Saved by the Alphas

Lorelai

I grabbed the dagger and looked up at my Alphas. They were staring intently. Like the rest of the pack, I felt the weight of what they were doing in my magic and the air.

I was their Luna, I had to do this too.

But cutting my hand open?

Kai pulled Enzi off him and handed her to Derik then came up to me, cupping my hand from underneath.

“I cannot cut for you. It must be your sacrifice. But we’re here, Little Luna. Together. Four drops of blood, four of us. We give this back to the realm so it doesn’t find us unworthy of the life and magic it grants us,” he said.

I nodded. I understood that.

So I put the blade at my skin and opened my palm. Blood pooled and I winced at the sting. Kai guided me over to the patch and I tipped my fist over the soil.

“Good girl,” he whispered, kissing my cheek before holding his bloody fist up with mine. Blood dripped down our arms together. Derik and Brax lifted their bloodied fists.

The pack came alive, their silence turning to more cheers and howls.

The soil moved, the blood we had given it, soaking in.

I gasped as I felt it inside me. I stumbled back, my magic glowing in me.

I felt the soil. I felt the absorption of the blood, my own racing through my veins.

“Lorelai?” Derik asked as I looked up at him.

“I feel it,” I breathed. Derik’s eyes widened.

The packs’ excitement slowly died down and I looked over my body.

It was glowing purple.

“Your eyes are glowing,” Brax whispered.

I could feel that. They burned.

“Is this because the border magic is realm magic?” I asked.

“You’re connected. The sacrifice is yours to claim too,” Cain murmured from beside the platform, leaning against a tree.

“Wow,” I said as it made the power inside me come alive.

“Isn’t sacrificial blood magic meant to be a bad thing?” I wondered, looking over my glowing arms and body.

“Not when it is used for honorable intentions,” he replied.

Huh.

“Now what?” I wondered.

“Now the pack makes their sacrifice,” Kai grinned, handing the knife over to Ryleigh.

Each pack member that dropped their blood into the soil, I felt.

My skin glowed the entire time, my heart raced, and my body tingled until Galen’s final drop fell onto the soil.

I grinned as the moon reached its peak, just as the last drop fell and I felt the readiness. The urge to shift. It was in my blood, demanding and desperate.

“We need to shift,” I breathed, almost panting as my skin grew tight.

“It’s time,” Derik smiled, bringing me over to stand at the front of the platform with him and Enzi. Kai stood next to me. Brax and Zale next to Derik.

A united front.

It was a powerful place to be in and that power grew heavier and heavier in my veins.

“It’s time!” Derik called to the wolves and the night grew quiet.

One by one, the wolves removed their cloaks.

Derik turned to Ryleigh, “Are you ready?” He asked.

She shivered and came forward.

“Yeah.”

She didn’t sound ready.

Derik gave Enzi to my mom, Brax putting Zale with Cain, both of them eyeing each other warily. Brax had been wary of Cain ever since he had gone off the deep end.

“He’s safe with me,” Cain muttered, glaring at Brax, probably reading the same mistrust in his eyes as I could.

Brax nodded and moved back to the platform.

We all removed our cloaks and I started the mist for my magic wall in front of Ryleigh but she shook her head.

“No, I’m okay. I feel it now,” she said softly.

I grinned at her and Derik, “The pack is here for you, Rye, the whole time,” I promised.

She smiled and grabbed the clasp of her cloak, “I know. I feel that now. I can do this,” she said.

“I’m proud of you,” Derik said in that soft husky voice he had, the one that could bring me to my knees for him.

My stomach clenched at it and he smirked, eyeing me over his shoulder, “Soon, Beautiful.”

“You all keep telling me that but I think our definitions of soon, differ greatly,” I grinned.

He chuckled and kissed my forehead then grabbed Ryleigh’s hand and led her to the front of the platform.

“Don’t focus on the pain. Think of your wolf. It’ll help it move quickly,” Derik said then whistled the pack to attention. They silenced.

“Tonight, we welcome Ryleigh to our pack. She has fought with us, taken our oath, now she will turn with us on the first shift!” Derik called.

As soon as he finished his sentence, he howled, loud and deep. The sound echoed off the trees, biting through the wind, settling deep inside me, bringing the urge to shift to the forefront of my mind.

The pack started shifting, obeying the Alpha command.

Kai and Brax howled, joining Derik’s.

It made my shift start and I winced, my stomach hurting. I sucked in a breath and held the slight swell there.

