Not being able to join them is frustrating to say the least, but I promised Hope I’d stay clear of the fighting as much as possible. She knows me too well, and I was relieved when it was decided that we Alphas should stay back, monitor and deploy rather than fight tooth and claw.
Hallec and Iona, his mate, are in the thick of the fighting. They are both members of the Blackshadow Warrior Council, and I politely asked them to stay at the pack and guard it. They just smiled, and although they knew I wanted them to be safe, they came anyway. The rogues are falling back, and their superior numbers appear to be dwindling fast.
I’m drawn out of my thoughts by a mind link calling out to me.
‘Alpha Connell! To your right! To your right.’
Recognizing the voice as Caleb, my Beta, I look to see what he has seen. A small group of warriors is moving around the battlefield, and I’d say they were looking for a way out of this mess.
‘I see them, Caleb.’
‘Alpha Connell, look more closely. One of that group is Bellamy!’
Taking a second, more careful look, I see that he is right. Bellamy! He was one of my friends long ago, but crept away from the pack one night and never returned. His betrayal was not only painful as his Alpha but more so that he fooled me as his friend.
Striding through my warriors, I head that way, and I’m determined that Bellamy will not escape from the battlefield. Watching as they approach our front I order my warriors to allow them to think they are slipping away. Mind linking with Lyle, I let him know what’s happening. It doesn’t take long for him to respond that he will meet me and support me with my personal mission.
Approaching the fighting, I focus on the group as they near me. I’m concentrating on Bellamy, when Lyle arrives beside me.
“Which one is your target?” Lyle asks quickly. Pointing out Bellamy, he adds, “Good. The tall one with the all-black eyes is mine. I believe we have Number Seven! I haven’t seen Arric anywhere as yet, but this one will do for now.”
Stepping forward quickly, I put myself directly in Bellamy's path. He tries to strike me, but I block the blow and state, “Hello, Bellamy. It’s been a long time since we last met. Just before you slunk out of the Blackshadow pack lands, crawling on your belly so you wouldn’t get caught.”
“Connell!” His eyes are wide in shock, and he reeks of fear. “What are you doing here? We’re miles from Blackshadow Pack’s land.”
“You’re king declared war on the entire sector, Bellamy. Surely you knew that? Having no sense of loyalty yourself, I suppose you wouldn’t expect us to look out for each other and face you rogues as one.” I sense movement to my right, but before I can do anything, Lyle is there.
“Not so fast, warrior of the Shadow Clan,” Lyle states as he blocks his sneak attack on me. “We don’t want to interfere with this reunion quite so quickly now, do we?” There is a moment of surprise in the all-black eyes, but it is quickly masked.
Bellamy tries to move away, but the fighting around us has made his fleeing impossible. Realizing he has nowhere to run, he turns to face me.
“You have a Luna to think of now, Connell. You shouldn’t involve yourself in things that could take you away from her. You really shouldn’t.”
“You think too highly of yourself if you imagineyoucould keep me from her.”
His attack is faster than I expect but so predictable that I deflect him easily, raking my claws down his arm as I do so. I hear him hiss as my claws draw blood.
As I would expect of him, he looks for an escape route, and finding none, he shifts to his wolf and growls viciously. Knight bursts forth and stands a head taller than Bellamy’s Czar. They circle slowly, and Knight seems in no hurry to kill Czar, though it would be plain for anyone to see that Knight could end this quickly if he chose to.
Czar stiffens momentarily, and that is all the warning Knight needs. Czar launches his attack, but his snapping teeth find only empty air. When he walks slowly to the right to circle Knight, there is blood on the ground, and it drips from Czar’s neck. Anger shows in his eyes and he attacks again, only to find more empty air, and more blood dripping from his neck. Fear replaces the anger now, and Knight makes several attacks of his own, each time skipping away unharmed but leaving more cuts on Czar. The blood is dripping considerably now, and Czar knowsit is all but over, I’m sure. He takes a lunge at one of Knight's forelegs. There is a loud crunching sound only it isn’t Knight's foreleg that makes the sound. Knight has a hold on the back of Czar’s neck and with a quick shake and a loud snap, it is all over. Bellamy is dead, and I feel no sorrow for my or Knight's actions.
LYLE
Seeing Number Seven making his sneak attack on Connell, it is easy to step in and stop it. When I let him know that I know what he is, a warrior of the Shadow Clan, he is surprised. Leaving Bellamy to his fight, I concentrate on my own. Keeping him off balance will probably be the key to my success.
“So Shadow Clan, do they give you proper names or are you just a number to them?” I’ll try taunting him and see if that gets a response.
“Lyle of the Spirit Walker Pack, I’m disappointed that your intelligence network couldn’t find that piece of information.” Laughing because he feels I am at a disadvantage, I respond quickly.
“You were never a high enough priority for us to bother with such things. Besides which, we already had a name for you.” Knowing he won’t be able to resist, I wait for him to ask.
“Oh? And what might that have been?”
“We just called you ‘Number Seven.’ It was enough that we knew about you, and it suited at the time.” I can see he doesn’t like this.
“Where would such an outlandish name come from?” Yes! I have him now. I can see the annoyance, so all I have to do is turn it to anger and he’ll make the mistake I need to kill him.
“Remember when you were sneaking around my pack lands? Checking up on Arric’s little encampments?” Pausing for a little dramatic effect, I continue, “You remember sneaking up to the little camp of those insignificant spies or whatever you’d call them.”
