The Beast (Alpha Trilogy #1)

Chapter 10

Shane POV

I walk around the perimeter, around the clearing, trying to clear my head. I can hardly sleep, the images my mind conjures are too horrific for me to sleep like a normal wolf, so usually I take a walk around the clearing or go for a run, so that I can fall asleep.

I watch her leave the Alpha's house in the middle of the night, sneaking around and carefully checking her surroundings.

There is something off about her, and I will figure out what. What was that smell I smelled on her?

I follow her through the woods, keeping my distance, so that she won't notice. She seems to be extremely observant and vigilant, making me nervous. I've only seen this kind of behavior from rogues or warriors. Watchful, careful and sneaky. She's something else. And it unnerves me and my wolf.

After a while I hear some weird sounds coming from my right, so I go to check it out, leaving the human alone.

Turns out it was a small group of rogues on our territory. There were only 4 of them, so the border patrol and me took them down pretty fast, but not without getting them to talk about the reason for their sudden invasion.

One of the rogues shifted and what he said made my blood turn into ice.

"W-We are he-here for t-the Beast!!! T-the bit-bitch is o-ours!"

Beast? Bitch? What the hell is he talking about?

I think about what the rogue said and quickly relay the message through the mind link to Leo.

'Leo, the rogues came-'

'I know, there were some at the south and west borders, too.' I hear his agitation through the link. Is he really that worried about the rogues?

'One of them spoke. They are after someone, who is supposedly on our territory. He said they are after a beast and that the bitch is theirs. Do you know what that could be about?' I ask him, receiving only crazy pained growl in response.

'They're after my mate! Fuck! Anyone who finds her, report immediately.' Leo booms through the mind link, his voice much deeper, meaning Demon is close to taking control.

'She's heading north, or was at least. I lost her a few hours ago.'

'WHAT!!! FUCK! The northern patrol doesn't respond. If the rogues are there...' He trails off, clearly worried for his little human mate.

I give control to my wolf, Ash, letting his instincts help find the human.

Ash POV

I head north and slightly west, as my human said the Luna has gone that way.

About 15 minutes later I find her, sitting on a tree, her eyes closed, reminding me of my human's first encounter with her. But that's not what gets my attention. It's the distant sound of fight. The rogues.

I get on my hind legs and start growling at my Luna, trying to wake her up, so I can take her away from here before the rogues come, at the same time giving my Alpha our position through the mind link.

'I'm coming! Keep her safe, Shane, or I swear to-' Demon growls in the link.

'It's Ash, Alpha. Do not worry, my human may not like her, but she's my Luna. I will protect her with my life.'

'Good. The rogues?'

'I can hear a fight at the border. We're close enough for me to know that the patrol is losing. Sorry, Alpha.' With that our conversation ends, leaving me to deal with the Luna.

She slowly wakes up, checking her surroundings. She's so watchful, making me wonder what the hell happened to her to make her so alert all the time.

As she slowly gets down from the tree, I listen into the fight at the border. Damn it! The patrol is gone.

Fuck! The rogues are coming!

"Alpha, the rogues are coming our way! We need back up! There are 10 of them!

'We're almost there, Ash. Protect my mate!'

I pounce on my Luna, crouching to hide her under my body and growling at the rogues. They will not touch my Luna!

After few minutes, she tries to get out from under me, but I'm having none of this, snarling at her warningly, stopping her attempts to leave. Alpha is so going to kill me for this.

The rogues about 30 yards away, sniffing the air. I keep my stance, ready to attack, only noticing the Luna beside me once their eyes lock onto her. How did I not notice her getting out?

Just as I hear the thundering sound of paws of my Alpha and the pack members, the rogues charge at us.

Beast POV

Growling. Furious growling. That's what wakes me up from my nap. It's not my stomach, that's for sure. I slowly open my eyes, letting them adjust to the surroundings. It's not that dark anymore, so I'm guessing it's around dawn, as there is no sunlight yet.

I look down to locate the source of the noise, my eyes slightly opening in surprise when they lock onto the familiar grey wolf. He's furiously growling at me and scratching the ground beneath him with quick, angry moves.

My head tilting in confusion as I watch him, I try to read him. His eyes are furious, almost mad, and I quickly realize that his anger is directed towards me. Why, though? Oh no, is he going to kill me now? He waited for me to be alone without the black wolf to eat me? My mind is going 347 miles a minute, trying to think of a way to get out of this. I thought I was alone, I was sure of it, I didn't detect anything following me, so how did he find me?

He starts doing the same thing as the other wolfs the other day, scratching at the tree bark and snarling at me. Last time, the wolfs did that to get me to get down, is he doing the same thing?

I test this theory by getting down a branch, watching his reaction.

Just like last time, I get down the tree, keeping watchful eye on the grey wolf. I don't want him attacking me, but that's exactly what I expect from him. He didn't seem to like me very much.

However, as soon as I am on the ground, he pounces on me, keeping me under him, snarling at something in the distance. I try to look in that direction to check what's going on, but I'm completely incapacitated by his huge body. He crouches, his body coiled, preparing to attack. Now I really want to know what's there, I hate being defenseless.

I try to wriggle from under him, but one snarl in my face stops all my movement. Then he again stares in the same direction as earlier and growls warningly.

That's when I hear it.

The unmistakable sound of footsteps. Human footsteps.

And then he howls. It's so loud I think my ears might start bleeding. There is something in the howl that tugs at the strings of my very soul, leaving me feeling cold.

Desperation.

I try to get from under him again, this time successfully, as his attention is on whoever is coming here. I turn around and my blood runs cold.

It's THEM.

A group of 10 guards from THAT place is heading towards us.

But they stop at a certain point, putting their heads high in the air, sniffing it. What the freak? I watch them sniffing the air around them and then growl angrily in our direction. Correction - in MY direction.

Then they charge at us.

All ten of them.

Or should I rather say – 10 wolves.