🐺💣🔪 #MY_BLACK_KNIGHT 🔪💣🐺
🎴Happen 3
As Produced By Sheriff Squinty
Theme: Our Mate!
Finally, we could smell them. Over a dozen wolves, gathered in a clearing a few miles up the path. Judging by a low howl that c@m£ from the distance, they had discovered our scent, too. Front the front of the pack, Alpha Brett began to slow his pace. He was a dark grey wolf, larger than the rest of the pack, and a firm but great Alpha. I liked him, except for the fact that his daughter was…well, horrible. I noticed her sleek form standing next to him, her fur even darker than his.
*
Hall Of Supernatural Stories
*
‘ All right pack, it’s time to st©p and shift to our human forms,’ He instructed calmly. Both sides chose to appear in their human forms because they were less of a threat and less likely to violent outbur-sts. In wolf form, our inner Wolves were much more difficult to restrain from completely taking over our human side. Also, while Shifting in front of your own pack was common, it was considered inappropriate to show a ba-re b©dy to a wolf from another pack, especially an enemy pack.
Closing my eyes, I willed my human b©dy back. I felt the dizzying and contracting s-en-sation of fur and claws receding, my bones shifting and melding back into their original form. Originally the process had hurt; now it felt as natural as breathing.
We always tied our clothes to our ankles before Shifting, as the size increase in our ankles was less drastic between forms and it was the most convenient way to bring clothes along. quic-kly, each wolf began to dress. I swiftly maneuvered into my br@ and p@n-ties, followed by a loose pair of p@n-ts and shi-t. We very rarely wore shoes, unless venturing into human settlements. I turned to the others as they finished the process. Once we were all clothed, we faced Alpha Brett. He was a large, muscular man with golden-brown hair and piercing hazel eyes that his daughter had inherited.
“re-ady?” He called out, and we nodded in unison. Throu-gh my erupting nervousness I noticed Will’s lanky figure come stand by my side. I smiled up at him, grateful for the reas-surance.
As a group the fourteen of us began a brisk walk down the path, moving much more quic-kly than humans would have been able to. As we approached, something began to tickle my nose. Frowning in confusion, I tilted my head and sniffed the air. Several different scents mingled in the air along with my pack’s, so it was ha-rd to differentiate, but one in p@rticular stood out. Well that was….strange. It smelled of musk and pine trees and spices, and I found it strangely alluring, drawing me towards it. I couldn’t st©p sniffing as we continued to approach. It was like all of my favorite scents rolled into one.
After a moment, I noticed Will was looking at me strangely. “What the hell are you doing?” He asked, eyes glimmering with amusement. I felt my pale cheeks flush and I instantly looked down. “I don’t know.” I muttered truthfully. I decided to st©p breathing so de-eply, for the scent was incredibly intoxicating and distracting, and I couldn’t fathom what would cause it.
I heard the different voices before I saw them. My nervousness spiked and I heard heartbeats all around me increasing. I mentally chastised myself; I couldn’t let them smell my fear. We had to be strong and keep our pack formidable. I took a few de-ep calming breaths throu-gh my mouth and hoped the others would do the same. The voices of the Black Mountains Pack were relaxed and amused, which was completely unexpected. Then again, they knew they’d be coming out of this ahead.
We entered the clearing. It was bathed in bright silver moonlight. A small stream trickled nearby, and there were a few as-sorted rocks and boulders around the clearing, which was plenty big to hold all of us and more. In the middle was a slightly tall rock; I as-sumed that’s where the Alpha would stand. I snarled inwardly thinking about it.
And still, the intoxicating scent pressed in all around me, but I couldn’t think about that. There were more than a dozen Black Mountains Pack members scattered in a half circle and their hungry eyes were fixed on us. Some stood while some lounged on the boulders nearby.
We spre-ad ap@rt slightly, forming our own half circle, Alpha Brett taking a few steps forward while Jack, the Beta, strode over to stand near him. My father, who had checked in with me numerous times during the journey, sh0t me a reas-suring look before standing near the other two. I tried to relax slightly.
I noticed Will standing close to me and he briefly gr@bb£d my hand and gave it a reas-suring squee-ze. I smiled up at him again; he really was a good friend to have. Slowly, forcing my heartbeat to slow down throu-gh my controlled breathing, I turned back to observe the Black Mountains Pack. I’ll admit, I was curious what they were like.
