Chapter 19 - Beth

She felt powerful as a wolf. Running with a pack beside her was intoxicating and heady, a feeling she couldn't get enough of. At times, she never wanted to shift back to a human. Things were simpler as a wolf. Words were sparse, and much could be solved with a growl. Even a fractured pack could come together in a hunt, moving as one, their howls and barks like a shared song between them.

It was her first hunt as a White Winter. She'd joined it only after everyone had shifted, saving herself the sideways glances and the remarks. If the other wolves were cold toward her, it lasted only as long as the first break of prey from the brush. In the thrill of the hunt, all was forgotten. She and Emma were in the lead, on the heels of a buck.

The ground was slick from yesterday's rain, and the deer was struggling, hooves slipping in the muck as it bounded through the forest. She could sense Devon somewhere to her left, behind her shoulder, ready to head the buck off should it dart in another direction. Her muscles flexed under fur.

Undergrowth cracked as the buck charged through it, whipping back toward the two wolves. They ducked under it as one and continued on, gaining on the beast. This part of the forest was vast, stretching all the way to the coastline, and it was new to Beth. The trees were skyscrapers, extending impossibly high, and vines roped from trunk to trunk.

Moss encased the trunks, dotted with mushrooms that were nothing but red and white blurs as they passed. She leaped off a log, landing in front of the buck, teeth bared. It spun and met Emma, standing tall atop the fallen tree. The buck was frothing with sweat, nostrils flared red, but it wasn't yet beaten. It ducked to the side and took off again, Devon snapping at its heels.

She needed this, she thought as she ran, closing the distance between herself and her mate. Needed this to prove herself to the pack. Sunlight dappled the ground in front of her, shafts breaking through the canopy. Her time spent captive had done her endurance no favors, and she shared the buck's heavy breathing and aching legs.

But this was not the time to give in to her body's demands. She dug deep inside of herself and broke even with Devon, following the beacon of the buck"s white tail. Its antlers caught in a vine, and the beast stumbled before wrenching them free. Devon and Beth were gaining on it.

She was pleased to see that Devon was not holding back, not even for her. Beth would never have forgiven him for it. Better to lose fairly than win in that way. But she still intended to win.

The forest had other ideas. A sloping hill led down to a stream, more than twenty feet across. They scrambled down the embankment, falling more than running now. Beth leapt. It was now or never as the deer approached the water"s edge. Her teeth caught its leg, raking fur and flesh from it but too late, the buck was in the air, leaping across the stream in a single bound she couldn't hope to match,

Trapped on the wrong side of the water, she let loose a howl. The other wolves skidded to a halt beside her, in time to see the deer depart on shaky legs, a ragged strip of fur hanging from its flank.

After the rainstorm, the stream was too violent to wade through. The current would pull them down to be buffeted by the rocks. Frustrated, they paced up and down the bank.

"At least you blooded it," Devon offered, nuzzling Beth's shoulder.

"It's not enough," she thought back. Not enough to impress the White Winters. She'd had her chance, and it hadn't been good enough.

But Emma's golden eyes were not mocking, now. She held a begrudging respect, and her posture, if not submissive, was at least not a challenge. The wolves loped home, exhilarated by the chase, and Beth let herself relax. Maybe it had been enough. The pack seemed at ease, joyful even.

They shifted back in the sunlit yard, stretching out well-used muscles in the grass. Beth stuck close to Devon, making a trio with Jonah, still unsure about her place without her alpha by her side. She stiffened as Emma approached, bracing herself for the confrontation that was, at this point, a guarantee.

"Not bad for a broodmare," Emma said, loud enough for the pack to overhear. "Especially one incubating a Rosewood bastard."

Devon sighed, but before he could get involved, Beth responded.

"This child is a White Winter," Beth said, hand on her stomach, "as am I. I'm your luna, and I"m staying no matter what you want. Speak to me with disrespect again, try to undermine my plans, and you'll be exiled from this pack, and from this land, without another warning."

