CHAPTER EIGHT - FIGHT ME! VALENTINA

VALENTINA

PACK OF LORE

Seconds bled to minutes, minutes bled to hours which then bled to days until a full week had gone by I had seen less and less of Lucean, the lost company I had being the two sentries that guarded outside my room door. And though I had used the time to fully recuperate, I had to admit it (but only down in the deepest and darkest corner of my heart) I missed Luceans scent.

Sometimes I found myself wanting to take the icy walk over to his pack manor but I was constantly blocked by the sentries, they have the same cautionary warning claiming they were only acting on direct orders from the Alpha.

My days were spent, reading on an old and dusty dated novel I had found under the bed, was probably one of Teiras should has forgotten about. I’d wake in the morning, do the usuals of brushing and showering before a single younger lady would bring a sumptuous tray of breakfast that I never completely finished.

The snow storm had became a blizzard over the past few days and I had managed to figure out how to work the fireplace to prevent myself from freezing over.

Today started out with significantly less snow that usual and I needed no other cue to use the day and test out my broken ankle.

Throwing the doors of my wardrobe open, I picked out a significant large buffer jacket, a pair of dusty brown boots that were surprisingly new and strutted out the door.

The sentries offered words of greetings at which I nodded to.

“We shall escort you wherever you need to go miss.” One of them said in their usual cold monotone.

“No umm, it’s fine. I wouldn’t be long at all.”

They looked at each other before nodding, and I practically ran down the short corridor not minding that they were still looking at little me hobbling in boots that were a size bigger than her feet and jacket that was most likely twice her size.

I got to houses front door and braced myself for the chills.

Just as expected, the icy winds hit me with winds. Cold and ice biting at my skin but I breathed in lungfuls of the cold air, breathing out it thin white puffs of mist.

When I trudged through the snow only but a very few people were out. A few sentries casted me casual glances as they walked about to their business but I didn’t stop walking past the residencial houses, manors and cabins until I got to the treeline. At this point I had to stick my hands into the pockets of my jacket to keep my fingers from frostbite.

Lucean’s pack manor could be seen in the distance and I felt a tingling warmth settle in my stomach at the thought of him, seated on a large chair while I sat opposite him, eyes watching my movements but a fear induced panic shot through my being as I noticed a group of sentries had began closing in on me, all in tactical gear with mild-aggressive and curious looks on their faces.

I stayed still, their white outfits offering great camouflage with the snow that rested upon the trees leaves and their pace slow as they moved towards me, at least ten in number. My heart began a fast trot in my chest when they got to be five feet away from me and my breaths left me in fast, heavy puffs of mist.

“Oi !” The voice was loud, cutting through the falling flakes of snow and pausing the sentries on their tracks and I immediately knew who the owner was. “The fuck y’all doing on here preying?”

One of the sentries, one with a scar over his left eye spoke up. “Forgive us commander Jayme, we knew not the Alpha had brought a close to home visitor. And one from an enemy pack at that…”

I was grateful when they all turned around and left, sinking in with the endless white of snow around us.

“Out of the house already are we?”

Jayme stood just about five feet away from me. The snow barely stopping at his shin where it stopped me at my knees. He had his head held high, water making his hair sleek. His hands were folded across his chest in the most intimidating of manners and a smug smile was plastered on his face.

“Didn’t think I would stay locked indoors forever now did we?” My voice sounded bold, my tone brave though my body shivered under the large jacket, and not from the cold.

He took in a deep breath, exhaling through his nostrils and I followed the twisting puff of mist.

“You finally started sleeping with our Alpha—”

“What?!” I asked, enraged.

“Ohh.” He waved me off clearly unconcerned by the anger that simmered out the fear in me. “I can perceive on you though.”

Jayme was a hard person to read, while one second he could be smug as hell, the next he had all emotion drained from his face.

“If you think I would just let you get the better of me like how you did the last time, then I’ll be glad to tell you you’re wrong!” I sounded brave, a little bit too brave.

“I got to hear of something you said. That you intent to kill Ryker.” Spoke, having an edge to the way he said the usurpers name. “And while how I got to know about this is not important then I asked. How do ‘you’ little Valentina who has not even shifted yet intent to kill an Alpha?” This time he wasn’t mocking, he was serious and though I felt empowered by the fact he actually rated me enough to consider that I could kill Ryker, I still had no way to answer the question.