*
As Produced By Sheriff Squinty
*
Most of the people in the clearing were males, although I did sp©t a few women. They all were very tall and muscular, with a ha-rd glint in their eyes. Almost every single one had one or multi-ple visible scars on their tanned skin. They looked like they could weather any ha-rd sh!pthrown at them. The sm-irks on their faces, combined with their menacing stance, proved that they had absolutely no fear of us. And why should they, I thought bitterly. They could wipe us out by sheer numbers.
Will leaned in close to my ear, his voice ba-rely a whisper so they wouldn’t hear, as they were only about thirty feet from us. “I don’t see the Alpha or Beta…” he trailed off as suddenly, in one motion, the Black Mountains Pack stood up and straightened, looking at attention. Their eyes were wary but respectful and their posture was stiff, which could only mean their Alpha was approaching.
Footsteps c@m£ from the trees from behind them and two men emerged. I was f0rç£d to hold my breath as the intoxicating scent bec@m£ overpowering, which left me furrowing my brow in confusion. I couldn’t focus on it for long, though, as I honed in on the Alpha and Beta.
The Beta alone was as big as Alpha Brett, but he paled in comparison to their Alpha…Gabriel, I remember hearing. He had to be several inches over six feet tall, and even from this distance I could tell he was built of solid muscle; it was as if his b©dy was carved from stone. He wore a ti-ght shi-t, which further displa-yed his musculature, and I could see several visible scars.
His hair was as dark as midnight and tousled, really a good look on him, but I couldn’t think of it in an admirable way knowing who he was. He had high cheekbones and a strong jawline. If it were anyb©dy else I would have been dazzled at just how stunningly attrac-tive this werewolf was. He looked almost surreal. The moonlight reflected off of his taut muscles and gave him a nearly unearthly glow, and I hoped I didn’t look like I was drooling over the monster. I was expecting to feel a rush of hatred from my Wolf upon seeing him for the first time.
But instead, my stomach clenched in a strange way and I felt fear strike me as I quic-kly looked at the ground, glad he hadn’t looked our way and caught me staring. My Wolf was oddly silent, withdrawn, and I could tell something was wrong by the tension that crackled within me. What the hell was going on? My breaths c@m£ ra-pidly, but I f0rç£d myself to stare at the ground, grateful when Will took my hand again.
I heard the Alpha address his pack and then climb onto the rock. I peeked up just enough to look at his pack, f0rç£fully keeping my eyes from him, remembering Will’s warning. The Beta was standing by the rock; he had chocolate skin and a shaved head, his eyes regarding us coldly. Then the Alpha spoke.
His voice was a very de-ep timbre and incredibly husky. I swallowed ha-rd , feeling my knees turn to jelly and a strange mix of fear and…something else…stir within me. I was a whirlwind of emotion and couldn’t figure out what was going on. I had to br@ce myself against Will, who thankfully just as-sumed I was terrified and wra-pped his arm around me, holding me close. That was it right? I was just terrified? I hated and despised this man after all, and he was incredibly imposing. All of this emotion was just building up.
He began to address us formally, about how this was a ritual and it was our duty to negotiate and such, but I couldn’t listen to his words. I was too distracted by the sound of his voice. My various emotions were derailing my coherent thought and I was unsuccessfully trying to encourage my wolf to come out of her dazed state, but to no avail. I glanced up at his pack. They were staring up at him with admiration written plain on their faces. So my father had been right, then. He was a visionary to them. And we despised all of them.
I continued to look around the clearing as he spoke. Anything but focus on the Alpha, for something was seriously wrong with me and I had to just pretend he wasn’t there. I had to stare at something else, so I resolved to deliberately avoid glancing anywhere near him, instead focusing on inanimate objects around the clearing. A rock, a tree, anything! I began to mindlessly count the trees, aware how stupid it was, as the minutes pas-sed by. I just knew that I couldn’t look at the Alpha on the rock. Hopefully he wouldn’t notice my inattention. I figured it was safer to space out during the meeting than lose my mind by staring at his perfection again. I could figure out what the hell was wrong with me later.
