7.

Farryn had laughed at Ian, his brown eyes flashed with hurt, but she couldn’t help it. “You did just hear yourself, right?” She asked between giggles. He didn’t know she had no wolf but that wasn’t the only reason why she laughed. Females couldn’t be Alphas. It was the male’s role to be in charge of the pack and to protect them. Her parents were both Deltas, she didn’t come from a line of alpha’s but even if she had, she wouldn’t be an alpha even then.

“Yes, I heard myself. I also heard you when you made Chandler let you go; I heard the power in your voice.” He stood his ground as her laughter faded. Her head cocked slightly to the side, her hair grazing her shoulder with the movement as she grinned. “Ian dear I don’t know what you’re talking about. Alpha Chandler was kind enough to release me after breaking my arms. He couldn’t kill me because he needed me to send the humans off but I’m sure he would have.” Farryn turned her palms upward as she straightened herself back up.

“Not that I would ever want to, but I’m not exactly in the right physical shape to challenge Alpha Chandler for his position. Which I don’t want to do.” Ian’s eyes drifted to her arms where they settled for a moment before looking her in the eye again, he wasn’t planning on backing down that easily. “Then we can wait until you heal we can-“

“No Ian!” She cut him off sharply, her smile dropping from her lips as she approached the younger male. “Stop please, okay? I am not an alpha, I’m just a female, so please just drop it. I’m leaving anyway.” Farryn placed what would have been a comforting hand on his wrist but he pulled away sharply with a growl of denial.

“Then we are going to tear ourselves apart between those who believe me and who believe him. He doesn’t deserve to lead us Farryn. If you leave… well then I’ll just bring those who believe me and follow you.” He puffed up his chest as if he had come up with the solution to this problem he had created.

Farryn shook her head quickly as she backed away. “Goddess, what part of I’m not an alpha do you not understand?!” Ian scoffed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“I’m sorry! I guess I don’t understand the part where you have the control of an alpha.” The two stared at each other, Ian challenging Farryn to step up to his claims while she willed the younger male to back down.

“Ian if Alpha Chandler has any idea that any of you are doubting his right to lead, he could kill you.” The male’s gaze softened just slightly as he backed a few steps away.

“Sounds to me like our Alpha needs to protect us then.” He innocently shrugged his shoulders as Farryn shook her head, her eyes wide and jaw slack as he turned his back to her. “We’re already being hunted down by humans Alpha Farryn, do we really need to be killed by our own kind too?” Ian tossed the words over his shoulder, the title thrown at Farryn so casually. Farryn felt that slow burn of bile in the back of her throat. If Chandler didn’t kill this male, she might have to do it herself. Despite wanting to correct him, wanting to shame him for giving her the title so easily, she didn’t say a word.

She was drawn after the young male, keeping him in her sight the whole time they walked back towards the town, the whole time Farryn’s heart rate slowly increasing. “Ian please just stop and listen to me. I am not one of you, your pack is not my pack. I have no claim to even begin to challenge Alpha Chandler even if my arms were healed.” Ian didn’t hesitate as he walked, his head was high, she could practically see the confidence rolling off of his shoulders as he led her back.

“Ian, I said stop!” Her fingers curled into fists as her chest vibrated with the snarl in her voice. His steps faltered before he slowly stopped at her command, his shoulders dropping along with his head.

“I can’t stop Alpha Farryn, I can’t because while you came to this border by yourself to defend a pack that is not yours, our Alpha went and locked himself in his home. He isn’t an Alpha, not by blood.” Ian glanced over his shoulder and for the first time, Farryn recognized the cold gaze of a packmate who had been wronged.

“He took his title in unfair terms, challenged our Alpha after we had first arrived, we were all weak, half-starved from the journey, and constantly running. But guess who wasn’t? Who had been secretly out hunting while the rest of us did our best to keep each other alive?” Ian turned and walked back to Farryn, his head still down out of respect but there was a clear demand in his eyes. He wanted revenge but he wasn’t strong enough on his own. “He is no true Alpha.” Farryn exhaled slowly as she tipped her head back to gaze at the sky.

“And why has no one challenged him until now? If he is so unfit to lead? Why in the world would you want a stranger to be your leader?”

“Because it’s easier to just follow with no questions asked. It’s easier to pretend not to see the flaws, and because a stranger just potentially put her life on the line for a pack of strangers.”


Farryn sighed softly as she brought her gaze back down to Ian. “I am honored that you think so highly of me Ian, really I am, but I am not a better fit to lead you than he is. Alpha Chandler can protect you in ways that I am incapable of doing. I would never dream of entering another pack and attempting to take it over, that’s not who I am.” Ian smiled gently as he brushed a few stray strands of his hair from his forehead.

“I know it isn’t. I, along with several others, have been keeping an eye on you during your time with us. I know you are a kind person Alpha, but this isn’t a world where we get to be selfish anymore. I have to do what’s best for my pack, and that means getting rid of Chandler even at the cost of my own life.”

Ian didn’t wait for any sort of response or reaction before he headed off once more, this time leaving Farryn behind. Perhaps to decide what she might want to do but knowing he had left her with no choice. Despite having no true pack, she couldn’t just abandon another wolf when their life might be at risk. Farryn swallowed down her own pride but couldn’t bring herself to move. Fear. She was frozen by fear. Half of her was afraid that she would be killed for defying Chandler’s orders. The other half was afraid that Ian might be right, that she was truly an alpha despite her lineage.

Farryn lowered her head, her eyes shut tight as she balled her hands into fists, tight enough to allow a fresh pulse of pain to throb through each arm. To ground herself into this moment. If she returned to the town there was a chance, she could stop several innocent wolves from dying, if she didn’t return then she could guarantee her own survival. A gentle breeze worked its way through the forest around her, the wind gently caressing her skin as it made its way past her. The sound of the forest, the smell of the trees around her, this was her happy place.

“Why is this happening to me, Rae? Why now?” Farryn attempted to lift her arm to her eyes but the pain was too much with no adrenaline. Finally, she opened her eyes once more and set off. Back to the Storm Pack. She could hear her sister’s urging in her head, telling her to get over herself. Ian had been right, they couldn’t afford to be selfish in this world anymore and she needed to be somewhere, surrounded by those who would protect her during a vulnerable state in her life.

The scent of the crisp autumn air always helped to clear Farryn’s head; her favorite was the sharp tang of the pine sap. She used to sit under the pine trees after her sister died because the scent of the sap always seemed to calm her down. Now, it was just a memory. Her senses weren’t as sharp as what they had been, still heightened above what a human is capable of but nowhere close to a normal werewolf. As she passed a pine tree Farryn purposely ran her finger through the horribly sticky sap, rubbing it between her forefinger and thumb as she swallowed down her fear of death. She couldn’t allow herself to die, not just yet. She owed this pack that much, for helping to bring her back from the brink of death. So, she would force herself to face the wrath of a false alpha.