Alpha Peter stands before him. "Stand down, Richard!" He yells, his alpha aura radiating from his body. "Athena is not a threat!"
Gamma Richard bows his head, submitting to the Alpha, but he growls in my direction.
"Listen to your Alpha, Gamma. You don't want this fight," Enyo says cooly.
"Enyo, you're not helping," Jason says.
Enyo shrugs and looks back to the Gamma with a smirk.
"Shift back now!" Alpha Peter orders him.
Gamma Richard shifts back and kneels in front of Alpha Peter. "I'm sorry, Alpha," he says and bows his head.
"You need to tell me exactly what Doctor Shields has been telling you, Richard," Alpha Peter tells him.
"He approached me about a month ago and said that things were being put in motion that could impact our pack and that it would be up to me to protect us. He said that outsiders would come to the pack that would endanger all of us, and they couldn't be trusted," he says.
"Has this been told to anyone else in this room?" Alpha Peter asks, looking around the room.
Everyone shakes their heads, with murmurs of "no, Alpha."
"Did he say anything specifically about me, Gamma?" Nick asks him.
Gamma Richard nods his head. "He told me he was getting you to come here, and that we had to do everything we could to kill you both."
"You said he told you exactly what I am. What am I?" Enyo asks.
"He said that you and the ones like you will kill all lycan and shifters alike. That you will be the end of us all," Richard says, his anger showing again.
Enyo looks to Nick with a raised eyebrow, then back to the Gamma. "Why would he think that? Before coming here, Athena and I didn't even know that there were others like us," Enyo says.
Gamma Richard lowers his head and says, "I'm not answering any more of your questions."
"Why didn't you come to me about any of this, Richard?" Alpha Peter asks him. "We grew up together. We have been best friends since we were pups," Alpha Peter says sadly.
"Doctor Shields said you shouldn't be trusted, either. That you were protecting the abom…," he falters when Enyo growls, "them. You protected Leo Watkins and all the other lycan that are… different. He said your loyalties were no longer to the pack."
Alpha Peter shakes his head in dismay. "You should have trusted me, Richard."
Alpha Peter turns to Jason, "Jason, I need you to take some warriors and find Doctor Shields. Then, when you do, take him to the cells. I will meet you there."
"Yes, Alpha." Jason stands and points to a couple of warriors in the room, and then they leave the office.
"What about the plan to see if we would be attacked?" Nick asks.
"It's clear Doctor Shields had the intention of having you killed. So I'm locking the compound down, and I will interrogate Doctor Shields for more information," Alpha Peter says.
Nick nods in agreement. "I'd like to be present."
"Me too," Enyo says.
"You both may watch, but you will not be in the room."
"Agreed," they say in unison.
"And what about him?" Enyo asks, motioning to the Gamma.
"I can no longer trust him. So, for now, he will go to the cells as well until I can decide what to do with him," Alpha Peter mumbles, visibly upset.
Gamma Richard whimpers and looks down at the floor. Alpha Peter looks at two of his warriors and instructs them to escort the Gamma to the cells. "get him dressed, and I will meet you there shortly," he tells them.
They get the Gamma to his feet and escort him out of the office.
"What now, Alpha?" One of the remaining warriors asks.
"Will, I need you to call the gate and tell them we're going into lockdown. I will mind-link the pack to be in the hall for a meeting at 7am. Everyone is to be there."
The warrior named Will nods and leaves the office as the Alphas' eyes gaze over as he mind-links his pack.
When his eyes return to normal, he goes and sits in his office chair behind his desk. "What a mess," he mutters to himself.
I finally take control back from Enyo and ask, "is there anything we can do, Alpha?"
"For the moment, I'd like to be left with my thoughts," he murmurs.
"Of course, Alpha. Athena and I will take this opportunity to talk," Nick says, and we both leave the office.
#
Nick and I step out into the large backyard of the pack house. It's surrounded by thick bushes and trees, and I can hear the flow of a river close by. I take a deep breath and face the sun, letting it warm me in the cool morning breeze.
"You have trouble controlling Enyo, don't you?" Nick asks.
Nodding, I answer, "yeah. But, unfortunately, it's been getting worse this past year."
"You need to let her out more often. Allow her some of the control."
"I'm worried about what she might do. She's extremely powerful."
"You both are, I can tell. Power radiates from you, Athena. But until you learn to become one with each other, you will never reach your full potential."
As we walk towards the back of the yard, I ask him, "Did you have trouble with control as well?"
"For a long time. It wasn't until I gave in to the power and laid my fate in the hands of the Moon Goddess that Donny and I stopped fighting each other and instead started working together."
"I'm not sure that I can put my faith in the Moon Goddess anymore. Not after she took my father from me…." I bite my lower lip.
"What happened to you happened for a reason. You must believe that, Athena. We have all suffered losses. Each one of us lost people in the attacks on our packs. I just choose to believe that the Moon Goddess has her reasons."
"I wish I could look at it that way," I say, a sob escaping and tears welling up in my eyes.
Nick places his hand on my shoulder. "I don't know what the Goddess has planned for us, Athena. For any of us that have been chosen. We just have to put our faith in her that things will turn out okay in the end."
I let the tears fall from my eyes as I take a deep breath. "So you believe in this chosen stuff?" I ask him.
"I do. Why else would we have the crescent moon marking? Who else could give us the ability to be faster and stronger than most lycans besides the Moon Goddess?"
"I guess…" I trail off.
"Come on, why don't we go for a run before the meeting? I can tell it's been a while for you, and it will be too hot later" Nick suggests and starts heading into the bushes. He removes his clothes and places them at the foot of a tree. "Let Enyo take control. I'm sure she and Donny could use some fun," he smiles and then shifts.
His wolf, Donny, is a beautiful shade of brown and has a crescent moon-shaped marking on his forehead, like Enyos. This is the first time I've seen it besides in reflections of Enyo.
Enyo prances in my mind, "Please, Athena, I need to run," she says excitedly, as Donny comes over and sniffs my hand, then licks it.
"Okay," I say as I take another deep breath and move into the bushes as well to change out of my clothes. I place them near Nicks, and we shift. I hand over all the control to Enyo, and she turns to look at Donny and then howls and runs into the thick cover of trees.
I feel a peace I haven't felt for months as Enyo runs at full speed through the trees, with Donny close behind her. She stops now and then to sniff around or play chase with Donny, who chases us through the river that we heard earlier.
As we're running along, a breeze washes over us, and Enyo stops dead in her tracks as the smell of butterscotch fills our nose. Donny stops beside us and nudges us as if to ask what's wrong.
"What is that smell?" I ask Enyo as she lifts her head and breathes in the smell, trying to find where it's coming from.
"It smells like the trees at home," she says, sniffing around. "It's coming from this way!" She yells excitedly and runs at full speed in the scent's direction. After a few moments, though, the scent starts to fade, and we can't follow it any further. Enyo sniffs around frantically, trying to find it again.
"It's gone!" She whimpers.
"Why are you so sad?" I ask her.
"Because, dummy. I think that is the smell of our mate!"