Battle Of Alphas

In the middle of nowhere, I found myself walking towards a destination I wasn't familiar with. It seemed like a forest with tall trees all over the place. The sun was going to bed and it was getting dark. All of a sudden, I caught sight of two bloodthirsty wolves glaring at me. Before I could even react, they started walking slowly towards me. I didn't know what I've done, neither did I recognize where I was. I decided to run and the wolves immediately began chasing me as if their lives depended on me. I hit my left foot on a stone all of a sudden and fell down with a loud thud.

And just as I lifted my head to look at them, they were both right before my face, with gritted teeth and murderous looks in their red eyes, ready to rip my flesh apart....

All of a sudden, I heard a voice close to my ears, that was when I realized I had been dreaming.

And even though my eyes were closed, I knew who it was. The closest person I had to a best friend, Renee Malivert. She was beautiful. Brown hair, blue eyes, perfect smile. I envied her. "Why are you up? I asked, ignoring her question and opening one eye. "It's morning, why else would I be up?"

She said sarcastically, pursing her lips. I rubbed my eyes as I leaned up into a slouch. "My apologies. What are you doing in here anyways? You know if Kol catches you in here he'll be pissed." I shooed her off my bed, but she only stood at the end of it watching me with judgy eyes. "I don't care, I could take The Alpha. Show him

a good one, two." She punched the air frantically. I half smiled at her. "Yeah well, you can give him a good one, two... in the living room. Get out before he catches you. Go." She frowned at me as I

got up and shoved her out of the door. I pressed my forehead against the cool wood of the now closed door and sighed. "Happy 18th birthday Katerina." I told myself, and turned and looked at the

clock, 7:38am. Eight minutes past when I should have been up. No wonder Renee came in. I sighed and turn around to get ready for school.

I run my morning routine through my head as I go along. Shower, get dressed, run downstairs and make my way in and around the kitchen, serving the pack breakfast. Once they're all finished, I'll

need to clean up after them too. All before the clock hits 8:30am. In 20 minutes, I'm brushing the dull red hair and ready rush outta my bedroom. I'm a bit behind in time. I run down the stairs in a black T-shirt and blue jeans. My navy blue pull-over sweater was hanging over my arm as I did, my shoes screeching against the newly polished floor of the pack house. I made sure to do that last night whilst they were asleep. I reach the kitchen, shove my sweater into a far corner of the counter and began grabbing food out of the fridge. In 15 minutes I am frying bacon, eggs, and cooking up some pancakes. Quickly, I grab some large serving plates from the cupboards, tossed them on the kitchen counter, and poured each pan into a separate serving bowl. There. I click the stove top burners off one by one. It was normal morning routine, I was used

to it.

I grabbed some glasses from the cupboard, place them on the counter. I take out a few cartons of juice from the fridge, apple and orange and leave them on the counter too. Lastly, I grabbed the utensils needed and stuck them by the plates. I look over my work, I wasn't forgetting anything. Breakfast was

ready for my pack. And slowly the pack comes into the kitchen, filling their plates and

glasses. Some head toward the dining room table, others sit at the isle in the middle of the kitchen.

I took my steps back, waiting for them to finish, picking at my nails with my hands at my sides. They never took long to eat.

When they all got up to leave, I quietly cleared the table, wiped it up the counter and started with the dishes.

It's 8:44am when I am finished. Shit. I grabbed my sweater from the corner, realizing my bag was still upstairs. I rush to my room in stealth mode to grab my backpack, hoping no-one would notice how late I was. But of course, I wasn't lucky. When I had closed my bedroom door - if you could call a single mattress and a broken dresser a bedroom - behind me, I smashed into the hard chest of a person. That person being my brother, Ace. I kept my eye's cast down a I mumbled an apology. "Move. Pay attention next time will you?" He spat, mumbling a swear word under his breath. Bumping my shoulder as he walks down the hall to his room, grabbing his own bag I assume.

