Chapter 17

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For the remainder of the walk back to the Pack House, Thane told me stories about him and Cain growing up. I couldn't help laughing as he told me about all of the times they would use their powers against each other, even at the young age of 7 years. I had no doubt that their parents had their hands full with two tiny Alphas terrorizing each other.

I was still laughing as we walked in the house and saw Onyx, Axel, and the Blue Moon Gamma eating lunch.

"Looks like you two had fun," Axel said with his mouth full of sandwich. "Kill anything good?"

Thane shrugged. "A couple of rogues here and there. Nothing too terribly interesting."

Onyx exhaled slightly, her face twisted. "I'm going to go take a shower," She mumbled and left without looking at Thane or I.

"What the hell was that about?" Thane asked, perplexed, and I shrugged.

The Beta coughed. "Ahm. Your clothes, Alpha."

Thane looked down at his blood soaked shirt. He was vicious when ripping apart his victims, and I had no doubt there was at least 5 different wolves' blood on him. Good think Onyx's sense of smell probably wasn't developed enough to differentiate.

"Oh, great," Thane muttered. "I better go do damage control." He turned and went after Onyx.

When he left, Axel said, "How much do you want to bet that Onyx won't be able to stomach killing the shewolf?"

I considered. Twenty bucks says she will but will cry after it.

Axel laughed, "You're so on."

"Brutes," The Beta muttered quietly and rolled his eyes before popping a chip in his mouth, making my mouth quirk to the side. I forgot that not all packs were as brutal as Blood Lake, where death was casual and ordinary.

"You may want to go shower too, Luna," Axel said, no doubt able to smell the blood on me, even though my black clothing likely didn't show it. "You have visitors coming soon."

I narrowed my eyes. Axel, what did you do? I questioned, suspicious that he told Cain about what happened and he was already storming over.

"Relax, it's not Cain," He rolled his eyes at my trepidation. "I arranged for Gwen to come for the rest of the week?"

Although I was happy to know she was coming, I still pressed, why?

Axel's eyes shifted. "I dunno, I thought it would be good to have some girl bonding for you and Onyx."

I snorted. And what's the real reason?

Axel sighed before mindlinking me so the Beta couldn't hear. It doesn't feel right to only have me as your guard here. I don't trust Blue Moon, not after last night's incident, not to mention your little altercation with the shewolf. I casually suggested to Cain that maybe he should consider letting Lucas stay to help us with training, and Gwen wanted to come too.

Rolling my eyes, I stole the sandwich out of his hand and took a bite. You are so overprotective, I admonished him but was grateful to have Gwen come. She would definitely bring Onyx out of her shell, something that I was no good at.

As if reading my thoughts, Axel added: "She's better at people with you are. You know that Onyx could benefit from a little bit of controlled chaos."

"Define chaos," The Beta narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

I chuckled lowly but Axel and I didn't answer him. He would see for himself soon enough.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I had showered, dressed, and somewhat tamed my hair, but when I went downstairs, Thane and Onyx were still gone. God, solving problems by talking it out instead of brawling takes for ever. What can I say? I'm time-efficient.

I should be mad at you for going behind my back, I told Axel, who was sitting on the couch watching some action movie with the Gamma.

Axel sighed. This is my job, Luna. You aren't cautious enough, I need to be twice as protective because of it.

I rolled my eyes and was about to remind him of how effectively I can protect myself when I heard a knock on the door.

Axel jumped up and went to the door with me. Despite the fact that nobody said to come in or opened the door for the visitors, the door swung open.

"HEY BITCH!" Gwen greeted me, and hugged Axel and I with excitement.

"Apologies, Luna, I told her that you would open the door soon enough but she's impatient," Lucas apologized on behalf of Gwen.

"It is dangerous to just barge in to a foreign Pack House," The Beta said from behind me.

"You want a fight, dog?" Gwen taunted him, her green eyes glowing in excitement.

The Beta just rolled his eyes, not playing into her games. "Nice to see you too, Gwendolyn."

Gwen smirked. "Hi, Leo," She greeted in mock politeness, her eyes still shimmering.

"You two know each other?" Axel asked in surprise.

Gwendolyn opened her mouth to talk when Leo interrupted her. "Old friends."

She smirked, and looked like she wanted to say something else but he gave her a warning look and she just chuckled. "Friends indeed."

I was about to ask Gwen what the hell that was about when we heard Onyx and Thane walking down the stair steps.

Onyx looked at Gwen curiously as she approached. Gwen grinned as Thane protectively placed his hand on her lower back, a protective gesture. Gwen and Thane knew each other relatively well, due to her closeness with Cain and Axel.

