t w e n t y - t w o
r e p e r c u s s i o n s
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dedicated to nightgate

"YOU'VE CHANGED," COLTON sighed as his eyes raked over the exoskeleton of his best friend propped up against the wall as he lay on the bed, head tilted towards the Mexican woman with unkempt locks. Eretria definitely agreed: her muscles were stronger, and her mental state was unstable which was something she hadn't experienced since the year of her packs' death. Her typical confident composure from when Colton had seen her last had deteriorated – and he certainly wouldn't admit that his own hope had faded too during his imprisonment. They were both bruised and battered beyond repair, like a doll with its fabric legs torn off and button eye dangling from a single thread of string. "Ti, I missed you so much."

Eretria let out a melodic laugh, slumping away from the wall before flopping onto the bed beside Colton, her eyes searching the ceiling for something she couldn't quite fathom.

"Wish I could say the same," She chuckled, biting her tongue. Tia hadn't laughed in a while, but Colton was the only person she could crack her soul open to. After years of knowing the man, she knew his mannerisms better than she knew her own. She knew that he snored louder than the rumble of thunder; knew that he flirted with any guy or girl that caught his eye.

"Hey," Colton stated furiously, slapping a hand against Tia's stomach. "You're being a bitch today, you know that right?"

Tia smiled. "Only when I'm around you."

"Oh, you charmer."

Eretria winked at her best friend, rolling onto her side before pushing her dark chocolate locks from her wide eyes. She had tried her best to avoid gazing at Colton's face, simply because his appearance crushed her soul. His eyes were sunken back in their sockets, his green orbs no longer sparkling with life. The bruises across his face were slowly healing, but the cuts along the ridge of his nose, and scattered across his lips and limbs would never heal. Even if they couldn't be seen on the surface, some scars never truly disappeared.

"This might be the first time I've ever said this, but you're right." The Mexican's face turned stern as she reached out to play with a lock of Colton's hair. To anyone else, the action would've seemed a fraction romantic, but there was nothing but respect and openness between Colton and herself. After all, Colton preferred men over women.

Colton smelt of blood and darkness, surrounding her and wrapping her in a suffocating vice. But the woman smiled to match Colton's own beaming grin. "Wow, you really have changed. I was right."

"That's why I said it," Tia rolled her eyes. "But the past two weeks have been hell, and without you I've been all over the place."

"Explains why you actually like Connor now. Like, no offence, but I don't like him. At all. I mean his eyes are just downright creepy, and does he ever smile?"

Tia bit her lip to stifle a laugh. Connor always held a serious demeanour, but his smile had appeared around her more times than she could count. "Offence taken. And it might surprise you, but if you're lucky you might get a smile."

"I'm ok thanks. I'd much rather attempt to kill Jared – or Ethan, come to think of it – than waste my time trying to make that man smile," Colton replied without hesitation.

"Colton, I'm never letting anything happen to you ever again," Eretria exhaled as her laughs made her chest vibrate.

It was Colton's turn to wink. He fluttered his dark lashes before pushing himself up from the bed into a seated position. Tia held out two arms, which Colton gripped onto and used to haul her up after him. "Damn right you're not. You'd be a complete mess without me."

"I am a complete mess." Eretria refused to break the calming eye contact with her best friend. "Colton, I need to ask you something."

Eretria felt her joints stiffen, afraid how Colton would react to her direct words. She wanted to tell herself that Colton wasn't at fault for the death of her pack, but the thought was eating away at her brain like maggots devouring a fresh corpse.

Colton tensed, his hands reaching out to clasp the brunette's tightly. "Tia, I know what Jared told you, but I promise it isn't true. What you said earlier, about me not being able to hurt a fly, you were right. I mean, do you remember when we were seven and you accidentally killed a butterfly and I wouldn't stop crying?"

The woman smiled at the memory, her mind casting back to Colton's steady stream of tears and the dead red admiral laced between her fingertips. "And eight years later you broke Adam's nose, Colton."

"He was possessive. Do you expect anything less of the Beta's son?" Colton chuckled to himself, unconsciously forming fists around Tia's fingertips. "But when you spoke out for me earlier, I just – you know me better than anyone."

"I just wanted to hear it from you."

Colton squeezed Tia's hands reassuringly. "I know. I didn't do it, Jasper did. And we're going to find him and kill him, so that he can never take advantage of who you are again, Ti."