I ignore that slight pang of sadness as I walk down the stairs and out to the graveled street of the driveway. My eye's were damp, but I wouldn't cry. Stepping out of the pack house, I watch the expensive and gorgeous cars speed past me as I start walking down the street and to school.

I was so late. School starts at 9:00am and this walk takes up to 20 minutes. I let out an exaggerated breath. Sometimes I wonder if Alpha Kol purposely made the order that no-one was to drive me to school just so he knew I would be late and just so he could yell at me for it.

When I reached the mucky greenish metal front doors of the school, it was 9:13am. I swung the doors open rushing down the hall. As I slide my shoes across the floor, I miss the door by about half a meter. I speed walk quick and open the door, breathing heavy as I mutter "Sorry I'm late." to Mr. Hilton, my English teacher.

He waves my presence away as I walk to the back of the class room. Melonie, who's name matched her huge arse melon's perfectly, stuck her foot out like she did every morning, and like every morning, I stepped over it and sat in my desk awaiting the painful lesson.

I didn't pay attention to the lesson much. I had this feeling that I couldn't ignore and decided just to stare out the window to distract myself, watching the squirrels run along the branches of the tree just outside. I found myself wishing I could shift, run around in the woods for awhile, listening to all the animals around me. My thoughts were halted when I felt a piece of paper hit the corner of my cheek. I shut my eyes in frustration. Now what? I look around, looking for the gaze of someone waiting for me to open it. No one was meeting my eyes though, which was weird. They always make it clear if they've thrown it. Grabbing the paper, that strange feeling was there again. I open the crumbled paper slowly, confused by what I read. "It'll be okay, Kat," was written neatly in the middle. My breath grew shallow and I took a look around the classroom again before crumpling up the paper, rising from my seat and quickly go to toss it in the trash. I didn't like this gut feeling and I didn't need yet another problem in my life.

I went to take my seat again, taking a short look around, avoiding yet another leg sticking out to trip me as I walk to my desk. It seemed like the teachers in this school are blind or simply don't give a crap. The discipline in this school was close to none. No one ever gets suspended, even when they really mess up. I sat down at my desk again, trying my best to now focus on the lesson now. I took a few notes in an attempt to forget the one I received.

The bell rang, halting my thoughts. I let out a sigh of relief. I slipped my backpack over my shoulder, and was last the leave the classroom. I was met in the hallways with screeching teenage girls, and annoyingly stupid blonde barbie whore's, who were all surrounding my pack members. The one's who just happen to be the Jocks who play Football. I slipped through the crowd like I normally would, finally reaching the end and making my way down the hall to my left and towards my next class.

Then there was this strange scent hitting me... it was strong and getting strong. I had never smelt something life this, not in my five years of being a wolf.. which was the last time I shifted since I am no longer allowed to. My parent's died that year. Another wave of the scent hit me and I found myself smiling. This scent, meant mate. And I was desperate to meet him. I turned around quickly, looking for the one behind the intoxicating scent. A shiver ran down my spine. He must be getting closer.

And when I turned around once more, there he was. Tall, handsome. A mix of light and dark blue eyes. My lips parted and I let out a breath. I wanted him. Adrenaline started to run through along with a painful pull I felt toward him. Please no. My hands were freezing all of a sudden, it stung enough that I wanted to scream but I didn't look down. All I could do was stare at him. I was numb as he approached me, I had no words. This can't be happening.

He stood in front of me, backing me against a locker, one of his hands stretched out beside my face. I wanted to tough him, I wanted him to touch me. I let out another breath. No, don't say it. And I hold myself together, not giving anything away. "Listen carefully, Katerina." He begins, his voice so alluring. "You're not good enough to be a luna. Hell, I don't understand how you can call yourself a werewolf. You have to know by now that you're nothing but a small piece in this pack. And I can't even begin to understand why I was paired with you as a mate." He slams his fist on the locker, right by my ear. And then, in a deeply chilling voice he states, "I formally reject you, Katerina Bathas, as my mate." And I watch as Kol Night, my alpha, turns his back on me like I don't even exist. I have a gut feeling I'm being watched and I find myself looking around frantically, my heart racing only to find no one, thankfully. And before I can stop myself, I take a deep breath and scream, desperately trying to find any form of release from this pain.

