ELLIE

        When those words left Luca’s mouth I am sure my world stopped for a moment. Jackson had been attacked and it didn’t sound like it was a simple scratch to the face which that it was life-threatening.

        The thought of him dying brought back the same sensation I had when Lex died. I didn’t know what to do and, for a second, I almost forgot how to breathe as I tried to absorb the words. I was so happy and now everything was falling apart again.

        I was sure the Moon Goddess was doing this on purpose. She was making me suffer for everything I did to Blake. She was trying to make me see that I had the most wonderful mate and I was bitch to push him away like we did when we first met.

        But I was terrified. I was dragged to pack like a piece of meat and then I found out that my mate was the son of the man who murder my family. If that wasn’t enough, I was told my Alpha could kill me, plus it then turned out I was the missing daughter of the dead King and Queen. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, James and Angelica wouldn’t leave me the hell alone and now they are dead – they are the reason that my life is now in danger and the reason members of the pack are still going against me in secret.

        “Elliot,” Blake gently shook her. She didn’t want to wake though and ended up pushing his hand away before she rolled over so that she was facing the back of the sofa. “Elliot. You need to wake up. Jackson is in the hospital.”

        “What the hell happened?” I felt the sudden anger wave over me.

        “He was the only one who was attacked. The wolf was one from the pack and they were out on patrol with Jackson. They attacked while he was still a wolf and he only just had the energy to shift back. El, they don’t th—“

        “Don’t even finish that sentence. Just. Don’t,” I stopped him before he could say another word. I didn’t want him to tell me that they didn’t think he was going to make it because that would make me feel so much worse than I do right now.

        “You need to prepare Elliot for the worst,” Luca replied.

        “He isn’t going to die. He’s going to make it and I am going to personally murder the mutt who dared to do this,” I shouted. I had actually forgotten about Nicole until she started crying again and I had to hand her to Luca because I could feel my temper wavering. I was trying to keep my wolf at by but being an Alpha made it all the more difficult.

        “El. You need to calm down,” Luca told me.

        “Where is the wolf who did this?” I growled.

        “In the cells,” Luca muttered. From the way he was backing away from me with Nicole in his arms, I could tell that he was terrified of me and what I was going to do, but I couldn’t seem to get my temper under control. The more I thought about the bastard who was doing this to me, the more I wanted to rip his throat out and make sure there was no one left to oppose me.

        “Take them to the hospital. I am going to have a word with our little friend,” I told them. I couldn’t believe I was using my Alpha tone on them but I didn’t have a choice. If I didn’t tell them what to do, I knew they would follow me and they would talk me out of killing the traitor.

        “Ellie? What’s happening?” Elliot’s sweet voice filled the room. I looked over to her and she still looked tired. She couldn’t even hide the fact she had been crying before she fell asleep.

        “You need to go to the hospital. Jackson has been attacked,” I told her firmly.

        “Wh—What?” Elliot whispered.

        “One of the pack turned on him. He’s at the pack hospital now,” I shouted. I didn’t have the time to be dealing with stupid questions right now.

        “Bu—But. It do—doesn’t m—make sen—nse,” she began crying and that was something I definitely couldn’t be dealing with right now. Angry Ellie and emotional Elliot were never going to get on with each other.

        “Someone take her to the damn hospital,” I commanded loudly as I walked around the room. Both the twins were crying now and, no matter how many times Blake told Maxwell to shush and Luca have Nicole her dummy, neither of them seemed to shut the hell up. “And get those two to shut the hell up.”

        “They can feel your anger. You need to calm down. It’s not doing you any good and it’s certainly not doing the twins any good,” Blake dared to walk towards me in an attempt to calm me down but that wasn’t going to happen.

        “You, stay here with the twins. You, with me, we’re going to the cells,” I put my hand up to stop Blake walking any closer to me. I could hear my bones cracking as I fought against my wolf to prevent her from coming out while the twins were in the room but it was pointless. I knew she was going to win in the end.

        “The doctor said you were to abstain from Alpha duties for at least two months,” Blake was pretty much pleading with me now but it was a little too late for that.