She knew the words would hit hard. Exiling Emma from this land meant cutting her off from her brother's grave. It was extraordinarily cruel but she'd left Beth with no other choice in the matter. Emma looked to Devon for confirmation.

"I stand by Beth's decision," he said, voice firm though Beth knew he had agonized over it.

They had prepared themselves for the worst. If she had sowed enough doubt among the others, she might decide to take her chances in exile and take half the pack with her. She might turn it around and decide that Beth and Devon were too much trouble, too much risk, and attack them then and there.

Every eye was on them, their battlefield a meadow of wildflowers buzzing with lazy bees. Beth was ready to shift and fight if she had to. She'd protect her child at all costs. Emma's looked behind her at the other wolves. This was it, Beth thought, she's going to call them to battle. Her muscles tensed. Devon moved subtly in front of her, ready to push her out of harm's way.

But the attack didn't come. Emma's shoulders slumped as she turned back to face Devon and Beth, and the fire in her eyes was dulled to banked embers.

"Fine," she threw the word out with a nonchalant shrug, but Beth could see it cost her. "I submit to you as luna."

Devon exhaled, pushing his hands through his hair and tilting his head up to look at the sky. He hadn"t expected her to submit, either. After Emma's submission, the rest of the pack moved up, each giving their vows of submission and congratulations on her pregnancy. They were anything but heartfelt, and it worried Beth that they had only done so after Emma had vowed. It meant they still looked to her in a way for leadership. That hold over them would have to be slowly worked on.

Jonah squeezed Beth into a hug after the pack had wandered off. "I knew you could do it. My god it"s time for a change around here. These guys were ready to gnaw off their own legs."

Devon watched Emma go, Caleb at her side. "I'm not sure that's the end of it."

"It's not, but it's a start. Jonah's right. They're ready for a change. We just have to capitalize on that and make sure Emma feels like a part of this. If she goes along with it, the rest of the pack will. We need to lean on her. It'll make her feel important," Beth said. She almost wished it had gone the other way, with Emma's exile. This was the harder route. Earning Emma's respect would be an uphill battle.

"You're a good team," Jonah said, pointing at Devon and Beth. "That kid is going to have the best parents, almost as good as their uncle. Almost."

Devon snorted. "You're going to spoil the kid rotten, aren't you?"

"It's part of being the fun uncle, dude," Jonah laughed, trotting after the rest of the pack.

Alone in the field, Devon embraced Beth, mouth against her ear. "We did it. How do you feel?"

"Exhausted, relieved. Maybe a little disbelieving. Do you think she meant it?"

He took her hand and led her toward the garden. They took an overgrown path to a secluded spot, where a hammock hug between two oak trees, cooled by their shade. "I think she did, actually. I don't think she could handle losing the glen, losing our brother. He meant the world to her."

"And to you," Beth said, stretching out into the hammock. It was bliss after their hard run.

He climbed in beside her and she molded herself against him, his breath tickling the top of her head.

"Yes, but I can carry him with me regardless. Emma is more… she needs that space. A place to go where she can let her guard down. "

"Your whole family needs therapy," Beth said, hand snaking beneath his shirt. She pressed it flat against the firm muscle there and was pleased to hear his breath hitch.

The fire of the hunt was still burning inside her, fueled by the confrontation with Emma and the subsequent success. She wanted to quench it with him.

"I won't deny that," Devon replied, voice husky.

"Can they see us from the house?" Beth asked, looking up at him, eyes wide in the way he could never say to.

Devon shook his head. "We're hidden, though if their windows are open, I think they'd hear anything but the quietest conversation."

"Better find a way to muffle yourself then," Beth said, with a wicked grin.

She felt his cock stiffen through his shorts, her hand grazing over the fabric, coaxing it harder yet. Devon's hands were on her, and the way he knew exactly how to touch, where to touch, had her writhing against him. She wanted him, needed him, and couldn't waste another moment on preparation.

