The challenge two alphas one girl
Chapter 72

Raelynn's POV

I had just told Felicity and Malachi that they were my parents. I was waiting now with bated breath, my stomach in knots. I had never felt more vulnerable. With each second of silence, my anxiety exponentially increased. Did they want me as their daughter? Were they happy, sad, apprehensive, indifferent? I had not had time to process the news really or to decide how I would handle it if there was any rejection or denial involved. I could hear Malachi's racing heart synchronised with Felicity's.

Friday and I were both still being h.ugged by Malachi. I hoped he would accept me and even though Friday and Fang were Farris', I hoped he'd care for them also. Friday needed a father figure too. She needed a family. I could tell she desperately wanted one, a stable and loving one. Fang needed a second chance and guidance. The twins, Fallon and Fargo, were still relatively unknown to me.

"Are you disappointed?" I mumbled, not able to wait any longer.

Malachi's grey eyes widened in surprise. He broke into a h.uge grin.

"No, of course not, I'm..." he paused, taking a deep breath, his eyes filling with tears. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you, to love you and raise you and protect you but I had no idea..." Malachi said, his voice cracking.

"Felicity?" I said softly. She walked over to us and joined the group h.ug. She burst into tears.

"Oh, my baby," she said as tears streamed down her cheeks. "He told me you were gone. He told me you were dead."

She cupped my face in her hands and kissed my forehead. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry! My little girl!"

She h.ugged me tightly. She turned to Friday. "Friday, I'm so sorry for the way things went with you growing up. I let Farris fill Fang's head with nonsense as though having wolf was the most important thing in the world...if I had been a better mother.."

"No! Mom, please don't say that," said Friday, h.ugging her Mom.

"How did this happen?" Malachi whispered, stroking my wavy hair absentmindedly.

"Farris speculated that I was not his when Felicity was pregnant with me..." I began. "Feel free to call me Mom, ok," whispered Felicity, "if you feel comfortable."

"And you can call me Dad, if you want to, that is," said Malachi softly getting choked up.

I laughed out of relief. Tears continued to fall down my face.

"Friday was the one who found out, Mom and Dad," I said, prompting Friday to tell her story.

Friday took a deep shuddering breath. Once we told them everything, there was no going back. "I was distraught about Farris being potentially...sentenced to...well, I had never had a good relationship with him and I didn't wanna say goodbye without trying," whispered Friday, h.ugging herself. "I went down to the dungeons one one night to talk to him myself about what he did to you...he had no remorse," Friday sniffled.

"I realised I could touch the silver bars of the cage. Farris explained why that was. He told me that Ezekiel had a goal of creating super she-wolves. Farris suspected Mom of cheating and he wondered if Raelynn was his. He also wondered if I was his. He wanted to punish us for it," explained Friday.

Malachi let out a deadly growl but his vitriol was not actually directed towards us but rather it was directed towards Farris.

"Ezekiel was conducting experiments to make super werewolves and vampires. He and his vampire warriors went after this convent where the nuns were trained to be vampire and werewolf hunters. Ezekiel's vampires were able to turn the nuns into made vampires. Some of them ended their lives before the change was complete rather than become vampires but many became vampires with great fighting skills. Ezekiel turned the place into an orphanage of sorts where he experimented on vampire children exposing them to increasing intensities of sunlight. Ezekiel even exposed his own son, Ezra, to the sunlight. Ezekiel wanted to experiment on werewolf children too but it was much harder for him as a vampire to get werewolf children. Farris saw an opportunity and sold Raelynn who he didn't think was his and told Mom she was stillborn but the doctor who did the paternity testing could not find any post mortem done on the alleged stillborn."

Malachi snarled. His eyes turned black.

"Ezekiel injected her with wolfsbane periodically. He thought the experiment was unsuccessful as it seemed as though the wolfsbane had permanently suppressed her wolf. He kept her alive because it turned out she was Ezra's predestined. Farris was also injecting me but with silver, which is why my wolf was suppressed too, until very recently. It's also why I can touch silver. I'm not averse to it and Raelynn is immune to wolfsbane. She even has poisonous bites as a wolf," Friday said softly.

Malachi's wolf was coming to the surface. He was enraged. His features contorted. He was shaking. Felicity came close to him and flung her arms around his wa!st, trying to calm him down.

"Dad!" I said, snapping Malachi out of his enraged trance for a second. "Do you see why Friday and I are inclined to forgive Fang? Fang risked his life and his reputation and his future with his wife and child to make things right! He doesn't deserve the same fate as his father. They're not the same! Also, I couldn't bear it if my brother, Maze, allowed my other brother, Fang, to be killed as revenge for my sister, Friday, when Friday already forgave him so it should be her choice!"

