The Salvation Trials ✔️

Chapter Two - The Past

Winnie Melbourne

Her claws cut deep, catching Alpha Kayson off guard. Claw marks appear on his chest, his torn white shirt turning red with his blood. He stumbles as his hands fly up to his chest and his eyes bear the pain and agony of his soulmate's betrayal. The pack members surrounding her, him, and me stumble back in shock that she would do this. Luna Kellie was Alpha Kayson's mate. She was supposed to protect him, not harm him.

I snarl and lunge forward, claws out. Catching my Luna off guard, I slam into her and send both of us to the ground. I land an open-handed blow onto her face, claws cutting her hair and ear. She fights back, digging her own claws into my side and trying to get enough leverage to push them into my heart. I throw myself off of her and a few feet back, shifting as soon as my body meets the ground.

My midnight black wolf growls as Luna Kellie shifts into her mousy brown one. The pack stumbles back further as we engage each other, bodies colliding and tumbling to the ground, paws searching for traction in the snow, blood spilling and fur flying. Our jaws snap at each other's necks, each snap ripping out the fur that offers some semblance of protection from sharp fangs ready to kill.

The teeth that have had plenty of wolves submitting will not make my Luna concede and it's not like I wanted her to. Alpha Kayson was the only family I had. He saved me when nobody else wanted to and gave me a home. Luna Kellie was trying to take that away. My jaw clamps down on her ear and I yank, tearing it off and spitting it out at her feet. My sides and chest heave with the exertion of the fight as she steps back to assess me.

I stand tall in the face of the Alpha Female, challenging her position and her worth. She means nothing to me and she is realizing it now. Her eyes dart to the side where Alpha Kayson lays, clutching his bleeding chest as a pack member gives him medical treatment. I take note of her gaze shift and understand what she is going to do. She knows she cannot win against me, not without the command that comes from being a True Alpha of a pack. She would have to kill Alpha Kayson to get that.

And that's what she attempts to do.

She lunges to the side and to Alpha Kayson, frightening the young female Healer. My Alpha brings his arm up just in time to block her true target, his throat. She digs her claws in and yanks away from him, getting ready to go back in and try again but it's too late. I slam into her, throwing her into the stone fountain in the center of the pack. We tussle for a second before I'm able to call my brothers forth. The shadows scare her, I know they do and I use them to my advantage. As they creep towards her, she drops her focus from me and to them.

I snarl one last time and then dig my teeth into her exposed throat without mercy. The metallic taste of blood fills my mouth and I find myself enjoying the kill. Luna Kellie weakly claws at my chest in a pathetic attempt to save her already fading life. With a growl, I force my jaw to close even tighter and then pull back as hard as I can, ripping her throat out. More blood coats the snow before the shadows swallow it whole, taking her with them.

I trot over to my Alpha's side, sitting still as he sits up and reaches a hand up to scratch my head. "Thank you, Winnie.", he whispers, unshed tears in his eyes. The agony he feels is filtering through our bond and I shuffle closer, letting him hide his face in my fur and cry for the betrayal and loss of his female. The pack moves forward and I release a snarl, warning them to back off. They disperse without wasting a second, fearful of their Gamma.

Looking at the place where Luna Kellie had taken her final breaths, I understand that this changes everything. This pack will never be the same after this. Alpha Kayson will no longer be the same.

And that is how we decided that the Heart of Red Mountain would be where our Luna had fallen to the teeth of her own.

The place where I had murdered her to save Alpha Kayson.