Waking up early enough to run was part of Shera's ideal morning. She enjoyed the cold air reaching her lungs and the slow rise of the sun's heat on her skin as it dispelled the darkness of night. Running while shifted didn't give her the pleasurable burn she desired, her human body being the one more susceptible to the rush. People were awake but none spoke, leaving the peaceful quiet to be disturbed only by the shuffle and patted of feet. The air was different in the city, it didn't smell of the wild and required shoes so she didn't step on something sharper than a thorn.
The music playing in her ear pods wasn't loud in the slightest, a soft thrum from the base the only thing keeping her pace at what it was. She never thought she moved too quickly until she got here, her pace speeding past other joggers on the sidewalk and confusing them. She wasn't sprinting by any means, just enjoying a small run. Her phone rang and she slowed to a stop, clicking the green button on the touch screen.
"Are you insane," someone yelled in the back ground.
"Shera," she leaned on the closest object to her at the sound of her father's voice. He sounded tired, almost defeated. Tyrone and him must have fought the night before and by the sounds of it he lost his position.
"Morning dad," she hummed.
"What are you doing," he asked.
"Running-"
"I mean with that damned alpha," the ice in his voice froze her more than the air. What was happening back home? "This isn't a game. Stop treating it like a fantasy and just mate already."
"Stop talking to her like that," Shera noted Tyrone's voice snarling in the back and her heart rate picked up. The two were arguing again, the frequency of it becoming more and more. What was it they were really arguing about?
"She's my daughter you sniveling welp," her father snapped.
"I was against this to begin with, dad," Shera stated. "They're violent and there's a fight every day. They don't have a set time to duke out their frustrations like we do. I can't just mate-"
"You can and you will. I want this stupid pact solidified," he snapped. Her grip tightened on the phone. There went her morning. She wasn't feeling as well now, her head swimming in possibilities to cause her father to act the way he was.
"I don't want to mate with someone I don't know," she growled.
"What is the job of the female alpha," he asked. There was an eerie calm and Shera gulped was her mouth fell open. "What is it, Shera?"
"To- to birth children for the alpha," she mumbled. Why was this lesson being harped on now? They weren't wolves in the wild. The other females in the pack could breed as well so what was the meaning of this? "I don't understand-"
"So breed," he ordered. Her eyes widened as snarling and incoherent yelling came from the other end, a clatter of the other phone being dropped. It was a while before she hung up, her voice gone as she blankly stared at her phone. He had never done that before. What was going on with him? What part was she missing with the in-fighting?
She started jogging back, the music not playing in her ears as her mind racing kept her feet moving. She was more than unnerved, her picture of the father she knew slowly being picked at by some unforeseen hands. She jumped steps as she went up the stairs, making her way to the open door of Gerard's apartment. She could hear him moving around in the kitchen, her body dragging her towards him without her mind telling them to. She stood in the doorway, watching his back muscle as he wore no shirt yet again.
"You woke up early," he noted.
"I slept well," she didn't move as he turned around. He stared at her, a mug of coffee in his hand as he tilted his head.
"What is it? You look like you've seen a ghost," he chuckled.
"I need to go home," she told him. The smile slowly fell and gave way to a frown on his face, his eyes boring into hers.
"Why?"
"Something is going on back home and I'm worried," she was being honest, her body trying to cower away as her mind caught up to her. He didn't look happy, his eyes intense and something boiling underneath.
"This is your home now," he stated bluntly.
"I mean-"
"What could possibly be so important," he snorted. "Are the alphas fighting again? Are they supplying for their pack like they're supposed to be?"
"I don't know," she replied. She shifted and looked at the floor, taking a breath and steeling herself. "I don't know and that's what I need to figure out. I still belong to my pack, not yours."
"You're going to be my mate. This is your pack," he informed her. She stared and walked towards him. He straightened up as he set the mug down on the counter behind him, his eyes narrowing.
"I am not your mate yet. Therefore I do not belong here. Do you understand," she snapped.
"They're fighting again," he nodded. She jabbed her finger into his chest, her frustration finally coming to light.
"There is something wrong with my father, Gerard. I need to be there," he grabbed her hand and turned them, pinning her against the counter.
"Whatever it is, it's not your problem anymore," he snapped. His face was a mere inch from hers, the coffee on his breath strong and bitter.
"So you've isolated me until I submit," she growled. He blinked before stepping back and rubbing his bed head.
"I didn't isolate you," he muttered.
"Then what did you do? Huh? Because if I can't go back and we both know I'm not part of your pack until we mate then what else could it be," she snarled.
"You need to breath," he started.
"I am breathing," she shoved him into the wall, his eyes widening. "I'm breathing and I'm starting to get furious, Gerard."
"Their war has started," Gerard cut in. She glared at him before his words registered, the semi-transformation reverting back as he grabbed her shoulders. "It was a matter of time, you know that deep down. Your pack was falling apart."
"So what? You're my saving grace," she spat at him. "They're my family! My kin! I'm not letting them tear each other apart over some stupid title!"
"Then I'll take the title in your pack as well," he snapped. She held her breath as her body crackled. His did in turn, both their lips raised as they growled at one another.
"That's exactly what you wanted form the beginning! Wasn't it," she yelled.
"It was not!"
"Oh really? Then why did your pack have a vote on it," she grabbed his wrists, turning her body around and throwing him across the kitchen floor. His back hit the cabinets, shattering one of the doors.
"To appease the unrest," he grunted. He shoved himself out of the way as her claws buried themselves into the hardwood floor. "You need to calm down and listen, Shera!"
