Mia Darien: Good Things

Kane glared at me. “This isn’t what I want, X. But I have to do it. I can’t let the congress keep me from my mate.”

I couldn’t believe we were having to go through this again. “Do you hear yourself?” I asked. I looked around at the other pack members. “Do ya’ll hear this guy? Once again, he’s putting his own wants before the good of the pack!”

“She’s my mate! ” Kane yelled.

“She’s a Gray! ” I yelled back. “That’s the problem! You violated a hundred-year-old treaty for her! You put us all in danger for her! And now that I’m the alpha, you’ll be lucky if you ever see her again!”

That did it. Kane lunged at me, but I had expected him to.

Pivoting to the right, I wrapped my arm around his neck and flipped him over my back. He slammed to the ground and I punched him in the stomach to keep him down there. Air whooshed out of his lungs, but he was only out of it for a second.

He rolled back and drew his legs up, planting his boots in my chest. He kicked out and I went flying backwards. I hit the ground hard, popping my shoulder out of place. With a quick snap, I set it right and back-flipped onto my feet, ready to get back at it.

With a roar, I took my wolf form, shredding my clothes in the process. Kane realized I was about to go for blood so he followed suit, morphing into his brown wolf.

We circled each other, and some of the other pack members growled and snarled in an attempt to aggravate one of us to attack first. I took the initiative and went straight for Kane’s throat. He tried to jump out of the way, but I had always been stealthier so he didn’t get far.

My fangs clamped down on his shoulder, having just missed his throat, but that worked for me. Kane yelped in pain, twisted and batted me in the face with a paw. His claws ripped through the flesh on my muzzle, forcing me to let him go.

He came at me again, using his full strength to tackle me. We rolled toward the pack in a furious ball of fangs and claws, stopping just short of taking several of them down.

I dug my claws deep into Kane’s side and slashed. He howled and reared back up onto his hind legs, batting me yet again with his paw.

The head shot dazed me for a minute and Kane knew it. He took the opportunity to try and clamp down on my throat. I dodged the attempt and when he stumbled, a blow to the back of the head took him the rest of the way down.

We don’t have to keep doing this, I said, using my wolf sense to communicate with Kane.

Yes, we do , he replied, back on his feet. I have to be with Aspen. So that means I have to take on Clarence.

He’ll kill you.

Probably. But for her, I’d die with a smile on my face.

You’re an idiot.

I’m sure you’re not the only one who thinks so. But then again, you don’t have a mate yet. When you do, then you’ll know. Then you’ll be the idiot.

Maybe so. But I won’t betray the pack I’m supposed to lead. Not for my mate. Not for anyone.

Yeah. We’ll see about that.

The two of us lunged at each other at the same time. We collided and rolled, clawing at each other as we both fought to get the upper hand.

I clamped down on the scruff of his neck and rolled, flipping Kane onto his back.

I jumped on him and took a few shots at his face and ribs. My claws came back covered in blood and fur, and I knew I’d gotten in some good hits.

But Kane wasn’t out yet. He knew where my weakness was and he exploited it. He swatted me so hard in the face this time, my nose broke. It hurt like hell and the pain should have put me out of the game. But it didn’t. It just pissed me off.

I went kind of crazy at that point.

I bit and tore at any part of Kane I could get at. He tried to defend himself, but there was just nothing he could do. I was relentless. I was merciless. I went for blood and I got it. I went so hard, I almost passed out. Exhausted, I collapsed on the ground, choking as I tried to pull air into my lungs. After I was able to catch my breath, I used my last bit of energy and changed back into my human form, leaving Kane a bloody mess on the ground.

The pack was dead quiet as they waited for what I was going to do next. After a quick three-count, I reached up and snapped my nose back into place. The pain pissed me off all over again, so I balled up my fist and slammed it into Kane’s face. He yelped as his jaw shattered and I knew the fight was officially over. He wasn’t starting anything back up after that.

My cousin, back in his human form, lay curled on the ground holding his face together. I circled him like he was my prey, but I only did it to make a point to my pack. This could have been any one of them and I needed them to understand that.

“Hope ya’ll were paying attention,” I said to them. Then I yelled, “Were you paying attention!? This is what will happen to anyone who challenges me! I am the Wesley alpha and you are my subordinates! I make the rules, you follow them. You challenge me, I put your ass down! ”

I circled the entire group, making eye contact with as many of them as possible. “In a couple of weeks, I’ll go through metamorphosis and every one of you knows what that means. You’re all still welcome to challenge me after that, of course, but I wouldn’t suggest it.” I stopped where Kane was folded up on the ground.

“Get up,” I said. He peeked up at me through swollen eyes and I smiled. “You heard me. Don’t make me ask again.”

With grunts and groans of pain, Kane slowly climbed to his feet. One hand held his jaw and he used the other to cover himself. Eli rushed forward to bring him some clothes and I let him. Nudity wasn’t something shifters thought twice about, but I knew Eli really just wanted to check up on his brother because that’s what he did.

“Take him home,” I said. “I’ll tell Elliott to come check on him after his shift in the morning.” My mother was the pack’s healer, but since she was out of town, her assistant and fellow nurse at the Mirage hospital, was filling in for her.

“Thanks, X,” Eli said. “Yo, Darien. Give me a hand with him.” My cousin rushed forward to help. They propped a groaning Kane up between them and the pack parted to let them through.

“Good show, X,” Darien muttered as he passed. A minute or so later, the three of them disappeared into the darkness, headed in the direction of Kane and Eli’s cabin.

“The rest of you should turn in as well,” I said to the pack. “I don’t expect to be back here anytime soon. But like I said, the choice is yours. Challenge me, I’m going for blood, and you can be sure that I won’t take it as easy on you as I did on Kane. Happy nightmares, bitches.”

I didn’t have to push through the horde of pack members to leave. They moved out of my way and practically killed one another doing it. I strolled out of the dell cool as the wind and started toward my cabin. I put up a good front, but Kane wasn’t some punk omega who’d only learned to fight yesterday. Even though I was the victor, my cousin had been a worthy opponent and I was feeling the results of that in every part of my body. I would need at least a couple of days to recover.

Someone followed me out of dell. From his scent, I knew it was Remy. “You sounded real tough back there,” he said. “Kind of reminded me of Uncle Bart.”

I ignored him and kept moving. After a minute, I heard him stop.

“I’m just saying!‘” he shouted after me. “Maybe you were always meant to be alpha!”

I stopped too and turned back to face him. I smiled. “You know what, Rem? I actually think I was.”

Three weeks later...