8 7

The following sunrise, Andromeda awoke to the sounds of screaming from the floors below and rushed to the sound. Nearly instantaneously, Andromeda was in the medical room. Alpha Bernard had Elane by the throat and was holding her high above the ground. The pack was watching, too afraid of defying the Alpha to assist their Luna.

Before Andromeda could think twice, an animalistic growl leaped from her lips, and she lunged at him. She tore the Luna from his hands and into the arms of the medic. Elane gasped for air, chest heaving.

His eyes were red. They swirled with an internal fire and were so dark and twisted and full of malice that most wolves would be trembling. Andromeda, though, was not one to be scared.

"Alpha," Andromeda yelled, voice gruff and powerful, "I know she is here. Stop this madness! You are doing no good," Bernard's eyes darkened to a murky crimson.

"You! You—a filthy human—has infiltrated my pack and won the heart of my Luna. Now, you dare to challenge me?" he said, stepping towards Andromeda in order to look larger and more intimidating.

"I do, you bastard. I am challenging you for your spot as Alpha," she said and felt her bones begin to snap and replace themselves.

The hair in Andromeda's head started to shrink into her scalp, and the hair on the rest of her body grew longer, until she was on all fours, in the shape of a massive silver wolf.

He shifted into his wolf, slightly deterred, but growling none-the-less. The murky brown wolf was smaller than Andromeda's, and he seemed to know it too.

"Andromeda!" Elane shouted, still in the arms of the medic, "Ivvno estrinthir thaa he!" You are stronger than he is. Show him.

"Esiva," I will.

He quite obviously didn't understand their conversation in Anaish, but it didn't matter. He growled at Andromeda, foam flying from his jaws.

Shifting back, he spoke, "Meet me in the fields. 10 minutes. We will finish this in a fight to the death."

"Elane," Andromeda said, after shifting and walking up to her, "it's going to be okay, you know."

"I hope so," she said, and glanced up at me, smiling, "Your wolf is beautiful."

Andromeda returned her smile, "Thank you. I should go to meet Alpha, soon. I'll see you later," she winked, and Elane grinned wider.

"A silver wolf, has that ever happened before?" she whispered, probably not aware Andromeda could hear her.

Andromeda entered the field to see the Alpha already in wolf form, attacking one of his pack members. She immediately jumped in and tore his claws from her throat. A medic was there, thankfully, so the she-wolf was promptly taken away.

His pack was filling into the field and she noticed Elane among them. She waved to Andromeda, and she nodded in return before shifting into her wolf.

She was still on an adrenaline high, so she didn't really think twice of the extreme oddity of her situation; the fact she had shifted into a wolf, or that she was about to either become an Alpha herself or die in battle.

Colin was in the crowd, looking incredibly worried.

She instinctively linked him, "I'll survive. I promise you that."

"Okay," he linked back, relaxing slightly.

Alpha Bernard seemed to understand that Andromeda being in wolf form was a signal to start, so they started to circle each other, throwing growls towards the other occasionally.

After a few moments, he made the first move, and she felt his jaws against her neck. Andromeda kicked him off, and flipped him onto his back, front claws digging into his stomach and tearing a chunk out of the flesh of his shoulder. He yelped but wormed his way out from underneath her. They were back to square one, but he was limping and bleeding from the side, whereas Andromeda was thankfully as pristine as her white coat.

She lunged for his good side, knowing it wasn't what he expected, and rolled him over, undeterred by the satysfying crack of his bones. He cried out but didn't give at all.

"Submit, Alpha or I will kill you," Andromeda linked, and apparently the whole pack heard her because there were gasps and cries from some.

"Never," he replied, a sickening emotion swirling in his still crimson eyes. More sobs could be heard from their audience.

Alpha Bernard tried to get out of her iron grip for a moment, but the silver she-wolf held firm.

From behind her, a feminine, sickly sweet voice sounded, "Well, what is this? My mate almost killed by a woman?"

"Damn right," Andromeda linked, knowing Alpha Bernard could hear her.

"Well, as his Luna, I believe I have to help him!" she growled.

Andromeda turned to her. Luna? That isn't Elane's voice, she thought.

What she saw was a woman a bit shorter than she was, with red hair and black eyes. She grinned and shifted into a reddish wolf that was a bit larger than his.

Luna Aglamé, Andromeda inferred and growled. While she had been distracted, Bernard had gotten out of her tight grasp. They stood side by side, growling and attempting to intimidate Andromeda. She lunged at Aglamé, knowing if she could injure her, Andromeda would surely be victorious.

She almost dodged the attack, but Andromeda managed to secure a grip and bite down on her neck, snapping it instantly.

So much for that! she grinned and turned back to the alpha, who, after losing his mate, looked feral.

"You killed her," he snarled and lunged at Andromeda, his eyes barely short of catching fire.

She got ahold of his tail and yanked it, surprising him and regaining the upper hand. Her jaws found their way around his neck once again.

"And you tried to kill your other Luna," guilt was evident in his eyes, and his guard wavered for a second before he looked at her smugly.

"You're only killing a man."

She grinned in a wolf-like manner, "I feel no remorse. Think of it as an atonement for your sin, Ex-Alpha," he howled, for a reason unknown.

With that—and one quick movement—he was dead. Andromeda howled, along with the rest of the pack, most of them shocked and some crying, but they still joined her; accepting her.

And Andromeda was Alpha.