Black Ice-Completed

Nyota watched the buck as it moved easily through the brush, grazing on berries and leaves as it moved slowly. It was near the end of the summer now and Nyota had been tracking the deer for several days now. He was a large buck, one that would help feed them during the winter.

Now that Nyota had her wolf, her body burned more calories, which meant she had to stock lots of food into the larder than she had in the past.

Easing just as slowly as the deer, Nyota snuck closer to it as they both made their way down an embankment. As the deer reached a clearing, Nyota was still on the hill and using the height difference, she launched the spear in her and laughed in glee as the spear hit its mark, killing it quickly from the neck wound.

Dragging the deer away from the kill site, she began dressing it when the forest went deathly silent. Nyota looked at her spear which was stuck into the ground near her. Her heart rate sped up making it hard to hear anything and whatever was coming was downwind from her. She couldn’t smell anything.

Closing her eyes, Nyota drew in a shaky breath and tried to concentrate on the forest, staying as still as a rabbit when it senses danger. The hair on the back of her neck began to stand and without a moments noticed she grabbed her spear and turned to fling it, but it was suddenly jerked out of her hands.

Before she could process anything, she found herself tossed over a shoulder that jarred the breath out of her. As she coughed she watched the dead deer go farther away as they moved and she shook her head to try to clear it. Giving a shriek of outrage, she began kicking and thumping against the person who held her.

“You loathsome, vile, stinking-“ Nyota started to yell and gasped when a hand landed solidly on her backside.

“Enough D’atai, I told you I would be back to punish you,” said a deep voice. Chills ran up Nyota’s body as she recognized the voice and his smell. The wolf from the previous year had returned.

“What do you want?” she growled and began to struggle when he didn’t answer.

“You know why, obey and you’ll get through your punishment just fine,” the man said and spanked her once again.

Nyota narrowed her eyes as his words finally processed in her head and looked down his backside. He was dressed in black leather and fur, would her wolf teeth be able to bite through it? And just as she thought that she huffed at herself. Instead of trying to bite him, she should just shift!

Nyota smirked, “I obey no one,” she rumbled and went limp as she took on the change to a wolf.

Syn felt her shift and immediately let the girl go as he felt fur slide across his fingers. Taking several feet back he felt himself freeze as he gazed at his mate. She was lanky, that was for certain. The girl was still quite smaller than him in muscle mass but what really made him pause was the deep red of her coat.

There had been stories, more like legends, of Black Ice wolves being quite colorful before the curse. Hues of brown, white, and blacks had run through the pack. But as the curse took hold, the only color the wolves were born with was pitch black fur and ice blue eyes.

Was his mate Black Ice or was she just a shifter? He wondered as he looked into her green eyes and looked at her dark red coat. But he knew the answer, he had smelled her wildness, the arctic blast that laid in all Black Ice wolves fur.

“Easy D’atai, I-“ he started to say but jumped back as Nyota pounced close to him.

Nyota snarled as she shifted her paws into the ground, “I am not your mate!” she growled, “My name is Nyota and you are in MY territory!”

Syn blinked in wonder as he heard the Alpha’s echo in her voice. It was a deeper rumble that echoed over the same words as its owner. “You’re an alpha,” he said softly, a female alpha had not been around for centuries, far longer than the curse had ever been.

Nyota deigned to answer and turned around to go back to get her deer. Maybe she could get the skin off without hurting it with her teeth, it was worth a shot because she wasn’t sure if she should be in her human form with this guy around. He was too handsome.

It took Syn a moment as he watched her walk away, but then at the thought of her walking away from him he took several steps towards her, a grumble rumbling from his chest, “Now wait a moment D’Atai, don’t walk away from me!” he snarled and had to jump back when Nyota suddenly turned around and looked him right in the eyes.

“You have no right to give me orders! I can and I will walk away because as far as I am concerned, you are nothing but a nuisance. I am the daughter of the Alpha Braytek, rightful leader to the Black Ice nation! Lyosha will pay for what he has done, I will see to that!”

Syn frowned and took a step back to get away from her teeth, “Lyosha didn’t do anything wrong. He won the fight fairly.” He watched as Nyota snorted and began to walk away, “You’re a girl, what do you know of the pack and traditions that up hold the Black Ice nation?”

Without a word, Nyota walked away. Lyosha had fought unfairly, instead of fighting all the betas to get to Braytek, he had by passed them. Her father would have never made Lyosha second in command, it would have left him too weak, it was why he had never made a second in command. Of course she had found this all out during one summer when Braytek had been talking about pack traditions and upholding the ways of the original pack.

