Blood and Betrayal

The door creaked open, and Lena's stomach dropped.

"Where is my father?" she demanded, her voice raw with panic, she rose from the bed and stood on the cold stone of the floor, and stepped towards her captor.

Darius stepped into the room, revealing himself fully, calm and composed. His clothes were spotless, not a wrinkle in sight. He didn't have a single hair out of place. He looked completely untouched by whatever violence had unfolded outside the room, as if he sat and watched the whole thing. That calm expression he held on his face was its own kind of cruelty, he was completely unbothered by everything that happened.

"Patience, Luna" He said, the words flowing from his mouth in a soft croon. "You'll see soon enough."

She ran at him as fast as she could, trying desperately to dodge around him and get to the still open door. His hand shot out like lightning, she had forgotten how fast he could move, he caught her by the arm, his grip was as strong as steel. He pulled her to face him and held her in place, giving her a satisfied smile, like he was enjoying himself already.

"LET ME GO!" Lena growled, she twisted and kicked with everything she had, but without her wolf her efforts were pointless, he was too strong. She scratched at his hands, kicked his shins and tried to drop her entire weight to force him to drop her to the floor, but he didn't even flinch.

He chucked under his breath at her attempts, a sound that made the hairs on her arms stand up in fear. "Feisty, I like it" he chuckled again.

Rage bubbled up in her throat. She hauled back, hacking at the back of her throat and spat at him, she was proud to see she got him full in the face. "F**K YOU"

His face changed in a heartbeat, The smile drained away. He bared his teeth, raised his hand and slapped her hard across the side of her face. Pain flared white hot across her jaw, her ear was ringing with the force of the blow, the world span and she hit the floor hard. She tasted blood on her tongue where her lip had split open.

Darius bent and dragged her off of the floor before she could compose herself. His grip was tighter, his fingers dug into her arm with a bruising force. A syringe in his other hand appeared at her neck.

"Time for another dose" he murdered, right at her uninjured ear, the words were a gentle caress, compared to the tone he used, which was cruel and menacing. "Not that this isn't fun little Luna, but we have to be somewhere"

The second injection was worse than the first. Her neck burned as he pressed the plunger, the drug spread fast, her head buzzed as a nauseating heaviness settled over her limbs. Her knees buckled and the world became blurry. Her very senses were blurred..This was clearly a much stronger dose.

"Where's my...my f..father?" She forced out, even her voice weakened by the drug.

"Waiting" Darius said in a sickly satisfied voice. He moved his hand to her wrist and dragged her from the room.

Outside, the cold air bit at her skin. He dragged her to the same clearing where they had their marking ceremony two days ago, the clearing was bathed in the moons silver light now, no longer the crimson of the blood moon, but again, a circle of wolves and men boarded the space in the trees. The smell of smoke and the tinny, iron scent of blood hit her nose with the force of a fist.

In the centre of the circle were three kneeling figures. Her father, his Beta James and the combat trainer, Eric. All of them looked beaten. Her fathers shirt was torn and soiled, his hair was matted to his forehead with blood, he looked a thousand years old. Beta James was so covered in bruises he was nothing but a swollen, purple pile of flesh. She couldn't see Eric properly, he was leaning so far forward she only recognised him from the flame tattoo on the back of his neck, his chest was heaving, like he couldn't breathe.

Behind then, a line of omegas stood like a row of shadows, their faces were hollow, they were tied together by the wrists, their heads were bowed but Lena was the split lips and the blood dripping from noses, and she realised, they were HER omegas, from her pack, hostages...Silent, terrified and at the mercy of the Stormhold pack now.

Her chest clenched in sympathy for the weakest of her pack. She tried to move towards them but her legs wouldn't work, her limbs felt like they were made of lead. The poison running through her veins held her hostage too.

Darius stood Infront of the three kneeling men and rose his voice so it carried all the way across the clearing. "Alpha Theron is charged with treason, he has made an alliance with the Bloodfang Clan, sold out his own pack for power and money. And bound his own daughter to me in an attempt to take our land for the B.C!" He dragged Lena forward by the arm and pushed her to the ground at his feet, making sure everyone could see her. "Tonight, his crimes come to an end."

"NO!" Lena's shout erupted from her throat with difficulty. "He wouldn't...You're lying!!"

She looked towards her father, his face raised slowly until his eyes met hers. He couldn't speak but the look on his face said what his lips couldn't, he was asking for forgiveness, The truth hit Lena in her heart, this was all fake, this was murder...Everything Billy had said, it was true. Lena couldn't believe it.

"Alpha Theron, you and your conspitators are sentenced to death, May the Moon Goddess give your wolves to men more worthy than you" Darius said calmly, at his words his Beta, Reid stepped forwards, just as menacing and cruel looking as his Alpha, Black hair and eyes, a face as if carved by stone, his shoulders began to tremble, it spread to his spine and Reid hunched forward, a growl rose from his chest to his mouth and turned to a roar as fur replaced skin, the shift took no more than ten seconds, but it felt like an eternity as Lena watched, transfixed with horror, the drugs making her unable to do anything.

The wolf was huge, a shaggy, brown beast with a mean mouth. He stood Infront of the kneeling men, standing as still as a statue, clearly waiting for something.

Darius's voice was still calm, as if he was merely ordering his lunch "Beta Reid, Bring justice to our pack"

Reid moved like liquid death. The brown wolf leaped, closing the distance in a flash. His jaws clamped on Erica's neck with an awful, juicy snap. Lena's world narrowed down to the sounds, cracking, ripping, gurgling...the thud that meant the end.

Beta James tried to scramble away, but Reid was on him before he moved more than a foot, he finished him quickly, as though he was a mere twig. Her father was last, Lena stared with paralysing terror as her father tried to fight, he threw a halfhearted punch at the wolfs snout, but Reid was too fast, within seconds, her father lay next to his two closest friends, his eyes now empty. Her pack's blood stained the earth, her father was gone.

Lena vomited, her stomach was empty and the acid burned her mouth. She lay on the ground, her body trembling...The drug dulled all of her senses. She couldn't move, Couldn't cry or scream. She was nothing but a shell. empty of everything but despair.

Darius stepped over her, his palms outstretched "The traitors blood pays for their tretchery" he announced to the circle. "Let this be a lesson to all"

Lena

AMETHYST?!?

We are not done, I'm here.

The sound of howling filled the clearing and Darius spoke once more "Justice is done, Steeleclaw is cleansed of their wrongdoers, we will forget the acts of treason and move towards a bright future, I AM YOUR NOW ALPHA"

We. Are. Not. Done. Her wolf was back, a power she had never felt flowed through her.