Chapter 96
Chapter 96
30 New Alpha
Calliope POV
“What have you done, you ba**ard?” “What happened to you calling me Alpha?” “You are no Alpha. In fact, I challenge you for the Alpha title of the Crescent Moon Pack.” He laughs “you really want to do this, Calliope? That title means everything to me and I will never let you take it from me. I will show you no mercy.” “That feeling is very mutual Mateo.” He growls “very well.” “Calliope”, my mother says, and I turn toward her. “Don’t worry Jasmine, you will join her soon enough.” “I was going to tell her to kill you quickly. My daughter is the only true Alpha in this pack.” I can see the anger flash on his face, but he turns heading into the hallway. “Take Madison to the pack hospital”, I say to my mother and she nods. Benson follows me outside and most of the pack have gathered. My father is spewing lies about our betrayal against the Alpha and pack. Benson steps forward. “An Alpha challenge has been issued by Calliope Robison. This challenge is for the right to be the Alpha of the Crescent Moon. Challenger picks the fighting form as it is written in werewolf law”, Benson says, looking at me. “Wolf”, I say without hesitation. My father smiles because he has never seen my wolf and he thinks beating me will be easy. “He is about to find out what an Alpha wolf really looks like”, Aurora growls. Goddess, I love my wolf. “This is a fight to the death” my father says. The pack members look horrified that my father is willing to kill his own pup. “I accept the terms of the challenge.”
The pack steps back, giving us both room. My father shifts first and his wolf is impressive. I haven’t seen him since I was a child, but he is large with black fur and green eyes. I can see sympathy in the wolf’s eyes, despite my father. I know his wolf can’t back down from my challenge as an Alpha, but he is torn because I am his pup. I shift and the pack members gasp. Aurora is bigger than my father’s wolf and her red fur is magnificent. Benson smiles because he has seen her before when we trained. My father jumps at us and we easily side-step. “That ba**ard tried to attack us without a formal start”,
Aurora says. “I expected nothing less. He will not fight fair to win this challenge, Aurora.” We start to circle each other and he snaps at me but never makes contact. “He is afraid I can feel it”, Aurora says. “He should be”, I say before we lunge forward. We swipe our claws across his chest, drawing first blood. He growls in warning, but it does nothing to stop my attacks. Aurora jumps landing on his back. She bites down into his shoulder and his wolf whimpers before he bucks us off. We are back on our feet facing him. We don’t give him time to get his bearings. Aurora rushes forward, clamping down on his front leg. The wolf cries out, but she refuses to let go. I can hear bones crunch and break as she bites down harder.
He manages to bite down on our shoulder and Aurora releases her grip on his leg. She shakes him off and he lands on his back. He scrambles to get back to his feet, but his mangled leg is making that impossible. As we stalk toward him, he shifts. “Calliope please. I’m your father. You can’t kill me.” I shift keeping my distance because no part of me trusts him. He smiles thinking that his pleas have saved him. “I believe the rules set by the old Alpha were to the death. You are no father of mine. The world will be a far better place without your evil a** in it.” I shift back and Aurora starts to close the distance. He shifts and tries to drag himself away, but this ends today. He has tried to hurt and kill people I care about. Images of him hurting my mother, Bradford, Madison, and Julie pop into my mind, strengthening my resolve. The wolf whimpers as we stand over him. Aurora bends clamping her teeth down on the wolf’s neck. He gives out a long howl before she rips his throat out and drops it to the ground.” I feel the power shift from Mateo to me, but that is not what this was about. He will no longer hurt my family or this pack.
I shift and arms wrap around me. My mother pulls back checking me for injuries. I smile “mom, I’m fine.” “You were amazing. I’m so proud of you, Calliope.” I turn to face the pack. They are all bearing their necks to me as a sign of respect. My body relaxes before an unfamiliar female voice speaks from behind me. “It seems I missed all the fun.” I turn and the witch that has been working with Mateo is staring at his wolf’s body lying dead on the ground. “I didn’t think you had it in you little girl.” Aurora growls “I am far from a little girl. Mateo is dead. Your business here is done.” She laughs “I don’t take
orders from little girls. I decide when my business is done. Honestly, I’ve never seen a red wolf before. I’m intrigued about what power you hold. What power I can take from you.” My mother and Benson step in front of me. I’m honored they want to protect me, but this witch is powerful. I can sense her power. She creates a black energy ball and before she can throw it, we shift, jumping in front of Benson and my mother. It strikes me and it is much stronger than the energy ball from the witch that was after Cayden. It doesn’t take us off our feet, but it does damage to our side. Aurora takes off toward the witch, who throws two more before we reach her. I know we are going down, but before the darkness consumes us, I hear familiar voices. I’ve shifted and I’m wrapped in strong arms. “Keep my mother safe.”
