186 Chapter One Hundred Eighty Six
Liam was astounded by the confidence with which the white wolf before him spoke back. Heâd always seen her be beneath him. This made him livid. âSo, your sister shows up and you start feeling like youâve grown a pair of wings,â the wolf spoke into the girlâs mind.
âBack off, Liam. You know Katie is not allowed into the fight between you and Lina. The rules of a duel are clear,â Crysta spat at him, trying to get his waves of malice to point in some other direction.
âWhat are you trying to protect, Crysta? Donât tell me you actually feel sorry for her after all these years,â the alpha continued.
âDonât shift your venom to me. Youâve been stuck in a loop of imaginary power for far too long, Liam. You know none of us would ever let you lead the Den. The only rightful leader for that position is Lina. That has always gone unsaid within the Den,â Crysta defended the girl. Lina was taken aback. For someone whoâd been bitter toward her for so long, she was witnessing one turnabout.
âOh, is that what you believe...â
âEnough, Liam. Youâll get the chance to prove the runtâs inferiority when the time comes... Tomorrow,â Wyatt said, walking up to the other alpha, âSave your strength and anger for that time. She will know not to cross us ever again.â
These words seemed to calm the alpha down. Everything that came from Crysta and LIna was only fuel to a fire that had already been lit. Lina let go of a breath she was not sure sheâd been holding. Everything was finally calming down again. She could go back to enjoying nature. The sun was vanishing beyond the horizon and darkness was starting to set in. âJust so you know, Lina. Weâll never accept you as a part of the pack,â Liam said as he turned away from the girl.
The confidence that had been welling up inside the white wolf began to fade rapidly as the darkness that had plagued her for the largest part of her life set back in. The fear that she could never fit into the pack that sheâd been born into. Crysta noticed the change in the white wolfâs composure, âLina...â she was gone before another word could be said. Reaching her through the mind link was already rendered impossible as she instinctively blocked her mind from the pack.
âOh, that was just great Liam,â Crysta barked at him.
.....
âI didnât say anything she didnât already know. I was only being blunt about the plain truth. Weâll never...â
âMaybe youâll never accept her into the pack. The rest of us know what it means to bear the eyes blessed by the two royal families a long time ago. She will be accepted by the rest of us and if you have something wrong with that, you know she possesses the power to strip you of your power as an alpha. One measly alpha doesnât mean a thing to a royal. Keep this up and the royals might just get tired of your stupidity,â Crysta didnât realise sheâd been yelling at the alpha.
Liam, in his anger, struck the wolf before him with his paw, sending the smaller wolf rolling away from him. Crysta steadied herself with her claws before she bit a tree at the treeline. Liamâs wolf glared a bright red as rage seethed through him, âJust what do you think youâre doing, Crysta? You were one of the ones that let this happen. What makes you think you can walk away from all of it? The social ladder was established a long time ago. You cannot just decide itâs going to be flipped over on a whim. The runt is below us... Thatâs how it has been and how it will always be...â the black wolf was walking closer to the smaller delta, his power rolling off in waves that forced his will on the other wolf.
âYou donât realise what youâre trying to go up against, do you Liam? Have you cared to ask about the story behind the girl you are trying to dismiss,â Crysta asked?
âWhat are you babbling about now?â Liam asked her. Wyatt remained calm and shifted his attention to the delta that had sparked his interest as well.
âI speak of her sister. You try to undermine her coming as something insignificant, but you know nothing about her. I have taken the liberty to ask around. She was raised by Chase hunters. Sheâs a hunter of a class of her own and a werewolf that we know nothing about. Lina gets the confidence to stand up to you after all these years. Thatâs not something just about anyone can do. Iâll give you a hint. The thunderclap the other day. It was bright outside and yet... we all heard, clear as day,â the girl spoke in riddles for she didnât believe everything she said herself.
âAre you so scared that you will say everything you can to save your skin?â Liam was amused.
âGuys, we better get back to the hotel. Itâs getting pretty late,â Wyatt spoke with a tone of finality. Unlike Liam who was a spitfire, Wyatt was much more vicious and wasnât questioned when he chose to make a decision, something that he rarely did. The two formed a duet that was feared by all werewolves within the school. The three of them were soon running through the forest...
