Chapter 37
Blue Heavens Pack (the Alpha meeting).
“What the fuck!”
The tension in the conference room surged as an Alpha’s booming voice reverberated off the walls. Other Alphas, their faces contorted in frustration, exchanged worried glances.
“You think that I traveled all this way just to listen to some absurd theory about magic and spells being behind these attacks?” the Alpha continued, his eyes blazing with intensity. His words hung heavily in the charged atmosphere, challenging anyone to dismiss his concerns.
A rival Alpha, equally incensed, shot back, “You’re always going against the tide! Three entire packs have been systematically wiped out, consumed by flames in a single night. If dark magic it’s not at play, then what the hell is it? Explain that!”
Tension crackled in the room as the debate intensified. “I agree!” One Alpha, exasperated by the notion of magic, lashed out sarcastically, “If it is not magic then did the entire pack just decide to bury themselves or sprout wings overnight?”
Supporters of the magic theory snarled in frustration, while those who dismissed it grew even more infuriated. “Oh, they must’ve sprouted wings indeed! Or are you suggesting that the witches have broken their sacred treaty with werewolves and are now attacking us?” retorted another Alpha, their voice dripping with disbelieving anger.
“Nonsense! The witches wouldn’t dare betray us like that,” a different voice firmly interjected.
“That’s right! You’re just trying to pass blame on the witches by talking about magic, but maybe you’re the real traitor here, betraying your own kind!” accused another Alpha, their allegation sharp and accusatory, aimed like an arrow at the heart of the debate.
Tensions reached a breaking point as accusations flew across the room like gun fire in a war zone. “What the fuck did you just say?” one Alpha barked, their voice dripping with anger and disbelief.
“Are you seriously accusing us of being murderers?” another Alpha shot back, their tone. laced with indignant fury.
The meeting devolved into a clash between the two factions of dominant and aggressive Alphas, each side was locked into a battle of words with the other. The atmosphere was thick with suspicion, amplified by the recent devastation that had seen three packs within the werewolf community being completely wiped out.
Oran’s frustration spilled over as he sat by the riverside, frowning at what he was hearing from the far. “They’re a hot mess, it’s utterly idiotic. It might just be better if they all got wiped out,” he grumbled, not wanting to listen anymore to the tumultuous meeting. “This meeting is going nowhere. I doubt there’ll be any real resolution,” he lamented, lighting a cigarette, his gaze fixed on me. After receiving no response from me for a long time, his unease only increased.NôvelDrama.Org content rights.
“Reuben,” he called my name again, observing me closely. “I know you didn’t come here to be part of this mess but to show respect to the Blue Heavens Pack’s Alpha. You haven’t even taken a seat at the meeting, instead you have been standing out here since you arrived,” he noted, then glanced towards the handkerchief that was neatly wrapped around my wrist that I had been staring at the entire time we had been there. Concern etched on his face, he voiced his concern, “Something happened between you and Willow, didn’t it? Did you two fight? I don’t understand, everything was going so well over the past two days right? Why was she crying?” Rising from his seat on the stone, he walked over to stand beside me. “Talk to me, Reuben. You’ve been silent ever since you left Willow’s room at the pack. It’s painful to see you like this, holding in your wrath and turning mute,” he implored, worry evident in his voice.
The soft pristine white fabric held my unwavering attention, its surface marred by a faint trace of my blood. Memories of Willow’s concerned gaze and the image of her gently wrapping it around my wrist played on an endless loop in my mind. Yet, those recollections were swiftly replaced by the haunting image of her tear–filled eyes, etching themselves repeatedly into my thoughts.
“Ella kissed me, and Willow saw it,” I finally revealed, my gaze still fixated on the handkerchief, unable to tear my eyes away from it.
“Ella did what?!” Oran’s shocked voice pierced the air, nearly a shout as it shattered the prevailing silence between us.
The weight of Willow’s heartbreak lingered heavily in my heart as I whispered, “Willow says she can’t erase the image of Ella and I kissing. She misunderstood my relationship. with Ella. Instead of fixing things, I’ve only earned more hatred from her…”
“Fuck!” Oran’s expletives slashed through the air, his anger palpable as he moved closer to me. “Reuben, you have to come clean to Willow!” he suggested desperately. “Tell her the truth about six years ago…
My gaze hardened, “No,” I responded sharply, adamant in my stance.
His frustration surged. “If you keep hiding the truth, she’ll keep blaming you, seeing you as the man that betrayed her. I can’t stand watching you suffer again without her like I did six years ago. If you won’t tell her, then I will…”
“Don’t you dare utter a word of it to Willow, Oran!” I growled, my wolf’s eyes locking onto him without a bit of mercy. “She doesn’t need to know a damn thing about the past six years!” It was my final warning, a boundary I wouldn’t allow him to cross. Reluctantly, he averted his gaze, conceding defeat, but the stifling anger hung heavy in the air as he grappled with the weight of our shared history.
Taking angry heaving breaths, I lit a cigarette, losing my control over my wolf. I desperately wanted to kill someone.
The incessant bickering among the foolish Alphas grated on my nerves, pushing my patience to its limit. Just as I contemplated silencing a few noisy throats to quell my rising frustration, a piercing shout shattered the tense atmosphere.
