Chapter Twenty-Eight: Anarchy Among the Wolves

“Where’s Sammy?” Raye asked as she joined the pack in the middle of the field.

“Haven’t seen her today.” Monty said as he looked around the crowd for their Alpha.

“I saw her walking up the hill earlier.” One of the wolves from the other pack said as he pointed to the hill that led to the cave.

“Why would she go there?” Raye asked as her eyebrows furrowed.

“You didn’t stop her?” Monty asked as he stared at the other wolf.

The wolf laughed. “Stop an Alpha?”

Monty sighed. The wolf was right, Monty even doubted if he would have been able to stop her on this day. He looked at Boone, who had a worried look on his face as he looked up the hill, towards the cave.

“Okay, everyone.” Cyrus said as he joined the packs. He looked around with his eyebrows furrowed. “Where’s Sammy?”

“She went up there to prepare herself.” Monty said as he pointed in the direction Sammy had been seen walking.

“I hope she gets back in time.” Cyrus said with a shake of his head.

Monty and Boone both noticed the smile on Samden’s face and knew he knew something. Monty looked at Boone and Boone nodded. They were going to have to talk with the other packs’ witch.

“I don’t think they are going to come at us from just one direction.” Cyrus said as he started the meeting. “And we all know they’re going to try and burn down the houses.”

“We already took care of that.” Elaine said as she joined them.

“Good.” Cyrus said with a nod. “Then all we have left to do is wait.”

“I hate that part.” Monty said with a heavy sigh.

“We all do, kid.” Cyrus said as he looked up at the sky. “Shouldn’t be much longer.”

When the packs went their own way, to get ready for the fight, Monty and Boone cornered the witch.

“I know what you two want.” Samden said as he looked at the wolf and hunter.

“Then why don’t you give it to us? Make things easier on us all.” Boone said as he eyed the witch.

“I can’t.” He said with a shrug.

“Bull shit.” Boone said as he charged at the man.

“Boone.” Raye said as she grabbed hold of his arm to stop him.

Boone looked down at Raye’s hand on his arm, then into her eyes. She pleaded with him not to do what he so desperately wanted to do.

“Easy now.” Samden said as he held up his hands. “I can’t tell you, because I made a promise.”

“To whom?” Monty asked.

“To your Alpha.”

All three of them stared at him. What would Sammy want to keep from them?

Howls made them all jump and look into the woods. The rest of the pack returned to the clearing.

“Is this it? Is this the start?” One of the wolves from Cyrus’s pack asked with fear in his voice.

“They’re just letting us know that they’re there.” Cyrus said as he sniffed the air.

“You should try to stay calm.” Raye said as she felt her own fears bubble to the surface.

“Calm, right.” The wolf said as he started to bite his nails.

“This is nuts. What are we waiting for? We should go after them!” A new wolf from Sammy’s pack said as he looked around them. “We have one Alpha and our pack is strong enough, we can take them on, just need the element of surprise…”

“We will do better if we fight within our familiar surroundings.” Cyrus said as he looked at the mutt.

“Stay calm.” Boone said as he looked at the wolf.

“Stay calm? Who are you to tell me to stay calm? You’re a hunter, for all we know you could be a part of the attack.” He said as he backed away from Boone.

“Stop it.” Autor said as she stepped forward. “You are just doing what they want.”

“What is it that they want? Other than our hides?” The man asked.

“For us to turn on each other.” Autor said as she looked around her. “Everyone just stay calm. We are no good to each other if we panic.”

“How are we to not panic? We have one Alpha and two packs who barely know each other.” One of the wolves from Cyrus’s pack said with annoyance. “And we wouldn’t be in this mess if we had just stayed in our own community.”

“That’s not true.” Samden said as he stepped forward. “We still would be under attack right now, but have less of a chance of survival.”

“He’s right.” Elaine said with a nod.

“Who are you to say anything? You didn’t foresee this night.” A wolf from Cyrus’s side said with a growl.

“Watch it.” Samden said as he glared at the wolf. “You forget we are all one pack now, so if you disrespect her, you disrespect me.”

Elaine smiled at her fellow witch. They had gotten close in the past few weeks. Not romantically. They have found out so much about each other and found that they have a lot of the same likes and dislikes. And disobedience is one of their pet peeves.

“Why should we listen to anything any of them say? They don’t even have a proper Alpha. Cyrus should be leading both packs.” One of the other wolves said as he stepped forward.

“Is that what you want?” Boone asked Cyrus as he looked at the man.

“Don’t listen to what they have to say. They’re just nervous.” Cyrus said as he eyed his pack.

They were all acting strangely. He knows that they are happy here. They’ve never had a permanent home before now. And being bonded with this powerful pack has given them more power than they would have gotten anywhere else.

“We should fight them first!” Another wolf shouted. “Show them who’s boss, then make Cyrus the Alpha!”

“You will have to go through us first!” One of Sammy’s wolves said with a growl as they jumped forward.

“What is going on?” Autor asked as she backed away from the growling wolves.

“Something isn’t right.” Cyrus said as he joined the other leaders on their side of the field.

