Chapter 72

• ALPHA ZACHARY. We trudged along the path that the cave revealed; her on my back as I navigated our way through the opening. The relief swarming inside of me was one I couldn't even express with words because we were finally going home after spending three days in an unknown forest. Apart from the fact that she was the one who found the exit, being with someone else after the brutal attack I experienced was comforting. I might have scolded and lashed out at her for following me when she knew it was dangerous but deep down, I was grateful to her for caring about me. "Am I not heavy?" Her voice infiltrated my thoughts. It has been very quiet since we found the exit at the mouth of the cave and now taking a very familiar part that leads to the middle border that separates all three of the woodland packs. Except for the voices in my head and the sound of the early morning songs of birds, there has been no sound from the both of us. "Yes...yes you are." I teased. Compared to the things I've been made to carry as a child while growing up, Haera's weight was nothing. She's hurt and there's no way I'm putting her down until we return to the pack. At my response, she shifted on my back, trying to let herself down but I kept my grip under her thighs tight, a smile crawling up my lips before I knew it. Her insecurity was evident in the air. "Let me down. I'll try to walk. We have a long way to go and you have to preserve your energy." She patronized. "Are you saying I, your Alpha, am weak?" "No...I didn't mean it like that...you said–I said–you..." I laughed out at her confusion. Having her with me this way is enough to be an energy booster. "You have a fractured bone and you need to keep calm while it heals. We'll be home soon." Home. I wondered if home was home anymore. It was a place I was obligated to protect and the thought of what it must have come to in my absence scared me. I tried to imagine the amount of damage that must have been done. Tybalt may be the legitimate Alpha prince of the both of us but he was unfit to rule. I'd rather have Alan on that throne than see my half brother on it. He must have begun celebrating my death and the beginning of his tyranny. He must have subdued my subjects and made them suffer. He must have invited friends like him to desecrate the pack I have struggled to build up to that level. "What do you think is going on in the pack currently?" Haera asked as if she read through my thoughts. I stopped walking and looked at the three paths ahead of me, each path leading to each of the packs in the woodland area. My pack, the imperial pack is beyond the path in the middle and it would take another long hour to get to it. I sighed, buckling myself for the journey ahead of me and the result of my absence that I would meet at the pack. "We're about to find out." I replied to Haera as I began to walk towards the path in the middle. When it seemed like we were halfway there, I paused and turned back to look in the direction we came from. I sniffed the air, the nudging feeling that I've been turning down coming back to nudge me harder one more time. Someone has been following us. Someone who did a lousy job at hiding their scent like they intended to. I looked around us, nothing was amiss but the eerie silence seemed suspicious in itself. The scent was familiar and its familiarity seemed like the reason why I was being put to test. "Is something wrong?" Haera asked. I could sense the slight panic in her voice as she spoke. I gently let her down from my back and dropped her to the floor beside a nearby rock. Without a word, I looked intently into her eyes and put a finger on my lips to tell her to remain silent. She nodded vigorously, her eyes holding both fear and confusion. I crouched down beside her and then closed my eyes. "What do you sense? A rogue? It's too familiar to be that of a deranged wolf or any other wolf..." I said to Serge through the mind link. "It's intentional. Whoever it is, he's doing this intentionally, barely hiding his scent to announce his presence and also to watch you closely. He's skilled, like he has trained for this all his life...he's–" "Alan!" "Alpha watch out!" Mine and Haera's came at the same time–mine in my head with Serge while hers was a frightened scream that echoed through the entire forest. Both reactions were just in time for the punch that was thrown my way and I avoided it, while bringing the fist that moved to punch me around my shoulders and slamming the entire frame of the attacker onto the floor. Haera screamed and scurried far from the scene while I just looked down at my Beta who was groaning in pain on the floor. "Aren't you too old for sneak attacks? You know you have never succeeded." "Worth a try." Alan coughed out. I smirked and looked to the sides to see Haera. She was less frightened now and recognition flashed in her eyes as she stared at my Beta. I walked over to her and calmly caressed her hair. "Are you okay?" I asked and she bobbed her head. "Why did he attack us like that?" Alan stood up, holding a probably dislocated shoulder and looking from me to Haera. "Had to be sure it was the Alpha." He shrugged. Haera frowned and pushed me away as she stood up, hands crossed over her chest. "By attacking us?" Haera asked, nose flaring. "Us?" Alan taunted, looking straight at her while he used his hand to pop his dislocated bone back to its position without losing eye contact with her. Haera's eyes dilated at the inhuman act. "He's your Alpha and you need an attack to tell it's him, are you sure you're doing your job well?" "Talking about jobs, how on earth did a chef end up with the Alpha outside of the pack? Cooking as well?" Alan countered. As fun as it was to watch the both of them stand off against each other, we had no time to waste by standing around. "When did you arrive?" I asked Alan, knowing fully well that he hasn't been in the pack since the time I sent him on the mission to find answers to the questions driving me crazy. Alan looked away from the seething Haera and turned to me. "A day ago...the day after the attack. Before I came into the palace at all, there had been rumors about the attack circulating in the pack and that it was only the Alpha prince that survived the attack. I knew something was up right then." "Bastard. He ambushed me with the help of rogues." Alan nodded the positive. "I know that much. I didn't go into the palace after getting to know the situation of things and just hovered around it. Tybalt lied to the people. He claims you were thrown down the cliff by the rogues and even organized a search party for you. The party has been looking for you for the past two days and so have I. I found the mouth of the cliff and sensed yours