Chapter Ten

Luca pulled back his arm, hand balled into a fist, preparing to strike Trist. Thankfully Twig was there to grab Luca’s arm and hold him back. I rushed over as fast as my legs could carry me and forced myself between the two men. I held out my arms, trying to placate Luca as he twisted and writhed in Twig’s grasp. Trist stood impassively behind me.

“Luca! Calm down! Tell me, what’s wrong?” I implored.  

“It’s Mellie! He—” Luca started to explain, but I suddenly had to cut him off when I noticed a door to one of the houses along the village square had opened.

“Quiet!” I hissed.

A man walked out of the door. He paused for a moment as he took in the scene, then he began walking quickly towards us. As he got closer, I recognised the man’s bushy moustache and curly hair as belonging to Mr. Pine. I nervously waited for him to approach, while Luca still struggled against Twig and Trist remained silent.

“What’s going on here?” Mr. Pine asked in his deep voice. He was looking directly at Trist, making it clear that he was only interested in the alpha’s version of events.

“Nothing,” Trist answered after a moment, his voice tight and cool.

Luca snarled. A sudden surge of strength allowed him to finally rip away from Twig’s grasp. Twig slipped and fell backwards. Quickly, I grabbed hold of Luca’s shoulders trying to keep him contained. Of course, I had no intention of fighting him but I might be able to slow him down a little.

“If they’re causing you trouble, you can get rid of them,” Mr. Pine was saying to Trist. “River was a good alpha, but we don’t need her anymore. She can still be useful to the pack, but her sons are no good. Especially the oldest one. We all know that Pip is too weak to protect our territory, nobody would mind if you kicked him out.”

Luca suddenly stopped struggling, turning all of his attention to Mr. Pine. I let go of him, while Twig pulled himself back up and hovered nervously by Luca’s side.

“Watch what you’re saying,” Luca growled, his ire redirected to Mr. Pine.

I noticed Mr. Pine’s back stiffen a little bit, but that was his only reaction to Luca’s words. Meanwhile, Trist’s anger continued to simmer hot and heavy through our bond. I needed to take advantage of Mr. Pine’s distraction, before everything got out of control.   

“Luca, go inside,” I hissed.

“But—!” he started to argue, only to be stopped by Twig tugging on his arm.

“Just do it. We’ll sort this out. Inside. I promise.”

Twig gave him another tug. After one last glare at Trist, Luca allowed Twig to pull him inside the main hall. With Luca under control, I was able to focus all of my attention on the problem of Mr. Pine. He was watching me with a delighted smile on his face and not a hint of kindness in his eyes.

“Did you see that!” he was saying. “Can barely keep his own brother under control! He’s too weak!”

The words stung, but I had no intention of arguing with Mr. Pine. I needed to find a way to get him to leave as soon as possible, so that I could force Trist and Luca to find a solution to their problem.

Trist looked at Mr. Pine, his face remaining blank but the anger continued to burn.

“Only weak werewolves worry about the strength of others. I am strong enough to protect the whole pack, you don’t need to worry. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Trist began to walk to the hall, clearly dismissing Mr. Pine. The smile fell flat off Mr. Pine’s face. I followed after Trist, nodding politely towards Mr. Pine as I passed. I hoped that by showing that I held no animosity towards Mr. Pine, he would stop wishing for my removal from the pack.

Luca had been sitting on one of the benches around the fire pit, but he jumped up as soon as he saw Trist walk into the hall. I shut the door firmly behind us, hoping to block out Mr. Pine and any other prying eyes. Then Luca began to rush towards Trist, a murderous glint in his eyes.

“I’m going to kill you!” he roared.

I quickly placed myself in front of Trist. There was nothing that I could do to stop Luca, except brace for impact. As my brother came closer, his teeth sharpened and his fingernails twisted into claws as he began the first stage of shifting. His muscles began to ripple and his jaw stretched out, but suddenly he was grabbed by the back of his shirt and pulled backwards.

“Luca! Stop!”

Our father had appeared.

The shock stopped Luca’s transformation. Relieved, I stepped away from Trist.

“What are you doing? If you want to fight the alpha, you should issue a formal challenge first,” my father scolded Luca.

It took a few seconds for Luca to return to his human form, now with his shirt hanging loose, partially ripped at the seams.

When his mouth was finally back to normal, Luca replied, “he slept with Mellie!”

There was a moment of stunned silence. I felt betrayed.

“I didn’t know that she was your fiancé,” said Trist.

“Well, you should have known!” Luca growled and tried to pull away from our father but his grip was firm.

“No, Luca! Stop!” our father commanded. “You can issue a formal challenge if you really want to, but he will probably kill you. Do you remember what happened to your mother?”

The question hit Luca like a lightning bolt. The fight drained out of his body and he stopped struggling, but the anger still burned in his eyes. Father’s grip slackened, and Luca pulled harshly away.

“I will destroy you one day, I promise,” Luca growled at Trist before stomping upstairs.

Twig, who had been awkwardly standing behind Luca during the whole confrontation, looked from Trist to Luca’s back then at the door.

“Well, I guess that I should get going,” he said, before slinking out the front door.

“I’m going to check on your mother,” my father said, defeat heavy in his voice.

He left, and then I was alone with Trist.

“Why?” I asked harshly, no longer worried about keeping my emotions in check.

“I swear, I didn’t know! She didn’t tell me!”

“This is exactly what I meant before when I said that you’re bad at being an alpha! You need to learn about the pack and how it all fits together!”

“I am trying! I’m doing everything that you ask! But no matter how hard I try, nothing ever changes.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I had hoped that with the bond, things would be different with you, but they’re not,” he replied, voice now quiet and weary. “Just like the rest of the pack, you look at me without actually seeing me. They see my strength and worship me. You see it and feel contempt. None of you have given me the chance to prove who I actually am.”

“Well, your actions speak loud enough! You’ve just ruined my brother’s life!” I accused.

“All that I am asking,” he continued, without reacting to my words, “is for you to be on my side.”

“I am!” I insisted, still full of vitriol.

“Well, you don’t act like it,” he replied coolly.

 His argument finished, Trist turned to leave. Unable to summon a final retort, I dumbly stared at his back. The door was opened and the hall filled with bright early morning light. Then it closed and the shadows returned. Trist was gone, and I was standing there alone.