Resolving a Dilemma

Addy

“What?” Myra and I echo in unison.

Tate rises, raking his fingers through his hair. “You two haven’t mated yet. She’ll be coming for him with everything she’s got. Even after the mating cycle, she won’t stop. That’s just how she’s wired.”

“Once a mate is chosen, our wolf won’t let us be with anyone else. I’d never betray Addy.” Drake’s face twists into a scowl.

Soloman begins, “She possesses dark magic. She can seduce you into her bed without you even realizing it. It could be a touch, a spiked drink, or even a disguise as your mate. She’s only succeeded once with this tactic; other times, we’ve killed her when we discovered her true identity. There will come a time when she’ll have her way with you, forcing you to reject your true mate. The only way to ensure a long, happy life is to eliminate her now. That way, you can live the life you’re meant to.”

Turning to Drake, I say, “Your father ordered her to be my handmaiden.”

Tate halts his pacing. “What? You can’t let that happen. She’ll surely kill you and claim Drake as her mate. We must hunt and destroy her tonight if she hasn’t fled. I hope she didn’t recognize me.”

Drake scoffs. “She’s a weak wolf. She couldn’t cross our borders even if she wanted to. My Beta and I chased her until she submitted to me. She was exhausted.”

“You might think that, but she’s cunning. That was a performance she’ll use to manipulate you later. Where is she staying?” Soloman stands.

“Third floor. Come, I’ll show you her room,” Drake says as we exit.

We follow him down the hall and up three flights of stairs to the wing where the lower-ranking wolves reside. He stops at a yellow door and knocks. There’s no response, so he tries the knob and the door swings open. He steps in, scanning the small room. Seeing she’s not there, he steps back out and closes the door.

“Has she fled?” I ask, looking around the halls.

Soloman shakes his head. “Her room is full of her belongings. If she planned to run, she hasn’t yet.”

We start down the hall when a moan echoes from a nearby door. We creep closer and hear the unmistakable sounds of two wolves in the throes of passion. Drake sniffs the air and his eyes darken, indicating it must be her. He points to the door and the other two position themselves on either side. He turns the knob and pushes the door open to reveal a sight that makes my stomach churn. Macie is straddling a male, riding him with abandon. She stops when the door opens and turns around with a smile.

“Have you come to join us, Drake?” Her eyes flicker, showing her wolf is near.

The male shoves her off and quickly pulls on his pants. “Drake, I swear, I didn’t know she was with you. She told me you two broke up.”

Drake steps into the room. “I have nothing to do with her. She’s not my mate and never will be.”

Her smile fades. “That’s what you think. I will become Luna of this pack one way or another. I am destined to stand by your side as ruler of this pack.”

His eyes shift and a low growl rumbles from his chest. She steps toward him, reaching out to touch him, but freezes when she sees the other two males at the door.

“You brought reinforcements, I see. Alpha Tate, I thought you had returned to your pack.” Her hand drops.

His growl deepens and she steps back, studying them closely. Her eyes dart between us, mostly between the men. She shifts into her wolf form and bolts from the room, sprinting down the hall.

“She knows who we are and what’s about to happen. We must stop her before she crosses the borders. My patrol has been alerted to look for her; Drake, you must do the same with yours. She cannot leave your territory,” Tate says, sprinting down the hall.

Tate, Soloman, and Drake shift into their wolf forms. I start to follow them when Diego’s voice rings in my head, “Stay here. We’ll handle her. Don’t follow us, Addy! STAY HERE.”

Myra grabs my arm, halting me. “We can’t, he used his Alpha command. I can’t let you follow them. The three of them can handle her.”

“But,” I start.

“No buts, we can’t follow. She must have recognized them before she shifted and ran. We have two Alphas and a Beta after her; Diego will signal the warriors to stop her. Flame is on his way to help, along with our father. Drake has been communicating with him about this for the last few minutes. He will allow her to be killed, knowing she’s trying to take out the future Luna. We should be grateful he didn’t banish her where she would be hard to find.” She pulls me to our room despite my protests. I step out onto the balcony and look out towards the woods they disappeared into.