I sank to the floor, watching as the crowd formed around me, following the scream they just heard. There was laughing from the pack and mumbling from the outsiders. The tears that rimed my eyes were now falling freely down my pale chubby cheeks. The hallways was now totally empty, and I was left alone. I was hyperventilating. I was just rejected by my mate. My brother hates me, he practically blames me for our parent's death.

Everyone in this stupid school is set out to make me regret living. And the funny thing is... almost everything they say about me is true I am fat, or at least overweight. I'm not at all skinny, and I'm not even saying that because they've convinced me of it. Even before my parents died, before my brother started hating me, I knew I was a little too big for anyone's liking. I wasn't attractive either. My hair was a dull, dead, burgundy red. My eye's were such an odd color. An also very dull, unflattering green with grey specks. My own reflection made me angry and sad. I didn't use to believe then when they said I should have died with my parents. But now,

I was starting to believe that too. Or worse, that I should have died instead of my parents. I slapped away the tears from my face and scrambled up to a stand. Ignoring my backpack that lay on the ground, I sprinted out of the school doors, pushing past the assholes in the hall and back down the street until I felt the gravel rocks beneath my thin, worn out shoes. I slowed my walking into a fast speed walk as I past the familiar driveway. I stepped into the empty pack house, and holding onto the railing, stormed up the stairs skipping two steps each until I reached my door right above them. I burst through it, rummaging through the broken drawers of my broken dresser to take out the few clothes I did have and shove them into a duffel bag. I grabbed my mom and dad's picture from under the mattress that lay directly on the dirty floor, dusted it off, and placed in the duffel bag as well. I zipped it up, slummed it over my shoulder and sighed. One thing I had to do before I left was visit Renee's room. When I reached her white, flowery door, I stopped. New tears flooding my eyes. I had left a very brief explanation as to why I'm leaving for her on her bed. I wrote the note out myself, and told her how she would never see me again, how I was sorry, and then left the room with new tears. When I closed the pack house front doors behind me for the last time, thinking in my head "I, Katerina Bathas, officially withdraw my place in the Fallen Moon pack." I felt a painful pull and I held in a whimper. I was now officially a rogue wolf. And I knew the Alpha, along with the whole pack would feel I was leaving. Not that they would care, I thought to myself as I approached the woods, desperate to get the hell away from here. I knew the instant I crossed from my our territory, to an unknown one, I would feel another pang of pain, and so would the pack. Then would they know I was truly gone, not just from their pack but from this shitty ass town I can no longer call

home. Placing the duffel bag near a tree, I shifted, feeling my human clothes rip and tear to shrivels of cloth as a brown/beige furred wolf took place. My bone's felt free. The kind of release you feel only when you shift after 5 years of being trapped inside a human form. It was nice to be in contact with my wolf again. Her voice rang in my ears as I picked up the bag with my teeth, and ran through the tree's and off the territory, away from Ever Falls.

Kol's (P.O.V)

When we burst through the pack house doors, every pack member rushed around looking for anything they could find that Katerina might have left, by my order. Her name was being shouted, pack members shifted, running through the woods in an attempt to find her. Anything to see where she was going.

I felt it when she left. We all felt it, the physical pain had the whole pack crashing to the grounds in classrooms and hallways of the school. It was awful, worse because of us all being at fault. We knew she left for good, she was no longer a part of this pack and I had no way of connecting with her. What have I done, What did I

do.

I kept replaying the same sentences in my head, not understanding why the hell I started all of this to begin with. I was in pain. I wanted her here, with me. I wanted the chance to show her that I wanted all of this to change. Rejection or not, she was still my mate. I groaned and rub my hands through my hair and down my face in exasperation. What did I do.

Just then, Renee rushes down the stairs, a sobbing wreck with a loose sheet of paper in her shaking hand. I took it from her and what I read had me furious and seeing red.

