Fire Away, Fire Away *part six*
Pairing: LayHan (side KrisYeol)
Rated: PG13
Length: 3K
Part Five
He grabbed Chanyeol by the wrist and pulled him out of the house behind him, hollering for Luhan to find follow Yixing’s scent before someone else found him first.
Chen was waiting for him in the woods, his messy black hair filled with dirt and leaves. “I’ve been patrolling ever since I saw them enter but after I ran back to tell Kris they were here I lost their scent. They’re spreading it around and it’s hard to get a track on it.”
“My mate’s missing.” Luhan stripped himself of his clothes, the worry for privacy long forgotten between any of the wolves. “I have to find him first. That’s job number one. Put your crew on the search for Yixing and have Tao’s go after the elder’s. We need to keep Yixing off their radar.”
Even though Chen was still in high school and not as experienced as a lot of the other wolves he was one of the best the pack had and Luhan trusted him to get done what was needed.
“Got it.” Chen transformed into a small black wolf and took off running into the woods to tell the others of the new plan.
Luhan was a sleek white wolf with thick fur and what he lacked in size he more than made up for with his tracking skills. He had been the best tracker the pack had ever since he first started training. No one should be able to find Yixing as easily as he could.
He started sniffing him out as soon as he turned and headed in the direction his scent was the strongest. Chen’s patrol unit was spread out in the same section of the village, their noses down to the ground and searching for him as quickly as possible.
Kris appeared next to them, his eyes dark with worry as he joined the search. Surely Yixing hadn’t gone far, he’d only been gone for a few minutes when they realized he had escaped. Unless he’d been taken…
Luhan growled and bared his teeth to the members of the pack surrounding him. They needed to find him now.
A loud howl came from in front of them, the one used to communicate with each other that assistance was needed. It had to be for Yixing, someone had found him and Luhan wasted no time in racing towards them.
They found him curled up into a ball against the base of a tree, body trembling and the bottom of his palms pressing painfully hard into his eye sockets.
Chen was turning around him in a circle, keeping an eye on him and spreading his scent around to ward off enemies.
Luhan didn’t really want the first time Yixing saw him fully head to toe naked to be in the middle of the woods surrounded by his pack, but he had no other choice but to turn human again and crouch carefully in front of him.
“Yixing?” He gently touched his mate’s shoulder, the deep sob he gave him back hitting Luhan like a punch to the gut. “Sweetheart, come back with me, please? We can talk about this as soon as you're safe.”
“I want to go home.” Yixing peeked out in-between his fingers and saw Chen’s black muzzle a foot away from his face and whimpered. “I don’t want this, Luhan. I just wanted to be with you! Not all this. I woke up this morning and I thought I was falling in love with you and now I’m supposed to just change everything, the way I think, the things I believe in? I just wanted you!”
The admission that his mate wanted him, loved him, was enough to make Luhan’s hormones kick into overdrive and the rest of the wolves instinctually moved away from the newly in heat Beta.
“Now isn’t the time for that.” Kris unfolded his long body from the ground and stood up, stretching his back as he went. “We have to get rid of the intruders. Then you can finish the mating process, Luhan.”
But he wanted Yixing so much he could taste him on his tongue, inside his throat, could feel the softness of his skin under his fingertips. Yixing showing interest was all he needed to want to take him right there on the dirty ground, show the rest of the pack who Zhang Yixing belonged to.
The wolf inside him may not ever be confused with his overly dominant cousin’s, but when it came to its mate the beast took over and Luhan let it.
“Mine.” He growled out, teeth flashing blue as Yixing stared at him half in horror and half in growing arousal. Going into heat wasn’t a one way street. If it happened to one then it almost always happened to the other. Mates were joined in numerous ways and this was just one of the extra benefits.
“Not. Now. Luhan.” Kris repeated slowly. “Chen!” He grabbed Yixing by his shirt and tugging him to his feet. “Take Yixing to the house with the other mates. Find Chanyeol, he’ll take care of him. Do not let him go under any circumstances. Understood?”