Damn, our family tree had just gotten really complicated.

Maze's POV

I was moping around, sulking in my room. Thaddeus, being a good bro, was trying to comfort me. My little Friday was angry at me. I had finally worked up the courage to tell her I was in love with her and she'd said she felt the same way but she'd actually threatened to leave me and Thaddeus if we didn't help her help Fang, her traitorous scheming brother.

"Friday is avoiding me. I feel like she hates me but I love her," I whined, facedown in a pillow.

"Where's your diary?" Asked Thaddeus. "Write it out!"

I glared at him and he burst into raucous laughter. He found my journal and chucked it at me.

"It's a journal!" I specified.

"Sure," said Thaddeus.

"How can you be so calm? With everything Fang did and how Friday's defending him?" I asked.

"Because I'm not totally surprised. Theo has been reporting strange behaviour from Fang since the very beginning though I am disappointed. I genuinely thought he was getting better. He probably did get better otherwise he might have gone through with it. Also, I don't want to hold too much malice towards Fang despite how hateful I might feel for now," reasoned Thaddeus. "Why not?" I demanded.

"Because I fully intend to help Friday honour a certain portion of the letter..." began Thaddeus.

"What?!" I hissed.

"...by being a good Uncle to Baby Fenestra," explained Thaddeus calmly.

My heart broke for my future niece or nephew. Both his or her father and grandfather were criminals. I sighed. Thaddeus was always good at looking at the big picture.

"Me too," I said softly. "I want to be a good uncle. Has anyone checked on Astrid?"

"I asked Theo to send Ida to see about her for the next couple of days," said Thaddeus with a sad smile.

Poor Astrid. Pregnant and alone. We had never been close but she had helped Friday when her foot had been broken. She was a bit smug but she wasn't such a bad sort and she did seem genuinely thrilled to become a mother. A knock on my door interrupted my inner monologue. I was not in the mood to entertain.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"Friday," said my little Friday. I rushed to the door and flung it open, anticipating some quality time with my Luna. There had been a pause in the dating and wooing aspect of the challenge because of all the emergencies and proceedings over the past two days. It was the twenty-second day, Thaddeus' day. We were nearing the end of the Challenge. The full moon would be upon us soon.

I grinned to myself as my wolf showed me images of his plans for Friday over the next couple of hours. Behind the door stood many more people than just Friday. I frowned. No alone time then. Sigh. No such luck. My eyes widened as I spotted Raelynn. Felicity and my Dad were there. They both looked flushed with red eyes but strangely serene and happy. Fallon and Fargo were there looking confused. Ida was smiling with baby Titus on her h!p and her other arm around a completely devastated looking Astrid. I helped Astrid to a chair in the room as she looked like she might faint at any moment. She gave no sign of having noticed anyone. She seemed completely lost.

"Is she ok?" I murmured to Ida.

Ida shrugged with a sad smile on her face.

"She will be," said Friday in a determined tone.

Not this again. If the circumstances were less severe and my little Luna hadn't been so pissed at me, she would have earned herself some spankings. I sighed and slumped into the other chair across from Astrid. Thaddeus remained seated on edge of the bed. He leant back a little, surveying everyone with curiosity.

"Alpha Friday, what is the meaning of all of this?" Asked Thaddeus sternly.

I snorted a little at his nickname for her. To my surprise, Friday gently brought Raelynn forwards to stand before me and then she returned to the group. She motioned for Fallon and Fargo to go stand at either side of my chair. Was this an intervention? I had gotten drunk like one time. I glanced at either twin and they seemed just as confused as I was.

"Friday?" I said, raising my brows.

"Raelynn has to tell you something," said Friday.

Raelynn seemed shell-shocked. She took a step back. "Friday has to tell you something," she insisted.

Friday sighed but smiled. "Maze," she said. I smiled. I loved hearing her speak my name. I would rather these people leave so I could make her scream it but I would be patient for now. "I tool some strands of your Dad's hair and some strands of Farris' hair," she began.

I stiffened. "For a paternity test," clarified Friday. My heart started to race.

"Of course, as everyone expected, Farris is my Dad," Friday said, resigned.

I nodded. I wanted to mind-link her to say that I was her Daddy actually but it would have been too soon and vastly inappropriate.

"I'm Maze's and Thaddeus' mate," she said.

Thaddeus winked at her and I smirked. She blushed at our reactions.

"So we couldn't be related, Maze. Otherwise, we wouldn't be fated," she said.

