The Lycan Wars

Chapter 3

Alaric Dickson gave his second in command a steely glare as they left from the Gathering, he was still unsure if he had heard Greg's whispered response correctly.
"What do you mean she's gone!!" he growled.
"She was taken by the Feral pack two nights ago; all four of her guards were killed along with three others from our pack." Greg told him as they stepped into the privacy of the lodge Derrick Timber had given him as accommodations while he was here.
"How the hell did this happen?" he snapped barely containing his rage.
"They had a sniper."
"What are they asking in return for her?"
"They're not asking for a ransom"
"So why the hell did they take her!" he asked exasperated with his Beta.
"Well...she was Mated." Greg said in a near whisper.
"WHAT! Who!" His deep bass voice booming in the large open combined living room and kitchen area.
"Victor Feral."
"To their Alpha! Was it willingly?" His hands shook at the thought of his child being harmed.
"We believe she was forced into it." Greg told him.
Alaric went cold inside at those words. His child had been raped and forced to mate. It was an unthinkable act; his mind fought to control the sudden urge to rip everything around him apart.
"You know what to do, I want him dead!" He growled the words out.
"What about the laws?"
"To hell with the laws! Victor crossed the line by taking my daughter!" taking several deep breaths to try to calm himself down Alaric noticed his Beta seemed rather calm giving this news, he had at one time wished to court Mica.
"Now I need to go explain to Derrick just what is going on before he hears it from someone else. This Alliance will only happen if Mica is Mated to Jamie."
"The meetings will be over in a week by then Mica will be back home, and the Feral pack dealt with." Greg reassured him, and he turned and walked out of the room.
Feelings of anger, guilt and helplessness ran through him as he tried to calm himself down in order to call Derrick. This was one of his nightmares come true. He had left her, and someone was able to hurt her. Alaric felt like he had failed his daughter by not being there to protect her when she needed him. Alaric inhaled deeply again. He knew his Beta would make sure his daughter was returned to him, and Victor dealt with.
Greg was a trained navy seal; like most of his pack members, Alaric had made sure they had some sort of specialized training. His pack contained maybe twenty males, ten human female mates and almost twenty three pups of various ages. Most of those were human like their mothers, however. They had only had the one She-wolf, his daughter Mica; her mother too had been a she-wolf. However, she died in childbirth. The pain of that loss still wore heavy on his heart.
Without another moment's hesitation, he grabbed the phone to call Jamie's father. Mica as a she-wolf would ensure werewolf males were born to Jamie and that secured the linage of Derrick's bloodline. Without a she-wolf there were no guarantees that a child would become a werewolf and that made his daughter priceless. Alaric knew this mating was important to Derrick and his pack. Just as much as the Alliance was to Alaric, the Timber pack was large with nearly twice as many werewolf males but not a single she-wolf. It would be good to have them on their side as tensions were mounting between several of the larger packs in the area.

* * * ~~~ * * *

Greg walked into his hotel room and tossed his jacket on the bed, he had stopped by the Chinese restaurant on his way and now as he put the bag on the small desk he didn't feel as hungry as he had. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he fished it out and answered it.
"Yeah"
"They agreed to the Alliance, subject to termination if Mica isn't presented to Jamie by the time he arrives back from his stint overseas." Alaric explained.
"That's not for another month!" Greg retorted in disbelief.
"No, four months now apparently"
"But Alaric that’s too long to wait."
"Yes I know, but now at least we can try and avoid a full out conflict." Alaric said. He sounded calmer then he had earlier. Not so willing anymore to spill the blood of his daughters Mate and be guilty of breaking the laws.
"What do you want me to do?" Greg asked.
"Nothing yet we will set up a meeting with Victor Feral for the return of Mica and go from there." He explained
"But Alaric he forced her to-"
"Enough! I told you what it was we were doing. Now we are to meet with Derrick first thing in the morning, so make sure your there early." He snapped before hanging up.
Greg growled as he tossed his uneaten supper into the garbage. He wanted to kill Victor now, Alaric was being a pacifist again, unwilling to even defend his daughter's honor. Alaric didn't deserve to be Alpha, he fumed to himself. Turning to his laptop, he turned it on before he opened his secondary cell phone and made the call.
"Natasha, yeah it's done." He told her.
"Well this is earlier than expected. Good Greg if this doesn't work He will be very upset!" she told him.
"I know what I'm doing, you just keep up your end of the deal!" he told her hanging up the phone.
Greg hacked into Alaric's email again to inspect the communication he needed to intercept; one new email was there; it was only a short missive from the pack farther south. The Valtor's were interested in setting up a meeting with Alaric at his earliest opportunity. It needed to be deleted, no other pack was to get involved until after Greg was Alpha. The one message from Victor Feral he had saved to a thumb drive; it was the hardest thing he had ever had to sit and watch. Not because Victor forced himself on Mica as Greg had told Alaric but because Mica had actually accepted the mating of their enemy. In fact, she had laid Claim to Victor by biting him first.
It wouldn't matter soon enough though, when the dust settled he would be Alpha of the pack, and Mica would be his. Everything had been going to plan right up until Victor had taken Mica, it threw a slight monkey wrench in his plans but in the end, he knew it would actually work to his advantage. His cell phone rang, and he saw it was Natasha.
"Yes." He said after he answered it.
"Change of plans. He wants the female."
"That wasn't part of the deal!" he stammered.
"Listen Greg it wasn't a suggestion, it was an order, now get your act together, or you know what will happen!" she said coldly slamming the phone down.

