Chapter 45 Wounds of War
1845 Words
Chapter 45
Wounds of War
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Joseph
My heart raced like a jackhammer, pounding against my chest. Our pack’s territory was filled with rival wolves, but our fierce attack forced them back, and their retreat was close. Beta Dynamite was a force to be reckoned with, taking down another enemy warrior. Duane, filled with strength and determination, transformed into his wolf and fearlessly eliminated two of the rival pack warriors. It was a brutal and gruelling battle. Through our pack’s link, I felt the loss of our fallen warriors. But we had also left our mark, killing a few of theirs and injuring many more. But be f****d if I was going to lose any more of my pack!
“They’ve gathered at the Northern border!” Gamma Archie’s wolf Thorn shouted through our mind link.
“I’m on my way!” Zodiac replied as we ran through the field that curved into the centremost point of our northern border. Blood dripped down his heaving chest, matting his grey fur. But we were on a mission. Zodiac and I were one, and we were out for blood.
The Celestial Moon clan was not known for retreating, but they had failed at their mission to take the Alpha’s daughter. Even if the Alpha’s daughter was their mission, Josie-Anne was not the one they had intended to collect. The true Alpha’s daughter was Louise, and Zodiac and I planned to fight tooth and nail to protect her.
Throughout the entire battle, Alpha Edwin remained in the shadows. Coward! That’s typical of him. His new Beta was nowhere in sight, and his Gamma was a dirty fighter. Dad had warned us that this Gamma had killed Kelvin Carpenter—the Omega who never got the opportunity to raise Louise. Their Gamma is next on the list!
“We have them retreating!” The Alpha shouted through the mind link. “Zodiac, you, and Dynamite take the lead at the north! We’ve got them on the run!”
“Yes, Alpha!” Zodiac let out an earth-shattering roar as we emerged from the brushes at the edge of our territory.
“On my way!” Dynamite replied sharply.
A damp scent of rot filled the air and strangled our senses. We slowed to a walk. The further forward we stepped, the more potent the smell became. What the f**k is that?
A pair of fevered wolf-red eyes came into focus through a shallow clearing.
“That’s the Gamma… I can feel him… but he’s not Gamma anymore—He’s Beta!” Zodiac snarled, brandishing his canines, his hair standing on edge. A fermented scent overtook everything, blocking out the smell of nature and everything we depended on. Zodiac stopped and sniffed the air again before throwing his head back in an angered howl. “His smell, it’s covering the scent of the trees… of our pack members.”
Not only had the dirty fighter gone up a rank, but he had also figured out a way to separate us from the rest of the pack. If we couldn’t smell them, then they couldn’t smell us.
“Dynamite!” Zodiac called through mind-link as the rival Beta closed the gap between us. “We found the Gamma… but something’s not right.”
“I’m not far from you,” Dynamite replied. “But I can’t smell you… Where are you?”
“North paddock …”
“I’m here, but I can’t see you… Oh hell, what is that smell?” You could hear the disgust in his tone.
“Here!” Zodiac howled, signalling our location.
The Celestial Moon’s Beta snarled in response. He narrowed his eyes on us. They were not kind—emotionless and deadly. They were the eyes of a callus murderer! Mixed with his scent of rotten blood and decay, there was no mistaking he was evil. The thought of his hands on Louise or Josie-Anne made all the hairs on Zodiac’s body prickle. I want to kill him… to taste his flesh and feel his life slip away!
“Kill!” Saliva ran from Zodiac’s mouth as he snapped at the air –threatening war against his target.
The Celestial Moon’s Beta stepped into the moon’s light, revealing a solid, matted, shaggy brown body protected by a leather armoured chest plate. We had been warned that he played dirty, and that was no lie. He grinned maliciously, flashing his blood-stained fangs.
“He doesn’t scare me!” Zodiac lowered himself to the ground, squared his shoulders, and prepared to defend and attack. Dynamite warned everyone, but this was personal, so Zodiac blocked him.
The Celestial Moon Beta snorted a laugh and then lunged.
“This is going to be good…” Zodiac snorted as he used his momentum against him and leapt aside.
The Beta’s large body slid across the damp grass, losing all balance before stopping at the base of a barbwire fence. He let out an ear-deafening roar as he righted himself and charged towards us. He was huge and dangerous, but so were we.
“And by the look of it, he’s stupid.” Zodiac snorted, laughing. This will be easy!”
As our rival Beta drew near, we noticed the armour exposed a patch by the left side of his neck, right where his jugular vein ran. “There—we can get him there!” Both of us could hear the pulse of blood course through his neck. We focused on the target. The sound grew closer until he was mere inches from us.
