Chapter 3

3

Adriel Zion Dormer

Ah. fuck. The pain was crazy.

I was dampened in my own blood, my shirt was half chopped from the middle. Laying down on the medical bed felt odd. I barely ever made it to here. Probably after two years. There were four wounds on my abdomen, three opened and yet to be attended while one was getting stitched by my own sister, who happened to be one of the doctors of our pack, a kind soul who chose to torture me by not injecting a sedative.

"Aff...Charlotte, it fucking hurts. Do it with soft hands and if not then at least hand me that pill, the pain's killing me," I grumbled as she sewed my wound mercilessly. I swear I would never spare any rival a chance to wound me like this again. It was my mistake to go lenient when he didn't care about any consequence that would rise after killing that poor pup.

"You shouldn't have showered booze on it to worsen it. It's your mistake, own it and bear with patience, Alpha," She tilted her head with sneering eyes after properly scrutinising the closed wound. Her spectacles hung low, closer to the nose tip, which made me adore her even more. She was a sweetheart.

I shook my head, letting out a soft chuckle as she picked some tool from the medical toolbox and stared at me, dumbfoundedly. "I don't get it. What is so funny about it, Ad?" She asked with a grave expression dancing on her face, her hands curled in the air gesturing question. I chuckled louder. 

She got offended as the poker face deepened, I guess.

"You must know you're one of those jerky Alphas who fails in holding up one responsibility assigned to him that is to protect others but not at the cost of almost losing himself. And that's what you nearly did to yourself, knowing the lethal consequences that might have brought, you still let those fuckers fuck with you all alone," She vented out with her jaw clenched, her eyes flashing momentarily at my wounds with slightly dampened eyes.

"I mean...who pour a whole bottle of whiskey on their severe injuries? At least an alpha of a pack effing does not," She hissed out, huffing loudly to tug away the dishevelled strand of her strawberry blonde hair.

My chuckle morphed into a hearty laugh, the one that resonated in the whole room, I kept laughing until my opened wound erected a current and I was left hissing at the end. Ah, fuck, this better heal because I had no intention of being cautious with it. 

I was about to land my hand to press the wound when Charlotte slapped it away and gifted me another grimace look posing on her features.

I glanced down at Xavier's artwork and found blood oozing out of the cuts. I groaned inwardly and tipped my head back, "Laugh more, Alpha Adriel. It's the biggest prank of your life, adore it more as you seem like doing less," Charlotte rolled her eyes off me and attended to the mess. I stayed quiet and cooperative, letting my mind dive into the chain of my restless thoughts after smiling one last time at my younger one.

I replayed how Xavier was after his own son. What a pathetic stain to the northwestern wolves. I remembered the day I disowned him from my pack for killing an innocent stray wolf. He meant no harm, he was barely a grown-up to fight back the trained wolf. And now, when I'd ever think about what he had become, he'd disgust me even more.

He was willing to kill his mate and son because they chose my pack over him. Lyliah had recognised the kind of maniac he started becoming each passing day. How he had been treating her was enough for her to decide which side to choose. Even in critical times like pregnancy, she suffered his wrath. It was me who saved her from his beatings every time. But at last, I had to throw him out when he deceived me. 

"It's almost done," I heard Charlotte fuzzing off the momentum of my thoughts. I just hummed in response and let her do her work peacefully. I felt a needle ripping through the skin of my fourth wound, and with that, I again fell into my thoughts that involved my poor nephew Jordan.

"By the way, Charley, where's Jordan and how's he doing?" I asked her, she blinked before her lips pursed into a hard line, making me frown and stir a little to get her immediate 'no' response.

"Don't move," She mumbled, alarmed. Her hung hands and tensed shoulders dropped when I stopped moving on her command.

"Where's he? I must pay him a visit after this all gets settled," I informed her forthrightly so she could chide me to stay in bed while next, I would argue back and prove my point—which would be utter nonsense to her.

"No, you are not leaving this bed until I say so, you understand me? I will appoint James and William to guard outside your room so you won't leave and do stupid to yourself again," She rattled out as she raised from her stool and picked away the metallic bowl that had a few splinters of glass, plucked out from my fresh, bloody wounds.

"Have you realised you have been commanding an Alpha in an unreasonable tone which is equivalent to high treason? I can put you behind the bars if I get offended," I threw a jeer and she snapped her head with an eyebrow uplifted in challenge

"Ahan? Try me. I'll be the one setting your establishment on fire," She fired back with a stoic face. 

I again chuckled. "Fucking clown," 

"Yeah, I know your husband is," I jeered again, only to tease her and get a slap on my scarred arm. Which I did receive. Ouch.

