Shera's fur bristled as she watched. The trees weren't making sounds and neither were the other members. The divide was obvious; a split between those that supported her Uncle Tyrone's lead and those that supported her father's. Neither would just admit that a split was necessary, especially now that the pack was fifty strong. It was difficult enough to keep up just ten of the households that were part of the pack.
Her lip rose as one of the males opposite her smirked, a yell sounding from the alphas. They were the ones to generate the noise, the ones that drove off the silence Shera so craved to be in. It was all she wanted. The male started trodding around the makeshift ring of other lycanthropes, making his way towards her. "You've been bristling all night, lovely, why don't you get in there," he hummed.
"You know as well as I do why I'm not. It's not like I care anyways, Berry," she snorted. Why was her voice always so unattractively gravely in this half formed shape? It was maddening that everyone else had control. The slightest irritable motion towards her and her form would weaken, her temper showing in sharper teeth and piercing amber eyes.
Berry chuckled, sitting by her lazily as his attention moved to the fight again, "Then why not give me some luck and send me in? They're old enough for me to beat down into submission." That had Shera laughing, the others turning as Berry gave a hurt look. "Why's that funny?"
"Why? Because you can barely beat me and those two are the ones that taught me," she motioned to her uncle and father, sniffing at the red and gray fur that clashed again and again. This ground was never going to be just dirt and grass again. It had been stained with too much blood from the two to ever lose the red hue.
"I could beat you," Berry retorted.
"You'd run with your tail between your legs," she sniffed. The look of disbelief on his face told her exactly what he thought. She wasn't very big human, semi formed, or fully formed and they all saw it as weak. The runt of the alpha family compared to the massive size of her younger brother and sister. It was known everyone thought her family paid close attention so she wouldn't embarrass them. It wasn't known that she had asked for that specific regimen from her family for her own gain.
She wanted nothing more than to be ready for outsiders; other packs that would come and try to move in on their lands. Those weren't being paid much mind in the current situations, however. The pack would instead try to adjust to the new alpha after every gathering. She would be the one to fight those off. Unbeknownst to everyone else, she'd fend off five wolves at once on any given night. Only one pack had beaten her though and they laid claim in the city farthest from her pack's home.
She mindlessly rubbed the new scars hidden under her turtle neck. The back of her neck had been torn to shreds by a single lycan, his eyes a death gaze and the pure white fur nearly untouched. He had come with two others but he was the only one who fought, the energy that of an alpha when he stood over her.Berry noticed and snickered, reaching and pulling the collar back.
"Poor girl, did someone have a rough-" Shera didn't spare a moment. She had already grabbed his hair and thrown him into the ring between her uncle and father, officially stopping the bout.
Her breath was hitching at the thought of how the scars got there, her skin crackling as her emotions ran amuck, "You're mine." The two alphas blinked at one another before staring at Berry, a disgruntled look on his face as he slowly got up.
"All you're good for is looking pretty and breeding," he spat. Shera lunged, her transformation quick as she collided with the other. She praised herself in perfecting that part; transforming in a split second from the base structure. It made the pain of their bones snapping excruciating, the burn intense as hide replaced skin. Everyone would have rather taken their time and she could see Berry struggle as she tossed him by his shoulder.
The sweet tang of copper, the brassy smell of his injury; a growling chuckle left her as he finished, his clothes torn and hanging from his body. He was a brown and white, his eyes a stark blue as he crouched and snarled. She lived for these moments. The calm before the storm. It meant something extraordinary was happening.
The two collided. Teeth were gnashing at tufts of fur, snouts clashing and leaving miniature cuts, and claws were rending flesh from flesh. It was short lived as Berry's eyes widened. Shera being small had advantages she knew how to use and he was constantly missing his mark. Her teeth closed in on his throat from under, her momentum forcing him up before she slammed him onto his back and gaining a yelp.
She released him, standing over him and glaring down. She was going to say something, anything to make him realize just who she was and what she put herself through. But she stopped. The smell reaching her nose had her body reacting before her mind, the others casually sniffing the air at the scent of new comers. Shera didn't want to be there and the desire to leave was sparked from its small ember into a raging inferno.
She turned quickly, tail tucked. She ran into her father's chest, her eyes looking up at his as his claws rested on her shoulders. She was stuck as a tall man stepped through the trees in a way that screamed he didn't belong. His eyes glanced around, his hair a platinum blonde that framed the sharp jawline and left his cheekbones to be accentuated. He was in a nice suit, his gaze falling on the families that were there with a small frown that only deepened at the numbers.
"You're too large," he stated calmly. He walked right through the center, Berry standing and raising his claws.
"And you don't belong here," he snarled. She didn't know why, nor how she gained the courage, but she moved. She shoved him out of the way only to be thrown down and claws to dig into her neck. A yelp left her as something snarled above her, the white lycan fully formed. He was quick, faster than she was if they timed it.
An involuntary whimper left her mouth, his claws digging in deeper, "You're the one that gave me a hard time."
"You-you got your turf," she muttered. "Leave ours be."
"Two alphas in one pack and you want me to leave it," he mused loudly. "What gall, even when you can't beat me." Shera saw her uncle and father flinch. She was on par with them after all, the one between the two they agreed would take the pack when they couldn't lead any longer. Of course, she didn't want that either.