“L-Luhan? No, wait!” Yixing struggled in Chen’s hold even as he was being dragged away against his will. “Luhan!”
He watched as his mate was pulled away from him, his wolf whimpering in his chest at the loss. “Soon buddy.”
“You’re going to be dangerous now.” Kris’s voice tinged with amusement. “Newly mated, in heat, worried about Yixing. Turn it where it needs to go. Let’s get this done so you can go finish that.”
Luhan snarled as he changed back into his wolf, white fur standing on end as he bared his teeth towards the others.
Time to get rid of the elder’s once and for all. And then he was going to spend the next week never leaving his bed as he made every square inch of Yixing's body belong to him.
***
“Their scent is growing stronger.” Chen sniffed the air, his eyes narrowed and alert. “We’re surrounded. They led us on a wild goose chase just to get us away from the village.” He groaned at how stupid he’d been. Ever since Luhan and Kris moved up to heads of the pack he had been put in charge of patrols and now he’d gone and fucked everything up. “You had one job, Chen!”
Kris patted him awkwardly on the shoulder. “It’s not your fault, Chen. They’re trying to confuse all of us. You had no way to know they would be herding us.” He stood up straight and popped his neck, eyes scanning the surrounding forest for the enemy. “Alright Grandfather. You’ve made your point. Come out and talk.”
The man who Kris hated most in the world emerged to the left of them, eyes sly and full of knowledge that he had already won. When Kris looked at him he saw the way Chanyeol had been tortured, the pain in his eyes when he’d found him tied up under the old Alpha’s orders. Kris wanted to kill him.
“Yifan.” His father’s voice was more guarded. He always knew what kind of Alpha his son would make and he had no desire to start an unnecessary war. “We’ve come back for our pack. That’s all. We don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“You mean my pack.” Kris’s deadly calm eyes turned his direction and Shing instinctually took a step back. “This village and all of its members belong to me now. I claimed them.”
His mother burst through, the joy at seeing her only child not affected by the hostility between the three males. “Yifan!” She moved to hug him, but a sharp warning growl from Luhan stopped her. “Son?”
“We don’t recognize your authority here.” Luhan took on his job as Beta and joined Kris in the center of the circle. “Kris is our Alpha and we’d like to keep it that way.”
He saw his father roll his eyes at him. “No one cares what your opinion is, Luhan. You've always been just a little brat with a weird obsession with your cousin.”
His body vibrated as he fought to control himself and fangs started to emerge from his gums. “Kris is my best friend and the only family member I have left.”
Kris gently pulled him backwards, worried his cousin would inadvertently start the battle before it was time. “Calm down, Lu. They’re just trying to get you rattled.” He smiled fondly and ruffled his dirty hair. “Since you all were banished Luhan has turned into a completely different person. He stepped up to be my second, he’s going to school, he's taking care of his home for the first time in years, and he has a mate.”
“Looks like you leaving was the best for everyone.” Chen surprised them all by joining them on Kris’s left.
Luhan never would have pegged Chen as someone who would be brave enough to insert himself into a leadership role. He was the head of his patrol unit, but that was only because he was the best at it. He complained every time he had to make schedules and whined that he had homework to do even when everyone knew he sat out in the woods and might or might not partake in illegal drugs for hours at a time.
Their grandfather motioned for the rest of his pack to come forward. Luhan saw with relief that the misfit band was smaller than theirs and filled with hybrids aging from teenager all the way to middle aged and over. Obviously the old Alpha thought that their mere presence would cause Kris to back down. They must not have realized that in the last few months Kris had grown and was no longer the reluctant Alpha, he was their brave leader and his entire pack worshipped him.
One stray was around their age, his face untrusting and leery as he stepped forward. There was a frown on his lips and his eyes darted between the two packs with curiosity. “You told us that this pack was harming its village and forced you out and was unstable.”
