The Alpha’s Catharsis

1

Thud!

“Ow!”

“Hey, that was a cheap shot!”

I quickly stepped between Zach and Julian, and helped Zach to his feet from where Julian had knocked him onto the floor. They were new—this was their first time sparring—but I didn’t not fault Julian. He was glowering at me, and averted his gaze when we made eye contact. I sighed, irritated.

“Julian, do you want to be a warrior?” I asked him sternly.

“Yes,” he grumbled.

“Be respectful!” I snapped, speaking authoritatively and staring him down, despite the several inches he had on me.

He jolted up straight, like his spine snapped like a rubber band, and he met my eyes again, in response to my tone. “Yes, Luna. I want to be a warrior.”

“Then get your shit together! If you’re going to behave like a child, I’ll have you kicked out of this training session so fast you’ll get whiplash, and you can bet your ass you won’t be returning. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Luna.”

“Good.” I glanced at Zach, and then back at Julian. “You’re meant to be working on your technique—no, you’re meant to establish a technique. Right now, you have none. Furthermore, the objective is to pin, not to maim. Jesus Christ.”

I stepped back, and noticed Aaron watching our interaction from across the gym. Aaron was one of Beck’s subordinates, and he was assigned the task of leading the training sessions for the day. I gave him a small nod, signaling that all was well, and he went about his business.

Zach and Julian took their positions yet again, Zach with uncertainty and caution written all over his face. Still, he took a deep breath, and called it, and they charged each other. I lingered for a moment, and sure enough, Julian‘s strikes and movements were much more controlled and deliberate than before.

I sincerely hoped he wasn’t just putting up an act while I was still standing there. He had potential, but he was a douche. He needed a reality check, and I wasn’t sure how, but it seemed he was forgetting who his Alpha was. Nobody particularly wanted to sic Reid on any of these bright-eyed, naive trainees, but Julian was a fine candidate.

More than half of the attendants of this training session were brand new warriors. Aaron had explicitly requested my assistance with this session. He wanted Reid and I both to assist, but Reid was unavailable.

When this session ended, I would be leaving, but Aaron would be fine. His next group was his last, and none of them were new. I had to check in with our border patrols, but more importantly, I had to stop by Ellie’s house to drop off a carton of strawberry ice cream.

So far that day, I had assisted with a training session early in the morning, I’d received the inventory report from our monthly supply delivery, and I had read to the students at the elementary school in town. It was Wednesday, and every Wednesday afternoon, I visited the school to read to the children.

My weekly trips to the school were one of the very first social obligations I assumed after my Luna ceremony. The kids were initially a little uncertain about me, but with consistency, dedication, and enthusiasm, they quickly came to look forward to Wednesdays just as much as I did.

And now, I wished I was still there. I watched as a pair of females took turns attempting to get a punch in. Seconds dragged on, and their dead-end back-and-forth continued. They would circle each other, one would step up and attempt to swing at the same spot as they had before, the other would block, and then they’d switch.

Usually, I would intervene, but today, I was admittedly distracted. I managed to catch Aaron’s eye as he meandered around the perimeter of the gym. I flagged him over. He nodded knowingly, and headed over to correct the females.

I proceeded past them and began to weave in between pairs of sparring werewolves.

I had purposely jammed as much as I could onto my to-do list for the day. Reid wanted New York. Black Summit’s territory already covered about three-quarters of the state of New York, and there was one small, ever-weakening pack left, on state borders, straddling the line between New York and Connecticut.

Reid’s approach was unusual, but perhaps due to his reputation alone, it was effectively terrifying to the recipient of his message. I knew, because once, I had been on the receiving end by association. He had used the exact same tactic on my father all those years ago.

He simply declared he wanted to absorb Waning Moon pack. It wasn’t an official challenge, but coming from Alpha Reid, it certainly wasn’t passive.

Naturally, Waning Moon’s Alpha, Nicholas, responded with a borderline-desperate plea for negotiation, just as my father had.

Something told me Reid wouldn’t entertain them with biannual meetings for years like he had with White Mountain.

Regardless of how long he’d be willing to keep this up, he and a select few of his men had departed about an hour before the day’s first training session began. They were meeting with Alpha Nicholas and several of his men at a halfway point, to negotiate.

It was like deja vu, to some degree.