Another minute or two trickled by and I began to scuffle quietly at the gras-s beneath my feet. I felt Will glance at me once or twice, clearly confused by my lack of interest as the Meeting continued. I vowed to explain everything to him later when I had figured it out myself. I just couldn’t look up at the Alpha’s rock right now. I inherently knew that would be a dangerous action, but I wasn’t sure why.
So I studiously looked away during the entire Meeting. The minutes slowly pas-sed by in agony. It was actually a concerted effort to avoid looking at him, and I was shocked that my Wolf was so distant and confused. I clenched my fists, immensely uncomfortable, still trying to ignore the compelling scent.
I dimly registered Alpha Brett’s voice as they discussed something, and s-en-sed an angry ripple run throu-gh my pack. The feeling of static anger snapped me to attention and I shifted my gaze to Alpha Brett. His face was darkly angry as he stared up at Gabr—The Alpha.
“We have given you everything you wanted. We have showed you the upmost respect-” Alpha Brett began, his authoritative voice ringing out towards the Black Mountains Pack, but the other Alpha cut him off.
“The upmost respect?” He said, the hint of a snarl in his voice. I was listening to him this time and the sound of his gravelly voice again made me shudder, though it wasn’t entirely unplea-sant. What the hell was I doing? My Wolf had made an odd noise de-ep in her che-st at his husky snarl, and I f0rç£fully pushed her to quiet down.
“You say you respect us,” Gabriel continued, voice deadly, “Yet one of your pack members has not been paying attention to anything we have been saying so far this meeting. Her deliberate disinterest is a direct insult to this Meeting.”
My heart froze. I froze. Everyb©dy in the clearing froze. I could s-en-se their confusion. My gaze quic-kly dropped to the ground as I took a shaky breath, trying not to shiver in horror. I felt his burning gaze on me. I didn’t know how, but I somehow knew that Gabriel—why the hell was I calling him that—was staring me down.
Slowly, my pack mates turned to face me. I couldn’t look up. I wouldn’t look up! My Wolf was whimpering de-ep within me, though I couldn’t interpret her tone. Something was telling me to look up at him, but I was too horrified and stunned to move.
“Skylar…” My dad began warningly, confusion in his tone. He spoke aloud for the benefit of the other pack.
“Is it true?” Alpha Brett demanded. I knew it was true. I knew it was incredibly rude to be pla-ying games in my head instead of paying attention, but if they only knew what I was feeling! But I had no explanation.
“I…I…” I managed to stutter out, face burning, throat dry. I was visibly shaking now, and I could feel Will staring at me in horror. He was no longer tou-ching me, though he still remained deliberately close.
I heard the soft noise of someone landing on the ground and I tensed up. Anger was radiating in the air, and this time I could tell it was from the enemy Alpha. He was approaching, godammit! My feet were glued to the ground. I wanted to turn and run as Will had said, but I couldn’t move. Panic struck me, and I locked my legs to I would not visibly shake.
Sweat beaded on my forehead. A second pas-sed. Then another. I heard the footsteps st©p a few feet in front of me and an angry, deliberate snarl that made me inwardly cringe and renewed my shaking, despite my effort not to show my fear. My Wolf made the odd noise now, almost like a…purr? Why was she reveling in the Alpha’s anger?
“Look at me,” The husky voice snapped. I felt a strange pu-ll, as if a hand was gr-abbing at me, trying to f0rç£ me to look at him. I squee-zed my eyes shut. He wasn’t using a Command in his tone yet my Wolf was urging me to respond. She desperately wanted to obey his order, even though he wasn’t our Alpha.
‘ Skylar, do as he says!’ My dad snapped as Alpha Brett chimed in. I felt their anger throu-gh our bond. They didn’t un-derstand.
“Look at me!” There was a Command in this one, an Alpha Command I could not ignore. My head snapped up and my eyes met his. I knew something big was going to happen as I finally made the dre-aded eye contact with my worst enemy.
And my world st©pped.
My inner Wolf jumped out of her daze then and began to howl triumphantly, pouring every ounce of joy she had into her howl. I just stood there, stock-still, unable to comprehend what was happening until my Wolf started f0rç£fully pushing one concept into my br@in: ‘ Mate! OUR MATE!’ She crowed repeatedly, as I stared blindly at the Alpha in front of me, blinking in disbelief.
This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t be him…but de-ep down inside, I knew otherwise.
He was my Mate.
.
Tbc