Chapter 5 - Senna

The cold air bit at my ankles as I waited outside the Edwards compound. I was still unsure why Terrance had brought me here. I had no reason to join them at the meeting, and it should be Reginald here. The beta had killed another wolf, another beta, and despite what anyone wanted to say about the man, Reginald was bound to do something just as stupid again.

He'd been an impulsive bastard since he'd joined the pack a few days after Terrance took over, and we all knew that wasn't about to change.

Why is he not here? Why is Terrance so obsessed with covering for him?

My gut twisted as nervous energy continued to flood me, along with something else that I couldn't place. My toes had also started to go numb, and I glared down at the ancient boots on my feet that offered little warmth or protection from the elements.

Behind the shaky tiredness brought out by the cold, my chest felt heavy, but also…pulled. It was as if some invisible tether was subtly yanking me in a particular direction. In this case, toward the Edwards house and inside. I didn't like it, but there was no reason to give any of my so-called wolf abilities any credence. I knew better than most how unreliable my senses could be.

The ache in my fingers from the frigid air worsened. I rubbed my hands together before stuffing them deeper into the pockets of my too-thin jacket. There was a hole in the right pocket, however, and a slight breeze slipped up from the bottom hem and brushed across my knuckles. A guard stood by me, and I looked over at him—not for the first time.

"Can you please tell me why I'm here?"

The guy snarled, baring his still-human teeth. The others had shifted to run here, pulling me on a flimsy sled. I'd nearly fallen into the snow at least four times, and my ass bones still hurt from sitting on the uneven bars that ran along the bottom of the shitty cushion. Now, all the wolves here were back in human form. They needed to talk, after all, and you can't really do that as a wolf, now can you?

"No." He adjusted his shoulders, and my attention snapped to the gun holster beneath his arm and under his jacket.

True wolves ran hot, me less so. My attendant here had his jacket unzipped, and it was clear he was prepared for trouble. I didn't know if that trouble would be me or the Edwards, though. I didn't put it past Terrance to allow this man to shoot me if I tried to make a break for it or resisted too much.

"I don't know why you're here, and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. I don't fucking care to help the wolfless bitch who doesn't know when to just shut up. Or do us all a favor and die on a supply run."

The words were cruel, of course, but they were hardly the worst I'd heard. So, I just rolled my eyes and tried to distract myself from the endless wait in the winter cold by staring at the house again.

It was massive, a wood and stone fortress that was in much better shape than the Collins pack house. It didn't look militaristic, though. The large building, even with its obviously thicker walls and large boulder-like accents, looked like a home.

A real home.

Smoke billowed from a few chimneys, and I could make out the smooth curves of curtains hung in the windows. Even in winter, I could see the dormant plants of a cultivated garden and landscape that circled the entire house. There was a considerable porch—at least, I assumed it was huge—that wrapped around to the back of the house. I could only see the frontmost portion of it, but it could be reasonably assumed that the wood slats continued at the rear to make a large deck.

There was also something about the wooden walls, the long beams running up and down the length of each wall, that gave the impression of a house well-loved for generations. The red of the paint was slightly faded, but it worked. It looked good on the building.

The creak of hinges snapped my attention back to the door where we waited.

"Inside. Now, " Terrance's temporary beta snapped at me as he stuck his head out of the house, and I was shoved forward by the pack mate at my back. I fought the shaking that threatened to drive me to my knees as I stepped forward, clenching my hands into fists to hide their trembling.

I immediately pulled up to a stop once I was inside. The meeting was apparently taking place right in the front vestibule. The air was thick with warmth, and the sudden change in temperature made me abruptly tired.

Raking my stare across the high ceilings of the large entryway, I silently marveled at the reinforced sense of home the interior offered. Deep, dark wood accents covered every corner, also creating a chair rail wall with thick rectangular panels. The walls themselves were a deep yellow, but it was hard to see behind the dozens of framed paintings and photographs that covered them.

The massive wooden staircase that stood before me had smooth, curved edges and ran straight up the middle of the house, where it created a landing that overlooked the room. Wolves stood there, barely suppressing angry growls.

Deep, reddish wood also covered the floor. My steps made them creak as I was shoved another step forward by the wolf at my back. A large rug sat at the base of the stairs, red and black and blue designs intricately woven from wool.

Large, burnt-copper sconces perched on the walls, their firelight flickering as wind swept across the hall from outside. My eyes tracked how it flowed through the room, rustling hair and clothing.

But then my gaze fell. That buzzing beneath my skin had doubled down, yanking my attention so firmly that I couldn't fight it. The pull in my chest snapped taut as I stood before whatever it was leading me toward.

And then I saw him.

This can't be.

The alpha I'd slept with, my…

Mate.

He stood just before the set of huge stairs. His silver hair tussled like he'd been raking his hands through them over and over, was as gleaming as ever. The deep well of his dark green eyes was as alluring as ever.

Was that the pull, the desperate need to get in here? Was it because of him?

I roamed my eyes across his body, and an odd, unwanted hum started in my blood. He was as tall as I remembered, maybe taller, and the alpha wore a dark-colored flannel button-down. It fell open at the top, revealing a hint of his muscular chest against the crisscrossing plaid pattern.