I knew why he wanted New York from a certain standpoint—there were a number of reasons, as far his reputation, werewolf law, and pack business were concerned. But the timing? I believed he was using the absorption of Waning Moon as a distraction. And he probably knew I could see right through him.

Still, I kissed him goodbye and promised to hold down the fort, and I made him promise to behave himself.

When my father had biannual meetings with Reid, his Beta and his head trainer tagged along, and he left my mother, his Luna, in charge of the pack while they were away.

Deja vu. To some degree.

“Luna?”

Aaron’s voice snapped me back to reality.

I shook my head and said, “I’m sorry. Just distracted.”

He smiled slightly. We stood on the far left side of the gym. “I get it. They’ll be home soon.”

I smiled back. “I know.”

“Been just under 30 minutes. I’m going to call it.”

We both made our way up to the front of the crowd of sparring warriors, and Aaron’s booming voice called for everyone’s attention, ringing out over the sounds of grunting and fists connecting with bodies and shoes squeaking on the floor.

When Aaron announced it was time to cool down, the newbies all might as well have sighed one big, collective sigh of relief.

We completed about 20 minutes of stretching, and then everyone was dismissed. My belongings sat waiting for me on a bench near the door. I pulled on my sweater, draped my coat over my arm, and took a swig from my water bottle on my way out of the gym, and into the halls of the packhouse. Training had to be held inside—it was too cold and too snowy outside on the training grounds. I walked briskly through the halls and gave pack members polite acknowledgement as we crossed paths.

Just a few weeks ago, in mid-October-ish, it was cold, but nobody was wearing this many layers.

I swung by the kitchen and retrieved Ellie’s ice cream from the freezer. Before I stepped out of the packhouse and into the beautiful Vermont winter, I shrugged into my coat.

Vermont and my home state of Maine had similar weather: cold and shitty for much of the year. Vermont was a different kind of gorgeous, though. Maybe it was just the novelty of my first year here—a change of scenery, regardless of the similarities this place bore to Maine.

I adjusted the tote bag containing Ellie’s ice cream on my shoulder and began the short journey to her house. I hadn’t made it twenty feet away from the packhouse before a peculiar, albeit mild, uneasiness settled over me.

I kept walking, my shoes crunching over the snow. I tried to ignore my increasing sense of disquiet. My eyes darted to the right as I sized up a group of teenagers huddled together on the front steps of a house.

By the time the uneasiness had become so prominent, I unintentionally picked up my pace, I had realized that it wasn’t mine in the first place—it was Reid’s.

For him to be experiencing an emotion strong enough to translate over the Mate-bond at this distance was certainly cause for concern.

“Reid?” I asked via mind-link, and expectantly, it took a considerable bit of focus for me to do so at all. “Are you okay?”

I didn’t receive a response, but I did notice that the uneasiness ebbed after a moment. My own, personal sense of caution, however, didn’t wane.

He’s a whole state away, my Wolf said. There’s nothing we can do. Maybe he just…had a moment. It didn’t sound like she even fully believed her words.

But, she was right. I would have to take his ever-lessening uneasiness—so slight now that I could hardly detect it anymore—and assume that whatever had unsettled him had passed him by.

I hope he hurries home, I said to my Wolf.

He will, I’m sure.

I finally crossed Ellie’s covered front porch and let myself in through her purple front door, and stepping into her living room was like a comforting embrace. Her familiar scent, as well as Nina’s James’s, mingled with the smell of something good—chicken.

And there on the sofa, wearing nothing but a bra, panties, and a plush, electric purple robe, was Ellie. Her robe was open and her midwife, Sylvie, had her hands on Ellie’s swollen stomach, as she sat in front of her, perched on the edge of the coffee table. James sat rigidly to her right, and Nina sat to her left.

All four of them greeted me with silent smiles, and I did the same. I went into the kitchen, deposited the ice cream in the freezer, and peeked into the pot of the chicken soup simmering on the stove.

I reentered the living room just as Sylvie pulled her fetoscope out of the bag on the table behind her. I settled wordlessly onto the sofa next to Nina. I watched as Sylvie placed the earpieces in her ears, and pressed the bell of the fetoscope against Ellie’s lower belly.

