Finding Shadow BOOK ONE -
Til death do us part
"Maria, what the fuck?" The Beta male bellowed, sitting up and glaring at her.
They had been lying side by side, reminiscing about old times, and looking at the clouds, pointing out shapes they could see, but clearly, Santos had misread the situation.
Maria sat up next to him, and all traces of the loving woman were gone. She turned to her mate and asked in a tight voice, "Were you ever going, to be honest with me Santos?"
Scrambling for something that would make sense, trying to figure out what Maria was referring to, Santos furrowed his bushy brow, feigning ignorance. Then Maria uttered one word that made his gut drop.
"Abigail." Uh oh.
Maria stood, brushing the grass off her palms and placing her hands on her hips, clearly in a confrontational mood, and Santos attempted a little damage control. After all, the affair had been eight years ago. Also rising to his feet he put on his most charming smile, his eyes begging her to understand, "I was young, it meant nothing, and a man has certain needs that you weren't willing to accommodate at the time." SLAP.
The stinging sensation on his cheek confirmed Maria had indeed slapped him, and he began to get a little angry. Taking a deep breath, Santos tried again. "It only happened a handful of times honey, and to be honest, she's completely forgettable, I'm here with you aren't I?" SLAP.
The other cheek was stinging now, and his wolf was rising to the surface, angry at the audacity of the she-wolf hitting him. Santos fought to remain in control of the situation but it was clear that Maria was winding up.
"I trusted you, and you promised you would never hurt me Santos, but that's all you keep doing." Maria knew that now was her time, and probably the last chance she would have to clear the air before things got ugly.
"I'm a good tracker Santos, but I guess you forgot about that huh mate, I knew the moment you and Abigail crossed the line, and it broke my heart," At least he had the sense to look guilty, and Maria carried on. "The day of the rogue attacks, when you came to rescue us? I could already smell blood on you, Abigail's blood, and after Tarakona howled it confirmed everything for me. It wasn't rogues that killed Abigail and her unborn pup, it was you!"
By now the two Beta's were circling each other, and Santos snarled at his mate, "If you knew the whole time Maria, why did you stay?" And he was surprised to see a flash of pain cross her tired-looking features before she whispered, "Because I thought there was still good in you, we had young children and they needed their Papa, dammit Santos I loved you!" Another flash of guilt crossed his features, giving Maria the opening she needed, and without warning she phased, setting Tempest free.
Santos reactions were quick though, honed through years of warrior training, and as the russet-colored wolf launched herself at his throat, he grabbed Tempest by the neck throwing her away from him. Letting his own wolf take over Santos transformed into Antonio, and the grey and white beast wasted no time stalking over to where Tempest was laying on the ground.
The smaller wolf waited, listening to her mate moving through the grasses, coming to finish her, and as he hovered over her, Tempest turned quickly, her small size a clear advantage when it came to speed, and rolled under Antonio's belly, dragging her claws deeply along as she moved.
The bigger wolf howled, blood staining his underbelly as Tempest scrambled to her feet, and she nipped at his paws and snapped at his face, distracting him with her myriad of small attacks.
Antonio was rage-filled. His mate dared to think she was his equal? That she could beat him? Tiring of her silly antics, he sidestepped her attempt to snap again at him, instead, using her own momentum to aid him, he latched onto the side of her face.
Warm flesh came away in his mouth, blood sailing through the air as Tempest lost half of her muzzle, but the Beta female swiveled back around before Antonio could spit the flesh out of his mouth, and she sunk her own canines into his side, digging in deep as she began to shake her head, ripping into the muscle as she fought to remove her own pound of flesh.
They were evenly matched, and the snarls from both of them could be heard echoing over the hills, as they fought savagely. Mate against mate, mother against father, one of them would die in this field today.
Antonio took the hit, feeling his flesh torn from his flank as Tempest claimed her victory. The wound was bad, but Antonio barely felt it, and using his bulk, he launched himself at his mate, brutally savaging her stomach as she was caught off balance.
Latched together the two wolves crashed to the ground, but the fatal damage had been done. Slowly Santos and Maria transformed back into their human skins and the carnage that they bought upon each other was horrific.
