CHAPTER FIVE:

Three years later:

The thundering sounds of battle ready warriors filled the air. Lucien, clad in his full armour stared at his warriors in pride. Each one had been specially handpicked by him for today.

Today, Lucien was set to invade a rogue pack. This pack was made of witches, wolves, gremlins and faeries that continued to cause mayhem.

They had repeatedly challenged his authority, invaded his lands and disrupted his kingdom.

Lucien had had enough; he was determined to burn down the rogue village, capture its people, and assert his authority as their king.

Mounting his horse, Lucien raised his hand and growled, giving the warriors the signal they needed. The warriors responded with a chorus of growls, and as some shifted, they advanced towards the rogue pack to conquer it.

Lucien and his warriors journeyed through the dense forest as they travelled south.

After covering a few miles, an ominous feeling filled the air as Lucien looked up and took a sniff.

‘Witch Magic,” his wolf said.

His wolf instincts was right. Lucien could feel his skin crawling as he smelt a potent magic filling the air. Only a witch’s magic had enough power to mislead a whole pack of warriors.

He raised his hands, signalling his warriors to halt. From his peripheral vision, he saw Aurora and Aiden on their horse beside him. Lucien dismounted his horse and both Aurora and Aiden followed him.

Aurora walked up to Lucien and asked, “Alpha, what is wrong?” She said, raising her hand to grab his.

Before she could reach his hand, Lucien advanced forward and in an instant, he transformed to his wolf form.

‘Witch magic.” He communicated telepathically to his pack warriors. Aiden said it out loud to Aurora since she was not yet officially a pack member.

Lucien sniffed the air trying to locate the source of the smell. As a smart Alpha, Lucien knew that as strong as witches could be, they had one weakness - they could not cast their spells from a distance, which made him certain that the witch was hiding somewhere.

As Lucien continued to sniff the air, he gradually reached the source of the scent, but before he could take any further steps, a smoke bomb exploded, clouding his senses.

A battle cry sounded as the rogue wolves surrounded and attacked Lucien and his warriors. As a trained warrior, Lucien quickly recovered from the shock and pounced on the enemies, snapping the neck of one.

His warriors fought fiercely and it didn’t take long for them to conquer all the wolves that had attacked them.

Lucien shifted back to his human form, his body dripping with the enemies’ blood, as Aiden gave him a new set of armor to wear. He put on the armour and mounted his horse, advancing forward towards the Rogue city.

Few minutes later, they reached the city and completely raided it. Going from house to house, they captured new slaves and killed anyone who defied them.

Lucien watched closely as his trusted warriors carried on their task, dismantling the city that had continued to cause chaos.

A few moments later, Lucien caught the whiff of that scent again.

His werewolf instinct took over as it became uncontrollable, but he forcefully tried to reign it in. The smell of sweet, sugary cinnamon and flowers filled his nose once more. A scent he had feared he would never detect again.

The same scent that filled his mind every night, arousing him. Lucien frantically scanned his surroundings, desperate to find her.

“Mate!” his wolf growled.

Impatient, Lucien began to run around, turning corners in his search for her and it didn’t take long.

Beneath a small thicket, he found his mate, lying flat and trying to conceal herself as she visibly shook.

Aurora had been watching Lucien and saw him wander off with a blank expression. Without hesitating, she followed him. Aurora harboured strong feelings for Lucien and couldn’t help finding out what he was up to. She was inevitably drawn to him.

She followed Lucien and saw him staring down at a woman who was trying her best to take cover and hide from the warriors who gathered the other wolves.

Aurora paused, not because of the young woman hiding, but because of the expression on the Alpha‘s face.

Lucien was unsure on how to feel. He felt a strong sense of possessiveness overwhelm him.

‘What is she doing out here?’ he wondered.

Lucien was about to reach out for her, but he paused when he heard Aurora call out.

“There’s one over here! Come and get her!” Aurora barked loudly to a warrior.

Lucien watched as Maddie's panicked face looked up, and fear overcame her.

The warrior ran towards them and attempted to pick Maddie up, but before he could make a move, Lucien growled, “Stay away from her!”

Aurora walked up to Lucien and asked, “What are you doing? She is a rogue wolf and your orders were to capture each one.”

Without thinking, Lucien bared his teeth threateningly. He walked up to a terrified Maddie and picked her up.

“Stay away from her; she’s mine.” Lucien growled.