Meeting him

A foreboding silence caused goosebumps to arise on Zachary's skin as he traipsed into the Packhouse. He knew without a doubt that something was wrong.

"Alpha." A teary faced guard who met with him as he crossed into the main house anchored on each side by his Beta and Gamma respectively.

Zachary scanned the area in one swooping gaze but nothing gave him the answer. Unable to ignore the question that stuck in his throat, he voiced out almost immediately.

"What is it?" 

"La…lady Elsie." He stuttered.

Zayn didn't wait for any more words as he shoved the guard to a side and dashed into the house in the direction of her fading scent. He flung the door open and for a moment his heart stopped when he saw her. She was struggling for breath.

He swallowed hard and suddenly his legs became too heavy for him to carry as he approached her on the bed.

"Za- Zachary, I waited for you." A small weary smile curved on her lips as she held out her frail hand to him. 

Zachary watched her inhale her last breath before going limp in his arms. He clenched his fists in anger and let out a deep growl into the air causing everyone in the Pack house to shiver in fear.

It was like a dream. His only sister now laid before him lifeless. Pain cut through him like a two edged sword as he vowed right there by her bed.

  "I will make them pay. Every single witch there will die with my name rolling off the slabs of their tongues as they beg me for mercy."' He muttered out those words as a promise to his dead mate.

***************

    The sound of barking dogs filled the air and Zachary's hair was whipped back by a cold wind that left his teeth clattering. The sense of impending doom rested upon him thickly like a wet blanket, and while he was not usually one to ignore his instincts, he had no choice but to do so.

  He would repay them back in kind. They were only a few miles away from Ayrwood now, but the closer they drew to the community, the more his subconscious pricked at him. He felt uneasy. His gut told him he was headed into something bad. 

 His hatred was a driving force that fueled his anger, propelling him forward with record speed. His men followed closely behind him and once they reached the community, blood sprayed. There were cries, there were pleas for help, and there was so much blood.

    Only, it wasn't the witches who bled. Zachary suffered the dream of watching his men die before his eyes at the hands of skilled witches who fought just as savagely as his wolves did. The witches were prepared and their numbers were great. Far greater than the men he had brought with him.

    But it was no dream. Warm blood splayed on his face as a sword went through the throat of his Beta, Lucien, who had thrown himself in front of Zachary to protect him. 

Zachary bellowed, swiping for the head of the witch who had stabbed Lucien. Her head came clean off, but Zachary hardly noticed as pain ripped through him when he caught the body of his fallen Beta. His best friend. 

     And for the first time, tears filled his eyes as he watched Lucien cough up more blood. His throat was ripped and he could hardly speak a word. Soon, his brown eyes turned unseeing and vacant and Zachary roared in outrage. 

    He finally looked up from his friend's body, watching his men get hacked into pieces by the vicious magic of his foes. The battle was over sooner than he expected, and there were countless swords pointed at him and the rest of his men who had been forced into surrender.

      A sword rested against his throat and he looked up to find old grey eyes peering down at him with hate. "To think you can come into my territory and attack my people..." Her voice trailed off and her eyes skimmed the field of dead bodies that were mostly his men. "I have never been graced with the presence of an Alpha as stupid as you are."

     Hate darkened Zachary's eyes as he took in the Head Witch, Anastasia, and he bared his sharp canines at her, releasing a vicious growl that was loud enough to shake the earth underneath their feet. "I will not rest until I have avenged their deaths !"

     The old woman scoffed, regarding him with a gaze that was sharper than an eagle's. "You would need to get out of your cage first to do that, Alpha."

     Her head jerked to the witches that had lined up behind her, all dressed in black tunics and pants. "Bind them and take them to the dungeons!"

      Suddenly, Zachary's arms moved of their own volition, and his eyes widened in horror as they snapped behind him, held back by invisible hands.

     He roared, thrashing and kicking violently, but he was soon subdued when five witches merged their powers to restrain him. And as Zachary was led away to the dungeons with his men in tow, he couldn't help but think the last thing he had seen in Lucien's eyes before he had died was a betrayal.

               *******

       Zoey Keystone ran her fingers through her hair. It was going to be another hard day. She could tell from the stench of blood and death that coated the air. She had always hated the war with the wolves. She hated always having to clean up the gore and the blood, feeling a sense of kinship with them.

    It was why she scowled the entire way from the kitchens to the dungeons as she carried the food for their new prisoners. Anastasia, her mother, had given her the order to have them fed, believing none of the maids would be able to handle the prisoners--and she had been eager to do it, needing to help in any way she could.

     "I hear there is an Alpha among them," a maid said excitedly behind her and Zoey rolled her eyes. What Alpha would be stupid enough to walk into witch territory, only to get himself captured? Surely, no one was that stupid.

      But it would seem she was wrong, because as she reached the last dungeon, five witches stood by the door, faces etched with fatigue and pain.  

She paused before Lorna, who was the strongest witch after her mother. "What is it?"

     Lorna frowned, trying not to break her concentration. "The Alpha won't stop resisting. He is wearing us down. I've never met any wolf this strong, Dia."

     Zoey peered into the dungeon and in the middle of the cell sat the most magnificent man she had ever seen.