Profound Devotion

Chapter 36

August 3rd
Cassius

Though I spent most of my time these past few days hiding who I really was, my beast desperate to be acknowledged, it felt strange to return to its form. I could feel the strength that I had been swallowing down seep through my veins, only riling myself up further as I stalked toward our prey.

Alpha Jackson, though oblivious to many things, was less than surprised while his pack members let out cries of terror and scrambled away from the inevitable fight before them. Instead, my shifting only seemed to confirm what he already knew.

"I must say," He began, forcing a cocky smile across his smug lips. "You did a fine job at pretending, but changing your eye color and putting on a pathetic show was not enough to hide your true identity." He hid his fear of my large beast who was circling him, taking note of every weakness on display until he found the perfect moment to attack. We had both been waiting for this, and nothing was going to ruin what we set our sights on. He would feel the pain he caused Mona for so long, and there was no way in hell I was going to stop there. "If a fight is what you want, a fight is what you'll have."

In a flash of darkened fur, his body shifted into the large brown wolf that represented the Alpha blood that blessed his genes. Though he was smaller by more than a few inches, his strength he wielded was prominent with each stamp of his paws or snap of his jowls.

We collided in the center, teeth clashing and claws tearing at every vulnerable part of fur and skin. The rigorous training I had memorized through most of my life came into play, helping my body move on instinct to dodge his attacks that were fueled out of anger and jealousy.

He yelped as I chomped down on his leg to draw his stark blood, tearing it away and shaking off the pain as he returned with a swipe to my face. I pulled back at the last second, barreling my head into his side to send him flying across the field. I had blood—both mine and his—matting my grey fur and face.

I widened my stance to warden him off as Jackson stumbled back up onto his paws. His weight was shifted off the injured leg, and if I looked closely enough, I could see his weakened muscles quivering. He would undoubtedly fall to me soon, that much I was sure of.

My lip, coated in a deep maroon liquid, lifted with a warning growl, my own stance widening to warn off another attack. The deep gashes along my side burned at the slightest movement, but it was nowhere near enough to extinguish the fury I had bottled deep within. I was willing to take this to the end, to finish him off before he did me.

"Cassius." Raian, stepping into his role as a member of our own Alpha family, wedged himself between the two of us with his hands outstretched on either side. "If you kill him, it will start another war we cannot afford. Please, just end this."

I huffed, my chest heaving as I struggled to reign in my beast that was begging to tear the Alpha into pieces. He wanted to scatter his remains on his pack's territory line as a warning to anyone else that dared cross him again.

He was right—I knew he was. Convincing every part of me that, however, was proving impossible.

"Brother." He tried again, attempting to break through the haze and the control that my beast refused to relinquish. It had been years since I completely let it take over, and it was like trying to reign in a wild stallion. It fought back with as much intensity as it had done against Jackson, continuing to entrap me into the deepest corners of my mind where it thought I belonged.

I pounded against the restraints, though it barely wavered and instead remained fully intact. Words swirled around my head, blinding me with their intensity as they forced their way in one ear and out the other.