She pulled Raelynn forwards again by the hand. I noticed five more people entered the room. Theo, Timothy, Titus, True and Timber.

"The rest of the results were regarding me," mumbled Raelynn.

My heart was beating painfully fast. I looked at my Dad who was smiling at me.

"Maze, I'm Malachi's daughter," said Raelynn softly.

My inner wolf was nudging me to go to her.

"So I'm your sister," she concluded sheepishly.

Why were people always so nervous around me? I was a nice guy, sorta. Approachable, in my opinion. I walked slowly up to my little sister. We stared at each other. I grinned at her and she grinned at me. I pulled her into a bear h.ug and everyone literally cheered. They were such dorks. I buried my nose in the top of her head. She did smell like me a little and a bit like Friday, kind of how I would expect our daughter to smell. My family was really complicated but I'd never been more pleasantly surprised. I had a sister! A real one! I kissed her forehead.

"I have a favour to ask," she said looking up at me with her doe eyes. My little mate Friday was also giving me puppy-dog eyes. sh!t. Already they were trying to team up to get their way. They were half-sisters with Raelynn being the only one related to me. I had been expecting her to be Farris' daughter so this was really a surprise.

"Ugh, no," I said before hearing her out. I ruffled her hair and pushed her away gently from me.

"Maze!" Scolded my father.

"What is it?" I asked Raelynn.

Raelynn tried to mess up my hair but she could not reach properly especially as I leant back to avoid her. She gave up and went back to the favour she wanted.

"Maze," she beseeched me. "I really need your help. So does Friday!"

This had Fang written all over it. I shut my eyes tightly.

"Both you and Fang are my half-brothers and I love you both despite hardly knowing you. My wolf could just tell. Please, just bring back Fang alive and from there, if there has to be a trial, let it be a fair one, considering both his transgressions and his achievements and self-sacrifices," pleaded Raelynn.

I looked back at Thaddeus. He was smiling at us. He sighed but he nodded.

"He endangered your sister, Friday, though," I said, sighing deeply, my heart constricting at the thought of what could have happened to my little mate.

I took Friday's hand in mine. "But I've already forgiven him though," she insisted stretching her hand out for Thaddeus to take. He sauntered over and held it.

My Dad and Felicity were holding each other. Felicity looked grief-stricken and Astrid was still in some kind of stupor. She seemed to be almost falling sleep on herself. Fallon and Fargo were quiet and thoughtful.

"Ok," I said softly.

The dorks erupted into more cheers. I hoped I wouldn't regret this.

"On one condition," I added over the din. Everyone quieted down, wondering what that could be. "I'm renaming you Maelynn!" I joked.

Raelynn rolled her eyes.

"Why not Faelynn?" Said Fallon or maybe Fargo, coming closer to Raelynn.

"Neither!" Insisted Raelynn. She h.ugged her other two big brothers tightly. The twins seemed relieved that we were going to go after Fang. I had never met anyone else in a pack-leader bl00dline so disinterred

in becoming a pack leader. Fallon and Fargo were not interested becoming Betas in Fang's stead.

"Thank you, Maze," said Felicity softly. She wrapped her arms around me. I returned the h.ug gently.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she murmured wholeheartedly in my ear, standing on tip toe.

My Dad came over and kissed my forehead. "I'm proud of you, son," he said. "You and your sister," he added. Raelynn beamed.

"Astrid," said Thaddeus softly, kneeling in front of her, trying to get on her eye-level. Ida was massaging Astrid's shoulders. "We're going to send a squad. To go get Fang!" Continued Thaddeus. There was no response at first. She seemed to slowly process what he had said. She nodded, making eye contact with him and then me.

"One more thing," said Raelynn.

I prompted her to continue.

"Friday and I want to go with the squad!" Said Raelynn. Friday nodded fervently. Thaddeus laughed humourlessly. It was a "no" from him. I felt differently. It was a "NO!" from me.

"You both are staying here," I informed them. They frowned. I shot them a warning look when I saw they were about to argue. They fell silent and glanced at each other. I would need to watch them like a hawk. "We'll go," chorused Fallon and Fargo. I nodded.

"NO!" Said Felicity with a surprising amount of power in her voice. She was a true Luna even though she hadn't truly ruled alongside my father during his term.

"The Squad will consist of my best and brightest warriors," said Thaddeus reassuringly as he got to his feet. "I'm going to organise it now. Theo," said Thaddeus. Theo nodded and followed his alpha from the room. I kissed Friday gently and ruffled Raelynn's hair again. I followed Thaddeus and Theo down the hallway. I noticed Malachi giving Raelynn and Friday a pointed look and motioning for them to go after me.

What now?

