1. The Wolves War

There was a groaning sound in the air.

Brianna looked reluctantly at the man in front of her. Just now, she swung her foot towards the man's crotch. "Still want to try?"

Zach, the man who now felt like his future was over, winced in pain as he clutched his prized possession. "Not anymore. I give up."

Crazy girl. He was just pretending to tease her, okay?

Brianna sneered. "You and I have been friends since childhood, but don't expect that kind of relationship would make me easy on you."

𝘉𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘩! 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨! Her wolf spat in exasperation in her mind. Brianna agreed with it. Just now, Zach not only sniffed her but even licked her cheek, disgust her wolf.

"Okay, okay. I was wrong. Don't get mad, hm?" Zach hurriedly calms her. He would rather be called a coward by others for not being able to conquer this girl than ruin his future assets. Even if he could recover, it would still hurt. "But Bri, you're already twenty-eight years old. Don't you think this is too long to have a mate?"

"What's the problem with that?" Brianna asked back. For some reason, she never liked it when people asked her about her mate. "I don't need a mate."

Yes, she always emphasized this to people and herself. Either for comfort or denial of not finding a mate.

Generally, werewolves, they can smell the scent of their mate from the first time their wolf awakens. And it had been twelve years since her wolf woke up, but she had never found her mate.

She had tried to find them. At the big hunt each year or when a pack member merged with another pack. She had even lived among humans or other races because her mate might be one of them. But all to no avail. Her mate never showed any sign of existence.

Perhaps her mate had died before they met and bonded, or had not been born at all.

"The problem is that you're a girl with dominant blood. Your father is an Alpha and you're the only one your parents have. Even though female Alphas are rare, the Elders have their eyes on you." Zach shook his head helplessly. This stubborn girl was very difficult to talk to. "If you don't have a mate, they will oppose and you could even be expelled."

Snickering back, Brianna grabbed a branch on the ground and broke it in one fell swoop. "Do you think we wolves will use a democratic system like humans? Need a vote to decide who the leader is?"

Zach was silent for a while. "Are you sure you want to rely on your strength to lead the pack? You don't want to be someone's mate? Having a mate can increase your power. How about being my mate? Let your father appoint me as Alpha and then make a bond with me. Isn't that better than letting your cousin replace your father to lead the pack?"

The answer Zach got next was the sound of something breaking down there, between his groin.

***

"Jade Pack is attacking!"

On a clear night with the soft light of the moon shining through the forest, someone's panicked scream filled the Crimson Pack, the pack that Brianna belonged to.

Hearing this, all the pack members assumed an alert position and looked around vigilantly. The adult members formed several circles, protecting the young members inside.

Brianna was talking about the young members' training with her father, Eliot when the young man with the news entered their residence.

"Why are they attacking? We never even intruded on their territory." Dwayne, Brianna's mother, gave a confused look outside. "Do they have the power to start a war?"

"They ask the rogues to help." The young man looked frightened. "Some of our warriors that guarding the border were attacked secretly. The rogues were powerful and vicious. They slaughtered without mercy."

Brianna frowned. She turned to her father. "They're not ordinary rogues."

Eliot nodded. "They must have just heard that some of the women had just given birth and were recovering, so they took advantage of that to attack. What do you think, can we handle those rogues?"

Brianna laughed at that. "If one of those Elders comes and sees you asking me, I'm sure he'll think that you've already handed over the leadership position to me."

"You know that better than anyone." Eliot smiled for a moment. People could consider him an Alpha, for now, revering him as the strongest and invincible being for decades. Under his leadership, the Crimson Pack became the most feared Pack in the south and its territory was the largest, bigger than the Philomena Pack in the north.

But who knew, since the past few years, Brianna's presence was putting a lot of pressure on him, even if the girl didn't do anything. Had Brianna not been his child, Eliot would have kicked her out of the pack because of the powerful aura Brianna exuded beyond his strength. Fortunately, the girl was quite self-aware and always suppressed her power. However, Eliot subconsciously started listening to Brianna and often asked for her opinion, just like now.

"Mom, please order some young wolves to guard the newborn women and the babies with their mates. Dad, leads the elders to the Jade Pack Alpha's place and tells him to stop the attack. If he refuses, give the order to destroy them all. And you," Brianna turned to the young man before her, "tell Zach and Hendrick to help me deal with the rogues."

Without waiting for their response, the girl had already jumped up and switched into her wolf form, storming out.

This was going to be a fierce and bloody battle!

***

"What's all this about?" Eliot stared angrily at the man opposite him. A strong aura emanated from his body, putting pressure on several people around him. It seemed that dozens of furry creatures in front of him shrank their necks and dared not look at him.

However, his aura did not deter the other person. The man looked at him with his chin up and smiled sarcastically. "There is no particular reason. I want to expand the territory. It just so happens that your territory is within my range."

Eliot growled. This person was provoking his anger on purpose. "Your territory expansion is unmitigated. You even sent rogue wolves to the center of my territory."

"Oh?" The man who was about twenty meters away from him grinned. "I guess so. I want to make the South my territory."

"Bastard!"