Shing slapped him across the cheek, his desparation causing him to snap easily. “You are not allowed to question Alpha’s!”
The boy held his red face and shook his head. “Alpha’s aren’t supposed to lie to their pack.” He lowered his eyes submissively and bowed towards Kris. “Permission to join your pack.”
Kris nodded and the stranger jumped to their side, much to the anger on Shing and his father’s faces. “I did not release you!” Their alpha roared, shaking fists with razor sharp clawed tips.
“I never recognized you as Alpha.” His head cocked to the side and he smiled. “To be honest I’ve been waiting this last month for someone to rip your head from your body and insert a stake into it. Looks like my dream is about to come true.”
He moved to stand beside Chen, the younger boy blinking heavily at him. “Who are you?” Chen breathed, recognizing the stirring in his chest. He forced his gaze to stay on the stranger's face, not letting himself look at the naked body next to him.
Their new member just grinned and looked at Kris and Luhan, waiting for permission to jump into the oncoming fray.
“Your Alpha against our Alpha.” Luhan crosses his arms, thoughts still way back in the village with Yixing. “That’s the way it’s always been done.”
They smirked at the other Alpha’s paling face.
“You come to my village and expect me to just hand my pack over to you?” Kris tsked and brushed his hair out of his face. “Did you tell your strays why you were exiled, Grandfather? Did you tell them that you tried to kill the mate of a member of your pack? Do they know you tied him up and beat him and ordered his mate to kill him?”
The newcomers gasped at the barbaric treatment of a mate. Even strays knew how important that bond was. It was sacred in their traditions and nothing ever came between it.
Shing was shaking from the pain of trying to contain his fury. That was the problem with the previous elders, Luhan realized. They were too hot-headed and domineering. Kris had quickly been accepted because he genuinely tried his hardest to please everyone while still doing what was best for the community. They had been so used to decades of their Alpha treating them like peasants and doing what was best for him and no one else.
“He’s seventy-nine years old, Yifan. You’re just a pup still. This fight is not even.”
Kris shrugged. “Then choose a proxy to fight for him. I’m strong enough to stand up for my village. If Grandfather can’t do that then I’m more than happy to fight someone of his choosing.”
Another young wolf was pushed out towards them by Luhan’s father. “This one. He’s our best fighter.”
The dark-skinned boy smirked and cracked his knuckles. “Challenge accepted.”
The two wolves jumped at each other in a tangle of soft brown fur versus tangled and matted gray. Luhan couldn’t tell who was winning because they both looked pretty evenly matched. Whereas Kris was stronger and larger, the gray wolf was sneakier. He would trick Kris into thinking he was going to make one move and then twisting his body around and going the opposite direction.
“Come on, Kris.” Luhan muttered. He was itching to join the fight, but then it would be considered a stale-mate and would have to be repeated. No one but the Alpha was the rules. He scoffed and gave his grandfather a hard look. That rule was already broken.
Chen tried to watch the two wolves rolling around on the ground, but even their sharp barks of pain and deadly growls couldn’t keep him from routinely glancing over at the newcomer next to him. His soft hair was reddish-brown and hung in a wave across his forehead. He wasn’t very tall, but his smaller body was topped by a mature face and eyes that looked like they were centuries older than his age.
“You’re staring.” The thin lips quirked up and his eyes slid over to Chen’s, amusement sparking the dark brown. “Shouldn’t you be worried about your Alpha?”
Chen saw his eyes slide down his body. “He can take care of himself.” He licked his lips and grinned a kittenish smile. “Shouldn’t you be a little bit more secretive about looking at my naked body?” His gaze raked down and his breath hitched in his throat at the surprisingly strong body.
“Why should I when you’re obviously not?”
“Who are you?”
Chen still didn’t get his answer. The moment the pink lips opened to reply there was a loud cry of pain from the gray wolf as Kris finally started to gain the upper hand.