and her scent everywhere around. I followed it down here and found you." My fists clenched in anger at the Tybalt's well thought out plan. Considering his temper, I had thought he would take the pack by force. I underestimated him and what he was capable of. If I wasn't found in a week, I would be assumed dead and then the position would be passed on to the person who is qualified to be the Alpha. Tybalt chose the legitimate way to take the throne. "I'm glad I found you first. Tybalt would definitely have planted someone among the search party to kill you once they find you." "We have to leave now!" I gritted out. Alan nodded and began to lead the way. "It's okay...I can walk now, really." I ignored Haera's complaint and carried her on my back again while I followed Alan who walked ahead of us. When he turned around to look at us, I saw momentary shock in his eyes but of course, he was quick to hide it and turn his face back around. We walked for a few more minutes until we were finally seeing the gates of the palace ahead of us. Alan strictly made us take the path that wasn't visible to the people of the pack till we got to a place close to the palace itself. I made to go forward but Alan stopped me. "You can't go in like that!" I frowned. "What do you mean I can't go in like that? Is there any other way?" Alan sighed and looked around the huge walls of the palace and the guards guarding it. "You never know who is waiting to attack you out there. Tybalt has eyes everywhere looking for you. I'm sure of it." "What do you suggest we do then?" "There's a secret opening behind the palace, if we just go around this path, we wil–" "Wait a second, secret opening? In my palace? Tell me why I'm just learning about this." I had no idea that my palace had a secret passage. "Yes...it's been there for a very long time now. Before your father even became the Alpha." Alan explained. "And you expect me to believe this? Why was I never informed?" I was directing all my frustrations at my Beta. He opened his mouth to say something but Haera's voice stopped him. "He's right. There really is a secret passage behind the palace. It was the passage that Tybalt took when I followed him days ago." Alan looked confused by Haera's confession and he stared at me as if waiting for an answer. I just shrugged. After all, I was shocked when she told me the same thing while we were lost in the forest. "Fine. Let's go." Alan took that as his cue to lead the way and so instead of going forward, we went around the palace, shielded by the deep forest till we got to the secret passage behind the palace. It shocked me that there was indeed a secret passage in my pack that I do not know of. Shrugging my annoyance at that fact off, I followed Alan through the passage and it led to the place where the well at the palace was situated. There was not a single soul around the palace. It was as if it had been deserted. "Where the hell is everyone?" "Probably mourning their Alpha who isn't dead yet. It's better that way. Tybalt would be inside the throne room, I'm sure of it. We have to move quietly without drawing attention." I nodded and then slowly set Haera down. I knew I couldn't take her with us because I had no idea what I would be facing when I walked into my chambers. "Find somewhere safe and wait there for me. Even better if you can go back to the secret passage. No one must know you're back to the pack before I come out here, can you do that for me?" She nodded and I smiled slightly, patting her on her head and before she could react, I was up to my feet and followed behind Alan. I felt her longing gaze on my back as I walked and it took a lot of willpower not to turn around and take her with me. She's safer here, I told myself. Alan and I hid our scent and slowly walked towards my chambers. The two guards always situated at the door were shocked to see me but I was quick to hold a hand up to stop them from making my presence known. They bowed and ushered me and Alan into the building. I sniffed the air around and my brother's scent claimed the air. He was indeed here even if he wasn't in the throne room. My mind went to Ilvira just then. It baffles me that I haven't thought of her all along. How has she been coping? Did she mourn me? Was she still mourning my absence? Has Tybalt hurt her? The questions went on and on. The closer I got to my chambers, the stronger the scent of my half brother got. Strangely, Tybalt's scent wasn't the only one I could sense. In fact, it was a whole new one that I have never sensed in my palace before. It got stronger just as Tybalt's own did and they seemed to mix with one another to the point of complete confusion for me. And then I heard it. Just as I got to the hallway that had doors on each side of it. I heard a familiar sound ridden with pleasure; one that was meant for my ears and my ears alone. One that I've heard countless times for me to know who it was from and what it meant. "Oh God! Tybalt...right...right there!" I didn't freeze in a spot. No. My anger didn't make me go rigid, instead it made me go ballistic as I connected all of the dots,yet as I barged open the door, I wanted it to be just an imagination. It wasn't. Tybalt was indeed fucking my mate on her bed. "You bastard." I growled, Ilvira screamed while I lunged for Tybalt before he could even completely form a shocked expression on his face. I grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the floor in his naked state. The shock made him unable to fight back as I bent over him and began to deliver several blows to his face. I hit every part of his face that had flesh and ultimately broke his nose.I was far too gone from stopping myself and Ilvira's screams urged me on. My fist connected to his face multiple times than I could count till there was no place left for me to hit anymore. His face was disfigured from all the hits he took and it was hard to tell if it was just his blood that was all over his face or the one from my busted fist as well. Even if a few guards had already arrived at the scene as a result of the noise from the commotion, no one made a move to stop me. I wanted to kill him right there and then but he didn't deserve such an easy getaway. I stood from his frame which was barely moving and wiped the blood from my fist on my clothes before slowly turning to my mate who had the sheets up to her chest and looked like she could enter into a wall any moment from then. With anger blazing like fire and pain accompanying the feeling all at once, I stalked towards her. She sank further into the bed, eyes pleading with me with fear staining them as well. I stopped at the foot of the bed and looking directly into her eyes, I said, "Lock the Luna up in the silver cell."