Not only was Eliot furious at this, but the few large wolves around him also growled. Saying such a thing is the same as wanting them all to leave or die at the Jade Pack's hands. They were about to lunge at the man, but Eliot raised his hand, asking them to stop. He looked back at the Alpha of Jade Pack in front of him. "I take it I never heard a word you said. Withdraw your men and leave this place immediately."

Still grinning, the man on the other side said, "I guess the rumors about you are true. Your strength is weakening. You even tried to negotiate, instead of directly attacking me. Is an Alpha like this worthy of leading the South?"

Eliot growled again. His wolf was already clawing at his spirit, wanting to take over his body and attack the man. However, he remembered Brianna's words not to be provoked until the opponent moved first. "You're good at talking. Did you know that chatty people like you are always short-lived? Some histories even say some chatty people are empty-brained."

"What a big head!" The man suddenly transformed into a huge black wolf two meters tall. It let out a roar, giving orders to its pack to attack.

Seeing this, Eliot summoned his wolf and let it take over. Its brown eyes turned bright red as its body began to change shape. He then roared, leaping towards the wolves that were running towards him.

The dark forest, which had been silent, now turned into a battlefield with roars echoing. Several howls of pain accompanied by the sounds of broken bones and torn flesh began to fill the air. This went on for more than two hours.

Eliot stared at the black wolf before him. Its front legs seemed to be limping, but it was still standing upright and showed no signs of giving up. The black wolf was just like him, standing tall and proud even though his body was covered in scratches and some torn flesh.

"This is my final warning. Tell your men to back off or you'll end up here with your pack," Eliot threatened.

"Did you think it would be that easy to subdue me?" The black wolf began to attack again. It sprinted and lunged at Eliot, opening its mouth and pointing its fangs at Eliot's neck.

Eliot dodged, jumped to the side, and was about to bite the wolf when suddenly his back leg was bitten off and a claw pierced his body and threw him away, crashing into the tree behind him. He heard his spine crunch and pain radiated from his back.

He raised his head and stared in disbelief at the wolf that had just attacked him.

Rogue.

"How devious." He growled. His gaze shifted to the black wolf beside the rogue wolf and tried to stand up, but the pain in his stomach and hind legs made him collapse back to the ground.

"In battle, you should know that there is no truly fair way to win it." The black wolf walked over. "With this, the glory days of the Crimson Pack come to an end."

Eliot saw the wolf open its mouth, exposing its fangs once more and preparing to pounce on him. Knowing he could not dodge it, he steeled his heart and kept his eyes open, ready to face death. Slowly, the figure of Dwayne appeared in his mind.

𝘋𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘯𝘦...

However, when the teeth were only an inch away from his neck, he saw a shadowy figure flash and pounce on the black wolf, biting its neck and throwing it several meters. The black wolf yelped in pain and was about to flee when a claw pierced its heart and took it out in a single jerk.

A few seconds later, the black wolf no longer moved. Dead.

Once the leader was dead, the other enemy wolves were shocked and lost their fighting spirit. In the end, they ran away with the remaining rogues.

"You're late, Troublemaker Girl." Eliot chuckled as he saw a grey-furred wolf similar to his wolf form walk over. The wolf then transformed into a beautiful girl with reddish-black hair, Brianna.

"Don't move. I'll look at the wound." Brianna sat down in front of him. She touched his lacerated hind leg and stopped when Eliot let out a stifled groan. "I'm sorry."

Despite the calm look on her face, Eliot could tell that she was sad. "Hey, it's nothing." His body slowly transformed into his human form.

Some of the wolves present began to approach. Unlike Eliot and Brianna who could easily control their wolf forms, the other wolves took several hours to return to their human forms.

Brianna was silent. She knew more than anyone that Eliot wasn't okay. He was bleeding too much and his recovery powers weren't helping at all. Although werewolves were famous for their speed of recovery and could regenerate severed body parts, severe bleeding like this could take a werewolf's life. Moreover, the claws of the Alpha Jade Pack had pierced the upper part of his abdomen, ripping out part of his heart.

After a few moments of silence, the girl finally spoke up, "Tell Dwayne to come."

For a werewolf, the presence of his mate during his final moments could provide some comfort for his pain. Eliot needed his mate right now.

"Hey, Anna..." Eliot called out to Brianna in a soft voice.

Brianna looked up at him. Normally, she wouldn't like being called that. It was just that for the moment Eliot looked like he would breathe his last if she asked him to argue.

"Crimson Pack ...." Eliot seemed to be struggling to catch his breath. "You... Alpha... take my place ...."

"Eliot!" Before Brianna could respond to his words, Dwayne rushed over and grabbed Eliot's weak body, placing his head on her lap.

Eliot smiled. "Hi ...." He touched the woman's face. "It's going to be hard for you after this. I'm sorry I can't be with you anymore."

Dwayne didn't respond, but her tears began to fall, hitting Eliot's face. As his mate, she already felt the pain Eliot was going through. Although it wasn't as painful as Eliot's, she knew that these were the man's last moments.

"Help Brianna to lead the pack, okay?" Eliot tried to wipe her tears, but his hands weakened and drooped. "I love you ...."

Thankfully, he was finally able to say goodbye.

***