I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath. The migraine that I'd been battling for the last three days was steadily getting worse. To make things worse, today it felt like there were thousands of ants crawling beneath my skin.
"Is it happening again, Alpha?"
"I'm fine," I snapped back, nearly ripping the document in my hands in half.
However, the truth was that I was not fine. Recently, my wolf had gotten restless, causing me to lash out at everyone and everything. The more I tried to suppress it, the harder it became to contain my emotions.
"What are you here to report? I can see you have something to say," I said, trying my best to act like I wasn't fighting an internal war.
Ronan, my Beta, took a step forward and bowed his head slightly. "Alpha, there's been another attack. The scouts at the human border found another one of our pack dead. The body was filled with silver bullets, and there was a silver stake through his heart.
The next moment, anger surged through me.
I could feel my wolf lash out, despite doing everything I could to keep it in check. It was angry, and I was livid, causing the last thread of rationality in me to snap.
"Fuck!" I shouted as I stood up, flinging the desk, along with all of its contents, across the room. "How many more times will those human scum break their peace treaties?!"
Ronan took a step forward and bent down in front of me. "Alpha, please quell your anger. You're showing signs of losing control." His tone was respectful, but firm.
I felt my body heat up as my wolf fought to take over. He was as angry, if not angrier, than I was.
Ignoring Ronan's plea, I walked over to the window. "I'm going to kill them all. They all deserve to die! EVERY LAST ONE!"
My nails turned into claws. Images of me running into their concrete city and tearing them all to shreds flashed through my mind. Fuck the peace. Fuck the will of my ancestors. Fuck it all. How many more of my pack did I have to watch die before I could take action?
"Alpha, please!" Ronan said, raising his voice with urgency.
I ignored him again, making my way closer to the window. There was a standing lamp in my way, so I picked it up and threw it against the large window, immediately shattering it into a thousand pieces.
"Soren!" shouted Ronan, standing up to appear in front of me.
"Get out of my way, Beta!" I growled. But Ronan stood strong. By the way that he stood, I could tell that he was ready to shift.
This time, he looked me in the eyes. "Alpha, please! Get a hold of your emotions. You can't do this!"
"SCRAM!"
Lifting Ronan by his neck, I threw him out of the broken window, launching him from my fourth-story office.
The only thing I could feel was bloodlust.
I should have known better than to trust the humans! All they ever do is lie!
I jumped out of the window, landing on my feet beside Ronan.
"Forgive me, Alpha, but it must be done," he said as he shifted. His originally burly body transformed into a giant wolf with grey and brown fur. He circled me, waiting for my next move.
"Ronan, you're pissing me off!" I growled.
My head felt hazy. I felt like I had no control over my thoughts or actions. Each of Ronan's actions only made me feel angrier and angrier.
I sprang forward, only to be blocked by Ronan. The next moment, I felt myself shift as I pivoted my anger towards him.
My natural instincts took over, and I lunged at him. I used the massive force behind my shifted form to launch him into the forest behind the pack house.
Ronan crashed into one of the large pine trees, felling it as soon as he made contact.
But that wasn't enough. He quickly found his footing and used another tree as a springboard, launching himself back towards me.
There was a momentary thrill from the anticipation. My eyes never left his body as he flew out of the forest.
Three. Two. One-
Just as he was about to crash into me, I turned my body, causing him to slip past me. Using the momentum from the turn, I lunged at him, sinking my teeth into his neck.
Ronan shifted, causing the bite to land on his hind leg instead. He scrambled up from the ground and jumped over me. Blood seeped out of his wound, making a trail on the ground below him, but he didn't back down.
Again, he launched himself at me. I waited while calculating his movements in my mind. This time, I jumped up right before he crashed into me, but Ronan didn't let me have it for free. As soon as he saw my jump, he also jumped.
From below, he tackled my body, causing both of us to spin out of control before crashing into another tall pine tree.
"ENOUGH!"
The impact cleared my head. I turned my head and looked over to the source of the shout, noticing one of the elders. I shifted back into my human form but remained on the ground.
Beside me, Ronan did the same, letting out a groan. I glanced down at the deep gash on his leg that was still bleeding.
"Fuck, I'm sorry, man," I said as I lifted myself off the ground. I made my way towards him and bent over to help him up.
"It's fine. It should heal in less than a day," he said, accepting my outstretched arm.
As we walked over to the elder, I looked around, noticing the chaos from our little exchange. Shards of glass covered the stone courtyard while the fallen trees blocked one of the paths behind the building.
I turned to Ronan, flashing him a grateful look. He took the hit so that I didn't go rampant, causing even more chaos. "Thank you. I don't know what came over me."
He nodded. "I've known you my whole life. You'd do the same for me."
I tried really hard not to let the guilt eat away at me. "Yeah, I'd do the same for you... But that's different than going against your Alpha. I could have killed you. I wanted to kill you."
"Soren, I'm worried about you. This isn't the first time. You need to do something about it," he said, looking directly into my eyes. "I'm worried about you as a friend."
"As are we," the elder said, chiming in.
"Elder Oren," we both greeted him in unison.
Elder Oren bowed his head as I walked over. "With all due respect, Alpha, the pack has felt your unrest. The council wishes to have a discussion with you."
I clenched my hand into a fist. Losing control as an Alpha was a very dangerous thing for the pack; I knew that. But I also knew what the Elders were trying to suggest.
"Alpha, the effects of a Luna have been proven for generations. She will be able to quell the unrest inside of you. Please, understand that this will be a benefit to the entire pack.
"I don't need a woman!" I gnashed my teeth. The anger that I had just regained control of flared up within me. "What I need is to teach those liars a lesson! I refuse to let anyone else from MY pack fall victim to them!
"You're teetering, Alpha," another Elder said, walking over with the rest of the group. "The pack sees your unrest. If this continues, you will break, and we cannot allow it. A Luna must be found to temper the beast within."
My head spun. A woman wasn't going to fix anything. I could feel the grip over my emotions beginning to slip once again.
But before I could lash out, Elder Oren stepped forward. "The council has decided. At the start of the next full moon, the Luna selection will begin."
"No! You can't make—"
But just as I was about to finish my sentence, he pulled out a palm-sized moonstone. My eyes widened before I turned around and stormed back into the building.
To think they would go as far as using that to overrule me!