The Demon of SilverFang Prologue

Alpha Eric rubbed the aches out of his tired neck. He was getting too old for things like this. He glanced over at his beta, Matthew, who was busy looking through some files on his laptop as they rode in the backseat on the way to the annual Alpha meeting which was being held in the Ridgemount Pack. A 6 hour trip away from his pack and family, who all stayed behind in the Black Hill territory. His territory. His pack. For now. Hopefully his eldest son, Christopher, will finally decide its time to take up the mantel and let him retire. At age 48 he was ready to start living his best life. Retirement life. He sighed, maybe he should have groomed his second or third son for the Alpha title, at this rate he would be a great grandfather before his son took up the role.

“Its your fault, you know.” Matthew said beside him not even looking up from his computer. “I told you once he found his mate you should have pressed further, but no, you had to make sure the new Luna was also ready. Now we are stuck in limbo.”

Eric could only growl his annoyance, knowing what Matthew said rung true.

“He still hasn’t even picked a Beta,” Matthew continued. “Both Ron and Jake are being groomed for it, but as you know there can only be one Beta.  Until he chooses and officially declares the title of beta upon one of them I can’t start training my replacement properly.”

“But you know that the pick of beta is the first and most important task of an Alpha.” Eric retorted, “I know what I would do but I cannot make this decision for him.” Call him a bit biased, but he would pick Jake as beta. Jake is his second son and as a child of an alpha his wolf is stronger than Ron’s, who is Matthew’s son. However, Ron is his eldest son’s best friend since birth. Wherever you see Ron there is Christopher almost as if they were joined at the hip. He didn’t know why Christopher wouldn’t just go ahead and name a beta, unless it was to spare his younger brother’s feelings. It was true, these days neither of his other sons were in good spirits as they were both without their fated mates. His only daughter turns 18 this month, hopefully she will have better luck than her two elder brothers. Jake has started traveling the country, going to every match-making dance he can. He is currently on the other side of the country, traveling the Pacific coast on the hunt for his destined.

Thinking of the upcoming match-making dance started to stress him out again. This year the lucky pack to host it is the Blood Moon pack, and he despised everything about that pack. The alpha of that pack was ruthless and a womanizer, believing that females are better off seen and not heard. Although Lunas are able to attend these annual meetings, very few show up, leaving the betas of the packs to accompany the Alpha and there was no doubt in Eric’s mind the main reason for this was that asshole. His blood pressure started to rise again when he thought of his baby girl visiting that pack and potentially being mated to someone of that pack. He would lose her to that infuriating bastard’s rule.

Matthew closed his laptop shut and leaned back in his seat. “I would ask what is on your mind but I can already guess. Is it that bastard Deacon again?” Just the mention of that bastard’s name started a low growl in Eric’s throat.

“I don’t want Lily anywhere near that pack. But I can’t deny her the chance to go to her first mate-matching dance. That bastard just pisses me off to no end!” He admitted, slumping slightly.

