"Thank you for letting me stay." Alina said, sipping coffee with the leadership of Night Stalker and Moonlight. Apparently, Cayne was Jen's cousin. Jen's mother was the daughter of the previous Alpha of Moonlight, but she was mated to the Beta of Night stalker, so her family was visiting.
Around a very posh table, sat the Alphas and Betas of both packs, along with their children and mates, which included Cayne, who was glaring harshly at Alina.
"HSS-"
Apparently the cat didn't like Cayne either, but it may just be Alina imagining it.
"-SSSSS-"
The other cat, the gray-eyed one, was staring at the hissing blue-eyed one worriedly.
"-SSSSS-"
"Shush, keeping it to yourself is more polite, Sky."
"-SSSSS-"
The gray-eyed cat turned its gaze onto Alina like "what? Her name's not Sky."
"Hon, I love you but I don't really know your names, so stop looking at me like that." The people around the table were watching her curiously, wondering why exactly this 17-year-old legend was sitting at their table, talking to cats.
"-SSSSSREOWR-" it leaped at Cayne, whacked his face at least once with every paw, giving him some new scratches at the same time, then left, looking extremely triumphant.
Cayne just stared in shock, momentarily stunned.
"Sky! That's rude! You do NOT prove to a werewolf that he is too weak to fight a cat, especially when you are sitting at a table, with some very nice people." Alina exclaimed, the laughter clear in her voice. "Come back later, I'll have to have a talk with you."
She then turned back to the people sitting around her. "I'm very sorry about that." Jen grinned at her, glancing at Cayne as he stomped out, his parents watching him. Alina could tell that they were mildly amused.
"No matter. He kind of deserved that, anyway." the Alpha of Night Stalker said, he, too, chuckling to himself.
More annoyed hissing came from outside, followed by unholy screeching from both the cats.
"That would be them fighting each other because you can't hear any human screeches. That's fine. Let's continue." Alina said calmly.
"What do you need, Alina? Why are you here?" the Luna of Night Stalker asked.
"Actually, we bumped into her in the woods and dragged her back," Jen said.
"Kidnapper!" some random person muttered.
"No one could kidnap me even if I wanted them to." Alina said, shrugging. "I'm actually in the middle of a self-proclaimed mission."
"Meow," the gray-eyed cat piped up, poking his head in.
"Welcome back. What are you doing now?" Jen asked curiously, glancing at the ball of fluff.
"Mrrrrr."
"I'm gonna pretend that I understood that. Anyway, Alina, what is this 'self-proclaimed mission' about?"
"Well," she hesitated a little, sighing. "Six years ago, before the Gamma tournament, we all know that my group got attacked by some rogues, right?"
She was going to continue, when a pack member entered the room. "Alphas," he announced, "Sorry to interrupt, but there are three werewolves, one from Bloodlust and two from Bloodmoon, and a cat at the border, asking to come in."
Jasper murmured, "My goddess, we have mindlinks for a reason."
***
"Are we there yet?" Linda asked.
Kaguya bounded forward till they reached a tree with pawprints in the dirt under it. He sniffed the prints, then meowed and ran into the woods.
"What trail is he following?"
"Mrrr," he called, golden eyes gleaming. He sniffed at the ground again. "Meow!"
"I think we're heading towards Night Stalker or Hunter's Dusk." Linda said thoughtfully, as she took in her surroundings.
Kaguya casually ran into Night Stalker territory, his tail whisking lightly over the ground.
"Kaguya!" Linda shouted.
"Who's there?" a man came from inside Night Stalker territory.
"The Gamma of Bloodlust, and two pack members from Bloodmoon. We are not representing our packs, and would like to seek an audience with your Alpha. We are looking for someone who might have passed through here." Linda answered in an authoritative voice.
The man frowned but nodded.
***
"Let them in." Alina said, the man at the door staring at her in shock. Did this imbecile just answer him in place of his Alpha, when she wasn't even a member of the pack?
The Alpha of Night Stalker cleared his throat. "Do as she says." sending Alina a side glance. Goddess, she was stealing his thunder.
"Mrrrr," Kaguya purred, finding his siblings sitting around chilling.
Korū tugged his jacket tighter around himself, hiding the array of weapons inside.
"So you guys decided to make an appearance in the end?" Alina asked, sipping her coffee once again. "I'll introduce you. Everyone, this is Linda, the new Gamma of my pack. These two are Hikari and Korū, from Bloodmoon. Guys, this is the Alpha and Luna of Night Stalker, along with their Betas and families. Jen here is my old friend. This is the Alpha of Moonlight which is visiting, the Luna, the Betas and, again, their families, which include this bitch that got a nosebleed from a wall." She said, gesturing to each person in turn, heavily emphasizing on Cayne, who had made his way back in the middle of the introductions. He was now standing near the entrance, a small distance from Alina's friends, scowling at her.
The Moonlight pack wolves exchanged glares with Korū and Hikari.
"You two are part of the Bloodbringer bastards?" Cayne growled.
"I'm sorry, we're not 'Bloodbringer bastards'," Korū snarled. "Was that thrashing that day not enough? I can give you another." The blue-eyed cat hissed at Cayne. "And I'm sure Kagami here would be more than happy to give you another clawing."
Linda raised an eyebrow at him, "How do you even know which cat did it?"
"Children, children, calm down. Holding grudges isn't very wise or mature, especially for a future Alpha." Alina raised her eyebrow at Cayne as she said the last part, "Anyway, the person who played a part in the death of my brother is sitting right in front of me, and I haven't even threatened her yet."
She watched, satisfied, as Jen's face morphed from amusement to fear.
"I'll continue my story first, shall I? Sit down everyone."