The alpha had also rolled the sleeves up the elbows again, like he had that night. His intricate pack tattoos were plainly visible on his inner forearms, and I studied those geometric patterns again. It was almost like they created a landscape—a circle sun bisected by a triangle mountain with two more triangles coming off that one to depict rivers or valleys.

There was even something that could be understood as a crescent moon and dot-like stars.

Well-worn jeans hugged his legs, a dark wash that added to the menacing, if laid-back, appearance he presented. He also wore dark boots, thick and chunky. I could see him clobbering over twigs and branches in the woods in them after a shift.

"Alpha, may I present Senna Richards." My attention switched briefly to Terrance, who spoke through gritted teeth.

"What's happening?"

My heart skipped over itself, and I watched as the man I knew, my fucking mate, stepped forward from his position. Oh Gods, you've got to be kidding me? My mate is an…an Edwards? Their alpha?

"Shut it!" Terrance took a step closer to me, raising his hand in warning.

I shrank back, the burn of his alpha claim itching through me like a thousand insect bites. It choked me, nearly driving me to my knees. He'd never pushed so much of his presence into his words for me. I was sure he'd done it for others, but Terrance simply never bothered with the wolfless wonder.

"Watch your tone in my house, Collins." I looked up at the Edwards alpha, but his eyes were pinned to Terrance. "If she is indeed going to be relinquished, you're going to need to release that alpha claim."

My mind was reeling, and I was trying to pick up on what they were saying by context alone. But the alpha before me was giving me nothing. Shock reverberated through me—that need to be close to him—but the Edwards alpha hadn't even looked at me. It was like I didn't exist.

Doesn't he remember? Doesn't he feel it?

My heart sank even further into the recesses of darkness within my ribs. It had been a year, of course, and the man had fled after only a brief meeting. Maybe he honestly had no reason to remember me. But…

The call, the pull of our bond. Did he actually not feel a thing? I'd been taught so little about wolf unions and the like. Terrance wasn't about to allow me a mate in the pack, and why would I find anyone outside of it? We didn't interact with other wolves, which had always struck me as odd.

The likelihood of finding a mate within a small pack, only taking in the rare few, was slim. How were we meant to survive like that? But no one had ever talked to me about it. No one talked to me about anything.

Wait, why had the alpha said relinquished?

Flicking my attention back to Terrance and my mate, I watched them scowl at each other. Terrance's alpha status was still crushing down on me, making it difficult to breathe at this point, and then it suddenly stopped as he reined it in.

Nearly collapsing to the floor, I heaved in a breath of fresh air, smelling the homey scent of burning wood and something vaguely spicy as I stood in this much cozier home.

The Edwards alpha took another step forward, his stare at last finding me, but only for a moment. He looked to Terrance again, and my alpha's gaze burned hard as they silently battled with each other. I still didn't entirely understand what I was doing here.

Did Terrance intend to share my services to fetch supplies? It was the only thing I was really good at, and my being without a wolf didn't trigger the same concern from the humans. I was less of a threat to them, and if something did go wrong, stress wouldn't force me into a shift.

My alpha eventually lowered his head, only a hair, but the entire room noticed the gesture. As my lips parted slightly in shock, Terrance grabbed me by the arm and shoved me forward.

"Here then." I stumbled to the floor at the Edwards alpha's feet. "I'll do it if you are accepting this sacrifice of retribution."

My heart skipped over itself, flailing as it tried to find a normal rhythm. I looked back at Terrance, my eyes burning as I struggled for air. His cold stare landed on me.

"You're…you're going to—"

"You are to be," Terrance lowered his chin, looking under his brows at me, "the required sacrifice, Senna Richards."

He stood once more, his voice now booming through the room. "Jet Edwards, will you take this sacrificial lamb as a means to uphold the peace? You may offer up her life under the blooded moon as our penance for your loss. I, Terrance Collins, give up my claim as alpha on this wolf so that you might take this breeding omega and extinguish the flame of hurt between us."

The pulse at my neck was a furious beat, my heart nearly trying to tear itself from my ribcage. Terrance had started the process of removing me from the pack. Excommunication. And it burned across every nerve like a raw electrical charge.

"Do you accept!"

Terrance raised his arm forward, stretching it out to clasp hands with the Edwards alpha, with Jet.

Invisible, crushing weight pinned me to the floorboards. I forced myself to look up at the silver-haired wolf. My mate. He stared at his pack for what felt like eons, raking his green stare across each one of them. But his scan of the room came to a stop at Terrance, and he locked eyes with the enemy wolf.

Lifting his arm, Jet stole a glance in my direction before sealing his arm to Terrance's.

"I do!"

No, no. How can you do this? Is he…Is he really going to fucking execute me? This can't be happening.

Thunder cracked through my bones, and my alpha, my former alpha, looked down at me a final time.

"I renounce you from Pack Collins. You are excommunicated."

Pain ricocheted through each of my limbs, and I hollered, whimpering as it wracked through me. I was freed from Terrance, his jagged, malicious nature pulled from my veins, and I spit a small mouthful of blood onto the floor.

A strange relief washed over me as that constant oppressive energy was removed. I wanted to be happy about being free of that asshole, but the reality of what was happening was so much worse.

I was packless. A lone wolf. And every fiber of my being recoiled from the searing pain.

Mateless. Wolfless. Packless.