My Best Friend's Boyfriend (Rewritten)

Prologue - Althea

In the middle of the forest, I see a girl picking berries. Her long black hair falls down straight to her collarbone in braids. She's wearing a soft pink dress. It's her favourite. She turns her head to me and smiles, "Thea!" I smile back and rush over with a light brown basket basket.

We begin picking berries together and eventually sit down on the forest floor to steal a couple for ourselves. The dark berries burst in my mouth. I pinch my lips together, trying to fight off the sour flavour. "Thea?" Okami asks, "Where are you from?" I swallow the berry's juices and repeat what I rehearsed with my father.

"Oh... somewhere on the other side of this forest," I ramble quietly. I point at the trees in the direction I came from and add, "It's called River pack."

Her sharp eyebrows furrow up and she exclaims, "I know that there's a River pack... but I was told it's not in that direction," she points to the east, "I heard it's over there by the river." Her black eyes stare into mine waiting for an answer, but Arawn didn't tell me what to say if she asks something like this.

"Ohh whoops," I giggle, "I guess I just don't have a good sense of direction."

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"I have just got word that Alpha Daimen of Ruby pack has just been killed by hunters outside their perimeter. They are in grief. They are vulnerable. I say we attack tonight!" Arawn shifts into his wolf form and begins panting heavily.

Arawn's beta, Kal, steps forward from the line of wolves, "How have we learned of this? What if it's a trap?"

Arawn speaks to Kal's mind directly. 'Someone within Ruby pack has decided to help our cause. They want something for this information. The alpha rank.'

Kal doesn't appear satisfied with Arawn's response, "what if the hunters are still in the area?"

Arawn's wolf grins and reveals his frightening ivory teeth. 'I have been assured that Luna Makatzi dealt with them. I imagine that she's also the one who brought them to her pack.'

Some of the men whisper among each other.

Our gamma, Hagen, steps forward as well, "Alpha, Makatzi's just too powerful. How much longer must we fail at attacking Ruby pack?"

Arawn's wolf growls and pads closer to Hagen. 'I do not care what it takes. Makatzi is a threat to all of us as long as she is alive. She has committed years of atrocities onto our species and has never been punished for it. Look what she has done to her human alpha, Daimen. She wanted more power and sent over some hunters to take it for her.'

Hagen growls back down to Arawn. "At this rate we'll be eliminated completely by the Ruby pack!" he yells, "not by some hunter allies their luna knew over a decade ago!" Silver hairs from Hagen's low ponytail fall down to the sides of his face. Hagen continues, "my son died during our last attack. How many of us have already died?"

Arawn's green eyes meet my own for a moment before looking back to Hagen. 'Will you let your son die in vain? Will you let all of our dead die for nothing? They died trying to protect our pack and every wolf pack from Makatzi. If all of Shadow pack dies tonight trying to protect our species then so be it! This is our best chance to stop her! While her pack is in disarray!'

Both men and wolves begin to roar as my father projects out, 'Who would die with me to save the wolves?'

Hagen solemnly bows before shifting into his wolf and joining the rest of the wolves bounding out the pack-house doors and into the forest.

I stand and watch as the sound of their paws becomes a distant hum and all I can see in front of me is the moonlit forest. Arawn told me not to leave the pack-house, but my body moves forward. I take off after the others barefooted. As soon as I enter the forest, the faint smell of blood reaches my nose and I pause. Without being able to shift, I can hardly see anything in the darkness but a flickering light far ahead of me. I hear the upbeat howl of Kal in the distance and I begin running towards it. Tree branches scratch at my arms, face, and legs while twigs stab into my feet.

My left foot catches on something and I let out an "oomph" before falling on top of it. The thing I've fallen on is warm and I push off of it and squint down to see what it is. In front of me are two bright blue lifeless eyes. Hagen. He didn't even make it ten yards into Ruby pack territory, before dying like his son. I hold in my breath and cover my eyes with my hands. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. I take my hands off of my face and look once more down at Hagen. I push down his eyelids.

Standing up, I catch the smell of smoke and urge my feet over Hagen's body. I run further into Ruby territory. The light in front of me becomes brighter and I see that it is coming from the Ruby pack-house. It's on fire.

Everywhere I turn I see people on the ground, illuminated only by the fire of their own pack-house being destroyed. My feet trudge towards a young boy laying on his belly. He's wearing dark jeans and a red collared shirt. When I flip him over I see his bloodied face covered in dirt. He's dead. My shaking hands begin wiping the dirt off his cheeks and I begin sobbing over his body.

"Althea!" Arawn yells at me. I stand up and walk over to him. Now in human form, I see that he is standing by the entrance of the pack-house alone. As I get closer, I notice that he's covered in blood and that his left hand is spurting out blood where his index finger should be.

Arawn scowls. "You shouldn't have come here! What would Shadow pack do if you're dead too? You can't even shift yet!" He comes closer, almost hovering over me.

"I-I wanted to see," I sputter out.

He looks back to the Ruby pack-house in flames. "It is quite the site... You didn't even get to see Kal, Makatzi's own beta, and I kill old bitch" he remarks. His green eyes look back to mine and he grins, "I expected more from the Original pack alpha."

I shudder thinking about all the wolves Makatzi must have killed for the hunters.

Kal's dark brown wolf comes from the rear of the pack-house and shifts into his human body in front of us. Kal shakes his head at my father.

Arawn's face  tightens and becomes almost stoic. With a soft voice my father turns to me and says, "You remember when I told you to make friends with Makatzi's daughter Okami?" I nod. He prods further, "And did Okami tell you where she would go if she didn't feel safe?"

"It never came up, father," I say. It did. She hides in the underground tunnels when we attack.

Arawn quickly looks angry and I can feel myself begin to shake. Kal grabs onto his shoulder and holds on until he calms down. "No matter," Arawn lets out, "If she doesn't burn in the fire then we'll catch her trying to run out. She's as good as dead"

I begin to feel a heavy pain in my chest. "But father, weren't we here for Makatzi? Why does Okami have to die," I urge.

My father leans down to me until his lips are just at my ear. In the faintest of a whisper he tells me, "We aren't here for Makatzi."

I hear a "drip" as another drop of blood falls from his finger.