His teeth were clamped down tightly into the dirty neck and the new wolf realized it was over and went limp waiting for the final death blow. The only way this would end was with one of them dead and the final one standing was the proclaimed Alpha.
Luhan watched Kris’s eyes switch between human and wolf as he fought with himself. The wolf knew this had to happen but the human didn’t want any more spilled blood on his conscience.
With a final snarl he released the weak smaller wolf and switched back to human, his body covered in gashes and bright red blood.
“I’m not killing him.” He spat out a clump of fur and wiped the blood off his lips, smearing it across his cheeks. “We’re a better pack than that. I don’t have to frighten my villagers or kill interlopers to gain their respect as Alpha.”
Shing’s eyes lit up with elation and he jumped forward ignoring the caution growls from Luhan and Chen. “If you refuse to follow through on the duel then you forfeit the win.” His eyes passed over the members. “You belong to us again.”
“No.” Luhan cocked his head towards the previous Alpha. “He changed the rules of the takeover so Kris gets to change a rule, too. It’s only fair.”
“Fair?” His grandfather laughed, the sound booming in the quiet forest. “This is not a life where playing fair works, children.” His voice was mocking and Luhan felt his skin prickle with anger.
Chen stepped forward followed by their newest member on his heels. “You’ll have to go through us to gain control. And I’m sure all those strays you picked up on the way didn’t sign up for a complete pack genocide.”
They could see the strangers in the back watching them with a mix of horror and confusion. They didn’t know what was going on or why this pack that they had been told were out of control seemed to be perfectly fine.
“I’m going to let you walk away with the promise that you and whomever follows you has safe passage.” Kris’s voice was calm, but silently deadly. “But make no mistake. This is the last chance I am giving you. Next time I won’t be so lenient.” He nudged the still unmoving wolf at his feet. “Chen, help him to my office. I’ll meet you both there when we’re done.”
Their new Gamma nodded and picked up the gray wolf in his arms. He couldn’t see him, but he could hear the new pack mate on his heels. A smile crossed his lips and he felt his shoulders straighten with pride. Today was just interesting all around.
Part Seven
Rated: PG13
Length: 3K
Part Five
He grabbed Chanyeol by the wrist and pulled him out of the house behind him, hollering for Luhan to find follow Yixing’s scent before someone else found him first.
Chen was waiting for him in the woods, his messy black hair filled with dirt and leaves. “I’ve been patrolling ever since I saw them enter but after I ran back to tell Kris they were here I lost their scent. They’re spreading it around and it’s hard to get a track on it.”
“My mate’s missing.” Luhan stripped himself of his clothes, the worry for privacy long forgotten between any of the wolves. “I have to find him first. That’s job number one. Put your crew on the search for Yixing and have Tao’s go after the elder’s. We need to keep Yixing off their radar.”
Even though Chen was still in high school and not as experienced as a lot of the other wolves he was one of the best the pack had and Luhan trusted him to get done what was needed.
“Got it.” Chen transformed into a small black wolf and took off running into the woods to tell the others of the new plan.
Luhan was a sleek white wolf with thick fur and what he lacked in size he more than made up for with his tracking skills. He had been the best tracker the pack had ever since he first started training. No one should be able to find Yixing as easily as he could.
He started sniffing him out as soon as he turned and headed in the direction his scent was the strongest. Chen’s patrol unit was spread out in the same section of the village, their noses down to the ground and searching for him as quickly as possible.
Kris appeared next to them, his eyes dark with worry as he joined the search. Surely Yixing hadn’t gone far, he’d only been gone for a few minutes when they realized he had escaped. Unless he’d been taken…
Luhan growled and bared his teeth to the members of the pack surrounding him. They needed to find him now.
A loud howl came from in front of them, the one used to communicate with each other that assistance was needed. It had to be for Yixing, someone had found him and Luhan wasted no time in racing towards them.
They found him curled up into a ball against the base of a tree, body trembling and the bottom of his palms pressing painfully hard into his eye sockets.