“Well, there is nothing you or I can do about it. Even if we could find a way to have the venue changed that asshole is stronger than both of us combined.” Matthew rubbed the bridge of his nose. “He would take both of us out for even mentioning the thought.” He sighed, and repeated Eric’s thoughts back. “I’m getting way too old for this shit.”

 ~~~~~~~

A few hours later he and Matthew stood in the pack house of the Ridgemount Pack. Everyone there were dressed to the nines, most of the alphas here were with their betas...and were at least 15 years younger than them. He smiled and made small talk, introduced himself to the newer faces and talked with feigned interest. There were still a few packs missing and it was still almost an hour until the meeting was scheduled to start. He thought back to the few that were missing, the Silver pack coming to mind. No wait, it was called the SilverFang pack now, when the newest alpha took over it was spread to all the surrounding packs that the name was changed, and the new alpha, Sam, was hoping to extend all of the previous peace treaties that were previously in place.

He wondered what the newest alpha was like, the previous alpha, Dan died with no male heir to carry on his rule. Last year his beta attended alone and left before he could speak with him on the matter. He missed Dan, he was the only alpha in their region who didn’t hold his tongue and spoke what everyone else in the room was thinking. He was also the only one who ever made Deacon nervous. In the last few years whispers among traveling wolves and captured rogues he gained a new nickname. The Demon of the Silver pack. He chuckled to himself. That old fool probably started it himself to keep attacks away, he was sure he was feeling nervous and worried that he couldn’t protect his pack should the need arise.

Eric understood that feeling all too well, he was in a similar predicament with 3 sons who made no moves to step into his shoes. Word was the newest alpha kept the nickname, as rumors of the Demon of the SilverFang pack grew more numerous.

He glanced up as an alpha walked in with his luna on his arm. Obviously he didn’t know about Deacon; that bastard. They made their way over to another group with a few lunas with them. All together he counted 6 females in the whole place. He was pulled from his musings by Matthew, “Alpha, there are whispers that the SilverFang pack just arrived.” He paused as some of the alphas he recognized also started whispering, what is the big deal? Sure, he felt a slight surge of power coming from outside but it was nothing compared to most of the auras already in attendance. He shook his head, he was right about the nickname being a ruse.

His heart nearly stopped though, as a slim young woman walked through the doors. She stood about 5’8 with long brown hair pulled back into a braid with a green ribbon accenting it. She wore a long dark green dress that showed off her figure, white gloves on her hands and a full length white fur coat that was wrapped around her chest.

“Did he seriously send his luna here?” Matthew asked, dumbfounded.

Behind her walked a smaller young woman, her mousey brown hair was pulled into a bun and she was talking softly towards the other as she looked around the room. Her eyes landed on Eric and Matthew and she spoke again while pushing up her glasses further up her nose. The first woman looked towards them, smiling slightly as she began to walk over.

“Are you by chance Alpha Eric and his beta, Matthew, of the Black Hill pack?” She spoke softly but politely.

“Yes” Eric responded, with a smile. “I don’t believe we have met though, and I am a loss on even your name.”

Her smile floundered a bit. “Yes, of course. I am so rude. It has been almost 10 years after all.” She held her hand out to shake Eric’s first before turning her gesture to Matthew. “My name is Samantha Silver, Alpha of the SilverFang pack. You dealt a lot with my late father, he considered you his closest ally in the region.” 

As he looked on dumbfounded, she turned to the woman behind her, “This is Violet, my beta.” As Eric shook Violet’s hand his brain slowly began to work again. Ten years ago, the last time he visited the Silver pack….he could barely remember a small girl running around, following her father everywhere he went. Even sitting on his lap during some of their negotiations.

“Oh goodness,” he smiled genuinely as he recalled that last time they spoke. “You’re little Sammy!”

Her smile stayed plastered on but her eyes showed her emotions. “Please don’t call me that.” Her voice a little harsher than before and her bright green eyes flashed slightly before returning to a deep forest green. “Only my father ever called me that and kept his tongue.” She chuckled slightly, to lighten the mood. A small shudder of aura came through like a ripple around them. As subtle as it was it was enough to put the hairs on the backs of everyone’s necks on edge. Others looked around the room curiously and only Violet remained calm.

What was that feeling? Eric thought to himself. He went to mindlink Matthew but was beaten to the punch by his beta.

<What the hell was that? Did you feel that? Damn my leg went numb> Matthew stated slightly panicked. <I’m defiantly getting too damn old if a Luna from another pack can make me freak out like this.>

<Calm down,> Eric responded, <I’m not sure she meant to cause us discomfort. I think I hit a nerve. Remind me to never call her anything but Samantha.>

