Amongst Us

Chapter 21

Duke's p.o.v

After reviewing our plan of attack to the Blood Knights we set off for the clearing. As we reached the edge of the trees we all stopped as we noticed Angelica surrounded by four rogues, i was ready to jump straight into it but Neron had pulled me back a second. She was a damn machine, the way she was wiping the floor of the rogues no wonder she seemed to not have any energy left, as we watched i started moving towards her knowing that i needed to be close by in case something happened and one of the rogues got the best of her. I also noticed how enticed the boys were at how well their future Luna could defend her own. I remember Cadmen telling us that she was a fighter and she was one of the best from the evergreen pack, i just didn't expect this. None of us did. She took out three of the rogues and she had noticed me and still didn't lose her concentration on them. As she took care of the last rogue standing i came to stand by her side. She didn't say much, and it seemed like she was surveying the area, and i had a funny feeling that she was looking to see where and if more rogues would come after us, i couldn't resist but to grab her and pull her into the biggest bear hug imaginable. I was hoping that it would show her just how sorry i was without over stepping any boundaries that may have been put between us caused by my behaviour towards her. I finally let go and she took a few steps back looking everywhere but at me, and i knew i deserved it. What i wasn't sure on was it because of what happened she was unsure or was it just her keeping her distance because she really believed what she wrote in that letter about us being mates, but destined to not be together. i had no idea and i was seriously hoping we could fix this, because i really do love her and i know i had a funny way of showing it, but i was planning on making that up to her for the rest of our lives. If she'd let me of course. 

As i looked towards her, i noticed in the distance a line of rogues heading our way, i mind linked Neron to get our pack members here and to make sure the blood knights were set up in the positions to keep the element of surprise. Neron and Cadmen were two of the first lot of my pack to reach us and by the time the rest got there, the rogues were even closer and i could see James at the front of them all with esarosa by his side. My wolf was not happy that she had betrayed her pack, especially because she intended for Angelica to be harmed all out of spite because her life didn't turn out as well as what she had hoped for. To her Angelica had everything that should have been hers, to her Angelica deserved none of it and it all started because Angelica had been loyal to her pack. Ultimately she saved them from a fate worse then death and all because they couldn't find it in their hearts to acknowledge that there was a reason behind it, they decided to make Angelica suffer, and that she did. For years. The thing is i know i made it worse by mating with Esarosa and then taking my mark away from her the minute Angelica walked back into my life, but she is my mate and i couldn't just walk away from her, i couldn't let her leave knowing how much Coda had already busted my balls about mating with another she wolf who wasn't our mate, and knowing myself that it wasn't the right decision in the first place. It was like my life flashed before my eyes and i knew that everything that was happening now was all caused because of decisions that i had made, and now that i think about it, i feel like i could never be the alpha everyone expects me to be. I create harm, i establish the first move for people to use against me when they feel like it's their time to shine. Everything that has happened has been, caused by my actions. It was time i started acting like the alpha i should be and not the one that i have been. Letting the little things get to me and then going off half cocked, look at what i did to James and his mum all them years ago. Yes she pissed me the hell off and yes she was pissed off at me because i killed my father, but the way i see it is it was either him or me. I shouldn't have kicked her out of the pack, that was just a harsh judgement made on my behalf because i believed she ruined my family, back then i was more focused on revenge then being an alpha and i realise that now more then i have ever even thought about. All of my actions have led to this, and i'll be damned if i let any more of my actions be the reason i lose great friends and family, or even the loyal pack members that have stood by my side this whole time.

I was ready to fight James because now that's what it was going to take for all of this to end. If i had of been a few years earlier and offered him a place back in the pack as the brother that he is, and apologised for my actions then maybe none of us would be here now waiting to see how this panned out. Not wondering how many pack members we are going to lose.