Chapter 16

The room remained silent for what seemed an eternity. It was so quiet in the room, that you could have heard a pin drop or the gentle flutter of a butterflies wings. Shocked, angry faces glared back at me which pretty quickly soon turned to looks of sadness and sympathy. Marii stood up and silently walked towards me before enveloping me in a big hug.

“I’m sorry that we had to get you to tell the pack like this,” began Marii tearfully, looking at me sorrowfully with large, sodden eyes, “But they needed to know what had happened to you. We will punish them. I promise! I personally will not rest until I find them. I lost a daughter in childbirth before I had Blake, so I feel a sudden motherly urge to protect you!”

Before I could answer her, the room suddenly erupted into a wall of noise. Loud growls and harsh whispers echoed out as the pack members voiced their disdain over the shocking revelations. The wolves all suddenly chorused ‘We can’t allow this to go unpunished!” over and over until tempers finally boiled over and everyone began arguing.
“It’s an outrage!” seethed Charlie loudly. “Is it true, these words you say?”
“Yes!” I growled defensively. “Of course, it’s true! Why would I lie or even need to lie about something like this!”
“They shouldn’t be allowed to live!” snarled Alistair. “They need punishing! They are monsters! It is a monstrosity what they have done!”
“How could they treat a pup like this!” growled Annie angrily. “Don’t they know the laws? How can they find this behaviour acceptable? It’s an abomination!”
“I will find them and rip them limb from limb!” barked Jenson, angrily. “How dare they! They may not have committed these crimes on our land, but they did so within our world. They bring shame to us all!”
“No! You will not kill them,” growled Alistair in warning. “They shall be punished properly. We have real enemies that we will fight with!”
“And you don’t think that being ripped to shreds is punishment enough?” Jenson retorted angrily. “I’d like to hear what you suggest!”
“They need finding and locking up!” Jenna growled. “Killing them is the easy way out. Make them suffer like our Luna did!”
“ENOUGH!” roared Blake angrily beside me, making me jump in shock. “I am Alpha now and I say what goes! We won’t be killing anyone! My Mate had to suffer at their hands and now they shall suffer at ours!”
“Alpha, we are ready to follow your orders!” the wolves all chorused loudly. “Let’s go and get them! There is no time to waste!”
“Now?” Jonas whispered, stepping forward and placing one hand on Blake’s arm gently. “But son, are you ready for the fallout this may cause? This may cause a pack war with the Eclipse Pack if we imprison two of their members!”
“Then let it cause a war!” growled Blake threateningly. “I am ready to fight whoever tries to stop me from getting the justice Libby deserves!”
“And with any luck, it won’t come to a fight,” Marii murmured. “Alpha Alec isn’t one for fighting with a pack that is large and strong enough to wipe his pack out in one hit. Alec might not care about his pack members, but he isn’t stupid!”
“She has a point,” Jonas shrugged. “Alpha Alec hasn’t seemed that bothered about Libby not reporting to the pack in a while. Maybe he doesn’t care that she is with us!”
“Or maybe, he thinks Libby is dead like Libby said!” sneered Jenson gleefully. “Not being funny but how many Rogue wolves do we normally let run wild in our territory without killing them?”
“Yes, thank you, Jenson,” Blake growled in warning. “Don’t remind me of how close to death my Mate was please, at your very own hands. Anyway, we are going tonight! And that’s an order!”
“Why do we have to get involved anyway?” a voice piped up loudly. “She was a weak wolf anyway! She was bullied at school, her family was dead, so something like was this bound to happen to her. She was easy pickings!”
I glanced up to see everyone gasping in shock at a tall, tanned Warrior, who had just entered the kitchen and was leaning casually against the wall, looking bored. He had his jet-black hair gelled up into a spiky hairdo and his bare muscles flexed proudly, as he crossed his arms across his chiselled, bare chest, displaying an array of tribal tattoos.
“Ease up Jared!” muttered Jenson before looking at me apologetically. “That entire pack was the problem, not Libby! She is our Luna now and our protection applies to her!”
Before Jared could respond, a loud growl echoed across the room as a large black object came hurtling across the room towards him. In an instant, Jared had swiftly changed to his auburn-shaped wolf as Blake stood menacingly in front of him, fangs bared and snarling furiously.
“You will prepare yourself and fight with the pack if it comes to a fight!” snarled Blake angrily. “Do you hear me?”

Blake continued to snarl threateningly, causing not only me, but the rest of the wolves in the room to bow their heads in submission. Blake’s Alpha voice vibrated off the walls and through my body, causing my blood to run cold and the little hairs on my arms to stand up in terror. I had never seen someone sound so angry like Blake was right now. I glanced up to see Blake slowly advancing towards Jared who was now lying low to the floor and shaking with fright. You could see that Jared was trying his hardest not to submit but as Blake began to tower over his body, his head finally bowed before a soft voice echoed out.
“Yes, Alpha. I will fight!”
“Good!” snarled Blake angrily. “Don’t you ever question my authority again Jared!”
Blake changed back into his human form before coming beside me and grabbing my hand. Gently, he lifted my hand and kissed it gently, while connecting his eyes lovingly with me. Smiling gently, he peeled his eyes away from mine and glanced back over the remaining submitting pack members.
“We will go to the Eclipse Pack tonight to find these monsters. Get yourselves ready for what may be an ugly fight. But first, I want to spend some time with my girl!”

Allowing myself to be led towards the hallway, I silently followed Blake, my mind whizzing with worry. What was going to happen tonight? What if the two Packs did end up fighting? I didn’t ask for this! My heart suddenly stopped as a dark thought entered my brain, which caused my wolf to howl in horror.

What if the Eclipse Pack killed my Mate?