For the rest of the summer, where Nyota was, Syn was right there on her heals. She tried to rebuff him, say cruel things, or aggravate him to the point he’d leave but he stayed with her, helping her to hunt, skin, and store her foods.

He followed her around the forest as she made different camps. The only place she tried to keep him from was the Southwestern side of the area where Veronica lived.

Syn started teaching her as Braytek had when he was alive. But whereas that had been when she was all human, Syn was now teaching her as a wolf.

She wouldn’t tell him, but she was grateful for the lessons because they stayed strictly animal. There was no mental communication and they had to take cues from their body language. It made it more intimate, Nyota realized later on.

It was late fall when Nyota was startled out of her reverie as Syn dropped down in front of her and held her hands.

She tried to pull them away but he held firmly, looking back up to stare at him, she flinched when she saw his blue eyes staring right into hers.

“Nyota,” he started nervously, and Nyota had to bite back a growl at this sign of weakness. If he was true on them being mates, she would need him tougher. She needed him to be just as much Alpha as she was, “This summer has been one of the most enjoyable I have had in a long time,” he gave a small smile as Nyota looked at him in disbelief, “I don’t want to but I need to leave for pack business.”

“What pack business?” she asked in curiosity, her hands involuntarily squeezing his.

“I need to find the sword of Allaidh” he paused, contemplating on how much he should explain to Nyota but this was his mate and he’d trust her.

Before he could continue she asked, “What is the sword of Aliaid?” and he bit back a smile at her mispronunciation of it. There were times he forgot that she was not part of the pack. It seemed Braytek had not taught her some things that were valuable to the pack.

“Allaidh is the wolf God. The sword was given to the first Alpha, any who wields the sword is Alpha of the Black Ice nation.”

“So,” Nyota said slowly, “If you have the sword you’re automatically Alpha? How does that work if Lyosha is Alpha by combat?”

“Well, that's going to be more difficult. Lyosha was supposed to wait until the Blue moon, that’s when the Alpha accepts challenges from others. At that time, the sword was to be brought out and if the Alpha is defeated, then the sword is passed onto the new Alpha. Because Lyosha did not wait, the sword was not brought, which gives circumstances a twist. Lyosha has sent out several wolves to try to find the sword and bring it back to him.

But if I were to find the sword and use it, I could challenge Lyosha directly without going through the ranks of the other betas,” he said as he watched Nyota’s eyes narrow.

Nyota glared at him and squeezed his hands until he let go of them, “It’s my birthright though to challenge Lyosha. I am Braytek’s chosen heir and his wish was to see me become Alpha.”

Syn looked at her and gave a condescending grin, before he reached up and stroked her cheek, “My sweet D’atai, it amazes me sometimes at how stubborn you are. The pack would never follow a female. But should I win, you will have all the authority over the females of the pack! So, in theory, you will be alpha female and I the Alpha!”

Nyota rolled her eyes as she saw him thump his chest in pride at the vision he saw. She on the other hand was having a hard time in not knocking his legs out from under him and watching his butt go sprawling in the mud. Instead she just stared at him, not saying anything. If he wasn’t going to accept her as Alpha, none of the other wolves would either. She’d have to work twice as hard to show them that she could lead just as well as any male wolf.

“I’ll be leaving in a few days and I won’t be back until late spring. I need you to hunt with the Thurian wolves while I am gone. They’re not like the nation but they’re closer than that of regular wolves,” at her nod he continued on, “Should Lyosha send any other wolves to follow after me, the smell fo the Thurians will mask your scent and keep you protected,” he said as he started to stroke her cheek once again.

Nyota, though extremely irate of his thoughts on her and her place in the pack, felt her heart ache at his leaving. He had been a constant presence all through the summer and even though he was chauvinist and irritated her to no end, she was going to miss him.

Instead of saying anything, she pulled forward and hugged him closely, ignoring the way he stiffened in surprise. She would never tell him why she did it, but instead gave this advice, “Be careful. Marais is swarming with fur traders who don’t seem to mind trapping shifters. The Jungle of Axun isn’t very safe either. The Amazons that live there are in a war with a General across the ocean and they’re killing any man they think is with him.”

“How do you know all this? You haven’t even left this forest,” Syn asked in surprise, but knew he’d never get an answer out of his little mate.

It was several days later that Nyota found herself alone in a quiet camp. It felt odd to be alone again. But she’d carry on, she was an Alpha after all.