Dear Ren,

Please, believe me when I say I am so sorry. I didn't want it to end like this, it's just too much for me to stay.

My brother hates me and so does my pack. I have no-one to protect me, I can barely protect myself, Ren. Our beloved alpha, is my mate and so none of the above will change. What do I have left? I'm at my breaking point, Ren.

I want to promise that I'll be okay but I'd be lying if I did. No part of me is strong at the moment and the only thing I'm hoping for right now is the chance to be with my mom and dad again... sometime soon.

The only promise I'll be making you all is this: No one in the Fallen Moon pack will see me again.

If you could please tell Ace I'm sorry... that he was a great brother growing up, that I love him and wish him good luck in life.

And if you could just give this note to Kol, please. Have him read what's written below.

"I know this does nothing, but writing it down makes it official in my eyes now too... I, Katerina Bathas accept your rejection." I'll miss you Ren, thank you for never listening and for being my only friend. Just please, this time listen. Don't come looking for me, I don't want to be found. I'm sorry.

Goodbye.

Katerina Bathas

Katerina's (P.O.V)

In 4 day's time, I heard the first crack of a twig that wasn't done by me. I was far, far away from Ever Falls. I had shifted three times, back and fourth to human and wolf as I travelled in and out of towns. I was now in wolf form again, walking through the woods looking for something, anything to drink. I was dying from dehydration and I swear my tongue hung out of my mouth like a sloppy dog. Pun intended.

The crack had me whipping my head around, a growl erupting from deep inside my throat. I barked, as if to ask who's there. I wish I hadn't, because no sooner than I did, I was faced with three wolves. All in the formation of a triangle, coming at me. A black one, large than the other two, at the front of the triangle, a grey one, at the right of the triangle, and a white one, to the left of the triangle. I watched there lips pull back from there teeth in a snarl as the patted over to me. I cowered away in fear, my nose touching my front paw's, my butt and hind leg's still in the air to show I surrender. I cast my wolfy eye's down at the muddy grounds of the woods, and waited to be killed.

Bone popping. No, bone cracking. They were shifting. I still kept my eye's down. There was a zipper and some rustling. "Shift." A voice of authority rang and I felt my body quiver in fear. Insinctively I shifted, curling into a ball on my knee's to hide my body. "Our eye's are closed, you may get dressed." He told me, the same voice who told me to shift.

Quickly, I slipped on some random clothes from the bag and got back down on my knees. "I'm done." I said slowly. "You can stand up you know. We won't bite." Another voice had said. I got up, finally meeting there eye's. They gasped. "Who are you, rogue?" The Authority was ringing in my ears again, I figured he would be the Alpha of the pack. "I'm Katerina." I muttered to them. They were all very good looking. Tight shirts and shorts. A duffel bag on the ground to their left.

I cocked my head to the side. "Katerina what?" The one who told me to stand up asked. "Bathas. Katerina Bathas." I said quickly. They looked at eachother, sharing looks I didn't know how to identify before looking back at me.

"I'm Elijah. This is Cliff, and Joel." Cliff was the grey wolf, Joel was the white, Elijah was the Alpha, the black wolf. I nodded not understanding why they took the time to introduce themselves. "You came across our territory. Why?" Cliff asked me. "I didn't realize there was another pack close by here. I ran from home, I'm only on the run. I swear." I defended myself. "Were not going to hurt you, stop cowering away from us. And there is another pack close by here, The Untamed pack. My pack." Elijah said and I gasped before I knew it happened. "I didn't.. I didn't know. I'm sorry." I told him, looking him in the eyes.

He rolled his. "I don't care that you crossed it. Clearly you mean us no harm if you're just about ready to run and hide. I was just wondering why you had crossed us, and now that I know, I'd like to ask you what's up with your bruises." He said clearly, his eye's traveling over me. I cleared my throat. "Fell." I said flatly. Once again, they all looked at eachother with a look I couldn't identify.

