Chapter 28: Aria

Chapter 28: Aria

Oswald and Mara circled one of the Silent Shadows’ wolves like a pair of vultures. It wasn’t until we got closer that I recognized her as Esther, and that was all I needed to erupt into a breakneck tackle, leaping at Mara before she could lay a fang on my friend. “Get away from her!”

Our bodies collided, releasing a yelp from Mara in surprise. We hit the ground rolling, kicking, and biting before Mara threw me off of her and fumbled to her feet. “You!” she shrieked, bristling with rage uncharacteristic of the usually demure, innocent beauty. “This is all your fault! None of this ever would have happened if you just did as you were told!”

“It never had to happen in the first place,” I barked back. “Stop this insanity, Mara!”

The silver wolf’s eyes lit up. “It’s too late! Nothing can stop me now!” She reeled her head back, spewing a banshee’s cackle as if she’d already won.

A glint of bronze on her neck caught my attention. Nestled in Mara’s fur, there was the seventh medallion of the Council. The medallion that once hung around Lucas’ father’s neck. I gasped, searching for Lucas in the mayhem. “Lucas, look!”

He had pinned down Oswald and was fighting to protect his own throat. Lucas glanced up at me, then at Mara, spotting the medallion too. “No...!”

But that briefest distraction allowed Oswald to sink his teeth into Lucas’ shoulder. Lucas snarled, overcome with rage and diving back into the fight.

“Oh, this?” Mara sneered, gloating over the medallion. “This is rightfully mine, Aria! As is everything in the Silent Shadows Pack. I’m taking back what belongs to me! To us!”

Blood rushed so loudly in my ears that I couldn’t focus on anything else. “What are you talking about?”

“You’ll see,” warned Mara, her voice darkening. “Once we bring you back home, you’ll see exactly what you’ve been missing. You’ll understand what Oswald and the rest of your family have truly been fighting for!”

Without leaving me any time to wonder, Mara lunged at me, her gaping jaws aiming for my face. I backpedaled, quickly calculating a counter at the cost of my muzzle. Her fangs dragged across the bridge of my nose, but I managed to anchor my back feet, rear up, and swing my head around, capturing her maw in my teeth. With the crushing force of my jaw, I clamped her muzzle shut and braced my feet, holding Mara in place.

Realizing that she was trapped, Mara thrashed wildly, ripping herself out of my grip and shredding her muzzle in the process. Only she didn’t spill blood. What leaked from her wound was a sick dark smoke instead, as if she wasn’t made of flesh but something else entirely.

“What...?” I stared in confusion. Mara stared back like she didn’t expect to be injured.

It didn’t matter. I had to defeat her. Seeking my next opening, I dove for her front leg, but Mara pulled back and evaded me completely. Frustrated, I dove again, and she continued dodging me, this time avoiding any contact with me. Now I was the one on the offensive. With a righteous growl, I lunged one more time, aiming for Mara’s neck.

My teeth hit metal. Desperate to grab a hold of her, I locked my jaw and ripped. Mara wrenched away at the same time, snapping the cord around her neck. Her eyes widened as she realized what I held in my teeth. She’d lost the medallion to me.

“No!” cried Mara. Black wisps of unnatural miasma gushed like sludge from her orifices, drooling from her maw, trickling from her eyes. She searched the scene in a panic, backing away from the fight. Realizing that Oswald was too engrossed in his own clash, Mara had no choice but to forfeit. She spun around, fleeing without another word.

I didn’t want to let her go. I wanted to scream after her, call her a coward, and tell her to come back and fight me. I wanted to make her pay! But I... I was better than that, and after the first few steps, I saw my packmates still languishing around me and realized I was needed here.

Esther was tending to someone’s wounds nearby. I raced toward her, dropping the medallion at her feet. “Keep this safe,” I told her, meeting her eyes, so she understood. She stared in surprise at the medallion but nodded, understanding. I took off back to Lucas and Oswald.

Oswald struggled under Lucas’ weight. His eyes gaped in desperation, feet kicking as blood poured through his fur. “You won’t win!” Oswald rambled at Lucas. “I’ll get her back, you thief! Despicable, pathetic excuse for an Alpha!”

Lucas merely stared in disgust at the writhing Alpha. Noticing me approaching, he stood straighter, flashing pity in his eyes. “End this, Aria.”

I nodded. Throwing my head back, I let loose a series of quick, sharp howls, begging for the attention of all those fighting. “Enough is enough!” I shouted. “Grey Creek Pack, your Alpha is no longer fit to lead you. Retreat now!”

At first, the fighting surged on; but one or two wolves stopped to listen, and they inspired others to do the same. Soon, half of the combatants had paused, Grey Creek soldiers detaching from their Silent Shadows counterparts.

“There is no reason to continue this fight,” I told them. “Your Alpha’s selfishness is all that brought you here. Rebuke him, reclaim your dignity, and go back home! Nothing is worth the violence and bloodshed he’s forced on you!”

The Grey Creek wolves looked among one another, at first indecisive, even skeptical; then, slowly, it dawned on them that they were losing a battle fought for nothing but pride. Even they didn’t even seem to know why Oswald and Mara wanted to take me back. They blindly followed the commands of an Alpha once tactical, wise and sound of mind. But he had gone so off course that nothing he did made sense, and they realized it.