        “I need you to wake Jayson. He can accompany Elliot to the hospital but, if he tries anything funny, I will kill him,” I snapped. All I could think about was murder and I wanted blood. I would take the blood of someone who was supposed to be my friend at this point if it took away this thirst I was feeling.

        “El—“ but I didn’t hear anything else as I allowed my wolf to win. My bones quickly snapped and I shifted into my wolf. Growling at Blake as he tried to come near me and, with a frightening look in Luca’s direction, I ran out of the house and headed towards the cells.

        I had never killed a pack member before but I was going to make an exception. He had probably killed Jackson and, if I was to make him a rogue, he would still be against me and he would still be able to work for James’ son – who I was really hoping would make his appearance soon so that I could rid the world of another evil.

        Are you sure about this? Luca’s voice came through the pack link. On a normal day I would stop and think about my decision. But this wasn’t a normal day and I certainly wasn’t going to stop to think about it.

        I am going to take great pleasure in killing him. I replied quickly. My paws disrupting the dust and dirt around me with each thud of the ground. The speed at which was running make the bushes sway as I went past them and Luca was barely keeping up with me.

        Murder will only turn more of the pack against you. I was sure he had a point. If I started murdering people now, the pack would turn against me again, but he had it coming. He had a choice and he made the wrong one. He went against me and he put my friend, the one who had been there for since the day I first met him, in harm’s way and I wasn’t going to stand by while he got away with it.

         I don’t care. He will pay for what he has done. I closed off the link after that because I didn’t want to hear what else he had to say. I had my mind made up and he wasn’t going to change that.

        I didn’t care how many more people turned against me. When James’ son was dead they would have no choice but to be loyal to me because there was no one else to challenge me. I would have killed them all and, if they didn’t want me as their Alpha, they knew where the forest was.

        When we reached the entrance to the cells I quickly shifted back with both guards bowing their heads as they opened the door and moved to the side, Luca thanking them politely as he walked in after me.

        I walked into the room beside the entrance and grabbed the shorts and tank top I had stored in there in case I ever shifted away from the house. I pulled them on and waited for Luca to appear from the room opposite to mine where he was putting his own shorts on.

        He opened his mouth to speak but I put my hand up to prevent the words from coming out. He was my friend but he was also my Third in Command and that meant he needed to know right now I was his Alpha and not his friend – I didn’t want his helpful words of advice in which he told me how foolish I was about to be.

        For every one step I took down the corridor, Luca was having to take three just to be able to keep up with me. And, when I reached the cell where the traitor was being kept, I wasn’t even surprised to see who it was.

        “Jonah. Lovely to see you know how to return a favour,” I laughed humourlessly.

        “You know him?” Luca asked in shock.

        “Of course she knows me. She refused to help me when the pack I was in charge of fell into ruin,” he smirked. He knew the reason I couldn’t help him was because I had too much to deal with within my own pack. I didn’t have the time or the energy to deal with two packs – especially not after I fell pregnant with the twins.

        “You know why I couldn’t help you,” I growled.

        “You’ve grown selfish and weak since our last encounter. It shouldn’t be too hard to kill you,” Jonah continued to smirk. I could feel my hands clenching at my sides and I was practically gritting my teeth at his total lack of respect.

        “I gave you a home. I gave the entire pack a home and for my generosity you attack my Beta?” I snapped. My canines extending from my gums to assert my power of the low-life piece of crap in front of me.

        “Generosity? You took the pack and integrated it with your own. We didn’t have much choice but to move here,” Jonah shouted angrily as he pulled against the chains which were keeping him attached to the wall.

        “You all had a choice. I even allowed you to remain on your land and said the only time you had to come to Darkness was for the pack meetings. I never forced you into anything,” I retorted.

        When he wouldn’t stop begging for my help, I offered him the next best thing I could cope with which was integration into Darkness. Moon Shadow would cease to exist and all members of the former Moon Shadow pack would have to accept that and, if they didn’t accept that, they would be classed as rogues – I told them that they could remain in their houses though as long as they didn’t try anything with me because they suddenly got a desperate hatred for what I had done.