The young alpha continued. “It was nice seeing you both again. I hope we can continue to work just as close in the future as our packs did in the past. Now if you will excuse me, as this is my first regional pack meeting, there are a lot of people we must introduce ourselves too.” She turned to Violet to nodded to us and followed her alpha away. Whispering softly to her to which the older men could only hear a little bit.

“That was close, keep your temper in check alpha we mu…” Violet’s mouth was still barely moving but neither man could make out what was said.

Another huge wave of aura approached and both Eric and Matthew rolled their eyes. Looks like Deacon was finally here. They exchanged a worried glance, both clearly knowing this meeting was not going to end without at least one argument. Eric glanced over towards the newest alpha and her beta, they were talking to some of the other young alphas that he wasn’t familiar with and couldn’t help but worry for her. Hopefully she would keep her head down and not attract too much attention to herself.

“WHAT’S UP PEOPLE???” A loud thundering voice shouted as he entered. Completely loud and obnoxious as usual stood Alpha Deacon. He stood a full 6 ft 9 inches, the tallest over everyone else in attendance. His aura sending blasting waves around the room as he made no attempt to even hide it. The lunas in attendance leaned closer to their mates who stood a little taller in an effort to calm them and protect them. The alphas with betas in attendance tried their best to ignore the overpowering feeling for the most part. Most shot piercing glances at Deacon, sizing him up and looking for weakness. Deacon showed no weaknesses so the best they could do was stay silent and hope they were not noticed. Deacon looked around the room, looking smug and full of himself. He turned behind him towards his beta, a small little man who Eric did not recognize at all and was different from the last beta that attended this same meeting a year ago. Come to think of it, he has never brought the same beta to these meetings twice.

Eric glanced nervously over to Samantha and Violet, almost scared to see their fearful faces….only….they weren’t afraid, on the contrary they were talking to each other and laughing like there was an inside joke amongst the two of them that no one else knew about. Were they that unaware of their surroundings? Didn’t they feel the danger radiating from this beast? Eric made to start walking in their direction to warn them, only to be horrified to see Deacon start their way also. A lustful look in his eyes, sizing them up like a meal.

“Lookie here at the hot little lady!” Damn Eric wasn’t fast enough, he quickened his pace though. He may not be much help but he could at least show a little support for the child of one of his past friends.

Samantha turned to face the towering man face to face, her same smile plastered on her face, but this one was tight, uninviting, and Eric could slightly see her jaw muscles clench as Deacon reached over to try and pull her into an unwanted embrace. Samantha quickly stepped back, sending a glare his way and a small wave of warning aura. Her eyes started to harden and small speaks of silver dotted her iris.

“Damn girl, I just wanted to introduce myself to you. But you scared of me,” he laughed, “run along home to your mate. I’m sure he is around here somewhere hiding behind a potted plant or something.”

A small growl reached Eric’s ears, he looked on, frozen as Samantha started to speak as she reached out her hand as if to shake his. “I’m sure we haven’t properly met.” Her voice trembling slightly, “Alpha Deacon from the Blood Moon pack I presume.” Deacon glared down at her outstretched hand, making no action to grasp it.

“Yeah,” he said gruffly, “what’s it to you young Luna?”

A louder growl erupted. This time from Violet, she placed a hand on Samantha’s arm as she lowered her hand.

“I am Samantha Silver. The AL-PHA of the SilverFang pack. I’ll thank you to not call me Luna, or ‘Hot Little Lady’ I demand the same respect from you that I have offered you. You may call me Alpha Sam or Alpha Samantha, whichever you prefer.” Her eyes flashed again, as more silver flecks appeared in her eyes. Another stronger wave of warning flooded the room and a few betas shifted nervously in their places.

“What kind of weak ass pack has a little girl running things???” He laughed again, “I bet you even run at the first mouse you see! Isn’t that right…Lu-na?” He scowled down at her, “you do not dictate to me what I can or cannot say to those clearly weaker than I am.” 

“You think I fear you just because you are taller and smell worse? It sounds like you think you are better than I am. Hate to tell you pal, the only thing strong about you is your body odor.”

“IS THAT A CHALLENGE???” Deacon exploded, outraged.

“Sounds like you challenged me first, moron. State your terms.”

“No holds barred, weapons allowed, and when I win you will leave your pack. You will return to my pack with me and you will be my Luna.” He glowered, “and I will enjoy every minute of breaking you.”

“Fine. But after I win. You will be stripped of your title and exiled to live the rest of your life as a rogue. Powerless and alone. Also,” she smirked before glancing at Violet who until now had a bored look on her face. “Also, when I win, the upcoming Mate-Matching dance will be held at the SilverFang pack.”