“Ryker took everything from me. So I intend to take it back!” I bit out sharply, raising my head as I spoke.

“Tsk tsk tsk…” he clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “You know so little don’t you.”

I struggled to find a direct meaning in his words.

“Do you even know who Ryker truly is? Are you sure you can trust anyone at all?

“It’s surprising how we all got entangled in this mess truly.

“You know he would hunt you Valentina, soon he would find you here and he would invade this place just like he had invaded your home. Ryker is not the kind of man who leaves loose-ends so are you sure you are prepared to know anything at all?”

Though I still struggled to understand the lot of what he was saying one thing was for sure.

“If I should cross paths with that wolf that took everything away from me. I would end him.”

“Prove it!” He snarled, his voice becoming a growl that sunk deeper into his throat when he spoke. “You claim you can defeat an Alpha then start with me first!”

My heart dropped when leaped at me, my breath hitched in my throat and I watched as his face contorted and morphed, nose shooting into a snout and teeth growing into pikes. His body became bigger and bigger and it all happened so fast I barely had time to react before I was being whisked away in the jaws of a very large white wolf.

**********

When I hit the snow again I’m could tell I was far away from Luceans pack manor.

Snow dug under my nails and my face numbed as it had been shortly buried in the cold. I struggled to my feet, the air in my lungs biting and my throat raspy from my sudden and coarse breaths.

The wolfs paws touched the snow silently as he stalked around me.

I winced, when his voice, cold and echoing reverberated in my head.

‘You think you can waltz into this pack, holding promises of vengeance with an empty gut?’

When he moved he was fast, his wolf slamming into me so hard I felt gravity revolve around my being before I fell back into the snow. When I scrambled to my feet again he was nowhere in sight. I glanced around, my heart wild and my eyes wary, scanning the snow covered leaves of the trees and realizing just how well a snow white wolf would blend in.

A weight sunk in the chest pocket of my jacket, something I hadn’t bothered to pay attention to before but now I reached into it, my fingers curling around a cool steel and I pulled it, realizing it was the dagger I had brandished before Lucean the day we met in that dark forest.

I squeezed the hilt of the dagger with both my hands. It was quiet now but I knew, that he was still here. Lurking. Silently.

‘You brandish a weak weapon. Show me your inner power. Show me the wolf you intended on claiming victory over the usurper.’

Jayme’s voice reverberated in my head.

The sharp snap of a branch pierced the silent air and before I could locate the direction of the sound I was knocked into the air by a harsh force.

My gasp was accompanied by a short scream that sounded more like a terrified roar and I felt the dagger shoot from my grip and I plummeted face first into the snow once more.

I made to stand but the weight of Jaymes paw pushed at the back of my jacket and forcing my face deeper into the icy cold. I winced, pushing against his hold in vain and enduring the chilling bites of snow against my skin.

‘Pathetic of you to think you would ever stand a chance against Ryker in this pitiful form…’ His tone colder than the snow that iced my teeth and numbed my neck.

My eyes glassed under the extremely low temperatures but I spotted the hilt of my dagger just within my reach. When I just managed to grab the weapon I twisted to my side, taking a large swipe for Jaymes fore limb and I was only an inch from hitting my target when he jumped back and I scrambled to get my skin off of the ice.

Jaymes yellow orbs stalked around my form as I shivered from the unrelenting cold that seeped into my being.

“I do not wish to continue this madness!” I yelled to him, the hulking mass of his wolf clearly a force to be reckoned with.

‘So far you have managed to entertain but fail to oppose me in anyway. Is this how you intend to avenge the deaths of your people?’

His words forced a grimace onto my face, one that he clearly seemed satisfied with. I brandished the dagger, holding it with both my hands in front of me and though I was so little compared to Jayme I was determined to prove myself. He had gotten the better of me once in the Alphas pack manor, not this time again.

‘Good to see we are bout in character now. So show me little Valentina who thinks she has what it takes to tame our Alpha and claim victory over Ryker the Usurper. Show me how well you fair against your opponents.’

I heaved a long breath, my fingers trembling with an unsteady grip on the hilt due to the numbing cold of having being pressed into the snow.

When he charged forward I did the same, the full of his wolf could probably swallow me up but I didn’t care coupled with the fact of my boots struggling to get through the thick snow.

I released a battle cry, raising the dagger above my head. Jaymes maw opening to devour his opponent.