Howls echo from the woods and snarls reach my ears. I hate the thought of anyone losing their life, but if she’s here to do what they say, she deserves it. I close my eyes to listen to what’s happening and a snarl makes my eyes snap open. Her wolf is lunging at me from the doorway, aiming for my throat. Everything seems to move in slow motion as she gets closer and closer. Suddenly, a light gray wolf slams into her, sending her skidding across the hard bricks. She gets up and lunges at me again, but the wolf slams into her, throwing her away from me. Blinking, Mystic rushes forward, forcing me to shift as we stand there, staring at the small blonde wolf. She snarls at us and her eyes land on me.

“Mystic, I should have known you were stealing my mate again. This time will be like when I took your King from you and became his Queen. I will kill you and he will choose me as his mate.”

“Not a chance,” Diego growls from the doorway. “You are a deceitful creature who destroys everything someone has worked so hard for. You will never become my mate and destroy this pack.”

A silver and white wolf and another pitch-black wolf enter the doorway beside Diego. Behind them is a red wolf followed by a gray and black one. She looks at all of us standing around her in a half-circle. Her eyes size up all of them, realizing she’s the smallest of the group. With one last effort, she lunges at me again but the silver wolf latches onto her back, slinging her to the side and causing her body to crash into the wall. She staggers back up and heads for me again, but the gray and black wolf grabs her by the hips and throws her over the banister. She somersaults in the air before slamming onto the ground. They all jump over the stone wall, landing on the lawn around her. She gets back up, limping, and tries to walk towards Diego, but the red wolf latches onto her back leg and drags her away from him. She whines and tries to get back up, but she’s badly injured this time. Mystic looks down at her with sad eyes as they take turns biting her, throwing her around the lawn until she lies on the ground, barely breathing.

Mystic is about to jump off the balcony when the light gray wolf jumps on top of me, holding her down. She struggles to get free as they look up to see what’s happening. I’m wrestling with Mystic because she wants to heal the injured wolf, but the other wolf pushes down on me harder. She throws the wolf off, jumps over the stone wall, lands on the grass, and runs towards the injured wolf. One of the solid black wolves lands on me, along with the silver one, holding us down as she tries to get them off.

“Diego, now. We can’t hold her much longer,” the silver wolf howls as she bites into his leg.

Not watching what’s happening, she turns to latch onto the black wolf’s neck, throwing him off quickly before shaking off the silver one. As she starts towards them again, three more wolves pile on her, pinning Mystic to the ground. She tries hard to get them off, but Diego tears into Phebe’s neck before she can throw the wolves off, killing the small wolf quickly. He howls loudly as Mystic’s eyes mist over and tears fall because her drive couldn’t get her to the wolf in time.

“She should have been saved,” she murmurs to me.

I snap back at her, “She was out to get you. It had to be done. Macie was a threat to us all, planning to take Drake, ruin our pack. We had to stop her before she could. Deep down, you know this.”

She gives me a nod. “I do know, but it’s hard to suppress this urge. I knew who she was, what she was here to do, but the desire to help her was overwhelming.”

The males step away from us, giving her room to rise, shaking off our fur. She turns, her head and tail drooping, and walks back into the packhouse. She retreats to the room, allowing me to shift before I dress. As I sink onto the couch, Myra rushes over to me, slapping my face. “Are you out of your mind? You were going to heal her while she was plotting to kill you?” Her hand strikes me again.

I grab her hand. “Enough. She knows it was foolish, but you heard her. It’s in her nature to heal a wolf in pain. I did everything I could to hold her back, but it wasn’t enough. Mystic is stronger than me. She was trying to reach her. Next time something like this happens, we need to be far away so her instinct doesn’t take over again.”

The men reenter the room, now wearing shorts, their eyes piercing as they look at us. I sigh, knowing what’s coming. A long lecture from each of them. Drake, Tate, Soloman, and Sherman will all tell me how reckless she was.