Black Ice-Completed

Nyota sighed in exhaustion as she fell to the sand to sit. She felt like such a fool! After rushing from the campsite, she had all but forgotten the jug of juice that Amatsu had given her. Nyota was without water once again.

She had found a dried up oasis as she had walked but with nothing there, she had moved on quickly. Now she just felt so tired. Her arms felt like weights that dragged her down. Her mouth was so parched that her gums were bleeding and her lips were so cracked that sand now coated the wounds.

Nyota tried to get up but felt her world tilt as dizziness consumed her. Five days without water, more if a person didn’t count that drink of juice she had had. She whimpered as sand blew into her face. She was going to die in this God’s forsaken land. She’d never become Alpha, she’d let her father down.

The last thing she thought as her eyes closed to welcome the darkness was that she’d never be able to reconcile things with Syn. She’d never get to hold him or mate with him. That was her deepest regret.

Three Years Ago

Syn gasped in pain as he was thrown up against the wall, his spine and head telling him his father wasn’t just angry, he was pissed.

“You did what?” his father bellowed as he stood over Syn, who had sunk down to the floor to hold his stomach, his whole body shook from trying to keep from shifting to attack his father.

“Rush, please!” Asper said as she tried to tug onto his arm, “I’m sure it’s not as bad as what you think it is!”

Rush looked at his mate, the one woman that could bring him to his knees. He looked at her in all her glory, thirty-two years had passed and she was still radiant with her black hair and a soft amber gaze, his secret weakness, his unmarked weakness.

Narrowing his eyes he turned back to his son and growled, “It is far worse than what anyone could believe.” Bending down he pulled Syn up and held him by the collar, “Let me get this straight you worthless piece of skaxis,” he rumbled and ignored Asper’s gasp, “You found your mate in Skotadi Forest when she was twelve and was able to tell that she was Black Ice but then you left her! To search for a worthless sword?” he roared, “And when you came back you were able to see that she could shift into the wolf with no blood fever apparent.” Shaking his son at his idiocy, he continued to growl, his blue eyes glowing from so much anger, “ Then you leave, AGAIN! But it just gets better doesn’t it, not only do you not tell us but then you also refuse to mark her when she so desperately needed you to! IDIOT!” he shouted and slammed his son up against the wall once again. “Why didn’t you mark her?” Rush yelled in confusion and let Syn go so that he fell to the floor with a groan.

“She would have been a weakness. When I take over, it’d be best if I showed that I had none. It was for her protection, the same as why you haven’t marked ata!” Syn huffed out as he struggled to stand.

Rush growled, his face in a permanent glare at his son, “I have never marked your mother because it was dangerous to do so with the pack as it is! If Asper was a wolf I would have marked her with no such qualms!” he growled as his anger started to subside. He could understand where his son had made the mistake and how it had been brought about. “Your mate does not have the same vulnerabilities as a human. She’s Black Ice! And now you tell us that she is missing?” Rush said as he ran his fingers through his hair. How did he have a son that turned out to be so thick headed?

“The forest is empty, I scoured the whole territory and asked several shifters if they had heard or seen anything. The only thing I could glean was that slavers had come to the forest and left within several hours,” Syn said as he warily watched his father, his stomach still rebelling from pain. “We didn’t leave off on good terms,” he said softly as he thought about what he had said to Nyota before he had left.

Rush grunted at Syn’s statement and shook his head at the folly of the young, “I expect not. You say she is an Alpha?” at Syn’s nod, Rush grunted again, “If she’s a true Alpha, she will be the one to take on Lyosha.”

“What about the sword?” Asper asked, still not understanding why her husband was so angry and what this woman meant to the pack.

“It’s probably lost,” Syn said but jerked in surprise when Rush laughed out loud.

Shaking his head, Rush stared at Syn and still coulnd’t believe how dense his son was, “Your mate has the sword. If I knew Braytek as well as I did, he would have started training her a long time ago. When Lyosha hallenged him, he hid the sword with her!”

“But she’s never given a clue that she knew about the sword. She even said Allaidh’s name wrong,” Syn said in frustration.

Sighing, Rush sat down and pulled his mate close to him. He needed her to keep him calm and the only way that was going ot happen was her being in his lap, “Syn think for a Gods damn minute and get your head out of your ass. If she would have been a man what would she have done?”

Syn thought about it then nodded at his father’s logic, “She would have hidden it.”

“And if another wolf came and started spouting their palns when they found the sword?” Rush said as he breathed in Asper’s scent, it calming him down further as he petted her hair softly.

“I would have feigned knowledge, Gods damn it all! She knew all along where the sword was and what it would be used for!” Syn growled as he started pacing back and forth, “She’s told me multiple times that she would kill Lyosha and take over the pack. I thought she just wanted revenge for Braytek!”

Rush snorted as he hugged his mate closer, her arms wrapping around his own arms as she held him just as close, “The Alliance needs to be rallied. She may be making her way up here sooner or later. The pack needs to be taken care of before that happens. She’ll need as much help as we can give her when she challenged Lyosha.”

Syn rubbed his face as he looked out the window. It was time to start thinking of his mate’s goals and not his own now. Several of the fevered wolves would have to be eliminated which would be harder than what it sounded. The fevered wolves roamed in huge packs. More than one healthy wolf would have to take them out, and if one got away the whole plan could end in disaster. If that happened, Nyota would be facing a pack of slavering beasts.