"No," she snarled.
"Fine," he tackled her down, the two going for each other's throats. With how close they were to each other, Shera managed to make him bleed. Her claws buried into his side, shoving him off of her as their snouts collided. They didn't realize that Ferdinand was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, calmly watching. It was twenty minutes before Gerard slammed Shera into the fridge, making her vision go black for a moment as the world spun.
He stood over her, snarling with her hands pinned by her head and their faces barely touching. "Your pack was falling apart and even with the help they're tearing each other to pieces. Wake up!"
"A Mr. Tyrone Pillar was just admitted into the ER," Ferdinand cut in. The two looked over at him, Shera shifting back with wide eyes. "I figured you should know considering he was the alpha for the neighboring pack. He's in critical condition and silver dust seems to have been injected into his blood stream somehow."
"Damn it," Gerard stood up, shifting back slowly as he grabbed the coffee mug again. "I want you to keep him stable. I'll be there in a minute. Have Sherry go with Shera back to their territory."
"I'm going alone-"
"You're going to do as I say," Gerard snarled. "I have been nice, Shera. I can be exactly the wolf you first fought." She felt her body cower from him slightly, a snarl coming from her lips as the two walked away from the kitchen. She was more than angry at it all, her body shifting between human and semi.
Sherry peeked in, worry on her little face as she took in the mess of the kitchen. Shera walked past her, the woman following quietly as her eyes took in the torn clothing Shera wore.
"You're blood-"
"Shut up. We're going," Shera snapped. Sherry shut her mouth, looking around nervously.
"Shera, I don't think it's going to be that bad," Sherry hesitantly our a hand on Shera's shoulder, the glare she earned making her wince even as she kept her hand there. "We can see for ourselves but then we have to come right back here, okay?"
"Quit trying to console me," Shera growled. "I don't think you know the gravity of the situation."
"I'm the one that monitors the card," Sherry shouted. Shera stopped, a few of the others in her pack glancing over. "There have been a lot of purchases involving silver, Shera. Enough to take out a pack. We can't stay there too long." Shera seemed like a calm anger as her face turned blank but her mind was raging.
What was the point in buying silver dust? The card could have been used to get the supplies they needed, to pay for the medical bills that had piled up. They were being so stupid with what they were given. It felt like they took advantage of her, made her out as some form of scam item. And at what cost to them but their relative?
Sherry began cowering, removing her hand as Shera stared blankly. Shera expected more and instead was let down. She grabbed Sherry by the arm, pulling her as her pace quickened. It felt like it was taking too long, Shera's mind not slowing and neither her body as Sherry attempted to keep up with the woman. The two reached the edge of the housing in an hour, the pack walking around and laughing with one another as if nothing had happened. To them, these fights were normal and Shera would be right there with them if she didn't hear Sherry.
People stopped and stared as she walked through, blinking at the rare sight. They had never seen Shera like this and she couldn't blame the terrified looks they gave one another. There was a small crowd following, Sherry looking back at them with wide eyes, "Are they all your pack? Gerard said nothing about the numbers!"
"Shut up," Shera hissed. She saw her house, the porch occupied by her father. He sat pretty, his eyes on the newspaper as he relaxed on the rocking chair. He didn't bother looking up from the papers.
"That was quick. Had you already mate-" the chair was thrown with him in it, Shera having released Sherry to shift.
"You broke the code," Shera barked. She wanted so badly to cower from the other lycan. He had been large even for their race and he knew how to use it.
"The code needed to be broken," he barked back.
"We aren't supposed to nearly kill one another," Shera rubbed her ears back, a shiver crawling up her spine. "And the code has worked."
"Damn the code. The pack needs to adjust to something new," Scott was the one to launch, not caring who was speaking to him. His eyes blazed with some form of malicious intent when he collided with her, tearing at the side of her face and eliciting a whimper. Shera bit into his shoulder, digging her claws into his side as she tore back. Teeth gnashed in her ears, claws raked down her back, and the rest of the pack watched in shocked horror at the fight.
Shera had never shown interest in being the alpha, never taking charge of anything she had been given. It was simply because of the fact no one took her size seriously but her uncle and father. Shera had only attacked Berry and it had been clear afterwards that everyone agreed he deserved it but this was different. Shera deep down really was fighting for alpha, and she'd be damned if she let what was happening continue. It had gone on long enough and she was tired of it; the fighting, the lack of finances, the weakened borders.
She was shoved off, the chunk of her father's shoulder rolling from her jaws as she snarled at him. Size didn't matter. She knew his movements and he knew most of hers, leaving them to work out their experiences and endurance. She made a jagged line towards her father, her maw shut and her ears back. He reached for her, barely missing as her knee connected with his nose as he leaned down from his momentum. Having fought off so many different people at the border taught her a few things and she was ready to use them.
The lycan body was humanoid in shape save for the head and legs, leaving the consciousness open to get creative. The way the pack fought was purely animalistic, all claws and teeth. She could use that against her father and that's what she planned on. It was her palm hitting the back of his head that sent the lycan's face into the ground. She jumped onto his back, quickly wrapping her arm around his neck before he could gather himself up, pulling it back while pushing his head forward with her free hand. He coughed and clawed at her arm, his eyes looking up at her as she leaned back more.
"You broke the laws," she snarled. "And you've nearly shattered this pack. I'm alpha and this proves it." His eyes fluttered, his form shifting back as he went limp. Shera stood up, her hand shaking as she stumbled away from the unconscious man.