Oliver POV
“She is definitely in Mateo’s pack.” “Then what are we waiting for, let’s go.” Lily smiles “I take it you will be coming with me and Carter.” Before I can answer, Tony steps forward “we will be coming with you.” We head out into the yard and Lily starts to chant a spell opening a portal. We walk through and if I wasn’t worried about Calliope I would be amazed at her abilities. We are in an area surrounded by trees. I can scent the pack nearby. We start to move forward and there are no guards patrolling, which is definitely strange. We hear howling and my heart clenches in my chest. I’ll never forgive myself if anything happens to Calliope. Carter and Anthony grab my arms. “Slow down, let Lily lead us. We are no good to Calliope if we are dead.” I see pleading in Tony’s eyes and I don’t want to hurt my mate. We follow Lily and my heart breaks when I see a witch hit Aurora with two energy balls. Lily raises her hands and the witch’s eyes get big. “It seems that today is not our day, little girl. Don’t worry, I’ll be back for you” she says before she disappears. I rush over, taking Calliope in my arms. “Keep my mother safe” is the last thing she says before she loses consciousness.
Lily rushes toward us and I pray that she can help Calliope. Her mother pushes us out of the way. She wraps Calliope in her arms. “Jasmine, she is still alive”, Lily says, and Jasmine looks at her with pleading eyes. Lily places her hand on Calliope’s forehead and a light glows under her fingertips. Lily is
strong and I’m hopeful she can heal her. I expect Calliope to open her eyes, but she doesn’t. “She needs time to heal. I have done all I can. She is strong and she will come back to us after her strength returns. Most wolves would not have survived an attack from a dark magic witch of that b**ch’s power level, but Calliope isn’t most wolves. Oliver, take her to the pack hospital”, Lily says and I scoop her in my arms. “Calliope, I need my best friend so please wake up” I whisper into her ear as I carry her. We reach the hospital and I lay her on a gurney. The doctor smiles at me with sympathy in his eyes. “We will do all we can for the Alpha.” They push her through the double doors and I wrap Jasmine in my arms as she sobs. “She is strong and stubborn.” She pulls back “you’re right about that.” We all take a seat and Tony takes my hand. I’m so glad he is here with me. I say a prayer to the goddess to bring Calliope back to us. Material © NôvelDrama.Org.
Two Weeks Later
Calliope POV
I don’t know what’s happening. I feel like I’ve been in darkness for ages. I still can’t reach Aurora no matter how many times I try. I can hear voices, but I can’t make out what they are saying. I hate that I can’t wake up. I honestly thought I had died, but now I’m not sure. I hope that the afterlife is more than darkness. “Do you really think I would let you die”, Aurora says. I could cry, I’m so happy to hear her voice. “Where the hell have you been?” “I’m sorry I scared you, but I promise there is no need for tears. That witch was powerful and it took a lot out of us both.” “I thought I lost you. I’m so happy your still here with me.” “You’re never getting rid of me. Now it’s almost time for you to wake up, but we need to talk first.” “Are you finally going to tell me something about the pup in our vision?” “We are going to meet our mate very soon and you are going to need to be the strong woman I know you are.” “You’re not going to tell me why are you?” “No, I can’t, but I will be with you and together we can get through anything. It’s time to wake up Calliope. Just know that everything worth having is worth fighting for.” I feel warm fingers rubbing on my hand even though I can’t open my eyes yet. The beeping of machines
lets me know that I am in the pack hospital. I remember for the first time that I ended Mateo and I smile to myself that it is over.
I try to force my eyes open and this time I manage to open them completely. I look around and Oliver is sitting in the chair reading a book. “Catching up on your romance novels”, I ask and he gasps. “Calliope” he says, before he wraps me in strong arms. “You scared the sh*t out of all of us. If you weren’t in this hospital bed, I would kick your a**.” I laugh “that would never happen.” The door bursts open and my mother rushes inside, followed by Carter, Abigale, and Sarah. I expected to see my mother, but why the hell are Abigale and Sarah here in the Crescent Moon? Everyone hugs me and I look at Abigale. “I didn’t expect to see you and Sarah.” “Calliope, when Carter told me that you were unconscious in the hospital, I felt like my own pup was here. You are important to us and I needed to see for myself that you were alright. Besides, Sarah needed to see her Cali.” I wave Sarah over and she climbs up next to me. Aurora’s words play over and over again in my mind. I hold Sarah a little tighter hoping that I will have my pup from the vision someday, even if it’s not easy.
Hudson POV
I’m shocked how far these two have made it. I reach a human city four territories away from Grant’s pack. They were harder than most to find, but I always find my targets. I head toward a cottage on the edge of town. I’m pretty tech- savvy and I have found that it was recently rented to a mother and son. The internet has made my job so much easier. I can hack pretty much any system. I find a place in the shadow of the trees to watch the cottage. Hours pass and there is no movement. I can’t just rush into the cottage when the names of the rental don’t match the ones Grant provided me. It only makes sense they would use fake names, but I need to be sure it’s them before I act. Movement on the porch catches my attention. A woman walks out and takes a seat on a porch swing. I know it’s Evelyn. She has on yoga pants and tank top. Her red hair is messy and up in a bun. I watch as she places a cup to her lips. She seems at peace despite all she has been through. I read that file at least five times. Most
women would have been broken, but she seems strong. A part of me regrets what I’m about to do, but this is my job.