Thaddeus' POV

"Alphas!" Squeaked Friday, stopping us in our tracks in the hallway. I grumbled at the formality.

"Baby, please don't call me Alpha," I told her. She smiled sheepishly.

"Raelynn and I have more to say," she explained.

"What is it?" I inquired.

Fallon, Fargo, Felicity and Malachi along with my whole family came into the hallway. Astrid was being led slowly by Ida.

"Ok, quickly, Baby," I said

encouragingly. Katrina's

whereabouts were still unconfirmed.

My Gamma had reason to believe

that she was being held at the property of Lane, a loyal sycophant of Ezekiel. Ezekiel was possibly there as well. Truth be told, I hoped to kill Ezekiel before Ezra even woke up and then put Ezra on the vampire throne so there would finally be a vampire coven leader and a werewolf alpha who saw eye to eye in terms of peace proceedings. Technically Ezra and I would be brothers-in-law eventually as he was Raelynn's mate and Friday was

mine.

"It's my father," said Friday.

Did she want him off the hook as well? That I didn't agree with. He had actually went through with his plan and would have k!lled Malachi if he had had better aim.

"I can't absolve him Friday. He actually shot an former Alpha of an Aly pack," I explained.

"I know," said Friday softly. "That's not it."

"My father faked Raelynn's stillbirth on purpose so he could...sell her to Ezekiel," said Friday extremely softly but everyone heard based off of several growls and snarls resounding through the hallway.

"Why would he do such a thing?" I snarled, my eyes black.

"Because he suspected she wasn't his daughter. He thought the same about me actually," explained Friday. "So he used us both for Ezekiel's experiments and those experiments during our childhood are what suppressed our wolves."

It all made sense now, how someone with such a strong wolf could take so long to actually shift. "What were the experiments?" I asked, not sure I was ready for the answer.

Maze's eyes were black too and his hands were paled into fists.

"Ezekiel and his vampires attacked a convent of vampire-and-werewolf-hunting nuns. The nuns became formidable vampires who provided their convent as a base to experiment on vampire kids exposing them to more and more sunlight," explained Raelynn.

The hairs on my neck stood up. I imagined the satisfaction of ripping the old vampire's throat out.

"He even experimented on Ezra with the sunlight," explained Friday.

"And he injected me with wolfsbane periodically which suppressed my wolf at first until I saw Ezra...until I saw him get hurt," Raelynn explained.

My heart hurt for my future sister-in-law. I turned to Friday waiting for her to tell me the whole truth. Maze was shaking. I noticed my Dad, Timbre, was trying to calm him down. He seemed seconds away from

shifting.

"Um," she said sheepishly, looking at the floor. "Farris injected me with silver when I was baby. So I am immune to it," said Friday as though attempting to look on the bright side.

Silver! As an infant! My inner wolf was seething. I felt myself trembling. I looked down at my hands too late to realise fur was sprouting all over me. I was shifting? My furious wolf was taking control. He wanted

Farris dead. Immediately.

Elizabeth's POV

I had decided to take a break from the Berryndale pack house and spend some time with Cody at his Ranch. The ranch was beautiful. The atmosphere was so peaceful. I watched the horses gallop across the rippling grass, their manes flowing behind them. I was sitting in the shade of the veranda. I felt soft l!ps on my neck and I smiled. Cody pressed a k!ss to the silvery mark he had left on my neck. I gazed up at

him, admiring my own mark on his neck. Cody tried to sit in my lap.

"Hey!" I protested. He chuckled. I pushed him playfully and he switched with me so that I was on his lap instead. I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him with abandon. The past few days of alone time with Cody had

been wonderful. We had decided to mark each other and Cody wanted to settle down and get married. I had just gotten divorced but the main reason that relationship fell apart was our lack of connection. We

had not been mates. We just were not meant to be but we had produced our wonderful son, Maze, together.

I felt a pang of guilt being away from

Maze. We mind-linked almost everyday. I knew there were some

chaotic things going on in the pack house right now. The Friday look alike turned out to be a she-wolf after all. had my suspicions about who her parents were. The vampire,

Lord Ezra, was wounded in ambush orchestrated by his own father and he was recovering currently. He was the mate of the look alike

apparently. A she-wolf and a vampire. Times were really changing. Why did I ever let my

parents stop me from being with Cody over something like money when we were fated? The worst of all was Fang's confession letter. Maze had mind-linked me at length about it.