"No, I'm going to kill him. I'm not letting anything happen to you." The thought of losing Colton for the second time made Eretria's eyes bead with salty water, and heart skip a beat. The only memories she had from her early pack life were of him – in fact, there was rarely a memory he wasn't in.

"Don't be such a mum, Tia."

The Mexican scoffed. "I'm just saying I don't want you to get hurt."

"And I'm saying you're acting like a mum, unless..." Colton trailed off, leaving Tia's cheeks to bluster. "You've changed so much you're never embarrassed. I mean, unless you want to tell me something?"

"I am not telling you about my non-existent sex life."

"Ok, well then I am not not coming with you to kill that arsehole Jared, and then maybe Jasper if I feel like it," Colton stated and crossed his arms defiantly over his chest, pouting like a child despite being nineteen years of age. After the death of his family years ago, Eretria knew that losing himself was the only way he could crawl through life without being scathed.

"You're allowed one knife, that's it."

"Thanks mum."

The woman narrowed her eyes until all Colton could see was a protruding darkness. "Stop it."

--

As the large brass handle on the clock slid a minute closer to midnight, the winter air bitter with frost and thaw, Jared found himself sitting on the Alpha's mahogany desk – a piece of furniture that once belong to his predecessor. The full moon gazed in from the window, cracking open the night until the shadows merely did not exist. It radiated across his pale skin, igniting a saline light in his eyes that glowed and glowed. He had been waiting for this moment since he had drawn his first breath – the power of an alpha had always been his. It surged through his veins, and spiked his senses as he heard footsteps outside the door.

With a creak, Jared's new Beta, Amir, pushed a head through the door. Jared didn't need to be told what to do as he tugged at the sleeves of his suit, the lingering smell of Connor's cologne disappearing as the man exited from the room and followed Amir down the corridor of his pack house. His pack. The words were bitter to the tongue, but they sounded right.

"You ready?" Amir stated confidently as he strode ahead of his alpha, using his long bony legs to cover twice the distance Jared could in one footfall. Amir had always been a valuable pack member to Jared, and keeping him close had proved advantageous.

Jared's stomach flipped as they began to descend the stairs into the hall, before following the carved wooden railings of the ancient house to the pack common room. He would never admit how he actually felt, but soon he wouldn't need to. Being Alpha, everyone would have to follow his rule, and no one would have a choice. But there was one thing he wanted, and he had let her slip carelessly through his fingers like sand.

"Yes," Jared replied confidently, a smirk playing at his lips. He had combed his dark tresses back, pulling them away from his amber eyes. But the sharpness of his nose was as sharp as a razor as he walked past his pack members seated for the alpha ceremony. The wolves hadn't been prepared for the sudden change in leadership, but Jared couldn't wait until the next full moon to become the leader, nor could the pack be left without an alpha. Decorations were scattered carelessly around the room, and Jared attempted to ignore the hateful stares as he descended towards the front where his loyal wolves were waiting.

Jared twitched his fingers nervously behind his back as he made it to the front, watching the onlooking wolves with a glint in his eyes. Some had packed up and left when it was announced that Connor had been toppled of his inglorious throne, but Jared had made quick work of the disloyal. Whoever defied him would wish they were dead if he didn't kill them himself.

The clock hands kept ticking. Ten minutes until midnight, and five until the ceremony would officially begin.

Jared crooked his lips. He would take Armour Heights, even if he had to kill Eretria Santiago-Lunati to do so. He would crush the city like dust. He would become the alpha he had always been taught to be.

Tick, tock.

And as the clock stuck seven to midnight, a boom reverberated through the house, and Jared caught the glimpse of a gun barrel before he was knocked back onto his skull, and blacked out.

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YAY FINALLY ANOTHER UPDATE WHOOP ++ A LITTLE BIT OF JARED AND I HAD TO INCLUDE A TIA AND COLTON SCENE BECAUSE I LOVE THEM SO MUCH AND FEEL LIKE I HAVEN'T FOCUSED ON THEIR FRIENDSHIP AT ALL <3

ALSO I MADE A TRAILER!! IT'S ABOVE IF ANYONE'S INTERESTED - LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINk ;)

sorry for the late update!! I have a coursework deadline and sadly that meant sacrificing a frost update to get it done, sorry :(

hope you enjoyed! i'm halfway through the next chapter, and please, please tell me if my writing is going downhill :)

lots of love, and thank you for reading xxxx