I glanced up to see the other wolves turned, Ryleigh’s shift starting. Her bones crunched and she fell to the ground.

She didn’t cry or whimper, she took the pain. She did exactly what Derik had said, focusing on the wolf. I could see in her mind as hers joined the link fully. The fibers of her wolf connecting with us all.

Her growing claws dug into the wood of the platform, scratching at it as a growl escaped her elongated teeth.

I winced as the stretching pain in my stomach stopped me from shifting with them.

Derik kneeled to Ryleigh; he was whispering in her ear. I could hear him encouraging her, keeping her focused, keeping his will tight on her turning.

And she listened.

But I couldn’t shift. My body was refusing the Alpha’s orders.

I looked over my shoulder at Cain who just shook his head slowly.

I knew that meant not to push it.

It was gutting. I had been so excited to turn with them and be a part of the pack tonight but I couldn’t. It was too much of a risk with the child I was carrying.

My magic knew that better than I did, and I trusted that, even if I was meant to still be able to shift.

But it wasn’t my night. It was Ryleigh’s.

I looked up as Nikolai frowned at me. Whatever he saw on my face had him moving next to me, cupping my face in his giant hands.

“What’s wrong, Little Luna?” he asked. “You’re pale,” he said, his eyes going down my body to the slight swell I held.

“I can’t shift,” I whispered, looking down at it too, not wanting to interrupt. Kai looked over my shoulder, probably at Cain.

I heard Cain sigh and come over. Probably an order from Kai.

“She’s fine, Kai. Some wolves can’t turn when carrying, it’s normal,” he huffed.

“Not this early. She should have a few months before she has to stop,” he growled, trying to stay quiet.

Cain shrugged, “And they aren’t filled with magic and shadow. She grows quickly, you know that.”

“Will us turning like this, with the Alpha command there, hurt her? Since she can’t obey?” Kai demanded.

Cain frowned then, looking down at my stomach, “I’m sorry Kai. I don’t know the answer to that. But it’ll do her more harm, and the baby if she forces the shift.”

Kai bared his teeth and looked like he was going to take it out on Cain so I stepped closer to him, my hand on his bare chest, “Kai, it’s okay. I’ll wait here, go, shift,” I said.

“I’ll stay with you, Spitfire. I don’t have to shift like they do. I have shadows to keep me full and crazy,” Brax teased, coming over to me, and kissing my cheek.

Kai hesitated, but whatever he was going to say was interrupted when Ryleigh let out a pain-filled scream that turned to a roar, her body ripping into her wolf with the last of her bones crunching and breaking to form her.

Her wolf panted as she looked around. Kai growled and backed away from me.

He had to turn.

Derik eyed me, but I smiled at him, nodding to Ryleigh.

“Go,” I mouthed.

He looked pained as he stared at me before snarling and turning into his wolf.

I stayed with Brax on the platform as the wolves took off on Kai and Derik’s command.

They ran to the forest, Ryleigh running on Derik’s flank. Hank on Kai’s.

I smiled. I could still feel the connection. The link was wide open, sharing it with me and Brax.

“You can run with them, I don’t mind waiting here,” I said.

Brax shook his head, “I’d rather hang out with you,” Brax grinned. I smiled, and he pulled my cloak over my body, grabbing his too.

I cuddled into him, kissing that tattoo on his pec.

“Will Ryleigh have to get the tattoo?” I asked.

He nodded, “Eventually. Not while she is still feeding Althea though,” he said. I nodded.

I wanted my tattoo too but I kept getting pregnant.

Which wasn’t that surprising since I had three Alphas to keep up with.

My mom came over then with Cain.

Beenie and Galen had gone off, bringing up the rear of the pack, protecting their backs.

I took Zale from Cain and kissed the top of his head, wrapping him up next to me. His shadows immediately looked for mine like they always did.

We sat by the fire, feeling the wolves in the link running as a pack, the entirety of us and our magic all giving back to the realm.

It was an eerie feeling in my body, one that had a smile on my face.

Until Beenie interrupted the serenity by growling in the link.

‘Rogues. I smell them,’ she snarled. Cain stood quickly. He disappeared in the next second.

In the time it took me to stand and eye the forest around us, Cain was back.

“They’re at the city gates. They’re demanding an audience.”

I narrowed my eyes on him, “Let’s give them one then.”

I ordered the pack to turn around, to come up behind the rogues. They obeyed, heading there straight away.

Then I turned to Cain, “Can you get Mom and the twins to the mansion?” I asked.