My poor Maze. He was so stressed, feeling guilty over the kind of punishments the lawless Fenestra boys should receive. Farris was a

monster in my eyes. He would have shot me if he had the balls. Fang, on the other hand, had carried med

e back

to the Marigold pack house when he had found that seedy motel

sighed. I had a soft spot in my heart for Fang. I had pleaded his case a bit over mind-link. His rescue of me, his confession, his slaying of all the vampires at the Manor who attacked

Ezra should count of something. They should detract from his sentence somewhat.

I must have been so upset about Fang that I began to feel nauseated. I got up suddenly and Cody protested as I had left his lap.

"Lizzie," he whined, widening his puppy-dog eyes.

I giggled. "I need to use the bathroom," I admitted.

He nodded. I used one of the bathrooms downstairs. I looked at my face. I seemed a bit pale even though my eyes were bright with happiness from. I felt the acid rise from my stomach, shooting up my

oesophagus. It burned all the way up. Ugh. Oh no. I rushed to kneel near the toilet just in time. I vomited. Cody came in to check on me.

"Lizzie!" He exclaimed, quickly holding my hair back for me as I retched again.

"What's happening? Ugh!" I said, annoyed. I hadn't drank yesterday.

"Maybe you're..." began Cody hopefully.

"At my age?" I asked incredulously.

"You know she wolves have long fertility windows," reasoned Cody.

I raised my eyebrows at the terminology. "Ok, Doc!" I joked.

"Hey!" He protested. "I've been reading a book about it," he murmured.

Cody had been reading a book about she-wolf fertility? My heart warmed a little. I wanted to kiss him but I had just vomited. He seemed to read my mind and he placed his lips to my forehead. Tingles shot

through me and I smiled.

Katrina's POV

I would never escape this impenetrable inner darkness, would I? This mental fog consumed me. I was too aggrieved to even cry. Did my brother and the guy I loved really die because of me, while trying to

save me, whilst confronting my stepfather? If I ever managed to get out of here, I would k!ll Lane and then I would k!ll Ezekiel. Something inside me told me to be strong. All was not lost. I shouldn't trust Lane. I

could have my revenge if I complied a bit.

Lane appeared in the doorway, flanked by two guards again.

"Look at this pigsty," grumbled Lane, eyeing the wine stains and the food spilled.

"I'm sorry," I said, almost choking on the word.

Lane smirked. “That's more like it. I knew you were a smart girl deep down inside. Are you ready to cooperate?" He said with a sneer.

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

He stretched out a hand. I reluctantly took his hand, allowing him to hoist me up. I was a little unsteady on my feet. I hadn't eaten or drunk any water or blood in many hours, possibly a few days.

"Let's get some blood in you," murmured Lane. I supposed this was his best attempt at feigning being nurturing. He led me through a maze of hallways. I had never been to this Manor. I hated Lane and his

snobby family. He led me to a dining room an put me in a chair. I slumped over on the table. I really couldn't help it.

"Bring my bride some fresh blood!" Ordered Lane with a clap of his hands. I heard footsteps and then I heard muffled screams. I gasped. I stiffened, straightening up, suddenly getting a surge of energy. His guards were holding a young human woman with cloth tied over her mouth. Her eyes were wide and fearful. She couldn't be more than twenty. How barbaric! Most modern day vampires bribed bl00d banks or humans directly for voluntarily given units of bl00d. I supposed that wasn't "fresh" as Lane had specified. The guard had a knife. He held it to the woman's throat and the other guard held a bowl underneath to catch the blood.

"DON'T!" I screamed.

Lane flinched. "What?" He said laughing.

"Don't k!ll that girl, please. Please, Lane," I beseeched him.

He sighed. "I don't like blood that's been sitting in a fridge. It's not to my taste," he complained.

What a monster! He was even worse than I thought. How many kidnapped humans did he have in his pantry?

"Lane, please, stop this! I...I'll be a good...wife," I almost retched saying that word. "Just don't k!ll this girl, please," I whispered.

Lane stroked his chin. "Hmm, I think...NOT!" Lane made a swift horizontal motion with his index finger across his throat to instruct the guard to slit her throat. The guard did the same movement with the knife, following Lane's instruction. I screamed. I stared at the girl waiting for bl00d to gush from her throat. No bl00d fell. Her throat wasn't cut. The guard's hand was empty. Where had the knife gone? Huh? Suddenly the tip of the knife plunged out of the guard's abdomen. I gasped. Lane roared. Someone had stabbed the guard from behind. In a flash, the throat of the other guard holding the bowl was ripped out my a clawed hand. The guard with the bowl fell over. The guard with the knife through him was dropped to reveal who was there. Behind him stood Fang, wearing the black cloak the patrol guards wore, brandishing the knife, his eyes black, his canines bared and his blood-stained claws out.

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