Chapter 68

• ALPHA ZACHARY. "Until when do you plan to run from your problems and bury yourself into work?" Serge said just as I requested for another well grinded ink from the guard who was and has been standing beside me for hours, holding out the inkstone for me and grinding out ink. I had on my table ,a heap of documents that needed to be signed and letters that needed a response from me and treaties that were long overdue and needed my attention. When I didn't see him place the inkstone on the table, I turned to him only to see that he was yet to finish grinding. I watched impatiently as his shaky hands grind the ink to make a much smoother solution while mumbling words of apology to my hearing. I could sniff his fear and the smell of it only made me more irritable than I already was. It's in times like this that I miss and feel my Beta's absence and it's only because he was away, carrying out my command that I had to make do with another guard who wasn't familiar with how things around me work. "I don't have to hide from my problems when there's so much work to do Serge." Serge may be right to say I've been avoiding my problems by burying myself into my work, but there were really a lot of things that needed my attention. My routine for days has been signing, writing, reading and going out on official duties–perks of being the most influential of all the Alphas in the Woodlands. To think I had just returned from an important issue that needed my attention yet I was back to work again. I was gone for three days to assess the situations at the borders of the moonstone pack where there have been reports of sightings of deranged rogues which caused unrest and fear in the packs. I returned yesterday after a hectic three-day hunt of the rogues and now I was back again and will still be leaving for another day's long trip outside the pack very early tomorrow. I might be exhausted and frustrated but I wasn't complaining because it was my escape from my problems just as Serge has pointed out time and time again. Work was my only excuse and a way to hide from the reality of my life, the discoveries I have made and the ones I feared I was about to make but definitely not ready for. In the last few days before my trips back and forth, i have avoided my mate in all ways possible. Whenever i retire to my room most times, it is with a silent prayer not to bump into my mate or meet her in my room, naked and waiting for me in bed. I haven't been able to face her without thinking about all I heard her say and I just couldn't wait for Alan to come with the results of his findings. A part of me wanted everything to be true so I could justify my own attractions toward Haera and another part of me wanted it to be a lie because she was my mate and no matter how bad it was, I still cared for her in a way. After all, it was the moon goddess who took no pity on me and stuck me up with a woman like Ilvira after all I went through, growing up. For some reason, she seemed not to be bothered by my absence. With her ever changing scent and unknown mysteries behind it, I didn't know what to think. I haven't seen Haera in a while too even if it was mostly my fault. My guilt couldn't make me face her and it seemed like she was doing a good job at avoiding me as well. Even at the dinner table, she doesn't serve anymore. I didnt need anyone to tell me it was because i punished her wrongly and even I couldn't face her because of the same reason. And so burying myself in endless work was the only thing I could do. Once I signed the rest of the treaties and responded to the letters, I shooed the much obliged guard away and strode to my chambers. As I inched closer, I said my usual silent prayer hoping I wouldn't meet Ilvira. I got in front of my door and opened it, sniffing the air inside for any scent of hers to hit my nose but there was none and so relieved, I stepped into my room and the moment I hit my bed, I slipped into a deep slumber. Dreams of a certain Amber eyed woman plagued me as well as nightmares of a brown eyed one. It was left to me to juggle through the one I wanted to keep. I was up the next day in the wee hours of the morning, to the sound of the usual bell that rings through the pack every morning. The dawn was yet to break properly and it was still so dark outside. I dressed up and went to the stables where the horses and my guards were probably waiting for me. They were all truly assembled, waiting for me and bowed as soon as they saw me. "Are these all the men?" I asked, looking around at the men who I had chosen in the meeting we had yesterday and the ones that volunteered to go with me. Speaking of volunteers... "Where is Tybalt?" I asked no one in particular and it even annoyed me to say his name. "Right behind you, Alpha" I swivelled around to see him stalking towards me. Having him escort me didnt sit so well with me but I didnt want to look stupid to everyone else the night before when he volunteered to go with me. "I'm sorry, I had to say my goodbyes." He said tauntilly and I knew what he was hinting at but I still couldn't help but let it anger me as I mulled over it. Did they kiss each other goodbye? Did they confess their undying love for each other? Did they make a promise to see each other again? All of the thoughts annoyed me greatly. "I could as well make that his last goodbye if he isn't careful." Serge threatened while I ignored the both of them and stepped into my waiting