Chapter 1: War for a Gamma — Irina Krytow

Irina Krytow.

La Sierra de la Culebra, Spain, today.

I watched Alpha Ramírez, the leader of the Sierra Blanca pack, die at the hands of Alpha Malcon McDonald of the Scottish Green Mountains clan. I felt the pain of the entire Spanish pack as they watched their Alpha die.

"How many more times, Bella? How many more times will we see this? Aren't we supposed to be healers? Why so much pain?" I asked my wolf, who howled inside me at the pain we felt.

Empathy was one of the characteristics of a gamma. We felt everything that others felt. At times like this, when the pack's pain over the loss of their Alpha was so strong, it almost overwhelmed us.

Bella's silence told me everything. Ever since we were expelled from our pack—the pack where I was born and raised—without my father or my changed brother being able to do anything about the Alpha's command, my life had been a series of circumstances where I had been passed from hand to hand by the Alpha for two years. He wanted a Gamma in his pack to help them progress with my powers.

The killings and pain I witnessed in those two years were endless. I felt each one as my own to the point that, on one occasion, I wanted to end my life, but Bella wouldn't let me. She had hoped to find her mate, who would help us focus and control our powers. However, I doubt that will happen.

I still remember saying goodbye to my father. After my uncle, Alpha Krytow Bykov, ordered my expulsion from the pack, my father approached me and placed a pendant around my neck as I walked away. It was a pendant that had belonged to my mother and grandmother.

"This will protect you, help you find your mate, and make you happy. You know I love you. My love for you is infinite, but I can't..." I didn't let him finish. I felt his pain, along with my own, and it tore my soul apart.

"Don't worry, Dad. It's for the pack. I still feel connected to it, even though I've been separated from it by order of the Alpha," I said affectionately, taking his hand to say goodbye.

I couldn't tell my father that I could have disobeyed the Alpha's order. However, this could have gotten my pack into trouble, as had happened in other packs where the Alphas had let themselves be carried away by ambition. They ignored the warning I had given them, as was the case with Alpha Ramirez.

As Gamma, I could decide which orders to obey and which not to. This free will helped me heal the older Alphas who had gone mad. If I were subject to the Alpha's command, I wouldn't be able to control their pain and anger.

I still remember the pain I felt when I discovered that my world had changed after my transformation. The Alpha and Beta—my uncle and father—gathered in the Alpha's room to decide what to do with me. Initially, the pack was happy about my arrival. A Gamma, as Bella told me, is unusual. They give stability to the pack; fewer members die, and the older wolves control their madness. The female wolves become pregnant more quickly. Proof of this was that, on the night of my change, my brother and my best friend conceived my first nephew or niece.

However, being able to feel everything drove me crazy. I felt Stefan's pain when he looked at me, as well as his uncontrollable desire for and love of Nadia. I felt Nadia's mockery and hidden hatred. Apparently, she had always been in love with Stefan. Since I was considered the future Moon, she resented me. Now that she is the Moon, her hatred, arrogance, and satisfaction have returned.

I was overwhelmed by all the feelings I received from those around me. Bella had to inhibit that ability until she could control it. A week after my transformation, I had learned to control it just in time to sense that Alpha Krytow had arrived after a meeting of Alphas with a big decision and a big concern. He asked me to meet with him alone.

"My dear Irina, what I am about to tell you is known only to you. I am telling you so that you understand my position and why I am making this decision," he said. I felt his pain. "The other Alphas already know about your birth, and that puts all our packs in danger," he said abruptly.

"How...?" I began to ask, but the Alpha interrupted me.

"A Gamma is the rarest wolf of all the packs. That's why all the Alphas want you in their pack. They'll come looking for you no matter what they have to do. Wars between clans will begin, which is why I must protect my pack. Do you understand?" He said, making my heart ache. They were going to expel me from the pack. As difficult and painful as it was, I understood. I also wanted to protect my loved ones.

"All right, I'll leave," I said.

“Unfortunately, you can't leave because you were born into this pack. Only I can reject you.” As long as you don't join a clan, you can decide when to join or leave a pack. But if you join, only the Alpha can expel you. Whether or not you obey his orders, you will always be bound to that pack. Keep that in mind because out there, the world will go crazy. Your only hope for things to calm down is to find your mate and have him be a strong wolf who can control the other packs," my uncle told me, his words shaking the ground beneath my feet.

After my painful expulsion, I traveled throughout Europe and was soon captured by Alphas who coveted me. During one of my attempts to escape, I lost my family's famous pendant. It hurt me deeply because it was the only thing I had left from my parents. Wars between clans became frequent. All I had seen in the last two years was blood, pain, and suffering. The Alphas' obsession with having me blinded them to the well-being of their own packs; they wanted me only for the power it would give them.

Alpha Ramirez was one such Alpha, and when I sensed Alpha Malcon McDonald's thirst for blood, I decided to intervene for the good of his pack, Sierra Blanca. I did not want to witness any more clan killings like those I had seen in other parts of Europe.

"Let the pack live, and I'll go with you," I said.

"I have nothing to gain from that. I'm taking you with me anyway," he said, smiling with a murderous look in his blue eyes.

"You know you can't control me, right? If you don't kill anyone, I'll go with you. I'll go to your pack willingly."

Only if you marry me will you be my moon. I accept that," he said. I knew I had no choice but to accept. I had been with that pack for two months, during which time many wolves had become pregnant and many old wolves had regained their health. If I didn't control the sadistic alpha, many innocent wolves would die.

"Okay, but don't break your word, or I won't keep mine. Remember that I know everything you feel. I know if you're going to lie to me," I said, fed up with being lied to for power.

"I promise that when we marry and I mark you, you will be mine and never be able to leave our pack. You will be my moon," said Alpha Malcon, making Bella tremble with disgust.