âDo you think Lina is...â Crysta was stopped when her paw suddenly got caught in the ground. Without warning, the other two wolves also tripped and found that they could not proceed with their run. The ground around them was constantly shifting.
âWhat is this?â Liam was the first one to ask in a rush.
âStop struggling, dummy. Itâs quicksand... and we are in one hell of a large pit of it. We should be able to get out just fine if you could stop freaking struggling,â the alpha warned his friend, along with the girl before him.
âWe didnât come across this when we came through here,â Liam complained, slamming his hands into the mud in frustration. Crysta had finally stopped struggling as well. However, it wasnât fun to stay still when one was constantly sinking into the ground. However, working together in this kind of situation was the only thing that she reasoned could get them out of this situation.
âWhat now, boys?â she asked them.
âWell, we should be able to slowly swim out of this quicksand. I advise you donât panic though. Stay in your wolf form and pad your way out. That should help you... Oh great, my legâs stuck,â Wyatt sighed, âThis day keeps getting better and better.â
âNow this is an interesting turn of events,â a new voice reached their minds. They all turned to see a massive black wolf seated calmly a few metres away from them watching them sink slowly. The wolf had blue eyes, confirming the only royal theyâd come with besides the two females that they both knew possessed white wolves. Cole Lycaon was somehow right there watching them sinking, âWhat brought you guys out here in the first place? Iâm just heavily curious.â
The wolf before them was calm as though they werenât going to sink in a few minutes, âCould you get us out first before you ask questions. If you havenât noticed, not all of us enjoy watching our lives flashing before our eyes,â Liam retorted, adding a hint of sarcasm into his voice.
The black wolf walked around the pit to the back where theyâd entered it from. Cole then stretched out to the nearest wolf before him and pulled him out slowly by a scruff of fur at his neck, âThis is so embarrassing,â Wyatt sighed.
âReminds me of a mother wolf transporting her young,â Crysta mentioned.
âYou did not have to point it out,â Wyatt added with a groan.
Once the three of them were out of the quicksand, Cole asked them a question they didnât know he would be asking any time soon, âWhere is Lina?â
Liam, on the other hand, was looking about for company, âThere is no way the mighty Cole Lycaon came out here all on his own. Where are his alphas? Or at least that mate of his that seems to be causing an uproar through the whole of Sirius.â
âWell, you guessed right. I did not come on my own and I donât know where my partner is. We split up as she went on to look for Lina. Now tell me where Lina is,â Cole repeated his order, this time with more urgency.
âShe went on ahead of us. You should have met her before you met us. You know how fast that girl is. I have no doubt she ran right on top of this quicksand before there was a chance that she could sink into it,â Wyatt was quick to answer. The other two knew he wasnât speaking the truth.
âHave you tried contacting her through the mind link? Ask your significant other. She might have already found her?â Crysta intervened before the alpha would realise they were trying to fool him into believing a phoney story.
Wyatt gave her an odd look, but she ignored him and continued to divert the royalâs mind away from their folly, âI have tried contacting Lina for a while now, but my messages wonât go through. Let me try with Katie. She probably already found her.â
The massive wolf went into a daze as he started communicating with his mate. Wyatt used that moment to send Crysta a private message, âWhy wonât you lie to him? Are you trying to suck up to those in power now as well? I know of your...â
âOh, shut up, you idiot. Havenât you noticed he was able to track us down without any help? Thatâs only something that can be done by a pack member. If he could do that, then itâs true that he would have been able to see through your deception through the mind link. Do you still think through your words before you speak?â Crysta barked back at him.
âThank the goddess. She found her,â Cole replied. Crysta sighed in relief. The girl was safe now that she was with her sister. That was more than she could have asked for. After all, the only reason sheâd tagged along was to make sure the girl was safe from these two. âThe three of you have a lot of explaining to do... And Iâd suggest you did that before my mate gets her chance to interrogate you. She tends to lose her temper...â