In a clearing, deep in the woods of the Borough, Ashina Lockhart was on her knees weeping profusely. Struggling to control herself, she looked up at the night sky, staring at the moon lighting up the woods. The last thing she wanted was for Ulva, her alpha and mentor, to think her weak.
Her thick long hair fell down the sides of her face, giving her a haunting look as her fingers pressed into the ground, balling into a fist as she grabbed soil.
"You have no right…" she muttered under her breath. "Please, don't make me do this."
Beside her, Ulva who was leaning against a tree, watched her calmly. He pursed his lips as approached her, "I'm sorry I have to ask this of you, Shine. However, I'm the alpha of our pack, I have a duty to do what needs to be done."
"No, I refuse to believe that. There has to be another way, why the fuck don't you want to try another way?"
"What makes you think I haven't considered all that? Huh?" Ulva demanded, "I know that I'm asking a lot, but for the good of the pack, sacrifices must be made. Just consider this as one of yours."
"Sacrifices are by choice, and I choose not to make this. You cannot make me."
"Make you?" Ulva gently lifted by the chin so she could look at him, he used a finger to wipe her tears, then parted the hair from her tear-stricken face. He shook his head sadly at her, "Girl, you seem to be under the impression that I'm asking you. I'm not."
His claws emerged from his fingers as they tightened around her neck, "one way or another, this is going to happen. And it must be you."
"Ulva… please… don't do this!" Ashina begged as she was pulled to her feet. She struggled against his iron grip, "I can't breathe."
"Well, that's the plan, Shine. I have to make the tough choice here. This is it, Shine! You choose not to understand and it's making everything so fucking hard!"
Ulva slammed her against a tree, causing it to tremble all over as he continued to squeeze. Ashina could feel herself fade out, black spots appeared in her vision. Ulva was killing her!
"No!" Ashina let out a scream as she grabbed the hand strangling her and wrenched it off her neck. With a savage growl, she rammed her fist into his chest, causing him to stagger backward as he slammed into a tree.
Ashina fell to her knees, coughing hard as she sucked in big gulps of air. From the corner of her eyes, she watched as Ulva got back to his feet and flew in her direction. She immediately rolled to the side, avoiding the deadly swipe that was coming for her throat.
"Ulva! Please stop!" She cried as her alpha circled around once more and flew at her.
This time, she was better prepared. She stood her ground as Ulva ran fully at her. When he was close enough, she simply sidestepped and grabbed him by the neck. With a furious growl, she hoisted him into the air and slammed him on the ground, rattling his body.
"The hybrid's bite weakened you!" She rasped in his face, "you're in no state to fight me. This is not a fair fight! Please Ulva, I'm begging you!"
In response, the alpha simply wrapped his legs around her and tried to trap her hands. With a grimace, she lifted Ulva's body with one hand and threw him against a tree. At once, cracks appeared all over the.
With a grunt of pain, Ulva fell to the ground, breathing hard as he grinned at her.
"That's my girl," he said as he wiped blood off his lips.
"No, I'm not doing this!" Ashina turned and ran off into the woods.
"I don't think so!" Ulva said as he grabbed a fallen branch and hurled it at her. The branch hurtled through the air like a missile and slammed into the back of her head. Ashina pitched forward and fell face-first to the ground. "It's not over until I say it is!"
The alpha caught up with her and grabbed her by the collar as he lifted her to her feet.
"After everything I've done for you? Are you seriously going to make me beg you for something like this? I took you in! I made you family, Shine! My family!!!" With a howl of rage, he flung her through the air. She hurtled like a rag doll and smashed through the cracked tree trunk, cutting it cleanly in two. "I need you to do this, for me!"
"Don't you dare talk to me about family! What's wrong with Drake or even Lena making this sacrifice? Huh?" Ashina demanded as she rolled on the ground and surged to her feet, "there are so many you could have chosen Ulva, why me?"
Ulva wiped some blood off his forehead. He stared at it for a few seconds before licking it off his thumb, "it has to be you, Shine. That's all I can tell you."
Just then, he bounded towards her, his claws going for her throat once more. She jumped out of the way as she trapped the hand with hers, and then with a savage scream, she yanked it upward, snapping the bone just at the elbow.
Ulva let out a terrifying growl as pain shot through his body like poison. He staggered away from her, his good hand raised to strike another blow but she caught the hand and threw her entire body against him so they flew through the air and slammed into another tree.
Ulva was breathing fast as he stared at her, Ashina noticed there were tears in his eyes, and she felt her resolve weaken. She released his hand but he grabbed her by the shirt and immediately turned them around, slamming her back against the tree with such force that the ground trembled from the collision.
"I'm not going to stop, Shine," he told her. "There is only one way this is going to end!"
His hand was back around her throat, squeezing it as hard as he could. Ashina felt all the breath leave her body as she was pressed hard against the tree trunk. The black spots returned as her brain was deprived of oxygen. She was about to wrench his fingers off her throat, but she stopped herself. She didn't want to fight him anymore.
This only encouraged him to squeeze harder, pressing her against the tree with everything he had.
"Come on, Shine!" He growled. "Come on!"
Just then, she felt a burning sensation as she began to turn. She screamed out in pain as her canines jutted out of her gums and her claws protracted from her nails. When she opened her eyes again, they were blazing yellow as they stared at Ulva.
She grabbed the hand and yanked it off her neck. She wrapped her legs around her alpha and pulled him closer until his face was only inches from hers. Before he could even yelp in pain, her fingers cupped his jaw and gripped it tight. Then, with a roar of anger, she snapped his neck. There was a sick crack that filled the air as his neck broke, his eyes immediately rolled back into his head and he fell against her.
Just then, a dark cloud floated past the full moon, and it was immediately followed by a massive thunder that shook the trees of the woods. The cloud then vanished as quickly as it had come, unleashing the soft beam of the moon on them once again. Ashina felt something like a big blow slam into her chest, causing her to gasp in pain. It was swift and in the next second, it was gone. However, she knew exactly what it was.
Ashina unwrapped herself from Ulva and he fell to the ground with a dull thud, his broken neck and hand were askew from the rest of his body. She stood for a few seconds, her breath coming in huffs as she stared at her dead alpha, her entire body shaking from the horror of what she just did.
Falling to her knees, she let out a loud howl that punched through the thick canopy of the trees, upsetting the birds and animals that resided in the branches. What she had just done was an abomination, one that would upset the balance of the pack in a way no one had ever seen before!