Santos had deep claw marks running the length of his upper torso, and one of his legs was separated from its flesh, the bone showing through clearly. There were other superficial scratches, that were already beginning to heal, and he knew he would be okay. Maria lay beside him, breathing shallowly and when he looked at her, Santos could see her intestines spilling from her belly onto the grass beneath her, as he growled in contempt at her weakness. "Why?" The Beta snarled, looking into his lover's eyes "It was in the past, we were living such a good life? Why waste it on a dead woman?" Despite obviously suffering, and missing half of her face, she laughed as if she had won.
Wheezing, she forced words past her lips, knowing that her time was almost over. "It was never about Abigail, you foolish man; I know about your plans for tomorrow," she coughed, beginning to choke on her own blood, and Santos leaned closer to catch her last words, "How easy will it be to beat an Alpha, when you are seriously injured?" Taking one last breath in as her mate stared venomously at her, Maria Romano summoned the strength to send one last memory through their fading mate link. A parting gift for Santos, and as he roared with the realization of her own revenge, Maria closed her eyes forever.
He had killed his own son.
Santos could only watch on in horror as Maria's final gift to him unfolded. Her memory of finding out Abigail was carrying his child, the pain she felt, right down to Maria seizing the opportunity to alter Abigail's paternity results, and tricking them into thinking it was Tarakona's pup. He saw it all in the breadth of a second.
All these years his doting mate had lived with the knowledge of her part in Abigail and their pup's grizzly death, and she had said nothing. Looking down at her cooling body he yelled at the unfairness of it all.
And after Santos was done, and the birds had begun to eat at her insides, Beta Romano dragged himself across the meadow and into his car, leaving his mate to rot.
Isabella smoothed her dress down, loving the way the emeralds sparkled in the lights. It was the most expensive thing she had ever worn. The pack was all there, waiting for her entrance, and Bella did a quick check in the mirror to make sure her makeup was in place and her hair was in order. She looked pretty, and a small smile escaped as she put her hands on her cheeks to calm the heat. Then her name was called and Bella walked towards her destiny. Shadow watched as the perfect woman walked slowly towards him. His Beta Camille was on his right, in the formal uniform for pack ceremonies, and his Gamma and Delta were taking care of security so that tonight would go off perfectly. The pack was in high spirits and this ceremony was just a formality, the traditional chance for any she-wolf to challenge the right for the Luna position. Not that there would be but Shadow wanted to make sure there was no doubt who he belonged to, and who belonged to him.
Shadow would never grow tired of watching Isabella's smile, the way she looked at him told Shadow her heart was his, and he couldn't wait to grow old with her. Finally, she reached the podium, and with a grin he held out his hand, feeling the telltale tingles as she placed her dainty hand in his and ascended the steps. Normally the old Alpha would seal the union between them officiating over the blood ceremony, but because Tarakona was no longer here, a member of the local council had agreed to do it and waited patiently for them to start. Giving him the nod, Councilman Eros began.
"Members of the Howling Warriors pack, welcome to Alpha Shadow Stalkers official mating ceremony." Barks and howls of approval resounded through the room, and Eros had to wait a minute before continuing, "Shadow and Isabella met as pups and by all accounts, imprinted upon each other the moment they met. Tragically an event happened that separated them, but as the Moon Goddess has proven, she was not to be thwarted. Today we acknowledge the sharing of two souls, preordained since the moment of birth, and with the giving and receiving of each other's blood, Shadow and Isabella seal their fates and agree to belong with each other and stand by each other as long as they both draw breath. In the eyes of tradition, now is the time to declare any challenge to the title of Alpha or Luna before the ceremony gets underway, if there is a challenge, the rules are clear. Everyone will meet on the pack grounds twenty four hours from now to witness the battle, there is to be no interference by any pack member for any reason until a winner is declared."
Shadow looked lovingly into Isabella's eyes, knowing that the important part was almost here, and she squeezed his hands, returning his smile with one of her own.
Ero's deep voice rose as he formally declared "Any wolf wishing to challenge for the title of Alpha or Luna, speak up now or forever hold your tongue!"
The doors in the rear swung open and Santos strode through, bloodied and limping "I, Santos Romano challenge Shadow Stalker for the title of Alpha!" He roared, and Isabella screamed "Papa no!"
Then a voice to the right of her mate spoke up. Camille's voice carried across the pack as they sat, stunned silent in shock, "I Camille Menendez challenge Isabella Romano for the title of Luna!" And Isabella's world crumbled as chaos erupted.
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