Chapter 14

"Now get the fuck out of here before you piss me off.”

His eyes narrowed, and I felt it coming. “You will not go to the Rinks, Ashlyn.” The heavy, suffocating weight of his alpha voice, rolling out like a magnetic charge short circuiting my brain. The command hit hard, laced with power that would’ve dropped most wolves to their knees, tails tucked, heads bowed. It was meant to break me, to bend me like I was just another pack member.

The air crackled, his alpha ability pressing against my brain, just pissed me and my wolf off. She was content to let me handle him. But as her fury rose her patience dwindled. My wolf surged, her power flooding the clearing, wild and untamed.

A force that didn’t just push back—it consumed. I stepped closer, so close I could see the gold flecks in his eyes, and the wolf surged forward. Her power rising.

Shit

The trees trembled. My silver eyes I felt it turn to crimson as it locked on his, and the black wolf showed her teeth. “I am a hundredth-generation Gorde Wolf,” she growled underneath each word like a sandpaper scraped at my throat, shattering his command she seemed to loom taller even though he was a foot taller than me. “The last black wolf born. I am bigger, stronger than any alpha, I am the descendant of the  Honshu Wolves, powered by the gods themselves,” she roared, her power bringing him to his knees as he groaned in pain, “I wasn’t born to bow to you.”

 

His alpha voice crumbled, his eyes widening as my power slammed into him. For a second, he looked like he’d forgotten how to breathe. Then his face twisted—anger, maybe fear. He barely could contain it, as he stepped forward, his own wolf rising, claws lengthening at his sides. “You think you’re untouchable?” he growled, voice rough. “You’re not invincible, Ash.

My wolf laughed, like she was crazed as my erupted into a frenzy. I had no control over her. He really done it now. The black wolf was known for her temper, and when she had enough even I couldn’t calm the beast.

“Try me Alpha.”

 

He moved fast, faster than I expected, lunging with a snarl, claws aimed for my shoulder not to kill, but to pin, to dominate. Big mistake.

My wolf moved quick and shifted mid-step, black fur erupting, my form towering as I met him head-on. The clearing exploded into chaos as our snarls buzzed through the clearing, branches breaking as the wolf and I became one. We tumbled with the grey wolf, and he met us with sharp teeth first on our hind, then tail. It just pissed us off more.

Our claws swiped at him, the crunch of earth under our weight. He was strong, but I was stronger, my black wolf form dwarfing his, my jaws snapping inches from his throat. I caught his arm with a swipe, claws tearing through flesh, blood spattering the ground like a crazed painter.

He roared, stumbling back, but we didn’t stop, driving him down with a shoulder slam that sent him crashing into a tree. The Honshu rose, and the orange eyes I’m sure that were full of fury promised only death for our old mate

“Ashlyn, stop!” His voice strained from the pain, blood dripping from his arm, but the wolf now past hearing him.

My wolf wanted more, wanted to make him pay for every scar he’d left on my soul.

We lunged again, claws raking his chest, shallow but enough to draw blood. He swung back, catching my flank, but it was nothing but a sting against her fury.

 

A sharp, commanding bark cut through the haze. “Ashlyn Gorde, shift back, now.” Elder Amer’s voice boomed, laced with power older and deeper than John’s. I froze, my wolf snarling but halting, as she stepped into the clearing, her black hair glowing under the moonlight. “Enough black wolf, unless you want me to call Ouma Wells.”

My wolf sighed, Aunt is no fun. The wolf grumbled.

I shifted back, chest heaving, blood on my hands, his blood. My body naked, as my clothes ripped to shreds now.

John was on his knees, clutching his arm, chest slashed, breathing hard.

My cousins’ howls echoed from the caravan.

Keiral’s high and mocking, Curt’s wild, Lechandray’s fierce. They’d felt the fight, probably cheering me on until it turned bloody. I stood tall, but my stomach twisted as I caught their distant calls, a mix of pride and worry.

“You won’t heal from a Honshu bite. The claw marks should heal but the bite I’m afraid will take time. Only a relative of it has the ability to heal.” Elder Amer said staring at me but talking to John. I knew I was in big shit.

Haden appeared, his Alpha presence calm but heavy, his eyes landing on John’s bleeding form. He didn’t say a word, just knelt beside John, helping him up. But when Haden looked at me, his gaze was soft, pitying, like I was the one who’d lost something. It burned worse than John’s claws. I didn’t need pity. I didn’t need anything from any of them. But with all the fights I had. I knew I crossed the line with this one. Why did he had to instigate the wolf. Argh.

Fuck. I sighed inwardly. Groaning as my body knitted back together. I healed quick and easily compared to other wolves. And my wolf knew that.

Why did you do that Sheetal? I asked my wolf, using her name for the first time in weeks. I only said it when I was angry. And I was pissed off cause now I would be the one suffering. Who knew what the Elders would make me do now.

Cruel John said. Maybe he was right. I was cruel.