Chen was turning around him in a circle, keeping an eye on him and spreading his scent around to ward off enemies.
Luhan didn’t really want the first time Yixing saw him fully head to toe naked to be in the middle of the woods surrounded by his pack, but he had no other choice but to turn human again and crouch carefully in front of him.
“Yixing?” He gently touched his mate’s shoulder, the deep sob he gave him back hitting Luhan like a punch to the gut. “Sweetheart, come back with me, please? We can talk about this as soon as you're safe.”
“I want to go home.” Yixing peeked out in-between his fingers and saw Chen’s black muzzle a foot away from his face and whimpered. “I don’t want this, Luhan. I just wanted to be with you! Not all this. I woke up this morning and I thought I was falling in love with you and now I’m supposed to just change everything, the way I think, the things I believe in? I just wanted you!”
The admission that his mate wanted him, loved him, was enough to make Luhan’s hormones kick into overdrive and the rest of the wolves instinctually moved away from the newly in heat Beta.
“Now isn’t the time for that.” Kris unfolded his long body from the ground and stood up, stretching his back as he went. “We have to get rid of the intruders. Then you can finish the mating process, Luhan.”
But he wanted Yixing so much he could taste him on his tongue, inside his throat, could feel the softness of his skin under his fingertips. Yixing showing interest was all he needed to want to take him right there on the dirty ground, show the rest of the pack who Zhang Yixing belonged to.
The wolf inside him may not ever be confused with his overly dominant cousin’s, but when it came to its mate the beast took over and Luhan let it.
“Mine.” He growled out, teeth flashing blue as Yixing stared at him half in horror and half in growing arousal. Going into heat wasn’t a one way street. If it happened to one then it almost always happened to the other. Mates were joined in numerous ways and this was just one of the extra benefits.
“Not. Now. Luhan.” Kris repeated slowly. “Chen!” He grabbed Yixing by his shirt and tugging him to his feet. “Take Yixing to the house with the other mates. Find Chanyeol, he’ll take care of him. Do not let him go under any circumstances. Understood?”
“L-Luhan? No, wait!” Yixing struggled in Chen’s hold even as he was being dragged away against his will. “Luhan!”
He watched as his mate was pulled away from him, his wolf whimpering in his chest at the loss. “Soon buddy.”
“You’re going to be dangerous now.” Kris’s voice tinged with amusement. “Newly mated, in heat, worried about Yixing. Turn it where it needs to go. Let’s get this done so you can go finish that.”
Luhan snarled as he changed back into his wolf, white fur standing on end as he bared his teeth towards the others.
Time to get rid of the elder’s once and for all. And then he was going to spend the next week never leaving his bed as he made every square inch of Yixing's body belong to him.
***
“Their scent is growing stronger.” Chen sniffed the air, his eyes narrowed and alert. “We’re surrounded. They led us on a wild goose chase just to get us away from the village.” He groaned at how stupid he’d been. Ever since Luhan and Kris moved up to heads of the pack he had been put in charge of patrols and now he’d gone and fucked everything up. “You had one job, Chen!”
Kris patted him awkwardly on the shoulder. “It’s not your fault, Chen. They’re trying to confuse all of us. You had no way to know they would be herding us.” He stood up straight and popped his neck, eyes scanning the surrounding forest for the enemy. “Alright Grandfather. You’ve made your point. Come out and talk.”
The man who Kris hated most in the world emerged to the left of them, eyes sly and full of knowledge that he had already won. When Kris looked at him he saw the way Chanyeol had been tortured, the pain in his eyes when he’d found him tied up under the old Alpha’s orders. Kris wanted to kill him.
“Yifan.” His father’s voice was more guarded. He always knew what kind of Alpha his son would make and he had no desire to start an unnecessary war. “We’ve come back for our pack. That’s all. We don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“You mean my pack.” Kris’s deadly calm eyes turned his direction and Shing instinctually took a step back. “This village and all of its members belong to me now. I claimed them.”
