06| Apologize.

"The Travis brothers will be banished from the pack now that they have fled. Is anyone courageous enough to contest my decision?" Alpha Bastion announced plainly as he peered out into the circle and noticed Mr Travis turning away, with his head lowered, retreating from the circle.

There was no remorse felt for the elderly man. As his boys grew up, he was repeatedly cautioned that he needed to maintain a tight leash on them before they did the unimaginable and injured a human on purpose for sport.

When the figure of Mr Travis's body faded into the darkness of the night, the Alpha glanced briefly in the direction of where Mira remained to stand with her back to him. 

She was still engaged in a lengthy discussion with the old woman who revealed who Mira genuinely was.

He was still unsure what that meant or what she was capable of. Regardless of whether he chose to accept her as his mate or reject her, he was aware that she was powerful and could be a great addition to their pack.

~Rejection!!! She is our mate. She belongs to us. Don't fuck this up Bastion or I'll make you pay by suppressing your human for eternity.~ Shadow growled, as he stepped back out of the shadows and took a glimpse at Mira through Bastions' eyes.

~And if you don't chill, I'll keep you locked up like a caged animal. I've got this. Just chill and enjoy the ride.~ Bastion sneered back. 

Silence encompassed the night as everyone slowly rose to their feet after being compelled to kneel when Bastion had inforced his Alpha tone, which was solely meant for Mira.

"No Alpha. We accept your decision and we only wish to enforce it when the time comes." His pack members replied in unison. 

No one had the balls to challenge him.

The Alphas' word was law, just like their word was their bond to him. 

"You are all excused. I expect those who are scheduled to train tomorrow to be here five minutes before I am."

"You still haven't given us a time, Alpha." A young male spoke with an underlay of uncertainty lining his trembling voice. 

"That's right and I have done so on purpose. It is not up to me to give you a time when to show up. It is up to you to take responsibility and get here as soon as you can. Those who are late will be on yard clean up duties, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Alpha." 

"Good, now go home and rest up." He ordered in a nonchalant tone. 

He waited for everyone to make a move to leave before he cocked his head back, and gazed up at the reddish-tinged moon that illuminated the sky in all her splendour. He scrubbed a hand over his stubble sprinkled jaw. "What did I do to you that has made you curse me with her as my mate?" He muttered under his breath as his gaze focused on the moon. "Is this some kind of messed-up test you've set for me because the Travis brothers caused the deaths of  the humans?" He sighed, knowing that Miras' presence could conceivably cause an uproar within the pack. 

Especially with his Beta.

When he lowered his head again, he searched for his Beta and found him as he stood by the fire, surrounded by his entourage of female admirers. 

This image tremendously irritated the Alpha, as he had repeatedly told his Beta, Daniel, to keep his distance from the females in their pack. Following his last incident in which he was falsely accused of sexual assault and had to spend 48 hours chained to a tree in the woods.

I suppose you can not fix stupid when it's blinded by lust.

"Beta, may I have a word?" The Alpha demanded in a manner that left no opportunity for his Beta to refuse.

As his Beta said his farewells, he blew kisses while he waved to the females and he unexpectedly walked into Mira.

She landed on her ass and glanced up as the Beta turned around to see who he had collided with.

As they distastefully glared at one another, their eyes clashed with a disgusted expression on their face and they showed terrible hostility towards one another. 

"Maybe in the near future, you should watch where you are walking?" Mira hissed as she looked down at herself and wiped the dirt off the palms of her hands.

"Yeah, maybe in the near future you will fuck right off and never look back." The Beta replied with a cunning grin that marred the corners of his mouth. 

He scoffed as he watched her get to her feet without his help. Miras' eyes unintentionally flickered with amber rings in them, and the Beta waved his hands midair. "Ohhhhh, so scary!" He growled as he bared his fangs in an animalistic behaviour. 

He took a step closer to her, his stance was intimidating as he tried to get one over her.  

His eyes flickered with blue rings that expressed their dominance.

Mira opened her mouth to say something just as snarky back, but she quickly closed it when the Alpha approached them and stood in front of her. "If you wish to keep that tongue intact, you'd do better to remember your manners when you are in the presence of a highly ranked hybrid." The Alpha growled, and she noticed that the muscles in his biceps grew relatively tense as his hands at his sides curled into tight balls of fury.

The Betas face dropped, "You're fucking kidding me? You are going to take the word of this old bat and accept this wolfless rogue... witch,  or whoever the fuck she claims to be, into our pack?" He asked with disbelief as he looked past the Alpha and bore his eyes into Miras'. 

"Whatever I decide is my business. But I will not have you threatening our guest." 

The Beta clenched his jaw and he too curled his hands at his sides into tight balls of fury.

 He couldn't understand why the Alpha was siding with her; a female stray, and he tried to convince himself that he couldn't care less. "You wanted to talk with me?" 

"I want you to apologize first."

The Beta scoffed and regarded his Alpha for a moment or two. "You're serious?" 

"As serious as a heart attack. Now apologize." The Alpha demanded, stepping forward and crimson rings glowed in his eyes as he discreetly pulled rank between them.

"I-I'm sorry that I walked into you and was rude about it." 

MIRA looked at the elderly lady with the gold plated butterfly pin in her hair who continued to stand by her side, and she nodded her head, gesturing for Mira to accept his pitiful excuse to keep the peace between them. The Alpha turned his head and glanced at Mira over his shoulder. 

"I accept your apology. Thank you." 

"Now, you come along with me. I have a room that is available if you would like it." The kind elderly lady offered Mira. 

Mira glanced at the Alphas back, she rubbed her fingers across her brow and nibbled on her lower lip. "I mean... if it's no trouble to you, I'd love to, and I'll be gone first thing in the morning." 

The elderly lady took Miras' hand in hers and patted it. "Of course not. You'd be doing me a favour by keeping this old woman company." They both turned around to leave. 

"Hold on." The Alpha stopped them. "You accused me of taking your pendant?" He asked her with his back still facing her.

"Yes." She replied bitterly. "It was on my neck and when I woke up it was no longer there."

"I don't have your pendant. But I do know who does." He held his hand out in front of his Beta. "You took something that didnt belong to you!" He snarled while his chest heaved.

The Beta sucked on his upper teeth, reached into his pocket, produced the ruby pendant that didnt belong to him and he placed it in his Alphas' opened hand. 

"You are on guarding duty for the remainder of the week by the river that connects with the Midnight Pack." 

"But-" The Beta started to protest.

~Guard the river Enzo!!!~ Shadow roared with fury through their mind link. 

The Beta ran a trembling hand through his hair before he took one final look at Mira, and he turned away. 

They all watched as he pushed off the ground and started to run. He then leapt through the air, shredding his clothes as he shifted into his wolf, Enzo.

A furious howl reverberated through the breezy atmosphere as he disappeared into the woods. 

Beta Daniels' resentment for Mira intensified, and he promised that he would one day soon, make her pay for his punishment of having to guard a river that was too cold and deadly for wolves to patrol alone.