Chapter One

Amante POV

               I stared intently at the Alpha King. He is arrogantly standing on top of a half-snowed boulder and surveying the quiet city just below the hill. The frosty, white fur of his wolf form is lending him the impression of power and strength he possesses. A smirk momentarily flashes my pouting lips. I know too well how incapable he could be on the coming orchestrated attack on the human race. He used to be calm, careful and seemed to be content living peacefully inside his settled dwelling. I am more suited to where he stands now. Being the last and only fire wolf survivor, I am a stunning distinct contrast to the surrounding army because of my enormous height and extraordinary color of pelage. Among the army of werewolves, there are black wolves that are dominant in number but stood relatively smaller than the brown ones who have the bulkiest physique in the group. White wolves were famed for unmatched agility, yet their passive attitude often subjects them to bullying and tormenting of the other kinds. The sudden pronouncement of the Alpha King to end the twenty-year-long civil war with humans causes a few raised eyebrows amongst the pack members. One thing is for sure, something overpowering happened or someone with whacked-up sanity influenced his gullible mind. I applaud at the animosity of the perpetrator.

               Thousands of wolf fighters are in combatant positions. There are well-trained and physically toned male wolves but I could see several she-wolves in the rank as well. I shudder at the idea of them engaging in this fight. In my mind, I am already pitying their smooth and fragrant bodies fated to be destroyed as the merciless consequences of war. I rather see them spread out on my neat and tidy bed eagerly awaiting my warm caresses. I could feel the sudden hardening of that part below my body because of the eroticism that appeared out of the blue, seducing me towards lewdness and sexual fantasies. Wait, dang! I could not possibly be daydreaming of such indecencies right now. I felt the side of my lips twitched in a sly smile, my spirit wolf's doing.

“ What? Are you embarrassed?”, uttered Amaltheo as he wags his reddish-brown tail teasingly.

“ Tsk. You are just being true to your sexual nature as a wolf, are you?”, I scorned emphatically waving off his perverted pictures from my mind.

               Candidly true, a wolf deprived of sex is likely to be weak and useless. Thankfully, I have a lovely Marina for the romance part. And I am satisfied with her. I have long given up the hope of meeting my mate in this lifetime. However, I do not need these distractions right now. I could feel tension increasing around me. I peek at the tensed Alpha King. He began to raise his chin. He must have received the signals from the wolf spies scouting in the city through the mind link. This notable ability of an Alpha is what I have always admired and am jealous about. The power of ascendancy over the pack it endows has been my secret lust ever since my then Alpha King father trained me for the hierarchy responsibilities of an Alpha wolf. I was only eight then when I first met my spirit wolf. It was a very young age considering mostly had their wolf at the age of sixteen and up. My mom told me it was because I am special and I have a phenomenal future to look forward to. Her words of wisdom are visibly imprinted in my heart, and if a werewolf has a soul it probably is tattooed there daringly. It is my source of strength, my sole purpose of existence after the terrible demise of my parents along with our once glorious kingdom.

               The shrill and dreadful howl rang out, the harbinger of incoming disaster, as thousands of ferocious wolves began the attack. The wolves bowed forward almost crouching. Elongated sharp fangs protruded, fierce eyes focused in the direction of the city center. With the killing auras emitting from their furred bodies, I could almost taste blood from their acrid breaths. The ground devastatingly shook toppling down several trees and plants while the throbbing limbs of running animals rumbled. I felt a satisfying pleasure when the holocaust in front of me took over my state of sanity. These were what I had longed for. The liberation from boring, miserable and pathetic existence as a useless idler is finally here. I search for prey, keeping a safe distance from the Alpha King. A shadow caught my attention. It was a scrawny silhouette of a man who is trying to get hidden under his very own bloody dugout. He stinks of fishy stench that made me furious. I hated the smell of fresh flesh of a fish awfully from the beginning. I went to slay this foolish weakling. I effortlessly clawed out the cadavers he used as a refuge steering clear of his pursuers. He jumped out terrified holding a sleeping baby in his boney arms.

“ No, get lost! Please, spare me and my baby!”, he stupidly begged while crying on bended knees.

