Capítulo 5 She can´t survive

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝑷𝒂𝒄𝒌

Mikhail watched everything with anger and sorrow. He addressed his alpha without carefully choosing his words.

Mikhail spoke out, "She's human, Benjamin. I don't think she's alive."

Onix partially took control and pinned Mikhail against the wall.

"She's not dead, Mikhail. And those who stand with me and Benjamin cannot think otherwise. He can barely contain me, not believing she's alive will unleash a bloodbath."

"I'm sorry. Are you Benjamin's wolf?"

"That's correct, my name is Onix. Difficult times are coming, which is why I'm on the surface and won't sleep anymore."

Benjamin returned and removed his hand from his friend's neck.

"I'm sorry."

"I've met Onix. A strong wolf, Benjamin. And he's right, there can be no room for doubt."

Benjamin stepped away from his friend and paced around the house, sniffing the air calmly.

"Pay attention, there's more than one type of blood here. I can't recognize them; they're lupines, yes, but perhaps newly turned, very fresh blood."

"I don't like this. An attack on you, on our Luna. Who knew about her when you had just discovered it?"

"Someone who's been watching me, Jako. Someone capable of waiting for the right moment to seek revenge."

They exchanged knowing glances, identifying the responsible party. However, despite their efforts to track their Luna, they were unsuccessful. For three days, they scoured the town, returning home empty-handed.

"I want guards on that house. Find discreet, skilled fighters among our pack, and they are not to leave here."

"It shall be done, Benjamin."

Several hours later, one of the guards on duty gave the alert-a young male was inside the house. Benjamin hurried and arrived as his pack members restrained the intruder. He grabbed the young wolf by the neck without any gentleness.

"You reek of her, of my mate."

Benjamin's eyes were changing color, and Onix was surfacing. Jako approached his Alpha because if he continued like this, he would kill the young wolf.

"Benjamin, loosen your grip a bit. If you kill him, he won't tell us what we need to know."

Reluctantly, he released his grip. But the young wolf's life wasn't guaranteed. Those who had touched his mate would die, and that was non-negotiable.

"Speak, pup, and you better not lie to me."

"Alpha, sir. I was asked to come and monitor if you arrived. They're keeping the young woman nearby."

"Is she alive?"

"Barely, they've brutalized her. We didn't want to, but that man transformed us and controls us."

"You'll lead us to her, and wolf, if she's dead, you'll wish you were because I'll torture you like you can't imagine."

They traveled for almost two hours, and upon arrival, Benjamin went up to the second floor, following the scent of his mate. Blood was everywhere, and Benjamin felt fear. His beloved mate had been subjected to a brutal attack.

"How many of them assaulted her?"

"Several. The man who asked us to do this said they had to impregnate her, but none of them dared to do it."

Benjamin grabbed the wolf and snapped his neck. At that moment, his sister Alina called him.

𝘙𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯, 𝘉𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯. 𝘞𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘹 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯.

The members of the pack, those warriors whom he considered his brothers, surrounded him. They all looked at the box with concern. When Benjamin opened it, he found a recorder and another note.

𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚑𝚎'𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚗. 𝚂𝚑𝚎'𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐, 𝙸 𝚊𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚝.

Upon playing the recorder, they heard the sobs and screams of the human, their Luna. Benja's blood boiled, his canines descended, and he partially took on the form of a wolf. Those who accompanied him felt fear.

"Please, leave me alone... I didn't do anything to you... not anymore... just let me die... Alpha Benjamin..."

She whispered his name, clinging to him as if he were a talisman of good luck. Heart-wrenching screams accompanied what seemed to be a whip against his mate's skin. Benjamin roared, and his wolves roared with him.

"Instructions?" Jako asked, feeling the anger and how it spread through the pack, how the fear of their Alpha made them close ranks. "Benjamin?"

"Benjamin is asleep; I'm in charge," Onix replied. "We're also at your service."

Jako and the wolves bowed without hesitation before Onix. It wasn't that Benjamin had shifted out of his human form; no, it was just that the Benjamin before them had entirely black eyes.

"Benjamin needs his warriors; it's not my time yet, Jako. My human counterpart needs to come to terms with the fact that I'll be around."

"With all due respect, Onix, if your intention is to co-rule with Benjamin, why does he fear letting you out?"

"His father died because of having the same kind of wolf as Benja. Remember that the elders consider it aberrant for a beast to guide alongside its human rather than in spirit. They feel it makes them primitive, and that's why my human is afraid. And that affects me, makes me more irritable."

"What do you want us to do?"

"We need trackers, those who can smell our mate's blood and search; she has to be somewhere."

"That's what we'll do, Onix."

Claire, very still, stared in horror at Olivier, who was getting ready to shoot her. However, against all odds, Christian attacked his father. A swift blow that knocked him out. She didn't ask if he was alive or dead.

"Why are you helping me?" she asked.

"My father has crossed the line. I can't go against Benjamin, not like this. My friends will take you to the pack, Claire. I hope you can forgive me."

They put her in the back seat, and she remained silent because she didn't want those transporting her to decide to play with her. Somehow, she understood and sensed fear in those who were moving her. She wanted to be with Benjamin. Somehow, during difficult moments, the image of that tall and handsome man filled her with calm. But most of what had happened was blurry. She remembered being injected, and after that, things stopped making sense. The voices and faces of those holding her were nothing more than a blur.