He nodded.

I gave him Zale, kissing both the twins, and drawing my shadows back before Cain left with them.

Brax shifted in the next second and I climbed on his back.

He ran fast, his body agile and strong as he pounded through the forest towards the city. We used our shadows together to sneak past the few rogues at the gates. I thought there would be more.

But it was Heather, flanked by two men I didn’t recognize. They looked dirty, rugged, typical rogues. Brax turned and I handed his cloak back to him.

He clasped it shut and we walked to the gates like we had been in the city the whole time. We couldn’t let the rogues think we had an empty city behind us.

‘We’ll be there in a couple of minutes, keep them busy,’ Derik said.

I agreed in the link then opened the gates and eyed Heather.

“Are you here to apologize for going back on your word?” I asked, my eyes locking on Heather.

She looked healthier than the last time I had seen her, fuller. Our food was doing wonders for her then. Ungrateful bitch.

She smirked, “No.”

“Then why are you here?” Brax growled.

“We heard a commotion. Thought we’d check it out,” she said in a creepy way that made me think she was lying. Her eyes stopped on my stomach and her smile widened.

“Hmmm the first shift ceremony, right? I remember those. How fun. You didn’t want to join?” She asked me. We both knew she was fishing and I was not letting her catch a damn thing.

“Not tonight.”

“Hmm, how unfortunate.”

“If you’ve come for more supplies—”

“We haven’t. We actually wondered about the vampires around the territory. Is the war not over?” She asked.

“We have an accord.” That was all I was giving her.

“An accord? With the vampires?” She laughed.

“Silas is dead,” I snarled, “And their word now means more than yours so be very careful where you tread with your words.”

That had her eyebrow-raising. She eyed the men at her sides then nodded slowly.

Derik and Kai led the pack out of the forest and slowly surrounded them.

“Be on your way rogues,” Brax said.

Heather eyed him, her eyes filled with something I couldn’t decipher. It seemed like hatred but she was trying so hard to cover it up.

“We are sorry about not showing up for you during the war. We thought Silas was going to win. To hear he is dead, that changes things.”

“Not on our end, we can’t trust you,” I said.

She nodded, “Understandably. But we want to prove ourselves. We would like to be a part of the collective,” she asked.

Kai growled from behind her, nipping at the man’s ankles. The man yelped and surged forward. Kai’s wolf grinned, his eyes narrowed on the three rogues. Derik’s growl was more subtle but I heard it.

“We must discuss it and vote,” I said. I knew what my vote was. I didn’t feel right around them. And they had proven they couldn’t be trusted.

But I felt the resistance in Brax. This girl meant more to him than he had said. Not in a sexual way or she would already have my claw marks across her face. But she hit a chord with him, from his past.

I narrowed my eyes on her, “Plead your case,” I offered.

“We know what we are, we have lived our lives as outcasts. We just want a chance to change that. With vampires roaming and our young weak, we need a pack. A true one. So the rogues have made one. We have a hierarchy, like you do. We are the same and we want the chance to prove we can help keep the balance,” she said.

My stomach turned at her words. She was lying. But Brax believed her.

That was going to be a problem. Something was clouding his judgment, and I wasn’t giving her an answer until I had talked to him about it.

Derik and Kai obviously felt it too because they said nothing, staying in wolf form with the rest of the pack.

“We’ll have a meeting to discuss it. But just so you know the way this works, the vampires get a vote, and so do the humans,” I explained.

She nodded.

“Understood.”

I chewed my lip. Something still didn’t feel right, but I didn’t know what, so I nodded. “I’ll call the council together. We’ll come to the water villages once we have met. They’ll need to hear your plight, an apology, and a word we can trust,” I said.

I was pretty sure the bridge with me was burned past repair, but it wasn’t just me who got a vote.

My mother would vote yes for the devil because she was a huge believer in second chances. Brax would vote yes. Kai would vote whatever I voted because he didn’t give a fuck. Derik would weigh up every variable and withhold his vote until the very end, usually going with the majority. The vampire? Who fucking knew.

“We will be waiting,” Heather said, smiling. It was a false smile that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

What the hell was her game? Because that smile left no doubt in my mind that she was playing one.

She left with her rogues and the pack moved into the city with us.

Derik shifted, ordering some of the wolves to go out and clean up from the ceremony—those were the initiates. Then he had a group of Kai’s warriors follow the rogues back.

Derik came to me as Kai licked through my cloak, his tongue caressing over my stomach.