“What?!!” Violet screaked, “You do realize Alpha the dance is mere months away? Have you lost your mind? Do you understand how much planning goes into a function that large?!” Her demeanor changing drastically from the calm collected beta to one of panic.

Samantha lifted but a finger in Violet’s direction and Violet started to calm down. “Don’t worry, Vi, this fool is too worried for his pride than to accept my terms….”

“I ACCEPT!!!” Deacon roared, his face a full blown magenta.

Samantha’s smile faltered slightly. “Great! Outside, 10 minutes. Go over your plans with your beta, he will be forced to rule the pack after your dethroning.” She spun on her heel and marched swiftly out the door.

The rest of the room looked on in shock and horror. A challenge of title had been proclaimed, and everyone in the room felt pity for the young femme alpha, who in their minds had bitten off more than she could chew.

Ten minutes later the entire training field was full, all the visiting leaders joined the pack members to watch the outcome of the match. Deacon stood in the middle of the field looking smug as ever, arms crossed with his murderous aura rolling off him in waves. In years past wolves hid their auras while around others as a sign of trust and respect. It kept the tensions down while talking pack treaties and  pack transfers. Eric started to wonder why the young femme demanded ten minutes and from the looks on the faces of others he could tell they were wondering the same.

“I bet the little Luna ran!” Deacon crowed! “No matter, I’ll chase her back to her pack if need be, no one gets away with talking to me with such disrespect!” No matter that he was the one who was most disrespectful.

“You wish I ran, I’m sure in a few minutes you are gonna wish you knew how to shut your mouth!” Eric turned to see Samantha walking towards the group. She had changed clothes, her long dress replaced with a brown outfit which looked to be made of animal hide. Still stroking her fur with her gloved hands, she glared at the huge tyrant standing in the middle of the field. “This is your last chance, apologize and grovel at my feet and maybe I’ll let you keep your pride after this is over.”

“Not a chance, LUNA!”

Violet rolled her eyes as she took Samantha’s coat. “You know what Jess is going to say when you tell her we have to host this damn dance right?” She growled “I’m not telling her. I’m calling Greg and he can tell her. Though Greg is probably gonna ring both of our necks.”

Samantha slowly took her ribbon from her hair and handed it to Violet, “Just send him a text, its late so he probably won’t see it until tomorrow.” She shot a death glare at Deacon who was growing more impatient by the second. She slowly pulled her gloves off and laid them on top of her coat and ribbon in Violet’s arms.

She slowly made her way over, the tension outside rising as the moon slowly breached the horizon. A bright full moon gave light to the arena. The distinct scent of silver was introduced into the air and Eric looked wide eyed at Deacon who was holding a long silver knife in his hand.

That bastard! It wasn’t enough for him to be overly powerful! He had to use silver as well! He didn’t see any weapons on Samantha, but surely, she had to have something…. right? She was still smiling, her shoulders moving up and down and Eric just started to hear her laugh. His bones started to grow cold, her aura was rising. 

“As alpha of the Ridgemont pack I will hereby stand as witness to this fight! The outcome will be reported to the council of thirteen! Everyone remembers the terms, weapons allowed, death allowed, title transference and the right to hold the mate-matching dance to the winner! Forced marriage or exile to the loser!” He held his arm up as Samantha raised a middle finger to her opponent. Her perfectly manicured nails reflected off the moon’s rays and the crowd recoiled as the silver that dripped from each of her nails shone bright.

Eric glanced over to Violet as he sensed her walking up to stand beside him and Matthew. A frown gracing her face. “Greg just texted back!” She shouted. “He is pissed!” She started to let out an aura of her own, probably not realizing it but the older gentlemen were awestruck as her aura rivaled that of an alpha. Her phone started chirping and she flashed another glare of anger before answering it. “What” she snapped. Eric could barely make out an angry male voice on the other end. “I know its only a few months away, I told her that!” She paused again, “She was calm until that fool called her the L word!” Another pause. “No, she hasn’t killed him yet. I’ll call you after, shouldn’t take long, maybe 5 minutes at most.” She hung up the call. “Alpha! Gamma Greg said you have 10 minutes to finish that jackass and call him back otherwise he will tell Jess to meet you at the pack gates so you can tell her by yourself!”

The alpha of the Ridgemont pack looked again at both fighters. “Let the match begin!” He swung his arm down and retreated backwards as Deacon charged forward with a lustful look in his eye. He swung his knife high above his head and swung down to stab the femme. Without hesitation she grabbed his wrist with one hand and his upper arm with the other and in one fluid movement Deacon went flying over her head, slamming loudly and forcefully onto the ground behind her. She laughed loudly. “Look! There went your pride!”

