Gray Valley

s i x t y - f i v e

"PROELIUM!"

I did not know a lot of Latin. But I did know the translation of the word.

Attack.

"Alpha!" a voice screamed.

At once I was surrounded by them... I was surrounded by my Pack.

"Weslyn." I sensed Martyn standing beside me. "We promised to fight at your side... Just as we did for your father... And the Grayson Alphas, that came before him."

And then it began.

Martyn pushed me aside, as the Brown Wolves lunged forward. "Get back, Weslyn!"

"But..." The Gray Wolves in my Pack started to the Brown Wolves. "I-"

"Get back!" He growled.

Memories of my dismembered mother haunted my mind.

"I need to protect my Pack!"

I couldn't protect my mother...

But...

"If you really want to protect your pack... Stay back!" He tightened his grip on his dagger. "Protect those, who need you to protect them. Protect those, who are wounded."

But this was different.

I could protect my Pack

"Martyn..." I murmured. "Promise me you'll protect yourself."

And although he did not meet my eyes, he smiled. "I promise, Weslyn."

Reassured by his response, I retreated to the cave.

"Weslyn."

I recognised the voice at once.

"Are you alright, Bryan?"

Now that he was conscious, his body was healing better than when we found him at the clearing. But...

"I'm..." He hesitated. "I'm going out there..."

His was disturbed.

"What?"

"I have to fight the Brown Wolves."

"You're not going out there. You're in no condition to fight hundreds of shifted Brown Wolves."

"I'm going out there... I have to fight."

"Why, Bryan?" I demanded. "Why do you have to fight?"

"Anna and Martyn are out there fighting and if they were to get hurt-"

"She isn't out there."

"What?"

"Anna... She's somewhere safe."

Or rather, I hoped the Pack House was safe.

"But, Martyn is out there!"

"Martyn is my Third-in-Command..." I reasoned with him. "It's his duty to fight for the Pack."

"It's his duty to fight for the Pack. It's not his duty to get hurt for the Pack."

"He's not going to get hurt..." I assured him. "Michael wouldn't hurt him."

"Do you really believe that? Because, I don't."

"They're father and son, Martyn... They're family."

"Maybe... But that doesn't matter to most Gray Wolves. There's one thing that matters to Gray Wolves... And that's the Soulmate Bond."

"Bryan..." I began.

"If you don't believe me, look... Look at Mary... Look at you. Look at the everything you've done for your Soulmates... Everything."

"There are other thing that matter to me, Bryan."

"To you... Maybe. But not to Michael. Martyn doesn't matter to him... Mary doesn't matter to him. Because, his Soulmate died... And his humanity died with her. And now, Martyn-"

"You're his Soulmate."

He stared at me in disbelief.

"That's not possible."

I froze.

A familiar man appeared behind Bryan.

"Behind you, Bryan!"

But I was too late.

An agonised scream resonated throughout the cave.

"I want to see you die, mutt... Die."

Michael pulled his claws out from Bryan's shoulder.

And maybe it was because his body was healing, but the effect of his claws were immediate.

His body trembled, beyond his control.

"Weslyn... P-please?" He gasped out in pain. "Weslyn."

His words confused me. Please? What was he asking me for?

"BRYAN!"

My blood turned cold at the sound of the animalistic growl...

That growl. I recognised that growl.

And I was not the only one.

"Martyn."

"I will kill you, Michael."

Michael, I noticed. He called him Michael. Not father, but Michael.

"You?" he demanded. "You will kill me... Your father?"

Martyn's eyes darkened.

"You are not my father, Michael."

Without any hesitation, he pinned Michael against the cave by his throat.

"You!" Michael snarled. "Why are you protecting the mutt?"

His hand tightened around his throat. "Isn't it obvious?"

There was silence.

"O-obvious?"

"Bryan is my Soulmate."