               Luck must have been indignant with this wimp. Out of all the thousand wolves he could have encountered, it is me who he crossed upon. He could never trick me with the baby antics. Deep from the corner of my swaying rationality, images of numerous mother she-wolves with their pups clutching fearfully at their mom's torso vividly pop out of my disturbed memory. I had witnessed their murders from my hidden safe room in the palace before fire consumed everything into ashes. Humans, without remorse, beheaded them one by one with silver swords. My chest thudded incessantly as if those little victims are deliberately drumming inside, their hushed voices urging me to seek vengeance for their ill-fated deaths. My whole body started to tremble with wrath. The intensity of emotional breakdown is sending chills all over my hyperventilating body. With giant strides, I pounce on the wretched creature. The man fell lifeless instantly and the baby was knocked off noisily on the ground. A shrill wail was savagely squashed with a single forceful step of my sweating, large paws. As the slimy pungent of blood wafted through my already sensitive sense of smell, reddish gore spattered everywhere staining the solemn whiteness of snow-covered ground. The wrecked sanctuary of mortals stood gloomy under the blinding rays of mid-day sunlight, suppressed and eerie. The wailings from dying victims and their little efforts of fighting back with their non-effective guns and bombs have been subdued almost in an instant. I look around me. Alpha King Hendrik is painstakingly silent a mere feet away from me. I notice that he has been observing me with his dissecting, dull, red orbs probably pondering what the hell did I do to the baby. I never see him as brutal and deranged like any other wolves, and I am sure the violence he had watched is totally out of his mild perception. It does not matter to me, though. He is next in line. I am going to murder this unworthy Alpha King!

               I was simply waiting for the right moment to execute my absolute scheme of taking down the cowardly and feeble werewolf that holds the highest rank in the pack. It took me years of cautious and meticulous vigilance for a deliberate attempt to provoke conflict between werewolves and humans. Today’s havoc is just a part of my grand plan for my marvelous future. My treacherous acts started just a couple of days after I was saved from the war by the only trusted friend now, the Lead Hunter Maziar Brennan. He was the son of the Beta of the neighboring pack within our kingdom. He used to be my combat trainer until both our packs were destroyed. Been acknowledged for his great fighting skills by royalty, it is such a pity that he assumed only the role of the Lead Hunter simply because the other higher positions were appointed for the most trusted winter wolves. Before the war, the pack of winter wolves in the icy land of Verte Monde was the smallest in the number of pack members in the world, not likely to exceed more than a thousand. Their she-wolves conceive a bit slower than other wolf races. They also gave birth only once in their lifetime. However, their territorial lands were vast enough to accommodate thousands of survivors that pledge alliance to the now hailed Alpha King Henrik of the Irati Nardus Pack. The place was difficult for mere humans to locate due to the extreme weather and barren nature of the frozen kingdom. The fact that the once humble pack is now the leading and only surviving pack in the whole world makes my blood boil in turmoil. Moreover, I begged revenge for my family more than once to the council of His Majesty but they all turned a deaf ear on me. They were all cowards hiding behind the shells of their haunting hibernation. I am going to get rid of them all and I will take the head of this wuss in front of me as a blazing torch of rebellion.

               I am delighted by the sudden stiffness of Alpha King Henrik's grotesque appearance. I beamed with pleasure. My gut perceptions whisper the impending doom of his loathed crowned head.

“ The group of Delta George at the northern part of the city is having a tough fight. They need our backup but the enemies are using silver and wolfbane powder as weapons. Remember to be careful!”, he declares while pretending to sound like a real deal.

               Fear and confusion emitted from everybody upon hearing the unwanted news. Werewolves are famed for great strength and the ability to heal ten times faster than an ordinary human. Our senses are also much enhanced especially the sense of smell which is a hundred times greater than humans. Silver and wolfbane are lethal to us, our only weakness. With that being said, I mentally counted how many among us were strong and stupid enough to face that kind of foes. A few more moments of hesitations, then, the Alpha King roars his undisputable Alpha tone. The dreadful signal gulped down the growing tension among the group making almost everyone scampered in like overgrown puppies. I watch in awe at their sensible instincts to cower at a solitary royal command. I want, no, I desire that power! I need it now. I motioned stealthily at the back of the wolf holding my precious. I know exactly where I have to lure him in, to my deadly traps. I was about to lunge at him when I dead-stopped at my track. My body seemed paralyzed at the moment.