The Alpha's Revenge

Chapter 7: Sentinels

Midnight came and the whole castle was eerily quiet. The sky outside is already dark and there are no stars, except for the round full moon illuminating the darkness.

All the people were sound asleep. The guards are already patrolling the grounds, making sure that no one is awake at this moment.

“Lady Kira, please cover your head with a cloak. It might attract the attention of the guards.”

Kira obliged right away and hid her hair. She can’t blame Bariston for ordering her. Her hair is indeed very noticeable. She’s the only person who had red hair. So, if someone noticed her hair right now, they would be caught immediately.

They are currently in the back garden of the palace. Bariston had already transformed into his wolf form and she was sitting on him. Bariston can move faster while carrying her if he is in this way.

“How far are we?” she casually asked.

Bariston looked around the surroundings, being vigilant of his movements not to get caught. “We’re almost there, Lady Kira. Once we cross that wall, we are already outside of the palace grounds.”

Kira nodded and went silent. She held his fur tighter as Bariston leaped the high wall between them. Kira looked back and saw the patrol guards roaming. There are a lot of them and no one managed to notice them. Bariston is really an expert at hiding his tracks.

Bariston landed safely on the ground. Kira jumped down from him and Bariston transformed back into his human form. “Where are we going after Lady Kira?”

Kira adjusted her cloak, making sure her hair stayed hidden. “Follow me.”

Outside the palace grounds, there was a wide forest that no one was allowed to enter. Or there’s a story about this forest.

It’s said that inside the forests, demons live there. So, when a person comes inside, they can’t go out of it. Rumors say that they were eaten by demons.

Demons are creatures who feed themselves by killing and eating a wolf. So, werewolves with low ranks are often the victims of them, since wolves in the higher ranks can defend themselves.

Demons are hard to kill since they have a mind of their own. They can think and plan who and where they want to kill, which makes them more dangerous. So, no one dared to go inside the forest for fear of encountering a demon.

But she knows best that it was all false. There are no demons inside this forest. It was only a false story to scare the people from coming inside and finding out about the secret hidden here.

Inside the forest, there’s a dungeon that was built. She knew well what that dungeon was for, since in the past, when she got captured, she was brought in there.

“Where are we going, Lady Kira?” Bariston asked while following Kira closely. The whole forest was so dark yet Kira seemed to see the road. They didn’t have anything to brighten the way and it was only the brightness of the moon that provided them with a faint light. He was confused about how Kira saw the path while he was having a hard time seeing it.

Kira smiled coldly and tightened her cloak before saying, “To a place where hell is present.”

Not a moment later, a huge hollow appeared in sight. They had finally reached the entrance of the dungeon. “Welcome to hell, Bariston. Brace yourself, you will witness a lot of evilness lurking inside.”

She saw it with her own eyes in the past. She saw how evil this place was and how inhumane those people working here were. ‘I finally came back. With this second chance of life, I will definitely tear this place to ashes.’

Kira and Bariston sneakily went inside. There are rows of small lamps plastered on the wall, lighting the way. This place is not heavily guarded because no one dares to enter the forest.

So, they didn’t have a hard time sneaking inside. Memories flashed in her mind as they walked along the familiar way. The dark, humid hall and the moist pavement made Kira frown.

She was taking the lead while Bariston was beside her. He asked her in a whisper, “Lady Kira, have you been into this place?” He wanted to ask that ever since they reached the large hole.

He had never been to such a place as his Lady Kira, who was always inside the castle. So, how can she know that this place exists inside the forest? And how was she so familiar with the place, it was like she had been here before?

“Shh. We are almost there. Whatever you will be witnessing, don’t make a sound, understood?”

Although confused, Bariston nodded and followed her silently. There are still questions in his head, but he knows better that it’s not right to ask them.

They passed by a door with a small window in the middle of it. There they saw countless half-wolves and half-demons tied in a metal chair. There are a series of tubes and strings connected to their body.

There’s a total of 10 experimental subjects inside. It’s fewer than the number she had seen in the past. Maybe they are still in progress. In the past, this room was filled with hundreds of half-wolf-half demons.

This was the secret that her father wanted to hide. If she had not been captured in the past, she wouldn’t know that this place had existed.

Bariston gasped when he saw those unknown creatures. He had never seen them before. Their bodies were completely white, and claws and spikes grew in their bodies.

One half-wolf and half-demon glanced at the door and made eye contact with them. Their eyes were in full black and they raised their heads, wanting to bite them.

“Lady… Lady Kira. What… What are they?” Bariston stammered. He couldn’t believe that such creatures existed.

However, Kira just looked calmly at them. She had the same reaction as Bariston when she first saw them. She had it worse, for that matter. “Sentinels. They are called sentinels.” That’s according to what she heard from those officials who were experimenting.

“Sentinels?” Bariston whispered.

Kira smirked slightly. Her hands that were hidden in her long cloak clenched tightly. “Half-wolf, half-demon. That’s what they are. As you can see, they don’t recognize anyone. Their brains were dead so they couldn’t think. However, their animal instincts are greatly enhanced. They attack whoever they want without hesitation.”

Bariston took a step back, he didn’t think that such a thing existed. If these creatures were to be brought outside, how dangerous would that be? “How did this happen, Lady Kira? Who was the one behind this?… No, who are these people? You said a while ago that they are half wolves, so I’m guessing that they are real people. Am I right?”

Kira nodded her head. “You guessed correctly. They were real people before they turned out to be like this. These people are the ones who went missing in the past years. They didn’t vanish mysteriously, they were brought here to become like this.”

For the past years, there have been reports of people who suddenly vanished. But because it happened randomly and in different places, it didn’t cause panic in the people. And, of course, the officials of the castle handled everything carefully.

Bariston went silent. No wonder no matter how hard they search and how many places and manpower was sent to find them, they are nowhere to be found. So, they weren’t lost outside the castle but were placed inside this forest and became sentinels. How inhumane!

Kira looked up to the side when she heard footsteps coming. “Let’s go, people are coming.”

Without any noise, they sneaked further without being noticed. Not a moment later, they finally reached the entrance to the dark prison. “Stay here. I’ll go by myself. Call me if someone is coming over.”

Bariston nodded and stood guard at the entrance.

Kira walked inside the dark prison slowly. Her steps were heavy, her eyes turned colder, and her mood turned gloomier. This is the place where every pain, every tear, and every cry of hers happened. This is the place where she experienced what hell looks like. This is the place where her life ended.

Now, as she looked at the dark prison, although it was dark, she could see everything clearly. She had lived in this place for so many days, even months, she lost count. From the time her limbs were broken, her eyes carved out, to the day she was poisoned to death.

A lone tear escaped from her eyes. She closed her eyes tightly as she reminisced about those dark moments of hers. Every pain, every hatred, every suffering, she promised to return those tenfold.

“That hatred, I will carry it with me! No matter what, I will make sure that they will pay for everything they have done to me!”

Kira wiped the tears from her eyes. She vowed that this would be the last time she would cry. She will never become a weakling again. Once is enough. The naive stupid girl from the past is already dead.