carriage. "Keep an eye on him, let me know immediately you sense something from him." Serge agreed eagerly. I commanded the Coachman to begin the journey out of the pack with my men following closely on their horses; a few in front of me while the rest followed behind. The journey would take hours and the thought of it only made me sink into depression because I had nothing else to do than to think about how life was taking me in different directions. There was nothing else to do than to think about the only person that brought relief to me at that moment. I wondered what she was doing. Has she woken up yet? Was she cooking already? Was she thinking about Tybalt? Was she thinking about m- "Zach!" "Fine, fine! I'll stop thinking about Haera." I grimaced. "No no...not Ha–" "I said I'm going to stop thinking about her." "Just shut the hell up and sniff the air around you, I can sense something really strange out here." I paused and sniffed around and just as Serge said, I caught a very strange and pungent scent that was unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. Unfamiliar because it wasn't meant to be senses here and familiar because I know what smells like that. "It's close...It's so close." Serge said again and when we both took one last whiff of the air around us, realisation dawned on us. And while I just froze in place, Sege made the confirmation. "Rogues." The announcement had me frozen still on the spot because I just couldn't believe the possibility of those creatures being around here, close to my territory. "Not one, not two...not th–fuck! Zach, It's an ambush." A sort of war cry and the sound of people in pain further confirmed my Wolf's suspicions. We were under attack. Under attack by freaking rogues that shouldn't be anywhere near my territory. The sound of pain from outside was aggravated and I knew I just couldn't sit in the carriage anymore. I jerked up and opened the door. "Zach, watch out!" Serge barked but it was too late. A wolf pounced on me, throwing me westward to hit a tree before I slumped to the ground in front of the tree. Pain. It seared through my back and every other place, numbing me for a few seconds and making colours splatter behind my closed eyes. I stood up slowly, defying the pain as I looked around at the brutal attack on my guards. It was really an ambush and every single one of the rogues were in their wolf form. I knew i had to shift into my wolf because i was stronger than all of them combined as an Alpha but i didn't get to begin the process before I saw more wolves racing towards me. "Get him! Do not let him shift!" Tybalt? I looked in the direction of his voice just in time to see him slash a guard on the neck, in the very vital place that would kill him instantly. My eyes widened and my Jaw clenched. I should have known. I should have known that it was too good to be true when he volunteered to come with me and when Alna said he wasn't up to any trouble. "That bastard." I didn't get to move out of the way before two wolves attacked me and tackled me to the ground. Canines sank into my skin and cut deep into me, causing me to force out a loud cry as I tried to fight them off me. I finally did when I sent both of them flying to the ground but I didn't get to move from the floor before three more attacked me and pinned me to the floor. The more I tried to force them off, the more they clung onto me with their teeth and their claws. The smell of my blood and the blood of every other person stung my nostrils. Finally getting the last of the wolves off me, I made to run to help the other guards who were risking their lives to whisk the wolves away. I didn't make it far, something hard came crashing on my head and I fell heavily to the floor. Someone pulled me by my hair to look up at him and Tybalt's face appeared in front of me. I spat out the blood in my mouth into his face. "You bastard." He chuckled darkly. "Save your blood...After all, you're still going to lose a lot more. Besides, We both know who the bastard is." He said "Being the Alpha for a few months must have gotten into your head for you to forget who you really are. Well, it all ends today." Before I could say anything, he hit me with the same hard tree branch as before and severally repeated it till I saw splashes of colours behind my eyes. And then he held me by my hair and dragged me by it along with him as he walked towards someplace. I could barely see anything and didn't know where he was headed. He finally stopped and brought me to my knees. I opened my swollen eyes to see the world around me. The cliff. The one that no one knew its beginning or its end. It was a part of the forest that every wolf avoided and I knew what his plans were. "This is the end of your reign brother. Goodbye brother." He said with a smirk while I closed my eyes to prepare myself for the free fall that I was about to take. I was ready to let it all go and even in that moment, all I saw was her face and I smiled even in my impending death. And then , the next thing that happened came so fast it was almost impossible. Tybalt tilted me towards the edge of the cliff and a loud cry broke out of nowhere followed by the sound of someone racing towards us. "NO!!!" Before I could check to see who it was, the person pushed Tybalt away but couldn't save me as they probably thought because as soon as they wrapped their hands around me, we both were sent backward. Down the cliff and Into a free fall.