Zodiac drew his lips back, leaving his deadly teeth, and ran towards him. His canines connected with the rival Beta’s fur. The vial scent made him pull back. Blood ran warm across his tongue when a sudden pain shot through his body, sending him skittling to the ground in a confused heap. Zodiac began to whine as pain consumed his muzzle, travelling down his throat and into his chest.
A man with fierce eyes and a body covered in viscous yellow liquid appeared where the wolf had once been. He tossed the leather armour aside and then knelt beside us.
“Well, well, well …” His laugh was sadistic and cruel.
The pain was followed by a numbness that froze Zodiac’s muscles. I tried to take over, but whatever he did to Zodiac affected the human side. We couldn’t shift. What did he do?
The Celestial Moon Beta laughed. “Stupid boy, I have fought many of your kind. And I have learnt many tricks along the way.” He shook the yellow substance from his hand. “This deadly little concoction is one our Alpha created. It can take down an entire pack…”
He had planned this! The scent of decay reached us. He had coated himself in a poison that took away a wolf’s primary hunting sense and crippled them. Wolfsbane or a neurotoxin!
“I was hoping to take out the Mist clan Gamma… We have a score to settle…” His sneer became more vicious. He leered over us, revealing an aged scar from the left side of his nose down to his collarbone. “But right now, I’ll settle for the son of the Alpha!”
Zodiac attempted to move, but his body failed. “Beta Dynamite!”
“The poison will work through your body until you can no longer move, but you can feel everything.” The rival Beta laughed menacingly as he shook his claws free. “And that will make killing you pleasurable…”
“Alpha!” Dynamite roared as he landed behind the man. His snarl reverberated off the surrounding trees.
“Don’t touch him!” I shouted. “Poison!”
Another large mocha brown wolf appeared. It stalked towards us with eyes trained to kill.
“Who is this?” Dynamite turned and brandished his teeth. Our Beta would protect us at all costs, including his life.
Ignoring Dynamite, the new wolf turned his attention to the man. He paused before shaking his human form free.
“Duane!”
“Julius!” Duane spat, his voice laced with anger. He narrowed his eyes at his rival. “Well, look who’s been promoted. I’m not surprised, given Edwin’s despicable taste in lackeys!”
Julius smirked and started to circle him. “Oh, it’s all thanks to Beta Jackson’s treachery. I always knew he was a traitor. Him and that hussy mate of his.”
Duane’s claws shot out as he flung his arms wide. “At least they’re not murderers like you, Papa!”
Julius sneered. “And at least I’m not a traitor, son!”
Julius is Duane’s father! The information hit me like a whip. He had betrayed his father to help Jada—to help us. And I’m fucken stuck here! I wanted to get behind Julius and rip his head from his neck, but neither Zodiac nor I could move.
Duane had doubled in size, or I was hallucinating. His wolf was itching to escape, but he held it back with tremendous will. “What will Mum think of this? What about Kris? Are you going to turn him into a killer too?”
Julius laughed. “That boy has no hope…” He gestured at Duane. “Not like you did… and now that you have turned on your pack! I plan to make you pay for your treachery!”
“Not if I kill you first and rescue Mama and Kris!” Duane exploded into his wolf. He leapt forward and lunged at Julius. Julius hurried to transform and rolled out from his son’s attack.
With an Alpha roar, Draven, Dad’s Alpha wolf, entered the field with his Gamma Thorn and Beta Donte hot at his heels. “Kill him…”
“Don’t touch him!” Dynamite warned as they closed in around the rival Beta. “Poison! He poisoned Zodiac!”
I attempted to push myself free from Zodiac, but the poison had done its job, and I was paralysed. I couldn’t feel Zodiac. I couldn’t hear him. For f**k sake!
“Stay back!” Draven demanded. “Everyone available to the north field!”
“Yes, Alpha!”
More footsteps joined the commotion, and most of our warriors soon arrived.
My eyelids began to droop as the chaos around me intensified. The Alpha’s orders echoed in my ears, but they grew fainter and fainter as everything else faded. Where was Zodiac? Why couldn’t I feel him?
Dynamite howled. He backed towards me, buried his nuzzle into my neck, and checked my heart rate. “His heart is weak but still there. Stay with us, Alpha…”
“He’s retreating!” Gamma Archie said with a snarl. “Should we follow him?”
“No! Leave him…! Help my son…” Draven snarled. He stepped beside me and shook Dad’s human form free. “Joseph…” He held my head between his hands. “Levine is on the way. Stay with me, son!”
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