Jason noticed but was too weak to do anything impactful enough. He glared at me and back at Samantha, then towards all the other wolves around him. He knew he had lost and the fate of his life rested in my decision to whether to kill or banish him. But before I could make that decision, Samantha bounded a few steps and took to the air. Arms a stretch at Jason, her teeth bared in fury and her eyes shooting directly at his throat.
I did not shout, I did not run in an attempt to intercede, I just stood, watching. For one, it was quite a distance between where I stood and where my pack fought and won, whether I shouted, ran, or growled at Samantha, it was not going to change anything. Tough luck, Jason, was what I thought as I saw Samantha descend upon a weakened Jason. I wish things had turned out differently between you and me.
But Samantha never made it to Jason. She did, but at least not with her full force because out of absolutely nowhere, Samantha was intercepted by an arrow that struck her forelegs with such mighty speed, that it almost pierced its entire way through her upper left arm brutally.
Samantha fell to the ground abruptly, snarling and baring her teeth as she trashed in the dust recklessly, howling occasionally in between her cries and calling for help, but not without connecting a hard paw on the side of Jason's head that knocked him out cold, transforming him back to human form. Other wolves Samantha led turned towards the tree where the suspected archery bandit hid, all of them waiting for instructions from anybody to search the tree. The archer, on the other hand, waited for no instructions and ran out of his hiding spot to crouch beside the bleeding body of Jason.
The other wolves progressed towards the archer slowly but what he did shocked me: he cuddled Jason so tight that Jason was almost submerged in the embrace. But when the archer raised his head, his hood dropped and it all made sense.
It was Brenda who was ready to protect a beaten and tired Jason with her last breath. She snarled at the other wolves who came close, a snarl that sounded a lot like a wolf, but still human. She unslung her makeshift bamboo bow and arrow and brandished it, daring any further progression from any of her fellow pack wolves.
Soon they all stood down and transformed back to humans, two of them rushing over to Samantha who, unlike Jason who suffered more from exhaustion than injuries, had gone pale with the massive loss of blood caused by Brenda's arrow; a nasty injury it was in truth but unsurprisingly, I did not find anywhere in my heart to store an annoyance against Brenda.
Sure she had nearly killed a pack member which in itself was as bad as pack betrayal, but she seemed to have done it for a good reason; to save Jason's life which would have not been in trouble in the first place if I had not confronted him and said those words. The rest of the surviving fighters forced Brenda off Jason's body and dragged him away into the Abode where he would stand trial for his actions. A trial that he would most likely lose hands down.
Brenda cried as they dragged Jason away by his legs, allowing his head to bump into any rough obstacle on his own. She finally looked up and caught my stare. But she did not stare back, she glared back. Her new hatred for me is almost tangible through her eyes. Her beautiful eyes which I had always loved now held nothing but a dark omen for the future.
Before I could come up with something to say, Brenda had already run off into the night, taking with her, her bow and arrow.
I should send someone after her, I thought. No, I will go myself, it would be easier that way. It would be less complicated. I will just tell her to calm down and it will be fine. Perhaps I should give her some time alone.
Just maybe. That idea, however, left my head immediately as I realized something I should have realized since. The woods were not safe. Not in the least. Not after a bloody confrontation like this. Usually, just like I am, there are other Alphas out there hungry for territory and they'll stop at nothing to get it. Sometimes even if it meant feeding on the weak and preying on the injured.
There was going to be another pack out there now, searching for the source of the noise that came with our just concluded fight and desperately praying that we had devoured ourselves in the process so they come in and take the spoils, killing off whatever wolf is left and initiating those who wish to join the new pack.
I had to go after Brenda. She was not safe until at least a week had passed after the attack and no other wolf had stepped foot in our territory to scan for our survival conditions.
As I made my way towards the general direction I had seen Brenda run through, I chastised myself for my lousy decision-making recently. Brenda was indeed a distraction, she was making me reason things that I did not normally reason: mates, female wolves, and a deep masculine craving more, maybe the warm burrow; my attention had been too focused on thoughts concerning her that in my idle time, my mind clouds from any rational thoughts and her face filled my mind.
I was skipping lines during speeches in pack meetings anytime I saw her and though most people might not have noticed it yet, it had to stop. How on earth did I not think of the fact that other wolf packs will most likely ambush and ambush surviving packs because of its so many weak links, hence, there had to be some pride-seeking Alphas around with their packs. Well, I was busy thinking at that moment about her thoughts, thinking I should let her get some gap to clear her head.
If she was caught, the only gap she would be getting was the expansion of the one she naturally already had.
Holding onto that thought, I searched quickly around, scanning regularly, trying to assess any possible risks, while at the same time, searching for Brenda. It took a few minutes but I was able to trace her scent to the edge of the forest where the large river flowed through and at the other end, laid a city of man, just like the one that was close by southward. She sat by the creek, sobbing lightly but unaware of my presence.