"First, never lie to an Alpha. Especially one who is soon to be your's if you accept. Two, I can easily tell that those bruises are all from different time periods, so unless you have two left feet, or three extra toes, I suggest you re-think that answer of yours." Elijah told me smoothly. My eye's grew wide. "Me? And inviation to your pack? The strongest pack in the entire pack history?" I asked in a small voice. "Yes." All three of them said flatly at the same time.

I blew up. "Are you nuts?! Why would you even think about excepting me into your pack. I'm weak, hell you all must be on drugs. You must be out of your minds or extremely desperate. I can't fight, I'm meant to be faught, and I'm always meant to loose. Oh my this is crazy talk. Holy crap." I rambled on and on, pacing back on forth. When I looked back at the three of them, they all looked extremely amused. I stopped.

"What's so funny?" I asked in bewilderment a bit of anger in my tone. "You are. Of course we know what were getting ourselves into. You can be trained. Someone as slim as you can build muscle easily and can be taught to fight and defend like a wolf should." Cliff said smirking at me. I let out a snort. Now I'm sure they're on drugs. "There is no way in hell anyone would classify me as slim." I said matter of factly.

They shared another look, this time I knew what it was. It was confusion. "Uh, okay then." Joel said. I took a deep breath. "And to answer your question, I was abused." I told them. I watching their facial expressions shift into one's of rage. "Your pack did this?" Elijah asks. I flinch at his tone though I knew he was angry at me.

"Yes." I answer quietly. I can see they were talking in their heads again, they were calming themselves down. I cleared my throat. "We'll address this again later." Elijah states. "Will you be accepting our invitation little wolf?" Joel asks me. I met eyes with the Alpha, he nods and gives me a small smile. "S-sure." I stutter. And they ushered for me to grab my bag and follow them.

"Let's go again." I shout to Cliff as I stand up from the grass. "C'mon. Take a break for the day, you've been working non-stop for the past 6 weeks Kat." He told me enveloping me in a hug. "Yes, but that's what training is. Non-stop working out and training. " I told him pushing at his shoulder. Suddenly I was flat on my arse on the grass again. I groaned. "I wasn't ready." I told him. "Werewolve's are meant to be ready. At any given time. Learn to use all your senses, it makes a huge impact. Mainly hearing." He tells me.

I push my red, fiery hair out of my face and stood up. I smile to myself as I let it slip through my fingers. I remembered discovering it, how shocked and happy I had been.

When I had asked Elijah about what was going on, explaining how I used to look, he gave me the answers I needed. He told me that it was a mix of things. Once I found my mate, my wolf and I grow stronger in a way we know could make us feel stronger...

All I had wanted was to be small and attractive and so my body began to change physically. My wolf growing strong too.

That and the fact that I hadn't eaten in the days before they found me. That had cause me to lose even more weight. The boys still get mad if I don't eat enough.

It didn't matter how I got to this point, it just mattered how much happier I was feeling like this and looking like this.

I snap myself out of it, pushing my memory aside. "Cmon. Let's keep going." I look up at Cliff. He groaned in an attempt to distract me. And I was right, soon he was starting up another attack, trying to grab me over his shoulder. Instinctively I ducked, rising to my feet as I turn around and pushed at his back. He flew forward, but I was already infront of him again, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him onto the grass my arms shaking. I let go immediatly and smiled in triumpth. "Nice job!" He grinned and started charging at me again.

This time, I used one hand to grab his forearm and tug him to the ground like a sack of flour and kneel onto his back. He kinda looks back grinning at me. "You're getting good. I'm proud of you." He tells me and pulls me in for a hug. "Thanks." I smiled into his chest.

We ran plays and senario's for another hour despite Cliff being dead tired. Dinner was almost ready by the time we were finished. Stepping into the pack house smelt amazing and my stomach grumbles in response. After finding a seat at the table, the rest of the pack sitting around me, I felt relaxed. I was exhausted. Plates of food were placed in front of us by the amazing kitchen staff that works here. And the whole time we ate dinner, I couldn't stop smiling.