His mother burst through, the joy at seeing her only child not affected by the hostility between the three males. “Yifan!” She moved to hug him, but a sharp warning growl from Luhan stopped her. “Son?”
“We don’t recognize your authority here.” Luhan took on his job as Beta and joined Kris in the center of the circle. “Kris is our Alpha and we’d like to keep it that way.”
He saw his father roll his eyes at him. “No one cares what your opinion is, Luhan. You've always been just a little brat with a weird obsession with your cousin.”
His body vibrated as he fought to control himself and fangs started to emerge from his gums. “Kris is my best friend and the only family member I have left.”
Kris gently pulled him backwards, worried his cousin would inadvertently start the battle before it was time. “Calm down, Lu. They’re just trying to get you rattled.” He smiled fondly and ruffled his dirty hair. “Since you all were banished Luhan has turned into a completely different person. He stepped up to be my second, he’s going to school, he's taking care of his home for the first time in years, and he has a mate.”
“Looks like you leaving was the best for everyone.” Chen surprised them all by joining them on Kris’s left.
Luhan never would have pegged Chen as someone who would be brave enough to insert himself into a leadership role. He was the head of his patrol unit, but that was only because he was the best at it. He complained every time he had to make schedules and whined that he had homework to do even when everyone knew he sat out in the woods and might or might not partake in illegal drugs for hours at a time.
Their grandfather motioned for the rest of his pack to come forward. Luhan saw with relief that the misfit band was smaller than theirs and filled with hybrids aging from teenager all the way to middle aged and over. Obviously the old Alpha thought that their mere presence would cause Kris to back down. They must not have realized that in the last few months Kris had grown and was no longer the reluctant Alpha, he was their brave leader and his entire pack worshipped him.
One stray was around their age, his face untrusting and leery as he stepped forward. There was a frown on his lips and his eyes darted between the two packs with curiosity. “You told us that this pack was harming its village and forced you out and was unstable.”
Shing slapped him across the cheek, his desparation causing him to snap easily. “You are not allowed to question Alpha’s!”
The boy held his red face and shook his head. “Alpha’s aren’t supposed to lie to their pack.” He lowered his eyes submissively and bowed towards Kris. “Permission to join your pack.”
Kris nodded and the stranger jumped to their side, much to the anger on Shing and his father’s faces. “I did not release you!” Their alpha roared, shaking fists with razor sharp clawed tips.
“I never recognized you as Alpha.” His head cocked to the side and he smiled. “To be honest I’ve been waiting this last month for someone to rip your head from your body and insert a stake into it. Looks like my dream is about to come true.”
He moved to stand beside Chen, the younger boy blinking heavily at him. “Who are you?” Chen breathed, recognizing the stirring in his chest. He forced his gaze to stay on the stranger's face, not letting himself look at the naked body next to him.
Their new member just grinned and looked at Kris and Luhan, waiting for permission to jump into the oncoming fray.
“Your Alpha against our Alpha.” Luhan crosses his arms, thoughts still way back in the village with Yixing. “That’s the way it’s always been done.”
They smirked at the other Alpha’s paling face.
“You come to my village and expect me to just hand my pack over to you?” Kris tsked and brushed his hair out of his face. “Did you tell your strays why you were exiled, Grandfather? Did you tell them that you tried to kill the mate of a member of your pack? Do they know you tied him up and beat him and ordered his mate to kill him?”
The newcomers gasped at the barbaric treatment of a mate. Even strays knew how important that bond was. It was sacred in their traditions and nothing ever came between it.
Shing was shaking from the pain of trying to contain his fury. That was the problem with the previous elders, Luhan realized. They were too hot-headed and domineering. Kris had quickly been accepted because he genuinely tried his hardest to please everyone while still doing what was best for the community. They had been so used to decades of their Alpha treating them like peasants and doing what was best for him and no one else.
“He’s seventy-nine years old, Yifan. You’re just a pup still. This fight is not even.”
