After a while, Avina heard Keil stand up. He was done with his change which meant she had to face them. Reaching a hand up, she wiped away a few tears that had ran down her cheeks. During that short encounter, she saw the look of distrust and betrayal she saw looming in her eyes. He probably thought she had called her pack. When he moved away from her, a small piece inside of her broke. What was he trying to tell her? What was going to happen to him? Would she see him again? No one had ever been able to touch her soul the way he did. These past to nights with him made her feel so much more alive than she had felt in four hundred years.

With a deep, calming breath, and one more check to see if her face was dry, Avina slipped into her alpha mask and turned to face Brice, wolf Jessie, and a naked Keil. Brice was sitting on the ground, holding Jessie in his lap and stroking her head and neck. His strong muscular frame was relaxed, but Avina could see the storm raging inside his deep brown eyes. Jessie, cuddled in Brice’s lap, was still calming down and attempting to control her wolf. While Avina could make Jessie’s wolf obey, it was better if Jessie learned to control her wolf. Keil, on the other hand, was no where near calm. He acted like he was was about ready to jump out of his skin. He could not stand still, and every move he made was sudden, hard, and rash like he was having a hard time bottling his anger.

Avina looked at each of them in turn, knowing the moment she spoke the spell would be broken. Brice’s eyes meet hers after a moment, and for a brief second the storm calmed. In a way only he could, Brice had given her strength without giving up his anger towards her. “What-” before she could finish, Keil jumped towards her. Avina easily side stepped him. While his move would have been too even for a normal werewolf to see, she had seen the movement just as his muscles coiled for the jump. His movement towards her was sloppy and in slow motion. 

Keil, not knowing how to adjust for his mistake in midair, landed on his face with a hard thump a few yards away. “B*tch.” He mumbled as he spat out dirt from his mouth. Avina, knowing and trusting Brice not to take such harsh measures, turned her back to her back to her second-in-command to face Keil. “If you have a problem with me, boy, then try and take a swing! You never were able to hit me anyway!” Avina’s voice was not her normal one. It was laced with the wolf’s growling, giving her a mix between her normal voice, a growl, and a deep rumble that was eerie even to her. 

Pushing himself up off the ground, Keil turned towards her. His eyes were solid red, no white or black to be found. Avina took a step towards him and he sprang for her once again. This time, Avina grabbed his neck in midair, reversed his motion and slammed him into the ground. Her hand still had its grip on his neck and she was kneeling next to him. Leaning closed to his face, she let out a growl so powerful that her jaw snapped out of place and started to grow into a wolf’s muzzle. The growl lasted a good thirty seconds, and by the end of it her eyes were red and Keil’s were normal. 

Avina’s jaw popped back into place, and for a long minute the field was silent. “I am still alpha. If you want to challenge that again, I will kill you this time.” She let go of his neck only to grab his jaw with nothing but her nails and turned his face away from her. Leaning down, she bit his ear until he whimpered in pain. Avina pushed herself up from the ground and turned to face Brice who had been watching the short battle with no expression.

“Sit.” He told her calmly. Avina sighed, her eyes going back to normal, and she sat down in front of him. Brice’s brown eyes looked over at where Keil still laid on the ground then back at Avina. “Why?” He asked her in such a calm tone, shivers ran down her spine. Avina averted her eyes. “Why what?” She asked softly. Brice barked a harsh laugh. “Why have you betrayed the pack? …. Why have you betrayed me?”

“You do not understand. I haven’t! Devin has nothing to do with-” She stopped when he held up his hand. “I am not an alpha, you have made me a submissive wolf a long time ago. You do not have to answer to me.” Brice stood up after gently putting Jessie on her feet. Holding out a hand, he helped Avina to her feet as well, though she was a good foot and a half shorter than he was.

For a moment she was confused. Why was he making her confess, only to tell her to stop? No…. No! “You didn’t!” Strong rolls of fear and hatred rolled over her. He couldn’t have possibly! Her breathing became heavy, and her heart beat quickened. “Please, tell me you didn’t.” she whispered. Brice looked down at the ground looking guilty only for a moment before boldly meeting her eyes once again. Keil, seeming to have finally caught up, sat up quickly, a smile appearing on his face.

“You left me no choice, Avina. I had to call him after I saw you willingly give your blood.” Avina looked up at her most trusted friend with hurt and betrayal clear in her eyes. 

“I have called the Marrok. He will be here in twenty-four hours.”