As the carnage wound down, Oswald broke his focus off of Lucas to look frantically around the park. “Mara, help me! Mara?” His voice rose in anger and confusion, failing to understand why he was suddenly alone. “What did you do with Mara?”

My paws brought me back to Oswald, prone underneath Lucas. “She’s gone, Oswald. She abandoned you.”

His eyes burned. “No! She wouldn’t do that! Mara!” Oswald called for his mate, but she would never come back to his aid. I knew right down to my soul that she had left him here to die. As he screamed and howled, a fraction of my heart broke for the Grey Creek Alpha.

But then he locked eyes on me, and his rage manifested into vicious psychosis. “You did this!”

Oswald strained to pull himself out from under Lucas. Lucas snarled, holding him in place, and in a fit of rage, Oswald lashed at Lucas, flinging his teeth at Lucas’ throat.

Lucas echoed Oswald’s anger in rare, abrupt reciprocation. For just fleeting seconds, there was a blazing fury in Lucas’ eyes, reducing him to the same primal reaction driven by instinct to protect himself, his pack, and me. Lucas clamped down on Oswald’s throat without thought and ripped, punishing him for all the destruction he brought.

The air left my lungs as I watched blood gush from the wound. Shock froze me in time. I didn’t think Lucas would resort to such brutality, but he had no choice. This had to be done. Even Lucas understood the gravity of his actions the moment he’d done it, but he held firm, looming over Oswald as the life left his body. Oswald gurgled and twitched, breath hissing from his throat in a few final desperate claws for survival. His eyes rolled over to me, searching. For what, I didn’t know.

I had nothing for him but cold pity.

The man I spent my entire life admiring and dedicated everything to, who rejected and hated me, was going to get what he deserved.

Finally, Oswald fell still, and a weight was lifted from my heart. I didn’t realize I’d been holding my breath until then. As Lucas’ body relaxed, I stepped to his side, urging him to step away from Oswald and take refuge in my warmth. Blood soaked his fur, not entirely his own. He was tired from the fight, tired from what he had to do, and gratefully leaned into me while I kissed his temple. “Whatever was wrong with him, it’s over now. He’ll be able to find peace,” I whispered gently to Lucas.

I would never have thought I’d be the one soothing him over Oswald’s death, but I could tell it shook him up. He didn’t like having to take a life. I appreciated him all the more for that.

Once Lucas regained his composure, he set his shoulders straight and looked out over the crowds. We had garnered everyone’s attention with the death of Oswald Moore. Through the crowd, Emma and Cassie pushed to the forefront, both of them wounded and clearly involved in the fight. Even my father had come to raid the Silent Shadows Pack. It surprised me, even disappointed me, to see them here, but in a way, I wasn’t entirely surprised.

“Thank God he’s dead!” said Emma. “I didn’t think I could take any more fighting!”

“I don’t know why we even listened to him in the first place,” said Cassie.

My father grunted and shouldered past them. “Forgive us, Aria,” he said. “We’re so sorry. Please, let us make it up to you and your pack!”

I blinked at them. “Are you serious...?”

“Yes!” My father limped toward me, obviously hamming it up to elicit sympathy.

But it wouldn’t work. I remembered vividly how little they cared for me before.

Even Lucas saw through them. He curled his lips, flashing teeth in a last-ditch show of dominance, and stepped in front of me. “Don’t you dare speak another word to my mate,” snarled Lucas.

Words stalled in my throat. Lucas called me his mate?! But there were too many other issues at hand to focus on.

“Exactly,” said my father. “She’s going to be the Alpha Female of the Silent Shadows Pack. Let us serve her as we should have, back in the Grey Creek Pack!”

I scoffed. “Get over yourselves! You have no place here, not with the way you treated me before!” I wanted to keep calm and composed, but I couldn’t help the anger coursing through my veins. It was a long, difficult day, and I was seconds from snapping. Pausing to breathe in slowly through my nose, I took my place beside Lucas and stared at my family. “The smartest thing for you and the entire Grey Creek Pack is to go home and take Oswald with you. Leave and find yourselves a new Alpha. We have our own wolves to take care of.”

“But Aria!”

I bared my teeth in authority. “Go!”

My father winced, tipping his ears back. Without another word, he retreated with my sisters, and the rest of the pack followed. They collected Oswald’s body, carrying it on the back of the largest soldier, my old teacher, Mr. Ross. I didn’t move until the last Grey Creek Pack wolf had slunk out of my sight.

Then, my shoulders slumped, and I nearly collapsed right there.

“You’re far more forgiving than I would have been,” Lucas commented beside me.

“They’ll face the consequences of their actions,” I promised. The Grey Creek Pack would atone dearly for everything they had done. I just hadn’t figured out how yet.

Esther appeared by my other side, holding the cord in her teeth while the medallion dangled under her chin. “What do you want me to do with this?”

Both Lucas and I looked at it. “It belongs to the Council,” said Lucas. “We’ll have it returned to them.”

I nodded in agreement.

It seemed another meeting with the Council was going to happen sooner rather than later.

But for now, all I could think about was getting some rest. Lucas turned to the remainder of the pack, gesturing for them to retreat. “The fight is over. We’re safe for now. Treat your wounds, gather the dead, and rest. We will mourn for all those lost tomorrow morning.”

As the pack dispersed, Lucas turned to me. His eyes softened, and without words, I knew what was next for us.

I wanted nothing more than to turn human, crawl into his arms, fall asleep, and put all of this behind me.