"You break the law again, I'm forced to comply,"

She narrowed her eyes on me before taking bandage tape in her hands. "Try putting me behind the bars and see how many rogues you will make in a single day," her wink was daring.  She was quite confident in her fanbase. I raised my eyebrows, leaking a smile.

"Is that so?" I murmured as she sat back on her stool and leaned closer to me, putting the cold tip of the scissor on my bare throat.

"It is so," She retorted, batting one of her eyebrows before pinning the tip in my skin until it ripped through my skin and bled slightly. I stayed impervious to the pain, and before I could mind her actions, she withdrew. 

"See. I can bruise an Alpha if I want, no one can fuck with me," She grinned triumphantly. She had always been like this. A badass most of the time. But when it would come to helping someone, she would throw her heart on her sleeves. That's how she was. My crystal.

She wrapped bandages around my abdomen and bicep. I assisted her until she was done with one last tape on the edge of the bandage. "That's all done," She affirmed, leaking a small smile with light claps. I tried to sit but whined when a current sored my veins and travelled up to my chest.

"Do not move unnecessarily and even think about stepping down the bed, those stitches will get your ass whining again and next time I won't be cleaning the mess," She snapped at me. I raised my hands in surrender. She cocked her head a little to her side and nodded away with a blink of her eyes.

"I asked you about Jordan if you forgot," I reminded her.

"Pretty scared...just got knocked in his head, needs time to recover from the trauma. Isn't spilling a word and that's a thing to worry about but you don't worry, I will get it covered, just keep on trusting me," She muttered it all before grabbing her lab coat, and turning to the door, before bespeaking, "I'll come back in a few minutes. Gotta check him before you make me crazy with your questions," and left before I could reply.

I sighed heavily, throwing my head back and closing my eyes. I wondered what Xavier would be thinking. Maybe the same he had been believing; that I stole his mate and brainwashed both of them to hate him. Maybe he would be planning ways to kill me. Maybe he would kill an innocent out of grudge or to please his sadistic Alpha, who also happened to be my most hated rival. 

He fed upon the blood of innocents and I had been doing my best to demolish this ritual. Fifteen packs were destroyed. Only three major ones were left, which wouldn't be a problem anymore since I had enough power and wolves to terminate them if they ever thought about hunting us down.

When I began making schemes of striking them down, I heard the creaking of the door. I raised my head and found William walking in. "Evening, Alpha," He came and shot his hand in my hand. "I heard what happened," He ran over an eye on my bare chest.

"It's on display," I faintly shook my head, followed his eyes and batted an eyebrow. He grimaced, more like whining.

"That's messed up," He commented and I chuckled.

"Yeah, pretty much," I concurred with him. He sat beside me with those same whining expressions, before glancing at me.

"Are you...willing to stay here...Alpha?" He spoke cautiously and pointed his thumb toward the room. My lips lightly catered to a smile, shaking my head.

"You're still oblivious to your mate's temper, aren't you?" I winked with a confident smirk and he let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head too.

"Ah, my ferocious mate, look what you've done to our dear Alpha," He muttered under his breath and I grinned wider.

"Jeez. Stop expecting I'm gonna spend a night here after you reminded me of my rank," I winked.

"Alpha, this can be dangerous," He bobbed his head as he murmured. I displayed a lively smile, my eyes squinted out of love.

"And I'm notorious for taking unnecessary risks," I grinned before leaping out of the bed.

Willian's eyes widened, "To where?" 

"I'm not staying here for another minute, I'm leaving for fresh air," I told him before striding out. 

"Wait..wait, let me accompany you," He offered, I didn't need a babysitter.

"No, I need some alone time. I have had a day. Maybe, it's better if I take a private walk in the woods," I smiled softly before putting on a midnight grey-coloured shirt. He pursed his lips while falling into the myriad of pensive thoughts. 

Before I spared him time to speak and I walked away, hearing him sigh defeatedly.

"Alright, as you say, but not before you take these pills that Charlotte handed me to give you. She will literally kill me if she finds out you left without your pills." He handed me two white pills that I swallowed without water. 

"Phew. Now I won't be punished much." His hands were on his waist when I walked past him. 

"Do not get too far, it's full moon night, there'll be many crazy wolves outta there," I nodded appreciatively. I was glad to he was my sister's mate when assuming Xavier to be all my life.

Speaking of mates, I wondered what would my mate be doing right now? Did she know how much I yearn to meet her every day? I hoped she knew in her heart, or at least her she-wolf.

