Tangled With The Fated Mates

Unknown

The air in the warehouse was taut with tension, apprehension palpable in the disposition of all present. Reid — flustered and frustrated — paced the floors of the warehouse, from wall to wall, his head tossed upwards, as if he was imploring some deity. Moss and Keeran, both still exhausted from the rigors of battle, sat on the ground, their backs against the wall. Other wolves sat on the ground, too, in various stages of injuries, nursing their wounds.

"Fuck!" Reid suddenly let out, punching the wall, his fist cracking going through it, mortar and dust sprinkling to the ground.

The noise from his punch gave everyone a start, and they fixed their eyes on him.

"We had everything planned out," he said again, his breath shallow. "Every single damn thing, and now this."

Keeran got on his feet, padded over to where Reid stood leaning against the wall and put his hand on his shoulder, squeezed gently.

"Be calm, Alpha. We did our best," he said. "There's no need to have regrets. We can always—"

Reid turned around swiftly, grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall, his eyes a dull yellow.

"Don't you ever tell me to be calm, you hear me?" He said, his voice low and menacing. "That was supposed to be our night, my hour of redemption, and it got thwarted, just like that. I have a lot of anger going through me so you better watch your mouth."

He dropped Keeran, who fell limply to the floor, coughing.

Reid continued his pacing, and everyone tried to remain quiet. Just then, a figure appeared at the entrance, frowsy and unkempt. She walked in dragging one of her legs behind her, obviously expending much energy to move. When she got closer, a tight frown was visible on her face — her brows pinched, her lips pursed.

It was the witch — Elena.

"You," she said, pointing at Reid. "You left me to die."

Reid looked befuddled. He thought she had been killed by Ezrianna's blast. He stared at her ungainly movement until she was a hair's breadth from him.

"I choose to help you and that is how you repay me, eh?" She said, stabbing his chest with a gnarled finger. "I could end you, you know that. I could just—"

"Ohh, please, Elena," Reid interrupted. "You could barely hold Denzel down for a few minutes. Did you see the witch that subverted your powers? She was young, a fucking child."

Elena hissed, her eyes turned into slits, but she did nothing more. She had not wanted to get involved in the inter-pack battle, but Reid had coaxed into it, promising her a portion in the territory that would become theirs. They had not really known each other. Reid had been friends with one of her friends sometime ago, and he had had to do extra to contact her.

"You're such an asshole, Reid," she said to him. "That's why you'll never usurp Denzel's place."

She turned back and left, the sound of her foot shuffling as she dragged it.

The warehouse was silent again, everyone was deep in contemplation. Of all of them, Moss felt the most regret. He should have stayed with the Blackmoon Pack, under Ronald and Denzel, he was doing fine enough. But Reid had made lofty promises of him becoming Beta, and he had allowed himself become enticed. Again and again, Ronald's expression when he found out he had shifted loyalty, popped up in his head, and it made him sick.

"We can go again," he spoke up. "We must."

Reid looked at him, nodded.

"I like your faith, Moss, but you're speaking too early."