I just sat and watched for a while as she did what she did – sit. From time to time, she fetched a stone and threw it into the water while whispering words to herself. Maybe she was recalling the events of the night, maybe she was practicing for a difficult conversation she was about to have, maybe she was praying: but for whom? Me, so I can be a more caring man to her like I was back when we had met? Was it Jason, so he could recover quickly and change his mind? Or was it herself, so she could pick the perfect man between him and Jason?
A weird thought came through his head. What if he dueled Jason for the right to Brenda's heart? Just what if.
After staring at Brenda to my fill to which there is no actual gauge, I decided to walk up to her. As I did just that, I realized that I had made another mistake I usually won't make – waste time. If a pack member was lost and I went to search for them, I would normally waste no time in bringing them back here as the open world was fraught with all kinds of dangers, and the safest place for the pack would be in the Abode.
Brenda did not notice my arrival until I got too close to her and sat beside her. "Hey?"
Brenda does not speak a word. She does not even spare me a glance through her side-eye. She just keeps her attention focused on the sand. In front of her folded legs, she had drawn the pictorial depiction of a scary wolf. The wolf looked a lot like Samantha's own.
Two things came to mind: first, she was feeling sorry for what she had done to Samantha and was hoping she did not die, or second, which was the most likely option of the two, was feeling jealous as she had always felt all her life and since she could not become a werewolf in real life though she was birthed to two, she had now had to become a werewolf through her imaginations that she lived through drawings in the sand.
"Brenda?" I called again, extending my arms to caress her face.
"Don't touch me!" she recoiled, pushing my arms away.
"What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?!" she finally turned to face me, flaring in anger and disbelief at my question. My conscience fell when I saw her face.
It was not the face I had known.
Brenda was timid, yes. She never really felt as though she was a part of the pack because of her inability to transmute into a werewolf. Still, she was lively if she wanted to, she was serene, but still emitted radiances of light, peace, and love.
But the Brenda that now stared at me was different. This one had been reduced to tears, her eye was bloodshot, and her anger was visible by her mere stare. It was not a pleasing sight.
Her aura now discharged hatred, sadness, and cold-heartedness. She was far beyond the level where a simple beg for forgiveness would make a considerable amount of change. Regardless, I tried to reason with her.
"Brenda?" I called again. She had turned away and was even more determined to ignore my presence.
"I had no choice but to protect the pack. It's what I do as an alpha. It is what is required of me. Nothing less."
"You are wicked," Brenda spat bitterly. The intensity in the words showed that she was holding a lot inside and insulting me was all it took for her not to strike out violently.
"You wanted him dead."
"I did not. You know very well I did not."
"I don't know, Dominic. I don't know. If you cared so much about him, you would have stopped Samantha. You could have told your wolves to stand down."
"Then what? Risk losing being Alpha to Jason."
"Is being Alpha all you care about in this life?"
"No. I care about other things. I care about the pack; our general well-being. That's why I fought and I care about you too."
"If you did care about me, you wouldn't have let that amount of damage befall Jason while you stood there like an all-knowing God waiting for a grand greater good scheme to unfold."
"I'm sorry." I finally begged.
"Your apologies would not mean anything when Jason is banished, would it?"
"I am Alpha. I preside over these sorts of cases. I will let him stay. For nature knows that I was the cause of what had happened today."
When I said those words, Brenda looked up at me in what I suspected to be awe. Her eyes were not all that dark and grim anymore, there was a trace of hope and gratitude; though I doubt that gratitude was for me.
"You need to come now. The pack will soon go searching for us. There are no safe trees in these forests after a pack fight. You should know that."
With that, we both set out to the Abode to regroup with the rest of the pack who I knew were waiting for me in regards to Jason's case.
To save time and quickly avoid any neighboring pack, Brenda and I both decided to run. She was a great deal slower than I so instead of insisting I slow down, surprisingly, she let me ride her to a safe distance before she dismounted. We walked normally to the Abode from that point onwards.
When I got there, I saw that all the other members of the pack had gathered from their dwelling and were gathered around Jason; they had wasted no time to tie in chains.
From their expression, I could tell that some were disappointed – they had not expected this from him.
But even more so, many were surprised. How could he do this to us? I heard someone say. Jason was going through this rough time and it was all my fault, but as it stood, I would not accept the fault, not yet, until I was in safe distance of the very place I had the most dominance.
I strutted regally to the stand in front of Jason, towering over him and looking down at him as if he were a child I was about to scold.
From left and right, front and back, I heard suggestions on certain punishments that I should meet out on Jason. I laughed inside of me. If only some of those people knew what I had in plan for him, they would not be shouting out curses.
I raised my hands and all the speaking mouths felt dumb. "Aariv once said, it was the most unwise to mete out judgment instantaneously after the offense is committed. There are more variables outplayed in your mind than you are currently aware of. As such, I will allow the morrow to arrive before any judgment is meted out to anyone. I urge you all now to retire to your dwellings and have a good night's rest. We have a very busy day ahead of us by tomorrow. Any more objects anyone would like me to be aware of?"
In truth, no one would dare to object, but that was a calculated move on my path to make the pack feel as if their opinions were needed for me to make any decision.