His frustration surged. "If you keep hiding the truth, she'll keep blaming you, seeing you as the man that betrayed her. I can't stand watching you suffer again without her like I did six years ago. If you won't tell her, then I will..."
"Don't you dare utter a word of it to Willow, Oran!" I growled, my wolf's eyes lacking onto him without a bit of mercy. "She doesn't need to know a damn thing about the past six years!" it was my final warning, a boundary I wouldn't allow him to cross. Reluctantly, he averted his gaze, conceding defeat, but the stifling anger hung heavy in the air as he grappled with the weight of our shared history. Taking angry heaving breaths, I it a cigarette, losing my control over my wolf. I desperately wanted to kill someone.
The incessant bickering among the foolish Alphas grated on my nerves, pushing my patience to its limit. Just as I contemplated silencing a few noisy throats to quell my rising frustration, a piercing shout shattered the tense atmosphere.
"Rogues!"
The word echoed through the clearing, a jolt of alam coursing through every Alpha engaged in the heated arguments. All eyes snapped to the surrounding forest as figures, emerged from the darkness, rogues pouring forth to encircle the top- ranking Alphas of the werewolf world. The invasion of these renegade wolves threw the entire gathering. into chaos, catching everyone off guard, and plunging the scene into a state of certain panic.
"What are these disgusting creatures doing here?" spat an Alpha in revulsion, dismissing the rogues with disdain. His contempt, however, was swifty stiffed by the realization of their rapidly increasing numbers, far beyond the norm for a typical rogue group.
In a moment of dreadful understanding, another Alpha exclaimed, "Damn it! Is this another orchestrated attack meant to wipe out all the Alphas in one fell swoop?!" The curse hung in the air, a harbinger of impending chaos, as the once serene river began to darken with spilt blood, staining the lands of the Blue Heavens Pack crimson.
With alarming speed, every Alpha transformed into their wolf forms, their instincts shifting into a relentless killing mode, an unstoppable force in the face of the encroaching threat. However, the enemy had arrived armed with surprises.
As Oran and I stood by the riverbank, observing the chaotic battle unfolding before us, his frustration boiled over. "Damn it! How many of them are there?!" he hissed through clenched teeth, his gaze fixed on the relentless stream of rogues emerging from the woods. Their numbers seemed to swell, exceeding the count of those being taken down by the Alphas.
"How the hell did they pluck up the nerve to infiltrate a territory teeming with. dangerously powerful Alphas?" Oran's thoughts ran wilder with each passing seconds, "Don't tell me these damn rogues are behind all these mysterious attacks! That they are the ones wiping out werewolves packs!" Oran growled with a tinge of aggression, his eyes locked on the relentless advance of the rogues as they finally converged on the riverbank where we stood.
Oran's transformation into his wolf form was swift, he lunged into the rogues at lightning speed, choosing offense over defense. His killer instinct took over as he tore into the ranks of the rogues, dispatching them with ruthless efficiency. His ferocity was a sight to behold, ensuring none of the rogues could get close to me as I calmly lit a cigarette, a detached observer amidst the chaos.
Despite the relentless assault of the rogues, none of the Alphas had fallen thus far. The attackers continued to pour in, their numbers seemingly unending, resembling the relentless rise of the dead clawing their way out of the earth. Strangely, amidst the battle, no fires erupted, a curious absence in contrast to the usual mysterious attacks that plagued the other werewolf packs. Nothing that I had been waiting to see happened.
"Fuck! There are too many of them!" Oran cursed through our mind- link, his brown fur drenched in the blood of our enemies as he leapt to dispatch two more rogues, discarding their heads with practiced ease. Exhaustion was creeping in not just for Oran, but for all the Alphas and members of the Blue Heavens Pack, who were being pushed to their limits by the relentless assault.
Though my attention was drawn to a sudden shift in the dynamics of the battle, a change that didn't escape Oran's keen eyes either.
"What the hell is happening?" Oran's voice echoed through our link as he shattered the bones of a few rogues, freezing in disbelief at the scene unfolding before him. "Reuben, tell me that's my imagination. Are these bastards actually abandoning the fights with the other Alphas and heading straight for us?" His shocked urgency was palpable, a sense of impending doom tinged his words.
In the midst of the unfolding chaos, I calmly took another drag from my cigarette listening to Oran's words through the mind-link. As the rogues advanced, their predatory steps closing the distance between us, they inexplicably bypassed Oran as if he were an invisible entity in their midst.
Oran, clearly taken aback by this tum of events, swiftly shifted back into his human form standing among the group of rogues without any harm. His eyes met mine, surprised confusion etched on his face as he tried to make sense of this latest unexpected development. I remained unmoving in the same spot I had been in since arriving, an observer to the strange phenomenon, the cigarette in my hand slowly burning as the tension in the air thickened with uncertainty.
"Why are they only coming to you?" Oran's face drained of color as he witnessed the rogues coming to a halt in front of me, fixating their yellow-eyed gazes on me with an unsettling intensity. His voice held a mixture of concerned confusion, contemplating whether this attack was somehow linked to me.
"They seem attracted to you for some reason, Reuben Could it be that this attack took place because of you..." Oran muttered in bewilderment, his eyes meeting mine as he searched for answers. However, what he found was a smile playing on my lips, directed at the rogues gathered before me. I dropped my cigarette to the ground, and smiled. "Now, this is interesting..."