I smiled as the thought of my mate brought wonders to my chest. I felt like a bolt of current running in my veins. Maybe now, I'd heal faster. My wolf barely made a move in my head after the incident, but just now, he purred out of love. I could understand his frustration, he had been dealing with the agony with me for years and I pitied him. 

Sometimes I thought if, by any chance, it was possible to free a wolf, I'd have been taking a part. But even thought like these should be thousands of miles away from an Alpha's mind. 

Wolf was the primary reason that differentiated between a laywolf and me. 

'Can you just stop thinking about tossing me away," Zion, my dear badass wolf, gritted under his breath in my mind.

'Yeah, I know. You love me more than our mate,' I teased it as I scooted out of the corridor and jogged upstairs to the ground floor. There I found Sarah and Alexander chitchatting. They were also a part of our pack; my two main soldiers. They both mumbled me a 'Hello' with a nod, which I was obliged to answer, so I nodded back.

'No! I love her more than anything, even if it means choosing her over you,' Zion growled, making me raise my eyebrows at him.

'Really?' I asked in suspicion.

'I swear upon my mate,' It tossed its hairy head to the other side, refusing to look me in the eye. I grinned at his little stunt on me. I shook my head as I walked out the packhouse and jogged towards the main gate, stepping out and striding close to the wood's signboard.

'Don't say that. She will die out of love if she ever hears you saying this,' I snickered again and this time he didn't take it well. He growled louder, his eyes red-rimmed, fuming smoke from ears.

'I'll take over and rip your abdomen if you say something like again,' He snapped, breathing heavily.

'You will die with me if you do that,' I reminded him and he jerked its head.

'I don't care. Never speak ill of my mate,' He warned.

'But she's my mate too, maybe more than yours,' I couldn't stand myself from teasing him. The more he reacted the more I had this urge to misbehave. It kept fighting with me but I took it on a lighter note. In the end, we came to a conclusion that we both equally deserve her and she would be ours, to which I couldn't agree more.

I kept walking deep into the woods until I was near the river. The same river my mother declared as our favourite spot when I was a kid and she was alive. I smiled at that thought. But that smile was immediately taken down when I sniffed an unusual smell, something that I had ever smelt. It felt like lilacs mixed with roses. It smelt mind-numbing. I had never experienced something like this ever before.

Zion stood on his paws and stuck out his tongue in pure excitement. His eyes were dilated and he was more than prepared to hover over our mate, but I knew nothing of such sort would be happening. It wasn't that breath-killing matey smell. It was a scent. A simple floral scent that made me sm, otherwise I would have sensed that wolfie sparks knotting with the scent.

It wasn't mate.

'It could be, I just know. Just go! Follow this scent,' Zion couldn't hold back his enthusiasm. He was over the top of me for following the route. If I'd hand control to him, he might jump on a random person smelling this aromatic.

'I'm following. I'm following. Just wait,' I grumbled back, but he didn't care. His eyes were stoned to catch a glimpse of our 'supposed' mate—Which I knew wasn't the case—still followed the route.

As I reached closer and it got intenser, I felt another odour blending with the scent, this one was familiar but I couldn't recall how. I frowned as I sensed it was near the bank of the river, my steps got cautious as I stepped ahead with silent steps. I peered through the bushes as I reached the waterside. I felt a wolf present a few steps from me, what I could see was he was sniffing a lifeless body, I further squinted my eyes to identify the bad blood was planning to feed on him as he seemed rolling his tongue over his fangs.

His tongue stuck out when we spotted a perfect spot to begin from. I slunk before the bushes. My eyes averted on the body that moved its finger. The person was alive. I fumed more in rage. Bloody asshole. He was ready to kill an innocent human for fun. He shall be scarred to death.

Steading my wolf to prepare ourselves for another fight. I might need him to lend me some healing power in future. I clawed my fingers to extend my tapered nails. My fangs were already out and my eyes gleamed in gold rust. My mouth was hanging wide as I set my eyes for the attack.

Just as he pounded over the frail body, I howled upon him with a growl and yanked him away from the body. He growled back and glared at me eye-to-eye before perceiving who I was.

I wasn't sure if he knew me but I knew him. He was Jackson's wolf; Augustus.

I cracked my neck to the sides while maintaining eye contact. He lowly snarled under his breath, bending a little to gesture an attacking pose. I exhaled deeply, steadied for the move so I could claw its back where it would hurt and he would lose his focus.

And just as he bounced over me, I was diverted by a mere cracking sound. By a small muffle.

"S—Stop... don't hurt me,"

And that's when I lost my focus and let the attacker fuck with me.