc, and for others to help carry me back to the house. As my eyes fluttered closed, I heard Dylan whisper, “Forgive me,” in my ear. Then there was just overwhelming silence and darkness around me.