Chapter 3

Kane’s eyes were still bulging from the fact that he had just witnessed a fucking suicide before his eyes, and his heart rate was skyrocketing. He wasn’t a stranger to blood and gore; he was born in it, and all his life has been about blood and gore.

However, the sight in front of him was so horrible that goosebumps broke all over his body, and Kane shivered despite the fact that the air was not even a bit cold.

“What should we do about him, Alpha?" The voice of his beta was disrupting his thoughts, and Mason eyed the murder scene with distaste. Despite the massacre, the late alpha was a great man, but suicide was frowned upon in the werewolf world.

“Light the pack on fire. The Moonlight pack is no more, but make sure to take everything that will be useful for the pack. I will be going now.”

“Yes alpha.” Mason said, bowing his head as a sign of respect, until his eyes landed on the crumpled bundle on the floor. “What are we doing about her alpha? Are we killing her?”

“Don’t touch her!” Max snarled, baring his bloody teeth towards Mason. “I will break anyone’s hand who dares to touch her.” The power leaked from his voice, and all the werewolves around were having trouble keeping their heads up.

“I am sorry, Alpha. I never meant to anger you; I was just concerned.” Mason apologized in a calm voice, lowering his head to the point that he was sure he would develop neck pain if he continued.

“No one gets to touch her but me, no one!” Max barked, and even for a beta, the power that Kane had was so great that he wanted to bend his knees.

Then it clicked in his brain.

“She is your mate.” No sooner than he said the words, Kane pounced on him, having regained control, and his hands tightened around Mason’s neck.

“You will tell no one about this.” He snarled, and Mason nodded his head in affirmation before he was scurrying off to carry out the bidding of his alpha.

Kane lowered himself to the sleeping form on the floor, his bloody hands reaching gingerly to her nose. A little sigh of relief left him as he felt the hot air of her exhale, and he was picking her up gently.

For a moment, his heart had stopped beating as he watched his mate crumple to the floor like a rag doll, and he thought the former alpha was so wicked to kill his daughter.

But he hadn’t felt any loss from the mate bond, and it was only then that he was reassured that she lived, but even at that, Max was still going crazy at the thought that she was unconscious.

“Max! Stop acting like a lovesick puppy.” Kane spat out, as he couldn’t bear the constant whining from his wolf any longer. “Fuck sake, you have only known her for a few minutes, and you are acting like she is your world.”

It was insulting to call a wolf of his caliber a puppy, but Max refused to take the jab; instead, he settled in his space and laid his head.

“Ariel.” Kane murmured the name he had heard them call her, and he reached out, stroking her hair. The long hair was full of debris from blowing the house up, and it was matted and tangled.

He was going to have to run her a bath when they got home.

He picked his mate up, the spacks igniting on their touch as if to confirm that it was really the person sent by the goddess for him.

“Why?” Kane couldn’t help but whine as he walked to where the warriors were still chanting war songs about their victory.

Their celebration ceased as soon as they sighted him, and they were rushing to him with huge smiles on their faces that reminded Kane of the pups he had rescued some time ago.

“Alpha, they are gone.” One said, his eyes lighting up like the 4th of July. One would think they won a lottery and not just massacred the whole pack.

Kane remembered the man as a bloodthirsty rogue who had begged him to join the pack because of his love for blood and gore.

Kane had been reluctant to let him in because his type would prove too difficult to handle. But he would be a great addition to the pack, and he was reluctant to let him go.

The man froze as he neared Kane, his nose flaring as he sniffed the air, and he stilled. “Why is she here?” He growled in a tone that Kane Wolf didn’t find funny, and his chest rumbled in response.

“Watch your tongue.” Kane barked in response. There were already enough deaths, and he wasn’t going to add a pack member to the list.

“You told us to kill everyone, irrespective of who they are. I demand to know why you are holding one of those dogs in your hands and refusing to obey your order.”

The next moment was quick and painless.

One minute he was a breathing living being, and the next, Kane’s hands were on his neck, claws coming out of his hands and ripping out his throat like it was nothing.

Kane watched as his lifeline fled from his body, his hand flying up to meet the empty gaping hole that once housed his voice box, but it was gone and, in its wake, was a bloody, fleshy mess.

“A-aa.” He attempted to call his name, reaching for his hands to touch him, but blood flowed out of his throat like a fountain, and he collapsed on his knees, landing on his face.

“Does anyone else have something else to say?” Kane yelled out to the frightened wolves, and they shook their heads in unison, too scared to open their mouths; otherwise, they risked losing their tongues. “Good, clean this shit up, and we go home.”

“Yes alpha.” Various voices thundered before they scampered around to do their alpha’s bidding.

Kane came out of the pack house that has been reduced to rubble, and the first sight that greeted him was the loot that has been laid on the road as a peace offering.

He nodded his head in satisfaction, the corner of his lips tugging upwards as he took note of everything: livestock, jewelry, raiments, and, of course, money.

His gaze shifted to the cars that had been packed in the garage, and they zeroed in on the red Mustang. He would definitely look good behind the steering wheel.

Kane was already walking towards the car, his eyes refusing to leave his prize. This pack must either be so safe or so stupid to leave their keys inside, but it worked in his favor. “I will be on my way now. Toby, you will load all the spoils into the vehicle and assign some warriors to take them back to the pack while the rest will run home.”

“Yes alpha.” Toby replied in a loud voice, and Kane nodded to himself as he watched as his third-in-command began to dish out instructions.

Kane opened the passenger’s door, carefully placing her on the seat, and he secured her with the seatbelt before lowering himself into his seat.

He couldn’t carry her and drive, and the rear seat couldn’t be comfortable, hence his decision.

Kane was almost recoiling at the thought that his mate was a young girl. Just how old is she? He stared at her sleeping form, eyeing her, but she didn't look as young as he had thought. She could be fifteen or younger.

He tried to ignore those thoughts and turned on the ignition, smiling as the car roared to life.

Kane bopped his head to the rhythm in his head, whistling as he drove back home. For a moment, he pretended. 

He pretended like he didn’t just wipe out an entire pack; he didn’t just abduct his mate—his underage mate, in fact—as if blood weren’t dried on his fingers and his shirt had the blood of the men whose lives he had wasted.

For now, he was just a regular man who was enjoying a good ride, but it was quick to come to an end as he neared the pack. 

The rogue pack wasn’t your typical pack, as there was no pack house or massive structure, but it was a place he called home along with 44 other individuals.

Kane beelined straight to the makeshift room that was serving as the pack clinic, cradling his mate in his arms, and he pushed the door with such force that the door shook from its hinges.

“Alpha.” The noise had startled the nurse, the only female member of the group, and she was standing up. as she saw the bundle in his hands. “What is wrong?”

“I need you to treat her.”