10 Chapter 10

Shera read over the page again, Gerard sitting across from her as she frowned at the page's contents. "What's confusing," he finally asked after a minute.

"I have to purposely get angry," she tilted her head, "But not shift fully? That's like asking a fish not to breath under water, I hope you know that."

"I promise you, it's not too difficult. I have to exercise that one every day with the doctors that work at the hospital," Gerard nodded. "You just have to think of something that calms you down when you get frustrated enough."

"You frustrate me," Shera sniffed. "Does that count?"

"You do it when you're distressed too," he noted. He purposely ignored her statement, pointing at her. "What pisses you off more? I have a few things I can try."

"Like what?"

"Let's mate tonight," he hummed. Shera shoved the table between them, hitting him in the sternum with it. He grunted and stared, smirking a bit. "There you go."

"I'm not just a-"

"Being called a breeder makes you mad huh," he asked.

"Because I'm-"

"I know you're not," Shera rubbed at her face, wincing as one of her claws nicked her brow and cut it. "But that's what we can work around. It's the easiest to work with at the moment." He readjusted the table and stood up, walking around and sitting on it, "Now, what calms you down?" She wanted to say when he kisses her but her face immediately turned red at the thought.

"I don't know. I normally just let it slide as it is," she muttered.

"You came up with something," he noted. "What was it?"

"Nothing important," she fumed. He leaned down, lifting her chin so that they looked each other in the eyes.

"We need to make progress, Shera," he stated. "So anything you have, we need to work with." She grit her teeth, glancing down at his lips before looking in his eyes again where an amused expression took his face. "Its that huh?"

"Don't you dare," she snarled. The kiss was quick and he chuckled a bit as her face turned a brighter red.

"Well, it worked," he gently rubbed her ear and she shivered. He wasn't wrong but now she was embarrassed. "Have you actually fallen for me?"

"No. It's just no ones done that," she retorted, "and it feels nice."

"So just about anyone would do? You wound me," he chuckled. He blinked and his smirk widened, "Deja Vu."

"What," she asked.

"Our roles are reversed. It's me being offended now," he waved his hand. "We can try to have Ferdinand kiss you to test it out. I know he won't try to steal you from me or challenge me."

"No thank you," Shera groaned.

"So then let's set up a schedule," he hummed softly, "I'll kiss you every day when I come home. That way you have that as incentive to stay calm."

"I don't want that," she cried. He laughed and shook his head, pulling himself to sit completely on the table.

"Well, I want that," he stated. "You are my mate after all." Shera growled a bit and stared back at the book.

"Why does it say we have to practice that for a whole week before moving on," she questioned.

"Because anger is the most combustible emotion for us. Even those without your condition fall to it and shift," Gerard replied, "Practice creates a habit and forms a healthy one when it's practiced right."

"And if I don't make it through the week?"

"Then we try a different thought or technique," Gerard nodded. "Science is on trial and error. So are techniques that work, you'll never find a process that wasn't written from mistakes or blood." Shera nodded a bit, Gerard pulling out a clipboard with a compartment. "We found a way to shock the genetics into activation but the process is painful and may take a while to set up if you're interested."

"I thought we were waiting until I had control," Shera frowned.

"That's what I mean. It'll take just the right amount of time to set up the capabilities for the experiment," he rubbed his head as the door to the apartment opened. Sherry peeked in, a wide smile coming to her face as she threw the door open the rest of the way.

"Alphas," she cried. There was something strained in her voice as she tried to keep it happy. "You have a guest." Both Gerard and Shera quickly shut what was in front of them, both looking back up to Sherry.

"Why didn't you just call," Gerard asked in a snarl.

"Because they didn't give me time," she motioned behind her and Shera watched Gerard's face turn dark, turning around in her seat.

"Shera, these are the lower alphas of the pack. They're from different states," Gerard stood up, Shera following suit and staring at the men and women behind Sherry.

"Lower alphas," Shera asked.

"Our pack makes yours look small," he nodded. She blinked as they all stared back at her.

"We have issues you need to hear about," A black haired man nodded. "I would have relayed the information through Lukas but it was too immediate for us to be playing telephone."

"Keith," Gerard nodded. The alphas stepped into the apartment and they sat at the table, the women eyeing Shera with glares that could kill. Gerard made her sit next to him, the man leaning back in his seat as he took them in. "Well? What is it?"

"There's a rise in bitten," a woman stated. "It has gotten so bad that the humans believe the bodies to be products of gang wars gone horribly wrong."

"So they're coordinated assaults," Gerard asked.

"We confirmed that," a man nodded. "A pack of purebreds who have never shown us any violence started attacking on the east coast and they've shown little to no mercy to even the pups they find." Shera's heart rate picked up and one of the women snorted, a smirk coming to her face.

"Can't even get a decent woman huh? I thought we taught you better than that, Gerard. Why-"

"Shera may have the condition but it hasn't gotten in the way," Gerard eyed Shera and she held her breath.

"I demand a challenge," another spoke up. The men looked to one another before to the blonde woman who stood up. "Not only does she have the condition, but she's a child compared to you."

"This isn't why we're here," Keith snapped, "Keep your bloodlust are bay or I'll make you, Catherine."

"We don't even know if she's trustworthy," Catherine's blue eyes settled on Shera, making the woman shift.

"She'll put you-" Gerard glared at Sherry who immediately shut her mouth.

"This may have been bigger than I expected. I thought it was just local," he informed them. "How many packs per location?" The alphas looked at one another before each of them held up the numbers. Sherry wanted to throw up. Just here, there had been five different packs named along with the part of her pack her father had taken with him.

"He's amassing an army," she muttered. "He doesn't have any resources for that-"

"He has the capabilities though," Gerard glanced at her and she shivered.