I smiled at him. “We’re okay,” I said, petting him.

He growled happily and I smiled.

“I’m going to call for the vampires,” Derik sighed, bending down to kiss me. I kept him against me, deepening the kiss.

“Or we could enjoy the rest of the night together and keep the rogues waiting? See what they do when they sweat,” I said against his mouth.

Derik roamed his hands down my body, holding me close.

Then he pulled back. “I’d rather sleep with you knowing you weren’t being threatened, Beautiful,” he said.

“She wasn’t threatening,” Brax frowned. “She was asking for a chance,” Brax said, eyeing Derik with a darkness I didn’t like. I went to him, placing my hand in his.

Kai just laughed, his wolf shifting into his human, towering and broad.

His skin looked so perfect in the moonlight. He shook his head at Brax. “That was a threat. I could taste the hostility,” he licked his lips with a wild grin. He knew the hunt was coming. I hated agreeing that violence was the answer, but he had a point—she was hostile.

Brax shook his head. “If she was hostile, my shadows would have picked up on it.”

Unless he wasn’t letting them do their job because she was attached to a part of his life he was refusing to acknowledge.

“Getting rusty there, Brax,” Kai teased then walked off towards the mansion.

We followed and Derik looked around him. “Ryleigh?” He asked, looking over the city streets that were crawling with wolves going back to their homes and stations.

“I’m here,” she breathed, coming over with a grin on her face. “I shifted back,” she said.

Derik grinned. “And you feel okay?”

“I feel great. I’ll catch you later though, I’m going to find Vaughn,” she grinned, a slight blush on her cheeks telling us all exactly what she was going after him for. I laughed, and she grinned wider, taking off.

We went back to the mansion, Brax still angry.

“I’ll summon the vamps, talk to the council,” Derik said.

“I’ve got to talk to Mom, and explain things so she can make a decision,” I said, heading to the twins’ room.

Kai followed, but Brax stormed off.

I looked after him but gave him his space.

An hour later, we were heading to the Water Area, ready to turn down the rogues. I was dressed in my leather pants, a cream tunic, and a leather vest that only had one button so my growing stomach could fit underneath it and my breasts could fit above it.

I had blades strapped to me, but it was my magic I relied on, the tingle in my fingers letting me know it was ready.

Lucien walked with us, bringing two of his vampires with him. He wasn’t permitted more than that when we were with humans. He was agreeable, which was a nice change.

Mom walked with Galen like usual, and then there was me and my Alphas.

We approached the Water Area and as soon as we hit the boundary, I knew something was off.

It didn’t feel right.

The area didn’t feel as connected to the realm, the seamless peace was broken here.

I frowned and spread my shadows out. They sensed things watching us. But I knew that would happen, they were rogues, used to watching their backs.

I just hadn’t expected to feel so uneasy about it.

The place felt powerful. Like something was lurking, reading us.

I didn’t like it.

I curled closer into my Alphas and walked with them through the damp grass and soft ground. We moved around the lake, coming up on some of the stone village huts.

The chimneys were all smoking, the smell permeating my senses.

It was still dark but there were lit torches everywhere.

The ground between the huts was all mud, mushy mud that had multiple footprint tracks all through it.

“This place used to be different,” Brax whispered.

“How different?”

Brax shrugged. “Not as cold. It had life in it,” he said.

I swallowed. Why did this feel like a trap?

I looked around, stretching more of my shadows out, reaching for a more powerful portion of my power.

“This doesn’t feel right,” I said.

Derik looked down at me, his eyes looking over my face.

Whatever he saw had him tensing and looking over the water villages with narrowed eyes.

Kai growled and we looked towards where he was looking.

Heather.

She came out from behind one of the buildings. She was grinning. Flanked by those same two men.

I growled, the entire feeling of wariness, shifting to danger in an instant.

My power glowed on my hands, the purple mist already starting to leak out of me.

“What is this?” Derik demanded.

“Wow, you actually came. I didn’t think you were that dumb. The wolves, sure. But the new Vamp leader? That one is a surprise,” she grinned.

“I am part of the collective council now, you will find me at most of these traps, offering what help I can,” Lucien answered easily, choosing his side.

“Pity,” she fake-pouted then grinned.

“Well, let’s not beat around the bush then. We’re burning moonlight,” she said, pulling out a bottle with a white towel hanging out of it.

She pulled out a match and my eyes widened.

“The rogues are declaring war on the collective,” she announced then lit the rag and threw the bottle that was about to explode right in front of us.