Caged In

The Water's pack territory

Greg had found today to be entirely too exhausting. He felt as if he'd just spent the entire day training, when all he did was drive and drop off the low breed.

He had taken his time driving back to his pack because he knew there would be monstrous amounts of paperwork he would have to go through the second he entered the pack house. He'd never been fond of paperwork, and recently he wasn't too fond of being alpha either. He wished that his brother would take the role on again, but everyone in the pack knew that was never going to happen.

Dean became alpha when he was twenty and Greg wasn't even a year old. Dean surrendered the title twelve years later when his mate died, and bowed out of all pack politics. Dean was now out of practice for six years. He rarely shifted, unless it was absolutely necessary. He would never be the alpha of the Waters pack again.

Greg pulled into the pack house's garage and parked his car. He stepped out of his car, into an empty garage and sighed.

" Greg, you are going to walk in there and tell them it's been a long day and you need some sleep." Greg spoke as he walked towards the door in the garage that led into the kitchen," You are the Alpha here, and you get to decide when you do all that paperwork. Don't let them tell you what to do, you're their leader." He stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath to level himself before grabbing the doorknob and throwing the door open," I'm back, and I'm exhausted. I'll do the paperwork tomorrow!" He declared.

When no one answered him, he looked around the kitchen to see only one person, eating directly out of an ice cream tub.

" Where is everyone ?" Greg asked, glaring at the tub of ice cream that Marina had taken.

" Sorry to be the one to break it to you boss, but everyone's in the panic room right now, the situation here's gone nuclear." She shrugged as she greedily scoped a spoonful of mint chocolate chip ice cream into her mouth.

Greg took a step towards the meeting room, before turning around to scold his childhood friend," Marina I've told you to stop eating ice cream directly from the tubs!"

" What was I supposed to do! We're out of clean bowls because you're the only one who does the dishes." She pointed at the overflowing sink with her spoon, eliciting a growl from Greg.

He was supposed to be the alpha of this pack, not their dish cleaner.

" Hey, don't growl like that at me, I grabbed your least favorite flavor." She held the tub up proudly.

" Yeah right, you only picked it because mint chocolate chip is your favorite, you probably thought you'd finish the entire tub before I got back."

Marina offered him a cheeky smile," How about you go attend your alpha duties instead of wasting your time on a lost cause, dish boy ?"

Greg growled in frustration," I'm taking ice cream off the grocery list next time I catch you eating from a tub." He said before turning around and rushing to the meeting room.

Greg heard dozens of voices talking over each other through the sound proof walls. He braced himself for the absolute madhouse that awaited him inside as he pulled the double doors open.

His Beta, Alec Tolman had absolutely lost control of the situation, though Greg wasn't positive Alec ever really had a handle on it to begin with. Greg's father wasn't in the meeting either, which probably didn't help.

Greg took a deep breath, channeling his wolf so he could use his alpha command," Everyone shut up!" Greg's deep voice echoed throughout the rest of the house, and the residents were now keenly aware that their alpha had returned.

The room went silent immediately, and everyone had turned their necks to the side slightly in submission.

" Everyone take a seat." Greg commanded, and everyone quickly shuffled around back to their chairs and sat.

Greg closed his eyes and suppressed his wolf," Now then," Greg said as he walked over to his spot at the head of the table," What the hell is going on here ?"

Greg sat down and folded his hands in front of him on the table before looking around expectantly.

Alec was avoiding his stare because he knew Greg was furious with him.

Delta Elwin broke the silence," Alpha there was an attack that ended in the death of a pack member while you were gone."

Greg almost exploded with rage," And no one here thought to call me the second you saw the enemy !"

Greg collected himself quickly and glared at Alec, who any outsider would never think to assume held even a shred of power based on how desperately he tried to hide under the table.

" Alec, sit up." Greg said lowly. Alec ducked completely under the table causing Greg to snap again," Now!" His voice thundered.

Alec shot up in his chair and narrowed his eyes at Greg.

" Tell me what happened, before I put your position up for an Esik Soike next full moon." Greg replied.

" Do you know Selena Crowe ?" Alec asked.

" She's the elder who's been sick for a few years now, right ?" Greg asked," Why is this important ?"

" She passed away yesterday."

At this, Greg scanned the room for Selena's mate, Cyrus. When he didn't see Cyrus, Greg turned back to Alec," Is he busy grieving, I don't see him here."

The room fell silent once again.

Greg narrowed his eyes," What happened to Cyrus ?"

" He -" Alec opened his mouth, before quickly pressing his lips together and turning away," He's dead."

Greg looked to Elwin, who sighed," He was fine in the afternoon, but by nightfall he was crazed. We tried to talk with him, but he was too far gone. He attacked anyone who came near him and his eyes were glowing red. Alec almost died restraining him, while I got Raven and brought her to see what was going on. She called Cyrus a cursed abomination and killed him on sight."

" Where's his body, I want to see it." Greg stood up, pushing his chair out against the floor.

" Raven's attack blew it to pieces, it left Alec covered in its black blood."

Greg looked at Elwin in disbelief," Black blood ? You understand what that means, right ?"

Elwin nodded silently. Dread filled the room.

1130 words