She didn't blame Alpha Benjamin for what had happened. She didn't reproach him for not finding her. She just hoped he was alive. Those transporting her talked about leaving her in the pack's territory, and she hoped that now, when she was so injured, he would welcome her.

She didn't take for granted that they would let her stay; she just needed a place to recover because she planned to leave the city. She didn't want those who had held her to try to reach her again.

When the car stopped, she closed her eyes. Would they kill her if they saw her awake? They threw her to the ground without paying much attention, but she stayed still for what at least seemed like hours.

When she was sure they weren't coming back for her, she began to walk, and the rain, previously absent, now poured down with full force. She didn't know how much further she had to go, or if she would even find someone before exhaustion took her life.

Many would think she was crazy for wanting Benjamin Black or one of his pack to find her, but for Claire, this place meant one thing: a Sense of Belonging.

She was barefoot, with broken knees, and her hands were in tatters. Until before the attack, she had thought that guy was just a bully, never imagining he was capable of such cruelty. His rescue was surprising, not that she thought he had a conscience. He was just trying to escape, and being hunted for injuring someone was different from being hunted for killing them.

Now, as she walked through those lands, she felt hope. The wolves were not only fierce warriors; their reputation for protecting their females made her wish to be one of them. She had never truly belonged anywhere. She was abandoned in front of an orphanage, and while they were kind to her and loved her there, they weren't her real family.

When she entered college, Christian noticed her, but from the beginning, she didn't like him. He was always surrounded by women, arrogant and conceited. And because she was the first to reject him, she piqued his curiosity.

It had become a personal challenge.

Back in the present, due to the pain she felt, she forced herself to move forward without really paying attention to her surroundings. She didn't think about whether it could be dangerous or not. She didn't stop at any house; she saw some curtains moving, heard some howls, but she kept going. She felt some wolves behind her and didn't know that they recognized her scent and were simply escorting her.

One of them positioned itself by her side, truly massive. It reached almost to her hip, and when she stopped to look at it, she expected teeth and growls, but the immense animal started to purr. Claire instinctively stroked its back.

"So you purr, you must be a cat," she joked, and when the wolf growled, she knew it was responding, that it had understood her, and she felt amazed.

The wolf bowed to her, and she knew it was offering to carry her on its back. She was so tired that she sat on the huge animal. Others appeared in front of them and surrounded them. Claire understood that they were protecting her, and she felt moved.

They moved for about ten minutes and stopped in front of a beautiful cabin that appeared to be deserted. She was scared; until that moment, her desire to be accepted had kept her going. There was always the risk they might send her back or worse.

"Or eat me," she thought.

The wolf lowered itself to the ground so she could dismount calmly and then withdrew, leaving her alone.

Summoning her courage, she climbed the steps and looked down at the wooden floor, which was dry and clean while she was dripping with blood and dirt. Before she could even touch the door, it swung open.

Benjamin appeared before her. At first, he looked at her with emotion, the kind you feel when someone who has been away for a long time returns home. But then he began to observe her from head to toe, and it was hard not to feel embarrassed. She took a step back.

"I'm sorry... I didn't know I was so dirty."

"You're sorry?"

"Your floor... I'm sorry for dirtying it."

Benjamin was furious and left her outside to fetch a blanket. Assuming that this was a polite way of telling her to go to hell, Claire descended the stairs and returned to the road. She would go to the city, try to fix her house, and that would be that.

The Alpha returned to find her a few seconds later and cursed himself for letting her go out in the rain.

𝐼𝑑𝑖𝑜𝑡.

𝑂𝑛𝑖𝑥, 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑤?

𝐵𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑜𝑛𝑒.

He stopped chatting with his wolf and caught up with her in a few seconds.

"Where do you think you're going?"

𝘚𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘺, 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥.

𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺!

"To my house. You shouldn't feel responsible; it's clear to me that I'm not welcome."

"Damn it, woman, I went for a damn blanket."

"Really?"

"Really. Come on, now there are two of us wet."

"Your floor..."

"I couldn't care less about the damn floor. In my mind, there's only death and murder. Those responsible for your condition will pay with their lives..."

Benjamin began to make odd gestures, and before he could even think to stop it, he sneezed, so Claire started laughing.

"You got wet for just a few seconds, and you're already sneezing... all that tough guy act doesn't suit you now."

"I'm glad you find it funny. Let's change into dry clothes. You need a hot meal and a good, comfortable bed."

Claire stopped to observe him with genuine curiosity. Although she truly wished for that offer to materialize, she had arrived fearing that it wouldn't. Because even though Benjamin had told her they were bound, she didn't think it was true.

"You're not going to ask me to leave?"

"You can't leave; you belong here, with me."

Suddlenly, she began to sway, and Benjamin caught her before she reached the ground. She wasn't unconscious but very weak; she needed to rest.

With her in his arms, he directed a grateful look at his warriors, especially Jako, his second, who had escorted her so she wouldn't walk. Then his gaze shifted to his mate. She was tiny, not even reaching his shoulder. She was so thin, and the injuries... she was so badly hurt that he didn't even want to touch her.