6: Standards and Stakes

Bruno

" Mom, can you show Amelia to her room?" I asked.

" Sure, right this way Amelia," she said as she headed towards the stairs.

My father and I walk into the kitchen together. We sat down on two of the wooden bar stools, trying our bests to avoid the puddles of batter. He asked the staff to leave, so we could talk in private. There is a saying among the werewolf world Once an Alpha, always an Alpha. He may have stepped down, but the pack will always respect him as their former leader. The kitchen was a wreck; there was flour all over one of the counters and a multitude of dishes were in the sink covered in some sort of gelatinous sludge. I swear there was some egg on the ceiling, but I decided to not think so hard about whatever my mother had been attempting to make. I look at my dad and he is already looking at me.

" You have quite a mate, Bruno. I can see the fire behind her eyes and the confidence in her stance tells that you that she is an Alpha's daughter. What does she say about the rumors people have spread about you?" he inquires.

" That's the best thing about her; she doesn't care. She said that she will be the only one to decide how monstrous I am and that she won't let what other people say scare her off. Dad...she's amazing! I have only spent one night with her and I already feel that pull that you were always talking about. And it's like static when we're in the same room; I get goosebumps and I can't sit still. I feel like I'm going crazy, but I hope it never ends," I answer.

" You're not crazy son. That's totally normal and I think that it is great that you finally found her. Especially, since you've been searching for her for so long," he said, but I could hear the "but" coming.

" But she knows that this is no ordinary pack. That we have many traditions and standards to uphold. That we are watched by the council and the rest of the packs. Any misstep could lead to disastrous consequences for the pack and the two of you alike," he finished and I stood from my stool suddenly.

" I'm sure she can grasp the stakes. You said yourself she is the daughter of an Alpha and she has gone through all of the schooling and training necessary for the role she was born to take on. Why are you worried?" I stated slightly snarling at the insinuation that my mate wasn't good enough.

" Don't get mad at me, Bruno. It's just that I sense something different, almost apprehensive about her, and I'm not sure whether that is good or bad yet," he said cautiously.

" Boys, why don't you finish this conversation some other time. Amelia is right behind me," my mother said punitively as she came into the kitchen.

Amelia came through the door a few seconds after and her cheeks were red as tomatoes. I can only imagine what my mother must have said while they were alone together. She was now dressed in a pair of black compression shorts and a lavender tank top.

" Ready to go, Amelia?" I asked.

" Yes," she said quickly still avoiding my eyes.

" Ok, so I will see you guys in a few hours," I said to my parents as I lead Amelia out the back door. I gave one last look at my parents and waved to my mother.

" This isn't over," I privately linked my dad. I received no response, but I could tell by his posture change and the glowing of challenge in his eyes that he got my message.

I brought Amelia a little way into the trees before we both stripped down, tying our clothes around our ankles for later, and shifted into our wolf forms. When she came out from behind the tree, I was stunned. She was the most beautiful shade of grayish white that I had ever seen and her eyes were a vibrant shade of violet. I was transfixed by her eyes and I couldn't seem to look away. I had never met a wolf with eyes like hers and I never wanted to; I wanted this to be something completely unique to her and I'm sure it was. I nodded my head towards the tree line asking her silently if she was ready to go. She nodded her head yes and then took off into the trees. What she didn't know was that I loved a chase.

I sped off after her and nipped at her heels till I lost her. I took a moment to close my eyes and take a deep breath, taking in all the smells from the forest around me. There was the smell of fresh water from the stream that was a few yards up, the scent of fresh pine, the pheromones coming off a herd of roaming deer, and, finally, I picked out the scent that I could recognize as Amelia's: a mixture of lavender and morning dew.

I kept my nose to the ground sniffing out her trail, to make sure that it wouldn't get muddled by the other smells around me. Then I got to a crossroad where it went in three different directions. My ears flicked up and around noticing an increasing heart rate from somewhere nearby. Then there was a blood-curdling scream. I took off immediately racing towards the source of the sound.

" I need warriors in the eastern forest near the river!" I linked through the pack link.

There was a chorus of "Yes, Alpha" from my warriors and I kept running towards where the scream came from. There was a feeling of fear in my chest. A sinking feeling overtook me, as I realized that I still hadn't found Amelia. I pushed my legs to go faster, and I could hear the loud thump of my paws hitting the stiff forest floor. I had just jumped the stream when the warriors I called fell by my side. They followed me into a clearing where Amelia was currently fighting off a group of rouges in her human form. There was a rogue on top of her trying to bite at her neck. As soon as we stepped into the clearing, more of them came out of the tree line and snarled in our direction. My warriors went right to work on those and the others that were watching the struggle.

I ran at the rogue that was on top of Amelia and tackled it off her. I quickly ended its life with a swift bite to its neck. The rogue shifted into its human form once it was dead and I shifted back to. I quickly pulled my shorts on, that had been tied around my ankles, and went to over Amelia who had stood up from the ground.

" Are you ok?" I asked as I assessed her for any wounds.

" Yeah, I think so," she responded breathlessly.

She was slightly breathless and I knew by the strong smell of iron in the air that all the rogues were likely dead. I put my arms around her tightly to hug her and there was wetness pooling on my chest. I pulled back expecting to see some tears, but I looked down to see my chest was smeared with red. I looked at Amelia's shirt and saw there was a stain of deep red on her stomach. I looked back at her face and saw it contorted in pain, and it was much paler than it was earlier. She met my gaze; I watched as her eyes rolled back in her head and she went limp in arms.

I didn't waste a moment; I took off towards the pack house. My warriors followed close behind to make sure that rogues didn't give us any trouble on the way back. I could hear their thoughts of worry for their Luna, in my mind. I could feel her blood dripping down my chest as I held her to me.

When I saw the pack house, I sped up even more and I went straight for the infirmary. One of the warriors had mind linked her mate who worked there, so they were already waiting with a gurney for us. I put her down onto the bed and we rushed down the hallway into a hospital room. There was a bunch of medical terms thrown around the room.

" Alpha, we need space. We need you to leave," a nurse said.

"I won't leave her," I said as I snarled at a male nurse that came near her.

" We can't help her if you don't let us. She will die!" the doctor said. I snarled at him and was painfully ushered out of the room.

" Bruno, what happened?!" my mother yelled as she sped down the hallway towards me.

" Rogues," I answered simply.