1. DIVERSION
ALPHA DEMETRIUS VOLKOV
With burning rage and infallible intent, my beast stormed towards the packed house. Eyes narrowed and sharpened. Nose puckered and ears pulled back to sense any menace prowling in the shadows of the night.
The landscapes blurred past him but his nostrils picking every scent he was passing by, mushrooms, nuts and wild berries with the hint of an earthy taste blowing with the breeze.
Slowly, the trees dispersed. The dirt path snaking through the woods heading the packhouse came in view. The wrath consumed him, seeping out of my beast’s pores and filling his senses, overwhelming his vision until only one colour embedded in his mind.
Red
His thirst for blood.
My beast was hungry. He ran his tongue over his teeth, thinking of the fresh juicy meat he would rip off the bones of the carcasses. His mouth watered as if he could almost feel the metallic taste of blood filling his mouth.
Smoke emanating out of the packhouse. The raw stench of blood was heavy in the air. Wolves were attacking and tearing each other apart in a bloody frenzy.
A scrawny wolf flashing his yellow stained teeth, he charged towards me.
Beast snickered.
The scrawny wolf was no match to him, he was in a no condition to withstand beast even for a minute. In a blink of an eye, beast squatted down and tipped his head to the side and clamped his teeth against the throat of the scrawny wolf.
The scrawny wolf thrashed on the ground in pain and let out a guttural noise, wriggled to wrench free from my beast’s hold. But his grip never slackened. Blood flowing in his mouth and slowly, the wolf’s lifeless body slumped to the ground.
Wolves pouring in from the shadows but they were only a few in comparison to the northern warriors, beast could count them all on his paws. They must bury their heads in the sand if they thought they could claim a portion of his territory with such a measly number. This must be a spoof.
Beast scoffed.
He assuredly wasn’t needed here, the northern warriors were more than enough to protect their own skins, charge at the invaders and defend the pack.
Beast turned to retreat to his bride and complete the mating ritual. His mind was somewhere else, thinking of Aura when a set of teeth sank into his hind leg. Beast kicked out. He spun and bared his teeth and snarled at the wolf in a mangy coat.
The mangy wolf tucked his tail between his legs, crouched and dropped his head on the ground. Beast tapped his leg on the ground, commanded the mangy wolf to show his true identity. Before the mangy wolf shifted, a sable wolf lunged and struck him.
The sable wolf ripped off meat from his throat, tossed it in the air, caught it and swallowed it down. Blood smeared the wolf’s nozzle, trickling down his mouth as he met my stance head-on and challenged me, letting out a low rumbling growl.
Beast froze in his place, considering the possible situations of what had just happened. Why did the wolf kill his warrior brother?
Beast waited and circled him. He flared his nostrils to inhale the wolf’s scent to detect a sign of vulnerability and threat. He liked to taunt and tease with his food before he finally had a bite.
Standing tall and proud. Ears were upright and facing forward. Lips curled up. Baring his fangs and teeth, Beast was showing his dominance to his opponent.
The first struck was swift, the sable wolf didn’t see it coming until it was too late and a fuming red mark marred his face. The wolf didn’t get a chance to defend himself, blood dripping down his sliced skin. He shook off his head to clear his vision because Beast got his eye.
With fierce force and bounding motion, Beast knocked his opponent over, sank teeth into his leg and twisted. Bones crunched and the wolf let out a piercing howl. His leg was broken and useless.
Beast snapped his vicious jaw mere inches from the sable wolf’s face to show him how easily he could end his opponent’s life if his fangs made contact with his skin, no flesh will be there to grip his bones.
The rich aroma of dark crimson liquid wafted into the air made Beast salivated. In one swift motion, he pinned the wolf down to the ground on his stomach, posing his dominance. With abrupt strength, Beast pierced his skin with his pointed ends and clamp his teeth into his neck, just deep enough to let the wolf bleed out to suffer a slow and painful death rather than giving him the pleasure of immediate death.
His heavy breathing and pounding heart in his chest were like music to my beast’s ears. I stood there and watched how the light slowly left his eyes and soon, his abandoned shell would be the only evidence of his existence once.
Red stained Beast’s silver coat. The sickly sweet liquid in his mouth, quenching his blood lust.
Hardly any of the rival wolves were breathing, they came with quite a few numbers. So, either they were self-assured or they knew what they were getting into and how it would eventually end with their carcasses rotting in the dirt.
Their identities would wash out of this world like they never even existed. Their fates had been sealed the moment they stepped foot into my beast’s territory and posed a threat against his pack. No one would succeed and make out alive after ambushing the Northerner pack, it was a dead end.
Bit a deep feeling kept playing in my mind that this was no territorial threat, it couldn’t be. And the rival wolves looked so different from one another, some were scruffy and gaunt, while others were clean and nourished.
A pack shook their hands with the rogues.
Thoughts invaded Beast’s mind, evaluating every possible reason when the dawn of realization struck him. His gut clenched and twisted. Jaws tightened. Muscles stiffened. The last piece of the puzzle set in place, the limpid images unfolding before him.
Aura!
Reality tapped on his shoulder, slowly his brain picked up and Beast’s paws thudded on the dirt in its own accord. It was a distraction, plain and simple, behind chaos and screams of agony.
The place felt deserted and gloomy, where Beast was supposed to make Aura his. He would strip her naked, let the people devour her beautiful body on her knees to offer herself and submit to his needs and desires. But now, his fantasies had been smashed and Aura was gone.
Shifting into my human skin, I ripped off the door from its hinges and scoured inside the carriage. Aura’s mother slumped form jolted awake and looked over with gawking eyes until her eyes settled on me.
“Where is Aura?” I gritted out the words.
“She...she was right here. I don’t understand.” I had no patience for her blabbered on and on.
I took a sniff, Aura’s sweet, intoxicating scent mingled with the slave’s and her mother’s fear churned my stomach in disgust.
I cursed and jerked away off the carriage.
I lunged into the air and shifted into silverback Beast. He flew down the same path he had come from, sniffing the air to catch her scents. When Aura’s faint scent hit his nose, drifting away with the soft breeze, Beast let out a long gratifying growl.
Risqué thoughts whispering in his head, like a temptation, stirring up his lusts. Beast could almost taste that the wait was finally over. No one could take his Aura away from him. He followed the trail but the wind carried away the scent, making it hard to follow through.
Reaching the lake, Beast started circling the area, hunting for Aura to found a trace of her but there was no sign of her. He became agitated and started pacing back and forth but his eyes were constantly on the lookout for any gleam of hope.
Aura’s alluring scent was so strong as if she was just here a few minutes ago, closing his eyes, Beast could almost imagine her being so close to him but the reality was entirely different. The rival wolves must have played some tricks with him, they made a fool of him by luring him here at the lake while they had escaped, taking his Aura with them.
Beast kept his gaze across the lake, as far as it could go but he all met with silence and desolation. A deep and piercing howl left his lips in frustration.
His visions darkened with rage and demanded a release. A promise Beast made with himself that not only he was going to find and claim Aura but he was going to unleash the monster who had taken away Aura from him.
