CHAPTER 11

"Oh my God, oh my God," Shana kept repeating as she dropped the phone, her cheeks flaming. She rubbed on them trying to diffuse the heat blazing on her face.
She could hardly believe she had had the gut to say those words out loud to Asher and in a voice that surely did not belong to her to boot.
She was as far from being a temptress as normality was far from her but the seductive voice had come out of nowhere and at the very right time. She already made her decision to complete her assignment, her feelings be damned.
"Grand mama, I hope that wherever you are right now looking upon me, you are proud of me for making this decision. And also, I hope I'm able to go through with it," she whispered aloud.
After that was said, a calm of stillness settled upon the empty office, the serenity belying the turbulence that started in her heart.
Shana knew for sure then, that Adam's ghost was hanging around her and that sent chills down her spine.
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Thomas paced around the forest, his wolf shifting restlessly. If there was one thing he hated more than the Criers, it was tardiness.
He hated being made to wait, he hated even having no choice but to wait for a person who should not have been worth a dime of his time if only the Moon goddess had done what majority of her worshipper had wanted.
But the goddess had gone ahead and marked a bastard and a halfbreed to boot, as the Alpha of the Crescent pack. He spat on the forest floor in irritation his beady eyes glowing unnaturally in his flushed, angry face.
He hated the bastard as much as the previous Alpha did and like Adam, his reason was personal.
Through all the years while he had served the Alpha as a faithful Beta, he had only allowed himself one dream-his daughter should one day be Luna of the pack. He had wished for nothing more, hoping that when his Adele became Luna, the pack would be theirs to control.
The Crescent pack was a great pack with one of the largest population and boundless territory. And icing on the cake, it seemed the Moon goddess had been partial to the Alphas of the pack for centuries against all else, blessing them with extraordinary powers than was normal even among their kind. And the lucky bastard had gotten all that.
But all he had to have done to appease him was to take his daughter as his Luna, even if they were not bond mates. That would have been fine with him, although he had subtly kicked against the relationship before the bastard became Aloha but he had not made his objection known. He had always assumed that a mere bastard of an ordinary Omega could never be chosen to rule the pack.
But fates had played their tricks with the Moon goddess and he had been chosen but Asher was making no moves to get back with his daughter. Instead, he was hearing subtle talks about a woman lurking around him whom he had been paying attention to than was necessary.
Since he became Alpha, he had nearly been convinced that the boy was turned off women, save for using them for his ceaseless sexual gratifications just like his whoring mother.
And she had been a whore, one whom he had taken pleasure in enjoying countless times before her death. But that had been after the death of his wife, he thought to himself, trying to absolve himself of the guilt he felt for betraying the dead Alpha.
Thomas had assumed her son was never going to take a mate or have an heir and that had been good for him. An Alpha without a mate to produce an heir was incomplete and it was a matter of time before unrest was going to build in the pack and neighboring packs would be looking for ways to overthrow him. His plan had been to come in at that point, with Adele as the best solution to the problem.
But no, the halfbreed was going to take another woman. He going to jeopardize the only dream he ever had and he decided he had to act fast.
He did not give a care in the world who the Alpha was, whoever the man was or the pack it may be All he cared about was that his daughter must become Luna so he could have the power he had always selfishly wanted. But his ally had to be strong enough to fight Asher.
A rustling in his far left made him stop his pacing and his angry thoughts. He turned in the direction, at first seeing nothing but a thick wall of trees making creating shifting shadows in the disappearing light. Then he could make out the feral glow of a pair of almost yellow eyes behind the thick brush, staring at him. It was the look of a predator, a soul less, empty one, always ready for the hunt. One who was ready to pounce and devour an unsuspecting prey without a second thought.
He came out of the shadows of the forest, making his way towards Thomas and he finally got his first full view of the huge wolf before him. His fur was jet black and they were standing on end, looking like he was ready to jump on him if he made any slight move. His walk, more like stalk was lazy and easy, the leaves crunching under his feet and making goose pumps appear on Thomas's skin as he moved even closer to him.
He raised both his hands in the air, palms out to show he came in peace but that did not stop the wolf from moving to sniff at his feet and he knew on his life that he could sniff the fear rolling off him in waves.
Thomas knew instantly he had picked the right person to side with, even if he was at that moment contemplating his decision. But it was too late to make a run for it.
If anyone could go against Alpha Asher of Crescent pack, it was Alpha Collins of Bleeding Moon pack.
He was definitely ruthless, coldblooded and feared by every pack. Not because he was brave like most Alphas or strong like Asher but he was coldblooded. The wolf killed and wreaked havoc wherever he set foot. He stirred fear in the heart of even his followers and no one dared go against him. Those who did, their pack, not just them, had paid dearly for such costly mistake.
And like every other Alpha, he was not marked by the Moon goddess. His twin had been marked but the coldblooded asshole had plotted with some members of their pack and had overthrown the unsuspecting twin, who believed his brother loved him as much as he did. He had killed his own blood in cold blood.
After that, he had made himself Alpha and had ruled over Bleeding Moon pack and even usurping Alphas in smaller territories and merging them with his own, growing his own army of defiant and deathly werewolves.
But one thing was certain. Alpha Collins was no match for the Crescent pack. Apart from the common knowledge that the pack was favoured by the goddess, the pack also had one of the best trained and deadly warriors who went about doing cooperate works in the business world and sitting at conference tables debating on the rise and fall of stock prices and the world economy. Every wolf around knew they were hardened fighter, now under the control of an Alpha gifted by the goddess.
Thomas watched the wolf before him shift, his bones adjusting gruesomely to assume the form of a very beautiful man standing before him, naked and shameless before him.
And yes, beautiful was the word to use for the Adonis before him. He seemed almost boy like even standing over six feet tall with his dark hair and golden, still glowing eyes set in a perfectly formed face with the smallest cleft in his chin and a perfect pair of dimples. He looked so innocent, like he could not hurt a fly but Thomas only had to look close enough. All the innocence ended with the beautiful face.
In his eyes, he saw a cold emptiness that made him give an in voluntary shiver. His build was chiseled, sculpted like that of the predator that he was. He could bet he was as fast as lightening and damn strong. Strong enough to crush him with a lift of his hand, which he was bringing close to his face.
"You summoned me," he said in a sick quiet tone suddenly, resting the hand he had lifted on his perspiring face.
The way he said those words; like he was doing Thomas's biding and he was at his mercy, belied the truth. It was the other way round and they both knew it. Thomas was the one at the mercy of the ruthless Alpha but he guessed it was all part of his sick game to make him more uneasy.
"Yes," he replied, trying to keep the trembling out of his voice but failed terribly.
"Here I'm, at your service." Then a sick, innocent boy smile took over his face and Thomas started to doubt if he had actually made the right choice.
There had been no way Collins could ever take on the pack, if Thomas had not gone to him with the perfect plan to do exactly that.