Deacon roared as he rolled over and sprang back to his feet. Forgetting his knife, he lunged again, to punch Samantha in the face. Almost effortlessly she avoided his punch and raked his face with her claws, now extended. He screamed in pain as the silver polish dug into his skin leaving bloody gauges across his cheeks only a hair’s breathe from his eyes. “Back up Bitch” she laughed.

As Deacon stumbled back the aura pouring off Samantha turned murderous, suddenly rivaling and overpowering his own. Her eyes almost completely silver now with only small bits of green remaining. “What’s the matter?” She laughed, “I thought you would be more of a challenge than this!”

A murderous roar erupted as Deacon began to shift, his clothes ripping and falling away as his huge red wolf stood in his place. Samantha laughing crazily, her eyes now fully silver and the tips of her hair curling upwards as it went from a chestnut brown to a platinum blond. Her aura raged now, dwarfing the alpha of the Blood Moon pack. “Now let’s have some fun!” She crowed.

“Alpha! Stop playing around! We have work to do!” Violet shouted.

A frown appeared on Samantha’s face. “I never get to have any fun.” She started to shift back while keeping her fangs elongated. She bared her teeth fully, revealing a full set of silver teeth. Deacon didn’t seem to notice the danger though as his wolf charged full tilt. She screamed as she punched the wolf fully on his snout and caused him to falter on his four legs. She grabbed him by the back of his neck and pushed his muzzle into the dirt under her feet.

“SUBMIT!!!” She ordered as she unleashed the most powerful wave yet. Causing the crowd to back up and lower their heads quickly. Eric wasn’t sure if this was intended or not, but it didn’t faze her beta at all. In a flash Deacon was prone on the ground before her, completely nude and trembling in anger or fear, Eric couldn’t tell.

Samantha smirked as she rose, her aura slowly calming as her hair went back to her normal brown and her teeth shrinking. She flipped her hair in triumph as she began to walk away towards her beta. Not paying attention to the disgraced one on the ground. Only the crowd could see his next move: he grabbed the knife off the ground in anger. “HEY BITCH!” He screamed as he threw the knife with all his remaining power. She glanced back and quickly brought her hand up to catch it only for it to go clear through her palm and become stuck in her hand to the hilt. She looked at it with interest. “Huh, I need to practice knife catching again.” She maintained complete eye contact with Deacon as she ripped it out. Blood pouring from her hand as her aura spiked again, she licked the wound sadistically as Deacon looked on in horror as the wound started to close. “Bu-but that’s silver!” He whispered to no one, and all eyes remained glued to Samantha as she advanced to the poor fool who dared to insult her. Even Violet had looked up with interest now, waiting to see her alpha’s next move.

“Next time you challenge someone from a pack known as SILVERFANG, who willingly paints her nails with SILVER polish, and even has her own fangs coated with PURE SILVER you might want to attack her with something other than silver!” Deacon started to retreat, scooting backwards on his behind as his legs didn’t seem to work.

“NO, I’m sorry……uh Al-alpha!” He pleaded, as Samantha twirled the knife around her fingers.

“Too late, bitch!” She slammed the knife down with all the force she had, it lands between his legs and he howled in pain as his genitals were separated from his body, the knife driven into the ground down to the hilt. She spoke into his ear loud enough for everyone to hear. “I have taken your pride, your title, and now your manhood.” She paused as she ran her tongue over her teeth. “Would you like to keep your life?” She stood not waiting for an answer and turned to the alpha referee. “I think we’re done. My beta Violet will meet with you later for the transfer of title and to prepare for our next function.” She sneered at her prey on the ground as he whimpered in pain and blood loss. “Get your pack doctor out here, save his life. But leave his dick here. He wanted to give it to me so bad, I should keep it.” She grinned an evil grin before she walked to where her beta was waiting.

“Good evening, Alpha Eric,” she addressed the older man, her aura completely calm and collected as she began replacing her gloves and ribbon. “I trust you enjoyed that; my father used to tell me of the alpha both of you hated. Neither of you would call him by his name only…’The bastard of the Blood Moon’” She looked at the prone form on the ground, now surrounded by the pack’s doctors. “I guess he is now gonna be called ‘The bitch of No importance’” She laughed loudly again as she began to walk away with Violet in tow.

Eric followed her with his eyes as he stood in complete disbelief. Some of the other pack’s lunas approached her, congratulating her and introducing themselves while talking excitingly about the fight. No males approached her though, as most walked with one arm in front of them. Guarding their most important organs from an imagined attack.

Matthew turned to Eric. “You remember what the rumors said? What they were calling her?” Eric nodded. “Yes, The Demon of the SilverFang Pack.” He smirked at the name. “A perfect name I think, I pity the next poor fool who disrespects her.”