"Who," one of the men asked.

Gerard waved his hand, "Keep an ear to the ground for a lycan named Scott Pillar. He's formidable and charismatic with a pension for learning quickly."

"The Pillars," one snorted. "Those secluded idiots?"

"Only one of us," Shera snapped. The man blinked and his eyes widened. "He's gone against our codes and his title as alpha was stripped."

"The brothers were always neck and neck," just how much did Gerard's pack know about hers? Who else knew about her pack's situation? "There's no way the brother defeated Scott so easily."

"Scott's daughter did," Gerard smirked. "She then handed the title over to Tyrone formally as she's indisposed to her pack and will be for a long time."

"What daughter? The runt," Catherine snorted. "Or was it the one with more social skills? Both of them are weaker than my pinkies." Shera clawed into the table, unaware just how much she had shifted. The table looked to her and she pulled her claws from the wood. "What? You can't possibly be from that pack of mutts."

Shera shifted, pitching the chair at the woman. The others stood up, shifting as they snarled at her.

"Enough," Gerard barked. Everyone but Catherine and Shera looked to him as he sighed. "Make an effort, foxy. We literally just started your treatment."

"The disrespect," Catherine snapped. "I'm an alpha! What the hell are you? A stray mutt, runt? Or a worthless bitten? Not even a real wolf." Shera's back was patted as her fur raised all the way up and her head snapped to Gerard.

"Stop turning this impromptu, poorly planned meeting into a circus show," Gerard ordered. "This is Shera Pillar. The one that took Scott Pillar down." The room went quiet as they stared at the two, Gerard forcing Shera to sit on his lap when she was mostly shifted back. "She is indisposed to her pack because she is my mate, Catherine. Are you challenging her for that position?" Catherine jerked, her eyes wide as she took Shera in.

"You're mating with a sniveling weakling who can't tell the difference between her place and our-"

"Red wolves didn't reach the height of timber wolves, Catherine. They were still no less wolves," Gerard stated. "So sit down and stop throwing your tantrum." Catherine sat as the silence filled the room. "As it stands, the pack of the Pillars is allied to us. Yes they have been secluded from everything for a long time but they are still just like us. They know Scott Pillar and Tyrone Pillar and are willing to help with subduing Scott."

"We're only subduing," Keith asked. "He's a threat to our part of the world! We're going to be exposed at this rate."

"Send your best enforcers. Shera will train them herself," Gerard stared.

"I'm not a-"

"You were successful until I showed up at the edge of your turf. Last I checked it was just you," Gerard smirked but he was staring at Catherine. She was angry, fuming where she sat and Shera could feel the hatred aimed at her. "I don't see anyone better at this table to do it."

"I demand the Right of Passage," Catherine snarled. The other females stiffened and Shera frowned as Gerard groaned. "We don't know what the Pillar's are capable of and they could have a witch up their sleeve that she's friends with."

"I've never met a witch and our pack never employed one," Shera informed her.

"Your pack probably couldn't, but who says you didn't," Catherine sniffed.

"All right," Gerard sighed, "I'll humor you all but the matter still stands. Shera doesn't kill so when you're down, you're back at this meeting and tagging someone else into the fight."

"That's not-" Shera shit her mouth when he glared at her.

"Go to the gym. Have Lukas and Ferdinand call the shots," Gerard ordered. Shera stood and walked from the apartment, one of the women sighing as she stood and followed quietly.

"I'm Cleo," the woman smiled. She looked nicer, her brown hair done in a messy braid and her doe eyes a deep brown. Shera rubbed the back of her neck, unsure of how to reply. "It's okay, Catherine practically raised Gerard. It's why she is the way she is. It's nothing against you."

"Really? Because that felt personal," Shera muttered.

"No one else was capable enough to handle the boy. He was always rough and loud," Cleo laughed.

"So, he's like her son," Shera asked.

"No. More like a forced apprentice," Cleo chuckled. The two walked into the gym, Ferdinand and Lukas already standing there and waiting. "I don't see the point in this though. If he picked you himself than there has to be something about you that caught his attention."

"It's more like-"

"Knock it off. Stop trying to get her to feel for you Cleo," Ferdinand sighed. Cleo's smile turned to a sinister grin and Shera stared at her.

"What's the saying? Keep your friends close but your enemies closer," Cleo shrugged. "I had to try." Shera grit her teeth as the two started talking, Ferdinand scolding the woman. Gullible; that was the only word she could come up with for what she was. People weren't nice here, not unless Shera forced superiority over them or they made her show them her belly.

Shera turned as the sound of familiar crackling met her ears. Cleo has shifted and was lunging, her claws ready. Shera's shift was almost instant as she raised her foot, meeting cleo's nose. It was like watching someone get clothes-lined as her body went past her head and then fell back. Shera stated quiet as Cleo got up, rubbing her bleeding snout.

"You bitch," Cleo snarled. Shera was on her, moving around her while clutching an ear. The woman cried out as Shera pulled and threw her into a wall, a notch now in her ear. There was enough on Shera's plate as it was, she didn't expect the pack to be so large nor so aggressive towards her for what Gerard has done. It was like they didn't want to ask her where she stood, they just figured she'd want to be with an alpha to have the title and they hated her for it.

Shera didn't give Cleo time to rebuttal, the frustration taking over as she hit maw to maw with the lycan. Why were people so stupid here? There was no need for so much violence against each other and it was driving Shera mad. Cleo's throat was in Shera's mouth as she slammed the woman down, someone whistling not far.

"Shera, you win. Get off," Lukas barked. Shera let go and stood up, shifting back and rubbing the back of her neck. They really didn't like her here and the comfort and safety she had started to feel? That was evaporating quickly.