Luster Falls, 27 Years AgoRATIO"You will not walk out on me, Darren Greywolf! I am your grandfather and Alpha!"Hearing that shout, I spun around and looked at the frail injured man on the bed. His face was twisted, but it wasn't due to pain like before. It was a frown of hatred. One that I had seen far too many times. Why was I even surprised?I laughed. "You call yourself my grandfather, yet you have never loved me as your own. Why was I born as your grandson if I was never destined to be loved by you? I'm done with this bullshit, Grandpa. No matter what you say, I'll be the Alpha of Blood Crest Pack. If you can't handle it, die now!"A shocked look was slapped on my grandfather's face. He raised his shaky hand and pointed at me. "You'll never become the Alpha. Luka has been chosen, and that's final!""You don't make the rules, old man. In case you haven't noticed, death is knocking on your door. Over my dead body would I allow my younger cousin or anyone else to become the Alpha.
RATIOI couldn't sleep a wink that night. Although this wasn't the first time I was going to take a life, I was still anxious. One of the reasons why my stupid grandfather and his cohorts thought Luka would make a good Alpha was that he was stronger than most of his peers. He wasn't yet of age, but I sometimes feared that he was stronger than me.This was exactly why he was a threat. He has to be out of the picture, or else...I tossed on the bed. My eyes fell on the small picture frame on the nightstand. It was a picture of me and Luka when we were just kids. As his elder and only cousin, Luka used to look up to me. We only grew apart when I noticed that Grandpa was playing favorites.I had tried to make Grandpa proud, but why did all that work get me? The sicko told me to my face that I would never be Alpha.It was high time I proved all my haters wrong!At 5:30 a.m. the next morning, I gave my men access to the house. I was certain that Luka was dead meat, so we attacked without an
Present DayRATIOI woke up to find a small spot of blood on the bandage placed on my chest. Walking out of my room with just my shorts on, I looked downstairs to find Dr. Longman seated in front of the computers as usual."Good morning, boss. Did you sleep well?""No," I replied irritantly, remembering the series of nightmares I had the night before. "It's bleeding again!" he exclaimed once he turned to see the blood on my chest.I sighed. "As you can tell."Hearing this, Dr. Longman leaped to his feet and grabbed the first aid kit. I took it from him and said, "Don't worry. I have got this."As I was wrapping up the wound in a fresh gaze, a beeping sound went off. Dr. Longman went back to his computer, but before he could find out what was wrong, the metal door was dragged up.A curvy female figure appeared. She looked around before walking over to me. I couldn't help but notice that she looked a lot younger for an almost fifty-year-old."Why did you come here? When I gave you the
WINTERI sat in the garden, reflecting on my life like I usually did whenever I had some alone time. Dawn was taking a nap at the moment and Pat was keeping watch over her. As I leaned back on the rocking chair, I took a deep, long breath.To say that I had gotten over the events of the last weeks would be an understatement. It had taken my days before I was finally able to walk back into this garden. It used to be my favorite place, but I wasn't so sure now.I only came here because staying holed up in the room only made me feel more like a prisoner. Out here, at least, I didn't feel that bad and I could think a little more clearly."Hey!" someone suddenly called out to me.I turned around to find Kai walking over with his hands in his pockets. I hadn't seen much of him lately. Why was he here? Did he want to get on my nerves like he usually did?"Ermm..." I mumbled, not knowing what to say in response to the Hey.When he came before me, I straightened up on the chair. Then I noticed
WINTERThere was dead silence in my head when I opened my eyes again. The world seemed to be tilted sideways. It took several blinks before I realized that my head was hanging low. I raised it slowly, feeling cramps in my neck."Where am I? How did I get here?" I looked around.The bedroom I was in was unrecognizable. The only furniture in the room was a dressing table and a mirror. There wasn't even a nightstand. At this moment, I remembered how we were ambushed on the road.Did that impostor die?I asked myself when I recalled Kai being shot by one of the masked men. His death would be good news, but I was faced with a predicament. Where was I? And who in the world brought me here?I tried to stand up, but something dragged me back down. I looked to the side. Only then did I realize that my wrist was cuffed to the metal headboard."Anybody there! Why are you keeping me here? Let me go!" I shouted towards the door.No response came. Not even a sound. Unwilling to give up, I shouted
WINTERMy jaw dropped to the floor as soon as my eyes fell on the new man's face. "What the..."With a frown, he walked into the room, heading straight to the perverted man. He punched him in the face before any words were said. "How dare you put cuffs on her and also attempt to hit her? Have you lost your mind?""I'm sorry, boss. It was stupid of me," the pervert pleaded, holding his nose in pain."Get lost!" the new man commanded. "I will deal with you later."As soon as the first two men hurried out of the room and shut the door, I finally closed my mouth and swallowed. My wrist was released from the cuff at the same time."Please tell me that I am dreaming?" I asked once I found my voice.The man smiled. "Fortunately, you are not. It's really me.""It was you that sent those guys to kidnap me?" I asked again, my head feeling very full. "Why did you do that, Eric?"Eric sat on the edge of the bed and flashed me a warm smile. "I promised to get you out of that hellhole, didn't I?"I
KAI-VII"You guys are so incompetent? How many days would it take you to find me that goddamn SUV?" I roared at the group of men who had brought me nothing but bad news.They all flinched, making me even more annoyed. "Are you trying to tell me that those who attacked my car were ghosts? Or that it was all an illusion? Ivan, your colleague, fucking died! Can't you see that this is a serious matter?"Seeing as they lowered their heads and didn't say a word, I continued, "I never knew you were this incompetent. If you fail to trace who kidnapped Winter. Be sure that you no longer have jobs. I can't continue to keep spineless and brainless folks around me!""Please, Alpha!" they begged in unison.One of them said boldly, "I promise not to let you down, Alpha. I promise to fish out the culprits--""Enough with the promises!" I growled. "I want results! Until you give me that, your empty words don't mean shit to me!"I looked at all their pale faces. "This task shouldn't have taken this lo
KAI-VIIThe boom was so loud that the coasters on my desk slipped and clattered on the floor. The windows also rattled a little. I ran over to the one closest to me, only to find that there was a huge cloud of smoke outside. Nothing, not even my fleet of cars in the driveway, was visible. What the hell just made that sound? What was going on out there?I went to the side window and found that the garden was covered in smoke too. It wasn't as thick, but I didn't see anyone there. As I looked around desperately, more booms came from outside. They were less louder than the first but equally concerning."Ivan!" I yelled for my bodyguard.When I turned around and saw that he wasn't behind me and he didn't come running at my call, I stood frozen. It took me a while to remember that he was dead.I jumped over Pat who was crouching on the floor with Dawn still in her embrace. Rushing into the corridor, I saw that it was empty. There was no sign of my men."What's happening!" I asked, but no