"Onyx, this is Gwendolyn, Ares' friend. She'll be staying here for the rest of the week," Thane explained, and I noticed the slight softness in his tone that he always had when talking to her.

"Ares' best friend," Gwen emphasized as she shook Onyx's hand. "It's nice to finally meet you, Onyx."

Onyx looked slightly stunned by her forwardness, but smiled as she shook her hand.

"Thane wasn't exaggerating, you're gorgeous," Gwen told her genuinely.

Onyx's pale face blushed as she looked down. "Stop hitting on Thane's mate, Gwendolyn," Leo reprimanded her as he rolled his eyes.

Gwen's hand went to her side, and I saw her gripping a blade, although I was sure that nobody else had noticed. "Sorry Beta. Is someone a little butthurt no one is flirting with you?" She mocked him, a sardonic smile playing on her face. 

"Jesus, Gwen," Axel interjected. "You're a guest. Please mind your manners."

Gwen scoffed. "Oh, but Ares can break Cain's jaw in Thane's living room?"

Ah, so Axel had told Gwen about our little disagreement when we first arrived. That was totally different, I defended myself to Gwen.

"You're more than welcome to try to break mine, pup," Leo taunted her, and I was surprised. He always seemed so polite and quiet, but Gwen has a way of getting under people's skin.

Thane waved his hand dismissively. "If you guys feel the need to fight, please do it outside, I just had the house remodeled."

Gwen shrugged. "I could use a little bit of training, the car ride was so long my legs were beginning to atrophy."

"You could have taken a turn driving," Lucas muttered under his breath, but if Gwen heard him, she ignored him.

"Let's go to the training center then," Gwen suggested, even though we all knew we didn't really have a choice. "Say, Thane, got any new target dummies stocked?"

**********************************************************

Gwen, Leo, Axel, Lucas, and even Onyx came to the training center. Gwen pressured her and promised she wouldn't have to do any training if she didn't want to. Gwen looked a little too pleased when Thane said he had other work to deal with, and I had a feeling this was the first stage in Gwendolyn's plan to corrupt Onyx. 

Onyx, Gwen, and I walked ahead of the boys as we headed towards the training center. They seemed to be having their own conversation, not paying attention to whatever Onyx and Gwen were talking about. Something to do with dresses or something, I wasn't really listening to be honest. I was wrapped up in my own thoughts about the hunt Thane and I went on today. Thane had really surprised me. I never really knew how deep his penchant for violence went. I felt somewhat connected to him through that, someone who relished in the kill as much as I do. Not even Cain was particularly interested in killing for sport. 

I finally tuned in on their conversation when I heard Gwen say, "We hooked up a couple of months ago."

You and who hooked up? I asked Gwen in confusion.

"You deserve an award for your listening skills, Ares," Gwen said sarcastically. The annoying Beta behind us, she answered through our mindlink.

My mouth dropped open in shock. "What happened?" Onyx asked, her mouth also slightly agape. 

"Well, little Nyx, when a man and woman drink too much..." Gwen's voice was cut off by Onyx, who laughed. 

"You know that's not what I meant," and her eyes shone at Gwen's antics. 

Gwen smirked slightly. "Fine. But in my defense, we were drinking. Thane and some of his pack leaders, Big Doofus included, came to Blood Lake to talk about the whole Wilson thing a couple of months ago, and I will admit things got a little out of control when we were drinking late at night. I invited him over, and since I was recently widowed and all, I wanted some, uh, company. And you know how the rest goes."

Where was I during all of this? I asked Gwen in confusion. I didn't remember her and Leo going off together, although there were a couple nights where the Blood Lake and Blue Moon pack members would gather in either the pack house or around a bonfire to drink and socialize. 

"You, my dear Luna, were already drunk off of your ass and practically dragged the Alpha upstairs with you," Gwen teased me, a knowing smile on her face as I snorted. Yep, that does sound like me. 

"I'm sorry," Onyx said softly, her eyes shining in sympathy at Gwen. "About your mate. That must have been difficult for you to go through."

Gwen scoffed. "Don't be. I was the one who killed him."

I sighed. Gwen, you know how bad that sounds out of context. Stop trying to freak her out.

"Fine, fine," Gwen acquiesced, a devilish smirk still on her face. "I killed him after he betrayed the pack. I'm sure you've heard about the Wilson incident."

Onyx didn't say anything, and Gwen changed the subject. I didn't blame her. Who would want to talk about how their mate chose revenge over them?

Gwen asked Onyx a couple of innocuous questions, which she willingly answered. They seemed to get along pretty well, and Onyx was cracking up in laughter by the time we reached the training center. Onyx really was a gentle, kind person. It almost made me sad that in order to win the challenge, she would have to become someone new entirely. 

Almost.


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