Prologue
Anonymous POV
34 years ago
The wind howled brutally. The snowstorm hit so hard that everything around for miles was nothing but a blur. It seemed like nature was mourning and retaliating over the brutality that took place in its lap. The bloodshed, the countless lives taken, hundreds of packs destroyed, allies turned into enemies. The fight for power and dominance that would be remembered for years to come.
Andrés shivered, the little pieces of wood doing nothing to keep the cold at bay. But he couldn’t dare to add more wood to it because outside this cave; hungry hunters of the GrayCrest army were lurking around to hunt them down after destroying the last remnants of his pack, or what used to be his pack until last night. It was now nothing but dust, blood and a burial ground for his brothers, his family and his…Alpha.
The bare minimum clothing he grabbed before fleeing did little to fend off the bitter cold. And every scream that came from the frail woman lying on the cold floor of the cave made chills trickle down his spine. She was covered in sweat; her face red and mahogany hair all over the place.
“Arhhh!” she screamed again, clawing at his arm, her nails leaving blood marks on his skin.
It pained him to see her in so much pain. She was his Luna after all, and as the Delta, they shared a unique and profound bond. But there was nothing he could do at this moment but be by her side as she gave birth to the last heir of an invincible legacy—the RiverPride pack.
“Andrés!” Luna Charlotte screamed, tears spilling down her eyes and blood pooling between her legs. Andrés never imagined he'd be the one to pull out a child from between the legs of a woman he deeply respected. But again, desperate times call for desperate measures. And this was the most desperate he had ever felt.
"Please hold on a little longer, Luna," he reassured. “I c..can see…something,”
“Pull him out, Andrés!” she shouted, but her voice somehow got lost amidst the screaming winds outside. “I am go…going to push one more time and you must get him out! He…he’s coming! G…get him out!”
“Yes, Luna,” he almost whimpered, ready to pull the baby out as soon as she pushed. He could already see the tiny head.
“Go!” Charlotte sneered and with one more push, he gently pulled the little thing out, covered in blood and flesh and whatnot. His cries filled every inch of the cave as Andrés wrapped him up in Charlotte’s flimsy shawl.
“How is he?” she croaked; her voice barely audible.
“Beautiful,” he smiled, holding the baby closer to his mother. “Here is my Alpha. He is every bit like you.” Amber eyes peered up at him, a weak smile crossing her frail lips as she wrapped her shaky arms around the crying baby. She was fading away.
“Killian.” Charlotte whispered. “Alpha Killian Price…that’s wh…what we de…decided to c…call him.”
“That’s a perfect name,” Andrés croaked, heaviness spreading through his chest as he felt the beautiful bond he shared with his Luna slowly cracking. “Alpha Killian of RiverPride, son of Alpha Roman and Luna Charlotte,”
“Ta…take care of him, Andrés…I am le…leaving him in y…your charge,” she gave him a small smile, her eyes dewy.
“No, Luna…you will be fine,” Andrés wailed. “I will protect you. We will find a way out of here…I took an oath to protect you and I will…”
“You did all you could,” she panted, her voice growing weaker with each second. “And I wi…will always be grat…grateful to you. But there’s on…one last thing. I need you to make a pr…promise. Will yo…you promise me one thing?”
“Anything…anything you want, luna,”
“T…take care of Killian, Andrés. Make sure he li…lives. He is th…the last blood of Riv…RiverPride. Last me…memory of Roman. Raise him to be stronger, more powerful than his fa.. father was. Ra…raise him to b…be a name eve…everyone will remember. Raise him…to avenge his father, mother and his…pack. Promise me, Andrés, you will destroy each and ev…everyone who brought us here. Promise me you wi…will destroy GrayCrest no matter h..how long it takes.” She was barely there and fighting the pain that crushed through his chest, Andrés nodded slowly.
“Yes, luna, I promise,” he whispered, taking the little baby boy in his arms. “I will make GrayCrest pay. I will not settle until your son is crowned the Alpha again…I promise.”
Charlotte gave him a small smile and took one last glance at the little baby boy before her life slowly drained out, her eyes turning blank. Andrés closed his eyes as the pain of the bond breaking crashed through his being. But he knew he had to keep himself together because he had a promise to fulfill. Slowly, he raised his eyes to the blood-covered little life in his arms and took a deep breath.
“RiverPride will rise again,” he whispered. “And this time…over the ashes of GrayCrest.”
