7

ALPHA GREY’S POV

With a little effort, I pushed Stefan off me. My warriors stood tall, fighting against the Orion Pack.

Two black Alphas growled at each other with desperate hatred.

I charged fast, lunging at Alaric with swiftness and precise attack. He met my attack head-on. Our ferocious battle was like dancing to a deadly symphony. Every move was calculated and powerful.

I delivered bone-crushing bones with my powerful claws and jaws. I was also quick to deflect every of Alaric’s attacks. It was just as I thought. He was no match for me. And even though he was skillful, I still had the upper hand.

In his desperation for me to marry his daughter, he had underestimated my strength because his Pack was ranked higher than mine. This is what Alaric got for thinking that he could go against me.

I moved swiftly, not giving him any chance to stop and catch a breath. I had the upper hand, so I pinned Alaric momentarily with my immense strength. My resilience was unmatched, as I always broke free from his grasp. My dominance revealed itself. The atmosphere danced with primal intensity. I retaliated with precise counterattacks. Our fight was a whirlwind of movement.

Other wolves fought as well, but everything around me was so blurry. It was Alaric I was focused on because I knew that if he died, all of his wolves would surrender. He was no match for me. I was bigger, faster, and much better at combat than he was.

Bodies dropped dead, and chunks of flesh were eaten or bitten off, but as I looked around, I realized that it was my soldiers that were getting killed. Carried away by this fact, Alaric took the chance and clawed my abdomen. I groaned at the amount of blood that gushed out of the wound.

I snapped back to reality and resumed my attack on Alaric. It was then I noticed that his claws were no ordinary claws. They were iron. Although Alphas could heal faster than any other wolf, it took a while to recover from wounds caused by iron.

I gritted my teeth at the extreme pain that shot through my body, feeling my strength leave me as I crumbled. I was getting weaker than I should have. I shifted back to human form.

Alaric’s iron claws had been coated with poison. Realization shot through me. He had planned this from the start

As I got up to try and fight some more, I felt a sword go through my abdomen and out. I slowly turned around to look at the wolf that would have dared to do that and came face-to-face with my best friend, Leo. He was in human form.

Even if everyone betrayed me in this world, I never imagined that my best friend would be part of it. The shock of it being Leo weakened me in my knees, and I stumbled. While still in shock of being betrayed by Leo, a wolf jumped on me and sunk its teeth into my shoulder.

I growled in pain. Alaric’s teeth were also made of iron. I clawed his neck, making him loosen his grip on me. The sword was still in me, but I refused to die, so I took it by the hilt and pulled it out. The roar that escaped my lips was so loud that it shook the forest.

I needed to escape from here. I could feel my wolf weakening. I didn’t bother trying to battle again and dashed into the woods.

They chased after me with their teeth bared. Leo, Stefan, and Lewis together. I had no idea what I had done to deserve such treatment from them. I’d been nothing but a good friend to them all, especially Lewis.

“You deserve to die, Grey. You have caused pain and wreaked havoc on so many people. You don’t deserve to be our Alpha. Alaric does.” That statement came from Leo.

My heart pounded with fear. My wolf was tired from the poison, and I fell hard to the ground. My eyes were becoming dizzy. I needed rest. As I opened my eyes to see the trio—Leo, Stefan, and Lewis—standing before me in human form with their daggers, the feeling of betrayal hit me hard.

For many years, they made me believe they were my friends. Leo and I have been close since we were teenagers, and I never knew his true intentions. From the start, he was going to turn against me someday. I could do absolutely nothing. Never in my life have I felt so powerless.

“It’s better we just kill this bastard, right?” Stefan asked, moving closer with the dagger, then stabbed me twice.

“This,” with the dagger he collected from Stefan, Lewis stabbed me once, “ is for taking the life of my mother and sister, Grey.” Another stab. “Just so you know, nobody liked you.” He stabbed me again.

How wasn’t I wasn’t dead yet? I wondered. The agony, along with the betrayal, was overwhelming.

“I stayed by your side for ten years, Grey. Ten. Never once have you ever considered me a friend. You’ve never even cared about the people. Not once. I have been working with Alpha Alaric for quite some time now, and he’s a better Alpha than you’ll ever be. And, let me add that I’m not sorry for doing this. You deserve everything coming to you.” Lewis moved back after saying this.

Then, Leo approached me. He didn’t collect the dagger from Lewis like I thought he would. Instead, Leo took a small bottle out of his pocket. “This,” he shook the bottle, “will cause you to die very slowly. I can’t stand what you do to the people, Grey. You’re too small-minded to be Alpha.” Then, he opened the bottle and poured the poison on the wound on my abdomen.

I gritted my teeth at the sizzling pain. Then I said to Leo, my face hot with agony. “I trusted you. All of you.”

Leo sneered at me. “That was your weakness, Grey. Trusting us. And we couldn’t miss the opportunity to attack you when the time was right, could we?”

I groaned in pain as I laid back down on the earth, listening to their footsteps as they left. I looked up at the trees evading the dull light of the setting sun and wondered, was this how I would die? Without vengeance? Just death? I thought about how I would be if I ever survived this. I would be nothing less than heartless. I would seek revenge, and nobody would stop me from doing what I had in my mind.

As I lay there, getting dizzy since I had lost a lot of blood, I heard the footsteps of someone but was too weak to check who it was. This person rushed to me, and I heard rustling sounds. I couldn’t see this person because of how blurry my sight was, but then the person lifted my head and poured something into my mouth. It was bitter, so I coughed.

“I never planned for this to happen. Please forgive me and get well fast.”

The voice came out in a whisper. A familiar one, but I was too weak to remember. Also, this person was female.

Suddenly, I felt my dizziness begin to fade. It made me feel… What the heck did she give me? I no longer felt the need to drift off. There was a scent I was perceiving, and even though I was still in pain, it made me feel so much better. I felt my body healing.

Who was this person? Where was the scent coming from?

I felt soft hands touch me which sent the feeling of lightning bolts through my body.

Then, I heard a sob.

Why was this person crying? I loved this scent so much that even when she tried to pull away, perhaps to look for help, I pulled her closer.

I was in rut and could feel my wolf immediately dominate my body. I had no idea what I was doing as my wolf took over.

She yelped at my action, but I didn't care. Her face was still a blur to me, but I could sense the moon coming out. She felt the electricity too and clung to me like she never wanted to let me go. I didn’t want to let her go either and felt like I needed this. I needed her. Her hand traced my body, but I felt no pain. She was my antidote.

My wolf sniffed her hair and neck and wanting more, kissed them. She moaned, pressing her body to mine. She felt so fragile.

My hand found her waist as she crawled up against me. I felt no pain, but I couldn’t be sure since I wasn’t in my right senses. Being in a rut got the best of me, and I felt so overprotective of the girl I was about to screw. I held her brashly to myself so I could feel her on my skin, my growls getting louder as I realized she tried to release herself from me.

She stopped and succumbed when she realized I wasn't letting her go anytime soon. I only saw what I wanted, and that was my mate. I made her rock her body on mine and felt her get pretty wet. Her moans reached my ears. They were bliss, turning me on even more. From her scent, I knew she wasn’t a noble.