She dreamed of traveling on her own, not worrying about pack hierarchy, about taking care of everyone and being able to finance them all. She and herself alone were enough and to her, everyone else just got in the way of the dream life she wanted. "Sorry, make that three," the wolfish grin spread on his face and he let go, walking straight for her uncle and father. They watched him closely, blinking as he casually shifted back with his clothing intact.
"What do you want," Tyrone snapped. He had shifted back, pulling his pants back on as he cracked his knuckles. He was surprisingly the calmer of the two, leaving Shera's father to be hot tempered and explosive. The anger Tyrone let off was passive until someone pushed him too far. A dangerous old dog with the patience to exact revenge on those that crossed him.
"Get the hell out," Shera stared at her father, blinking as he hadn't transformed back. If anything, Shera got her temperament from him and it made her just as volatile. She hated when her brother would call her out on it but now that she saw her father react to an outsider, she could see where the younger man was coming from.
"I came with peace offerings," the man replied and held his hands up, "As an apology for attacking one of your own. I see you didn't even notice though." The two men flinched as they glanced at Shera. "And to think, you have such a foxy creature fighting nearly every night only to have her fight your own as well. It's a shame. I thought I'd be reaching out to a sophisticated pack."
"We are sophisticated," Tyrone spoke up, crossing his arms. The family ginger hair was a trademark for him, the green eyes piercing amongst the curly red.
"I did my research. You've been struggling," the man held a business card to both older gentlemen, ignoring the gashes and the leaking blood. He was calm, unfazed by anything he was seeing. He was still intimidating even as a human but Shera couldn't tell if it was from him beating her close to death or the cutthroat businessman vibe he gave off. "As a neighbor, I felt an obligation to reach out, in the name of good faith, I promise."
"We want nothing to-"
"Why haven't you come earlier," Tyrone cut Shera'a dad off, giving him a side glare. "We aren't even aware of where you and your pack are located yet you're confident enough on your own to walk into the heart of our territory."
"Because I beat your best fighter," the man motioned to Shera, the woman flinching and looking away. The rest of the pack had been silent, their eyes wide as they took in the information. "I see communication is lacking though. I wish to speak with the alpha alone as of now." The rest of the pack, unable to take it anymore, up and dispersed into the trees, Shera turning to follow.
She could only imagine how this man's pack would be if he was confident like this. Her pack itself was in no way lenient but for someone to so ruthlessly attack in the manner he had? It meant he was ready for anything, that he was cautious to the point of paranoia. Shera herself had begun to feel that with everything around her but he had a mastery over it. It meant something about his people were ruthless; made to use brute force and have the ability to control it without breaking a sweat.
"The third alpha stays," the man called. She stopped in her tracks as those words made a shiver go up her spine. She began to walk again, her mind in no way thinking the third alpha was herself. She only ever raised her hand against another pack member tonight and that was because of Berry's audacity to challenge her. "That means you, foxy. I know you're related to these two."
She stopped again and turned nervously, her eyes taking in the scars running diagonally over the man's mouth. She was terrified of this man, her heart hammering as he motioned next to him, "Come."
"My daughter isn't a dog, bastard," Shera's father snapped. His eyes widened as she stepped forward however, a hurt look in his eyes as she cowered next to the outsider. His pride was more hurt than his body just by witnessing the motions. "What the hell did you do?"
"I beat her for my territory. I had heard there was one wolf roaming this area and taking down pack after pack. I was not aware of how large the area was though," the man placed a hand on her shoulder and she jumped a bit, earning a grin. "I must admit, I did struggle in our little skirmish. I wasn't aware that the loner was part of such an oversized pack, though. When I learned about yours in the area I couldn't believe it."
"What is that supposed to mean," Tyrone sniffed. He was eyeing the man's hand, his green eyes narrowing.
"I know you're struggling and may form of fight leads to large medical bills," the man replied. "Forgive me, before we get into this whole ordeal I should introduce myself. My name is Gerard Southerland. I've recently moved my pack here from farther north in hopes of better resources."
"Tyrone Pillar," Tyrone nodded. "This is my brother, Scott Pillar." Shera's father was nearly foaming at the mouth as Gerard rubbed Shera's shoulder gently.
"It's very good to meet you. I have a proposition for you two if you wish to hear. And maybe your female alphas if that's all right." The three Pillar's flinched and stiffened, the air tense. Lycanthropes were also human, they could fall to disease. That's what happened between the two best friends that shared a last name.
Tyrone and Scott weren't always at each other's throats. They often got along because their wives mandated it. The two were inseparable and it had made gatherings more enjoyable. They died from a disease both alphas couldn't pay to take care of however, leaving the two with each other's company for the rest of their days. That was when the finances were finally noticed; when the pack realized we had slowly been running out of money because of the size.
"Both are deceased," Tyrone was cold in his reply, shocking Gerard into moving his hand from Shera's shoulder.
"Then this proposition is all the merrier," he stated. There was a silence as he pulled out a debit card and held it out to the two. "It doesn't matter who's name is on this card. You may have it on the condition this she-wolf becomes mine."