Kris shrugged. “Then choose a proxy to fight for him. I’m strong enough to stand up for my village. If Grandfather can’t do that then I’m more than happy to fight someone of his choosing.”
Another young wolf was pushed out towards them by Luhan’s father. “This one. He’s our best fighter.”
The dark-skinned boy smirked and cracked his knuckles. “Challenge accepted.”
The two wolves jumped at each other in a tangle of soft brown fur versus tangled and matted gray. Luhan couldn’t tell who was winning because they both looked pretty evenly matched. Whereas Kris was stronger and larger, the gray wolf was sneakier. He would trick Kris into thinking he was going to make one move and then twisting his body around and going the opposite direction.
“Come on, Kris.” Luhan muttered. He was itching to join the fight, but then it would be considered a stale-mate and would have to be repeated. No one but the Alpha was the rules. He scoffed and gave his grandfather a hard look. That rule was already broken.
Chen tried to watch the two wolves rolling around on the ground, but even their sharp barks of pain and deadly growls couldn’t keep him from routinely glancing over at the newcomer next to him. His soft hair was reddish-brown and hung in a wave across his forehead. He wasn’t very tall, but his smaller body was topped by a mature face and eyes that looked like they were centuries older than his age.
“You’re staring.” The thin lips quirked up and his eyes slid over to Chen’s, amusement sparking the dark brown. “Shouldn’t you be worried about your Alpha?”
Chen saw his eyes slide down his body. “He can take care of himself.” He licked his lips and grinned a kittenish smile. “Shouldn’t you be a little bit more secretive about looking at my naked body?” His gaze raked down and his breath hitched in his throat at the surprisingly strong body.
“Why should I when you’re obviously not?”
“Who are you?”
Chen still didn’t get his answer. The moment the pink lips opened to reply there was a loud cry of pain from the gray wolf as Kris finally started to gain the upper hand.
His teeth were clamped down tightly into the dirty neck and the new wolf realized it was over and went limp waiting for the final death blow. The only way this would end was with one of them dead and the final one standing was the proclaimed Alpha.
Luhan watched Kris’s eyes switch between human and wolf as he fought with himself. The wolf knew this had to happen but the human didn’t want any more spilled blood on his conscience.
With a final snarl he released the weak smaller wolf and switched back to human, his body covered in gashes and bright red blood.
“I’m not killing him.” He spat out a clump of fur and wiped the blood off his lips, smearing it across his cheeks. “We’re a better pack than that. I don’t have to frighten my villagers or kill interlopers to gain their respect as Alpha.”
Shing’s eyes lit up with elation and he jumped forward ignoring the caution growls from Luhan and Chen. “If you refuse to follow through on the duel then you forfeit the win.” His eyes passed over the members. “You belong to us again.”
“No.” Luhan cocked his head towards the previous Alpha. “He changed the rules of the takeover so Kris gets to change a rule, too. It’s only fair.”
“Fair?” His grandfather laughed, the sound booming in the quiet forest. “This is not a life where playing fair works, children.” His voice was mocking and Luhan felt his skin prickle with anger.
Chen stepped forward followed by their newest member on his heels. “You’ll have to go through us to gain control. And I’m sure all those strays you picked up on the way didn’t sign up for a complete pack genocide.”
They could see the strangers in the back watching them with a mix of horror and confusion. They didn’t know what was going on or why this pack that they had been told were out of control seemed to be perfectly fine.
“I’m going to let you walk away with the promise that you and whomever follows you has safe passage.” Kris’s voice was calm, but silently deadly. “But make no mistake. This is the last chance I am giving you. Next time I won’t be so lenient.” He nudged the still unmoving wolf at his feet. “Chen, help him to my office. I’ll meet you both there when we’re done.”
Their new Gamma nodded and picked up the gray wolf in his arms. He couldn’t see him, but he could hear the new pack mate on his heels. A smile crossed his lips and he felt his shoulders straighten with pride. Today was just interesting all around.
Part Seven