“Everyone calm down!” Boone hollered.

The packs ignored him as they started arguing over who should be the real Alpha and lead them all to victory.

“This is crazy.” Autor said when a wolf picked up a stone and threw it across the field, making the others do the same.

“What the hell is that?” Boone asked as he moved to stand with the other leaders.

“That is a show of strength.” Cyrus said with a sigh. “I showed it to them. The further you can throw a stone, the stronger you are.”

“You’re the Alpha, make them stop.” Elaine said as they ducked something that went flying over them.

“This has got to be the work of Voldern.” Samden said as he stopped a stone from hitting him in the face.

“Now they’re just throwing stones around.” Elaine said with a grunt.

“Put the stones down and stop this lunacy!” Cyrus bellowed.

Some of his pack members dropped the stones in their hands and turned to him. But when other stones pelted them in the head, they picked them back up and started throwing them again.

“Well, at least they can heal fast.” Elaine said as she ducked a flying stone.

“Puts a whole new meaning to being stoned to death.” Boone said as he caught a stone that was headed for his face.

“Nice reflexes.” Autor said with a smile as she looked up at him.

Boone looked down at her with a smile.

“Watch out.” Elaine said as she stopped another stone from hitting Boone.

“Why are they attacking me?” Boone asked as he looked at the stone still floating in the air in front of him.

“Because you’re a hunter.” Elaine said as the stone dropped to the ground.

“I’m also a pack leader.” He said as he dropped the stone from his hand.

“Great, now they’re attacking each other.” Autor said with a groan when a werewolf jumped on top of another werewolf with a growl.

“Where is Sammy? She should be here trying to stop this madness.” Monty said as he watched their packs try to destroy each other.

“Sammy can’t stop this anymore then Cyrus can.” Elaine said with a frown.

“Then I guess we’ll have to do it ourselves.” Boone said as he charged at two werewolves, who were trying to tear off each other’s legs.

“Good idea, let’s get mangled.” Monty said as he ran behind Boone, then jumped on top of a pair of werewolves who had their arms wrapped around each other’s throats.

Autor sighed. “I guess we’re all we have.” She said as she ran after a pair of wolves, who were trying to bite each other’s ears off.

“So much fun.” Raye said as she jumped on top of a wolf, who was trying to sneak up behind Samden.

Samden turned around with a smile as Raye pinned the wolf to the ground.

“This is all madness.” Elaine said as she shook her head.

“Think of this as a warm-up for the battle to come.” Cyrus said with a laugh.

“Sure, because every battle starts with an inner war.” Elaine said with a groan as she dodged a stone that flew past them.

“Looks like Autor could use some help.” Cyrus said with a grin as he jumped on top of a wolf who was trying to sneak up her.

Elaine stood back and watched the chaos unfold before her. They looked like a bunch of rabid wolves. Maybe they were.

~*~

Alameda looked at her reflection in the water of the lake. She looked the same, but maybe a bit younger. She touched her cheek with her hand. She still felt like Sammy in some ways, but Aly was there too.

She sighed. What a day. She had thought she was going to die from the amount of memories that were thrown at her. The sun was starting to set and soon the Blue Moon would rise.

She heard a noise and paused. It sounded like fighting. Had the battle started already? She had heard wolves howling a while ago, but knew it was none of hers. She shook her head and started to run towards the clearing.

She can’t let her packs fight without both their Alphas. When she got to the edge of the woods, she paused. Her pack was fighting among themselves. What was going on? She noticed Boone trying to separate two wolves from tearing each other apart, and her heart sang. Yep, she still loves him. She heard a yelp and turned to find other wolves at each other’s throats, and the leaders of the two packs trying to stop them. Why hadn’t Cyrus stopped them?

“Because you are the true Alpha, Alameda.”

Aly turned to the beautiful sing-song voice of Ariel and smiled.

“Ariel. Are you here to help?”

Ariel shook her head. “I cannot help. But I can give you some advice. Look inside your pack, there is something amiss.” She smiled, then was gone.

Aly rolled her eyes as she turned back to the two packs. Something menacing was surrounding them. Something acidy, something foul, something dark.

“Voldern.” She whispered with a growl.

She took a deep breath, then marched onto the field. This is why; he had kidnapped her and hidden her away. This is why; he had kept her from her pack, her family. This is why; she was born.

“Stop this now!”

Everyone stopped at once and turned to her.

“Sit!” She ordered, and everyone complied. She took a deep breath and looked around at her packs. “This is what he wants, for us to tear each other apart. Is that what you want? To give them the satisfaction of knowing that we are weak, that we are pathetic?!”

No one answered. She took another deep breath to calm herself.

“We are not weak; we are not pathetic. We are a bonded pack. The strongest pack to have ever forged together. We are stronger than a mating could have made us. We are a bonded pack, we are one.” She said as she walked among them. She ignored Boone’s stare as she continued to walk among her pack. She stopped at Cyrus and smiled down at him. “We are one.”

Cyrus nodded as he got to his feet and looked out among their pack. “We are one!” He hollered as he raised his fist in the air.

Everyone around them did the same. “We are one!” They began chanting.