1|Betrayal

[Axel]

“Intruders, Alpha! We need you here!” There was a warning through mind link that put my whole body on alert.

“Location?” I asked as I signaled Beta Tanner, my best friend, to quickly follow me. We rushed out of the packhouse.

Getting surprise attacks was nothing new in my life as an Alpha of Scarlett Sky Pack. Many Rogues live not far from the perimeter of the territory of the pack of werewolves that I lead. They were thirsting for shelter, food, and of course, power.

We had always managed to keep our border with the various traps we set up carefully around this area. In addition, I made that CCTV was installed at every point in the blind spots so that no intruder could easily enter. There was only a dense forest around us. So, apart from those who were werewolves, no one would know about this place, especially humans.

“They’re everywhere, Alpha.” That report moved my feet faster towards one of the guard posts. It was raining heavily, but that didn’t reduce my visibility or smell.

As the pain hit my head and chest, my feet stopped abruptly. The sadness crept into my guts as one of my warriors died. I saw that Tanner felt the same way. He looked at me with reddened eyes burning with anger. This attack was no joke.

“Status,” I growled. My feet were getting faster even though I was still in my human form, one of the advantages of being an Alpha.

“Four guard posts down! We’re under siege, Alpha! There are so many of them,” answered one of my warriors in a trembling voice.

They were werewolves with special powers and excellent martial arts skills who undergo strenuous training every day once their wolves were born. My soldiers trembled. They had never been afraid of anything or anyone before.

“All warriors spread out at four borders now and kill all enemies without mercy.” I gave orders through our mind link. The pain was getting worse. Who managed to break into our territory and have such great power? Why did my warriors fall one by one easily?

My pack might not be the largest in North Kingdom, but we were the second largest. There were six hundred wolves with trained innumerable warriors to handle all kinds of enemy attacks. Rogues were not a match for them. It was easy to take down any number of enemies.

This attack was not coming from an ordinary pack of Rogues. It was an attack from werewolves of another pack. But why? I didn’t hurt any wolf or have any enemies either. The eight packs all over the continent agreed to live in peace. Then, who broke the peace treaty and invaded my territory?

I didn’t feel the presence of any other creature besides werewolves. This situation was so weird. Why do my warriors die effortlessly? I could not allow this. I would not let anyone who attacked us escape without any punishment.

“Axel, I’m going to the north tower,” Tanner said through mind link.

I nodded at him and ran to the east tower. Fighting roars rang out, the smell of blood started to get stronger, and the scene in front of me left me in disbelief. There were hundreds of werewolves fighting with my men.

“Rory!” I called her through mind link.

“Axel,” she answered right away.

“Take all the women and children who cannot fight to the shelter. Make sure you bring enough food, clothes, and supplies to survive for a few days,” I ordered.

“I did, Axel,” she said in a different tone. Was she okay?

Unfortunately,  I had not had time to continue our conversation as a werewolf approached and tried to hit my neck with his claws. I dodged it easily.

When he tried to strike me a second time, I blocked his hand with one hand and pulled it away with my free hand. My claws popped out at my command, then I aimed at his heart. My warriors died, so I no longer gave them mercy. I pulled his heart out. In that instant, he died.

All the enemies who tried to touch me got the same blow. If not the heart that I pulled out, it was their heads that I ripped off their bodies. I tried to ignore the pain caused by my fallen people. It hurt like hell, but I managed to kill as many enemies as I could.

“Axel, there are too many of them. Go! Save yourself and take some of our men with you. Don’t die in vain with us,” Tanner mind-linked.

“No. I will fight with all of you to the death.” Two werewolves down.

“This is not the time to be stubborn, Alpha. Go save yourself!” Tanner insisted.

I ignored his crazy request. When almost everyone said the same thing, I asked them to be quiet by using my authority as their Alpha. Then the communication through the mind link turned silent.

“We fight together, we die together. Brace yourselves, all of you,” I said firmly. “I want to say this to those of you who have faithfully come with me. I’m proud to fight till the end with you. Now, let’s kill as many of them as we can.”

It was a deafening silent after I finished my words. They might be busy fighting with the enemy. That was my thought until they answered with renewed vigor, “Okay, Alpha!”

I knew that we would lose. There were too many of them but I shouldn’t lose hope now. My people trusted their lives on me.

“Mother, Father ….” I called them. Maybe this would be our last conversation.

“We understand, Son. Know this, I’m proud of you. You are the best Alpha I have ever known. You don’t abandon your people,” said Dad through mind link.

“I am proud to be your mother, Axel. Hopefully, the Moon Goddess will reunite us in a different world,” said Mother in a sobbing voice.

“Rory …,” I knew my death was coming, and she was the last person I wanted to talk to before death separated us forever.

She was my mate. We just met last week. My Alpha best friend invited me to an event in his pack. In an instant, we fell in love at first conversation and bonded with each other. Our wedding and union ceremony was supposed to take place on the weekend. But it seemed like it would never happen.

“Axel,” she replied.

“I’m delighted to have met you. Even though our time together was brief, this one week was the best week of my life. If only I could tell you this directly.” I killed another enemy by slashing his neck with my claws. He fell, then I smelled the delicious aroma of roses mixed with pleasant honey.

“You can tell me directly.” Rory stood in front of me. I smiled at her, then something from her right caught my attention.

Alpha Devon of the Blood River Pack walked to my mate. He spread his devilish smile as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Ryder, my wolf, growled in anger, seeing another werewolf acting as our mate was his.

“Rory? What is this?” I asked, seeing she didn’t take Devon’s hand off her body. She even looked comfortable with the touch.

“I, Rory Martin, hereby reject Axel Blackwood, the Alpha of the Scarlet Sky Pack, as my mate and Alpha. From now on, I also refuse to be a part of the Scarlett Sky Pack.”

The second she rejected me as her destined mate, an unbearable pain assaulted my body. It hurt so much that I fell to my knees on the ground until my head hit the wet grass. My mate rejected me? Why?

Ryder, my wolf, howled in pain at the loss of his precious mate. The one he had been waiting for for the past two years. His wound doubled my pain.

For the next few seconds, I felt a firm grip on the shaft of my neck. The hand forced me to lift my head, and a punch slammed at my upper abdomen. All the muscles in my body protested from the excruciating pain. I hadn’t fully recovered from the effects of rejection, so I hardly avoided the blow.

The next punch was aimed at my heart, sending stars in my head. He punched me so hard in the jaw that I bounced back. I fell with my chest hitting the ground after spinning in the air because of that vigorous blow. Just a little farther, I would fall into the river.

The pain intensified when I learned that Tanner had died, my warriors followed, and no one had responded to my mind link. All those who have entrusted their lives and loyalty to me had died.

I raised my head and saw Rory standing next to Devon. They enjoyed the sight before them, seeing the last people who were still fighting for their lives and honor. My body started to recover quickly. But not fast enough to get me out of here alive. I knew that they would torture me to death. That was why Devon didn’t kill me right away.

“I, Axel Blackwood, Alpha of Scarlet Sky Pack, hereby accept your rejection. Goodbye, Rory Martin.” I was quite satisfied to see Rory feel the same pain as I did.

She fell to the ground and winced in pain. She could reject me and pretend to feel nothing but not her wolf. May Moon Goddess take her wolf’s soul for betraying me and my pack.

“Bastard! How dare you hurt my Rory!!” Driven by anger, Devon came closer, then kicked me with all his might right in the chest.

My body was thrown quite far. He kicked me again. This time, I fell into the river. The heavy flow of water in the stream caused by the rain carried me away quickly. My body repeatedly hit the river rocks. Death could take my soul as I exhaled my last breath.