        Jonah didn’t even have to think twice before he accepted the offer. He was happy to be relieved of his duties and able to live his life that he signed the dotted line and never bothered to look back. Hell, he even moved into Darkness territory and had never made a complaint before.

        “I signed to get closer to you. I needed to be in your pack, to earn your trust so it was easier for me to turn on you when the time came,” he replied smugly.

        “Open the gate,” I growled at the guard but he simply stared at me like he didn’t know who I was. “I said open the damn gate.”

        “Yes. Open the gate. I would like to get personal with our Alpha,” Jonah encouraged him. My patience had left me at the beginning of this conversation and my anger was even worse than it was before. If he thought he had some advantage over me then he was wrong and he really didn’t know what I could do to him.

        “Hurry,” I growled. The guard shoved his key into the lock and pulled the gate open. Stepping the side I could see that he was shaking and I couldn’t help but smirk – I was sure I would feel terrible about this once it was done but, for once, feeling the full power of the Alpha was amazing.

         If you kill him you may never find where James’ son is hiding. Luca mind-linked me and I turned to see a concerned look on his face as he watched from the side, wondering what I was going to do the guy.

        “Your children are beautiful. Especially Nicole. I think murdering her will be a great pleasure,” Jonah really didn’t know when the keep his mouth shut.

        “You, or anyone of you fools stupid enough to work for that pup, touch my children then it will be the last thing you do,” I snapped as I approached Jonah until we were toe-to-toe with each other. He was still smirking at me while all I could do was growl threateningly.

        “What about Elliot? I understand she’s pregnant? It would be a shame for both her and her pup to die,” Jonah chuckled.

        “Leave her out of whatever sick games you have going on,” I extended my hand until it was wrapped around his throat and I walked backwards until he back hit the wall, a hiss escaping from his mouth as I moved him back slightly and slammed him into the wall again for good measure.

        “Although I do have a little word of advice for you,” Jonah said quietly as his eyes flickered towards Luca before he looked back at me with an almost serious look on his face. “The people you trust the most are the ones who are against you. So be sure to watch your back.”

        “And what’s the supposed to mean?”

        “Luca and his mate aren’t all that they seem. You would be wise to watch what you say around the both of them,” he replied and I looked for any sign that he was lying but there wasn’t anything. There wasn’t a tell or a twitch or anything. There was nothing to tell me whether he was lying or telling the truth.

        “If you’re lying,” I whispered harshly.

        “You have your hand around my throat and I’m pinned to a wall with handcuffs around my wrist. I would be an idiot to lie,” he shrugged and I quickly released him. I watched as he fell to the floor and moved his hands to rub his neck which was now a strange mix of purple and blue. I smirked proudly to myself knowing he would be showcasing that bruise for a good two weeks thanks to the silver chains around his wrists limiting the access he had to his wolf.

        “I meant what I said Jonah. If I find out you are lying then I will kill you,” I growled once again and I walked out of his cell totally ignoring Luca as he asked me what Jonah had told me. I didn’t want to speak to him right now. I didn’t want to speak to anyone.

        “Do take care Alpha. And remember. Watch your back,” I heard Jonah shouted after me and I couldn’t miss the sarcasm in his tone when he spoke to me. But there was also something inside me which was asking that I believe him because, he was right, I could have killed him and his last words would have been a lie.

        He knew the power I had. He didn’t know all of it. But he could tell I had some serious power. He wasn’t stupid enough to mess with me and tell me something which would, ultimately, end his life.

        “El?” Luca’s voice called once more.

        “Go to the hospital and watch over Elliot with Jayson. If anything happens to her or her pup, you die,” I snapped and quickly shifted into my wolf as I ran out of the door to the cells and headed back to the pack house with Jonah’s words floating around my head.

        Luca and his mate aren’t all that they seem.

- So Jonah, if you don't remember, is the guy Blake appointed as Beta of Moon Shadw when he left with Ellie to take over Darkness. But, do you believe what he says about Luca and Charlotte OR is he just saying it so he can stay alive a little longer?