* * * ~~~ * * *

They had brought her the tradition long white gossamer gown and Jenni, one of the women from Victor's pack, had prepared Mica by bathing her in scented water and stringing baby's breath into her long loosely braided hair. Jenni explained to her what would happen today, and as she pulling the loose braid from the packs tribal mark she smiled warmly at Mica.
Jenni too had the same tribal marking as she did, which meant she was mated to one of the Feral pack. The taller woman was most likely ten years older than herself and had short cropped brown hair and intense green eyes. Her hands moved deftly about Mica, finishing the last little touches of make-up and adding just a dab of perfume to her neck.
Looking at her with a bit of a smile on her face Jenni sighed.
"He is a good man and a great Alpha. You are lucky he chose you as his Mate." She said, her words sounding sincere.
"I don't even know anything about him." Mica stammered as her tears filled her eyes.
"Are you ready yet, we are going to be late!" Mike's voice boomed from the other side of the door.
"Mica it's going to be ok." Jenni tried to reassure her. Together they left the room, and Mike stared at her, his mouth gapping.
"Wow your beautiful!" he stammered causing her to blush.
"Mike we need to take her to the Hall now." Jenni said, and they escorted her to the old well used minivan. Mica could tell this pack was one of the ones struggling to survive. The Dickson pack was wealthy and therefore, larger than most in this area. The Feral pack she knew had suffered greatly over the years as most of their women gave birth to only humans; they were a dying blood line.
Walking into the small meeting hall, Mica looked the small crowd over; none of these people were familiar to her other then Jenni and the tall ruggedly handsome man in the center of the room. Victor looked up and as he saw her, his eyes went wide as if he was seeing her for the first time. Mica to felt taken aback by her Mate, he looked breathtaking in his all-white gossamer pants and loose flowing shirt that was embroidered in golden intricate designs around the neck and cuffs.
A hush fell over the Feral pack as all of them watched Mike escort her to the center of the room, and she stood before his brother Victor. Traditionally, if would have been her father to walk her to her Mate but seeing as this was a bit unorthodox Mike was doing that part. This was the official ceremony of their Mating, their union bond by blood before his pack and as an Elder woman walked into the center with a bone knife, Mica stiffened.
She had seen many Mating rituals done and knew what to expect as the elder woman took Victor's right hand first and chanted out the words of union and cut his palm just enough to make it bleed a little then she took Mica's left hand and repeated the chant. As the ancient bone knife sliced into her skin, she forced herself not to hiss out as it hurt. As the elder woman finished her chanting she clasped their palms together mixing her blood with his to signify the bond the two of them would forever share as Mates.
Looking up into Victors deep brooding eyes, she felt her heart race in her chest. What had she done? She didn't even know this man, yet just last night, she claimed him, and now she was willingly performing the mating ritual with him. Mica figured she had gone insane as Victor's lips descended onto hers in a public display of affection, and she returned the kiss instinctually. A rush of icy delight ran down her spine at his lip's tender caress on hers and as her eyes fluttered, she could see his desire already starting to show in his yellowish-brown eyes.
A roar of howls and human cheering resounded within the hall and Victor smiled at her warmly as he swept her up into his arms.
"Tonight we feast!" he yelled as he carried her to the long low table surrounded with floor cushions at the back where a huge feast of traditional fare was set out in a banquet style.
"I want to make a toast" Mike stated as Victor placed her down in a pile of cushions and snuggled up beside her.
"To our Alpha Bitch and of course, my brother, may your home be filled with pups!" he said with a smile as he raised his glass of beer into the air as did everyone else.
The night flew by in a dizzy whirl of festivities with eating, drinking and dancing. Speeches were made as were jokes at Victor's expense and gifts were bestowed to her in a sign of acceptance. The presents were all of some small item that the gift givers had personally owned, and it was the highest honor an Alpha Bitch could be bestowed. Each one of the 'pack' came and kissed her on her chin in a sign of submission to their alpha female and as the very last one came up to her; she noticed Victor stiffen beside her.
The man was handsome but older; he had slightly greying temples that looked rather alluring in contrast to his black hair and deeply tanned skin. Dressed in expensive clothing and wearing a large gold ring on his right hand, he gave off an air of self-importance. Unlike everyone else here this man was definitely not struggling to make ends meet. The man bore a strong resemblance to Victor and Mike having the same facial structure, hair and eye color but where Victor and Mike were werewolves, this man was a human. Mike who was flirting with a pretty girl at the other end of the table had also stiffened at this man's approach.
"Collin what the hell are you doing here!" Victor growled low and deeply. He moved his body in front of Mica in a protective way.
The man's eyes narrowed and purposely looked from Victor back to her, and then he smiled and something about him made her feel uneasy. She caught the smell of many strange things from this man, including lust, and it made her stiffen.
"I told you never to come back here, now get out of my territory!" Victor snarled his fangs just now visible.
"Now is that anyway to greet your big brother?" Collin stated in a near snarl.