Page 49 of Violet Moon
Parisa growled behind her.Sera turned to find Parisa playfully baring her teeth.Her Alpha dug her feet into the ground, and took off running.Sera bounded after her, joy rushing through her in waves as she chased Parisa in the moonlight.
When they reached the edge of the woods, Parisa stopped, spun around, and tackled Sera, who yelped and tried to squirm free.Parisa licked her face and sprang back, fleeing into the forest with Sera right on her heels.
They raced through the thick forest, climbing up the old, low mountains near their home.Parisa kept disappearing into the trees only to reemerge in time to launch an attack.Sera would try to dodge, but she didn’t mind when Parisa pinned her to the ground either.Hearing Parisa’s lighthearted yips and seeing the liveliness in her amber eyes was the gift that Sera had needed for so many days.
The trees around them started to thin as they reached the low peak that overlooked the pack house and Hickorywood beyond it.Her legs and lungs burned as they dashed the last several feet, and when they stopped she couldn’t resist the chance to catch Parisa unaware and tackle her.
Parisa whined as her back hit the ground and she feigned trying to break free.Sera knew Parisa could shake her off in a second, but she didn't.Sera dipped her head low and nuzzled into the soft fur around Parisa’s neck, gently biting her to signal her victory.Parisa’s whine grew louder, but she no longer squirmed beneath Sera’s paw.
Parisa nipped at her neck.Sera closed her eyes and buried her muzzle deeper into chestnut brown fur and breathed in the scent of her Alpha drenched in the smell of the forest.Her mind grew fuzzy as she filled her senses with Parisa, saturating her lungs with her scent, her ears with the soft sounds of her panting.
A twig cracked somewhere behind them and Sera snapped out of her trance.She leapt back from Parisa and turned towards the source of the sound, only to find a passing deer who seemed to think better of being near two large wolves and ran into the woods.
Parisa stood and walked towards the edge of a nearby cliff, staring down at the view below.She was gorgeous in the moonlight, and Sera knew that the only place she should be right now, no matter how her emotions warred inside of her, was by her Alpha’s side.
Now, at the duel, and every day after, Sera knew where she belonged.
fifteen
SerafollowedParisainsilence.Her heart pounded in strange, staccato beats during the long walk to the clearing deep in the forest that hadn’t been used for an Alpha duel in decades.
Jason was there at the other end, his hair pointing at wild angles, a smug look on his face.His witness was with him, presumably another wolf from Crooked Creek though Sera couldn’t place him.He had to be a younger wolf because she knew all the others well.It made sense, though.The majority of the pack, especially those who had been with him for decades, would be loyal to Clyde and not to Jason.
“Old rules or new rules?”Jason shouted.
Sera shuddered at the fact that he would even consider such a thing.
Parisa stood up straight and squared her shoulders.She looked him dead in the eye.“New.We left the old ways behind in the past where they belong.”
Jason grinned but it was a terrible, wicked thing.“Some things are meant to be kept.We toss them away without thinking what we’ve lost.”
“And what have we lost that’s so important?”
“The ability to be stronger than wolves, better, more wild and free than even they can hope to be.But we’ve chained ourselves to human laws and, for what?The chance to sell them something?Live where they live?We gain nothing.”
“You’re too young to know what the past was like for us.”
“Enough!”Jason seethed at the comment.“Your words won’t serve you now, only your teeth and your claws.”
“And my mind.”
“Pit your mind against my strength and we’ll see who’s victorious.”
“The baseless confidence of youth.”
The two stared at one another, neither moving to make any preparations for the duel.Parisa’s shoulders were rising and falling rapidly with the quick tempo of her breaths.She stood firm without blinking.Sera felt pride swell in her chest along with the adoration that had taken root in her heart.Fear was still there, but it was quieter now.
Jason was the first to turn his back to transform.When Parisa turned on her heels, she was wearing a sharp smile, full of power and self-assurance.Sera stared at her and couldn’t find a single word to say around the lump in her throat.Instead, she took a deep breath, and nodded at her Alpha.
“He is nothing to me,” Parisa growled.
A shiver ran up Sera’s back.“You are everything to me.And the pack.You fight alone but we’re all with you.I’m with you.”
Parisa wrapped her arms around Sera’s shoulders and hugged her, tight enough to squeeze the breath from her lungs.
They parted.Parisa’s demeanor shifted.She tilted her chin up and stood proud.“I will win.”
Sera didn’t usually watch Parisa transform, but this time she couldn’t tear her eyes away.She gazed at what she hadn’t let herself see, her eyes following the curves of Parisa’s body, drawn to the tight cords of muscle that lay beneath her olive skin.She was beautiful.She was a force to be reckoned with.