Ellie’s due date was three days ago, on Halloween, but here she was, still massively pregnant and impatiently waiting for her stubborn little pup to arrive. If I’d known that Sylvie was there, I’d have waited to come by, although I knew I wasn’t exactly intruding—Ellie, Nina, and I had all become incredibly close, and they had even formed a tight-knit relationship with Kate, too.

Sylvie smiled up at Ellie. “Would you like to listen?” she asked, a twinkle in her eyes.

“Of course,” Ellie agreed eagerly.

Sylvie handed her the fetoscope, and when she found baby’s heartbeat, she beamed.

One by one, we all listening to the pup’s heartbeat—Ellie passed the fetoscope to James, he passed it to Nina, and she passed it to me.

Sylvie gave me a smile and scooted over on the table to make room for me in front of Ellie. I moved to the spot next to Sylvie and I fumbled with the fetoscope. I gingerly touched the bell to Ellie’s stomach, and eventually, I found baby’s heartbeat.

I had heard the fast-paced, rhythmic thumping before, when Kate was pregnant. It perplexed me just as much now. I heard rushing…blood flow?

Suddenly, the pup gave a hard nudge, directly against the bell of the fetoscope. I gasped and jerked back.

Sylvie laughed. “Guess he was sick of all the prodding.”

“Was that a kick?” I asked.

“More likely a punch.”

“Totally unrelated,” Ellie interjected, “but can I have some of that ice cream?”

“Of course.” I got to my feet once more. “I’ll get it.”

The entire reason I’d brought it was because I was out and about anyway, and Ellie was craving it. Nina could’ve picked some up, or Ellie could’ve sent James to get some. I was sure that Sylvie would’ve even been happy to get some, but I didn’t mind. I volunteered.

I absentmindedly listened to the baby-related chatter in the living room as I scooped ice cream into a bowl. But then the uneasiness from earlier was back, and this time it wasn’t nearly as subtle.

Before I had a chance to attempt to mind-link Reid again, it happened. Roaring tinnitus that came on hard and fast, coupled with blurry vision—I dropped the spoon and gripped the edge of the counter to steady myself.

Six months after having had my first vision, the image that appeared in my head was crystal clear. I saw a man who I vaguely recognized. He sat on his knees in a field of dead grass, a vacant look in his eyes as he stared up at a woman with long, ice-blonde hair and astonishing purple eyes. Her skin was so pallid, she almost looked gray. Her energy, even through my vision, was purely malevolent.

“How can I get him here?” the man asked, his voice brittle and meek.

“Tell him you know where Grady is.”

My blood ran cold, both at her words and at the sound of her voice. As her lips moved, it sounded like two voices were speaking at once—one voice was feminine and melodic, and one was male and gruff.

“What if he still doesn’t come?”

“Bring me Reid,” the woman replied, “and I’ll release you.”

And then, it was gone.

My sight returned and the roaring in my ears abruptly stopped. I remained where I stood, frozen in place and gripping the edge of the counter.

I was perplexed. I had asked my mother if the visions ever stopped being so damn cryptic, and unfortunately, in her experience they did not.

But after replaying the vision over and over again in my head, the identity of the man hit me like a ton of bricks.

It was Alpha Nicholas, of the Waning Moon pack.

I didn’t have even an inkling of who the purple-eyed, demon-voiced woman was, but it didn’t matter. She wanted my Mate, and I knew without a shred of doubt that she had ill intentions.

The sense of unexplained, yet undeniable, knowledge that came with clairvoyance was no longer a question, six months in. I knew that the purple-eyed woman was lurking on Waning Moon territory, and that every single member of their pack was in danger.

“Reid, do not go with Alpha Nicholas. I had a vision. Do not go!” I said urgently over the mind-link.

Again, he didn’t answer me.

“There was a woman,” I continued, despite his silence, “who told Alpha Nicholas that if he can bring you to her, she’ll release him. She spoke in two voices at once and she had purple eyes. He’s going to tell you he knows where Grady is.”

Still nothing.

“Reid, goddammit! At least let me know you heard me! Stay away from Waning Moon territory! Do not go with Alpha Nicholas!”

At last, I heard his husky baritone, but his response didn’t bring me any comfort. “Very ominous.”

I sighed, exasperated. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. We’re here and we’re waiting.”

“What about—”

“I’ll tell you when we get home,” he interrupted.

And with that, he put up a mental block.