Her fingers fumbled at his zipper, and in a moment his cock sprang free, ready and eager for her. She turned on her side and shimmied the hem of her dress up. He pulled her panties to the side and slipped a finger in first, one, then another, despite her protests that she wanted nothing but his dick.

"Patience," he said, working her to the edge. Before she could reach it, he pulled his fingers away and slid inside of her, burying himself to the hilt in a single thrust.

She grabbed his hand and muffled her cry into it. His fingertips sank into the skin at her waist, pulling her back against him. With one hand, she clutched him and another the edge of the hammock, steadying herself as he moved against her.

It didn't take long for him to push her over the edge, this time with her clenching hard around the width of him. He was not far behind, thrusting harder as her orgasm shook her and biting down into her shoulder to strangle his moan when his own came a moment later.

Sweaty and satisfied, she angled her head back for a kiss. He stayed inside of her until he grew soft, the mess they'd made stick on her upper thighs. She loved the feel of it, the reminder of what they'd done.

They dozed together, his hand on her stomach, until the sun slanted in at an angle to wake them. She stirred first and kissed him awake, rewarded with his bleary eyes and smile.

"Must we go in?" He groaned.

"We must," she said, with another kiss to soothe him. "We have plans to make."

The house was cold after the heat of the sunny afternoon. A clamor of voices rose from the gym, where the pack had gone after the hunt. Beth was grateful not to face any of them then, not to see Emma's simmering rage. They settled into Devon's office, Beth at the desk.

"I say we write to Adria directly," she argued, pulling a sheet of paper in front of her. "She'll give the message to Spencer and she'll know how to couch it so he doesn't just fly off the handle."

Devon rubbed his chin, sitting on the edge of the desk. "I think it'd be disrespectful not to write directly to their alpha. It makes it seem underhanded, like we're going behind his back. I don't want to start strife in another pack."

They argued back and forth for a while, Beth adamant that she knew the Rosewoods best and Devon equally certain that he knew what an alpha would respond to. In the end, they compromised.

"One letter to each of them. My letter to Adria will just catch her up on everything that happened to me and a very subtle plea for her to encourage Spencer to listen to your letter. She'll want the meeting to happen, I know it. Even though she thinks terribly of the White Winter pack, I think she'll come around." Beth hoped she would. Her friend had faced so much hardship and violence that it might be difficult for her to look past it, even at Beth's behest.

"And you want to leave these, where exactly?"

"At the tree," Beth replied with more certainty than she felt. "That way, they'll know I had a hand in their writing."

"Isn't it risky? What if they catch us there?" Devon looked up from the letter he was penning. "I can't imagine they'd take that trespass lightly."

Beth's stomach clenched. "They wouldn't. We'll have to be careful, that's all. I think it's worth the risk."

Devon frowned but didn't argue. Beth finished her letter, feeling thrilled as she signed her name at the bottom. She was making decisions now, a leader in her own right. It spoke to a part of herself she had long buried when part of the Rosewood pack. There had been no room for advancement there. She'd forever be just one of the pack.

As a White Winter, she could do something. She could make changes and plans and create something worthwhile. It was a heady thing.

"Done?" Devon asked, folding his letter and sliding it into a cream-colored envelope. He took hers and added it next to his.

Across the desk, Beth smiled. "We've done it. The second step toward our goal."

Devon took her in, eyes darting around her face. "I've never seen this look in your eye. This suits you, doesn't it?"

"It does, Devon. I never realized how badly I needed to feel like I was making a difference. I never would have imagined it coming from a place like this. Kidnapped, pregnant, but now I feel alive?" She chuckled and touched her forehead. "Maybe there's something wrong with me."

He looked her in the eye, startling her with his seriousness. "There's nothing wrong with you, Beth. You were made for this, made to lead. Embrace it."

She intended to.