Life With the Pack

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I looked at my mother. She was seething anger because of the fact that my kidnapper was my mate. I hadn't even realized it until my pack-mates had been rushing towards him and I was pushed out of the way. That's when my heart had discovered the truth.

A sudden rush of black fur caught me off guard and I was thrown backwards. I saw blood on the ground and suddenly pain pierced my chest. I looked down, only to see that I was completely fine, but my chest was on fire. Then I looked to see where the blood was coming from and saw my mother on top of Ray, my new found mate, sinking he white claws into his chest. So that's where the pain was coming from! Suddenly the pain increased, and I let out a howl of pain, which actually sounded more like a scream, but whatever. My mother turned her head towards me, and abruptly pulled her claws from my mate's chest. The burning sensation stopped, only to be replaced by complete agony. Alpha Night rushed over to me, concern deep in her eyes.

"Snow? Snow, what's wrong? Where's the pain?!" she asked, and sniffed me all over, searching for a wound. "Did he hurt you?"

"No... Alpha," I coughed. "I... feel... the pain. His.. chest... you... clawed..." It was becoming increasingly harder to speak, and I felt darkness trying to consume me, but I refused to give in as a struggled to stay conscious. I could see the panic in her eyes as she realized what I was saying. "You can feel his pain? But you aren't fully mated... Are you?!" she asked, fury reaching her voice in the last question. I weakly shook my head, wondering why that would matter. I had just assumed that all shifters felt their mate's pain, since I knew nothing about mates, but I guess not, according to my mother's expression.

She muttered something under her breath, but I couldn't make it out, seeing as how a black veil had almost completely consumed my eyesight by now. "Mother... what.... wrong... me....?" I slurred out, hoping she would understand. "Snow, I..." was all i heard though, for after that the veil had closed off all light and I found myself losing my senses and fell into unconsciousness.

(Alpha Night's POV)

"SNOW!" I howled as my daughter's eyelids slowly closed. I hoped she was just unconscious and not dead...

I hoped that male was unconscious and not dead. If he was dead, my daughter would be dead. I couldn't let that happen. The Pack needed her, I needed her. She was the only family I had left.

I felt someone standing next to me and turned to look at them. It was Dark, the poor shifter. He loved, and hearing her announce that this unknown Wild was her mate must have broken him almost as much as it did me. It had made me so mad, I couldn't control myself and had flung myself at him in pure rage that he would dare kidnap my daughter, then her proclaim that he was her mate.

Dark gave me a sympathetic look, or as much as one he could muster, he himself was torn, by the look on his face. His eyes were dull and lifeless-looking. His tail dragged in the dirt and he seemed to have almost lost the will to live. He turned his gaze from me to the male lying crumpled on the ground, still bleeding a little. He was barely breathing.

Dark walked over to him and pushed the male onto his back. Apparently he would carry him. The young shifter in love with my daughter turned to me, and I gave him a slight nod, then my gaze fell once again to Snow's body. I lifted her carefully onto my back before signaling my pack-mates through our Link to head back towards our territory. A few sympathetic comments were murmured, but I was too grief-stricken  to pay attention. I turned in the opposite direction and took off at a steady sprint, the others following. I needed to get help for my daughter and her... mate. I was not going to let her die on me now.

We ran for about an hour before we arrived back in our territory. One of the shifters that was hunting acknowledged our presence, and I sent him to the cave to alert Beta Black of our return. The experienced shifter took off immediately, shifting into a bald eagle mid stride. I continued to run through the forest until I came to the bottom of the mountain in which our cavern lay hidden.

Carefully, we climbed up the rise, making our way to the opening of the place we called home. When we reached the entrance to the tunnel, I was met by my trusty Beta who quickly evaluated the scene before him, noticing Snow on my back and the stranger on Dark's. I shook my head, and said I explain later, right now Snow just needed help. Being the good Beta he was, Black accepted this and walked into the cave with us.

As I entered the cave, my body finally gave way to my daughter's weight, and I collapsed on the cold rock floor. Several shifters rushed up to me and helped to carry off my daughter. They would be able to help her more than I could. I found that the older I got each season cycle, the more and more easily I became tired. A few cycles ago, I could have carried my daughter's weight for more than four hours before collapsing; I had done it once. But now, I feared my health and ability for the Pack's sake, and Snow's. More recently, I had come to fear for Snow and her fate.

I sighed, closing my eyes. I breathed deeply, in-out, in-out. My thoughts and worries consumed me as I rested in the opening of the cave. Would Snow be okay? What about her mysterious kidnapper, who may or may not actually be her mate? If he was, and they mated, could one of them possibly be the one mentioned in the Augury? I prayed to the Elders that Snow was not a part of the ancient omen. If she was, and that mutt from the Wilds was her mate... I shivered, not wanting to think what that could mean.

While I was thinking, I hadn't noticed a paw shaking me roughly. I opened my eyes and looked up to see Dark, relief filling his face. "Twist is treating them, they've just awoken," he said. "And the Wild wants to speak to you." I nodded, and pushed myself to my feet, wondering what the pup could possibly want. He better hope he doesn't make me lose my temper again.

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So, that's chapter 7! Last chapter I tried the whole "I'm not posting until you give me what I want , just because I can do that" thing... I decided I don't like that! lol So don't worry about it happening again o.- Oh, I'll probably be using some not-so-commonly-known words, or things used in my "book" that might confuse you, so I'm going to put a little dictionary/definition type thingy... right... there vvvvv

Augury-  a sign of something coming; an omen

Season Cycle- the passing of all four seasons (winter, spring, summer, fall)

Elders- the original five ancestors of the Packs giving auguries and watching over the Packs

There you have it! ;)