THE ALPHA I WAS BORN TO KILL

Chap4

“That isn't possible. No one knows the exact day a wolf dies,” Evara finally said.

Rhyden was still holding the book in his hands.

Orelia looked at her. “Most people don't.” Evara's eyes narrowed in suspicion. She continued," but someone has known about yours for a very long time.”

Rhyden closed the book. "Who?”

Orelia remained silent. A horn blared again from the southern road, much closer. Veyron appeared at the edge of the courtyard. “Alpha, they're at the outer gate.”

Rhyden handed the book to Evara. “Take her inside.”

Maevra stepped forward, concern etched on her face. “What about you?”

“I'm heading to the gate,” Rhyden looked at the fighters gathering behind her. “Keep the eastern side protected. If they breach the first gate, retreat to the main house.”

Maevra nodded in agreement. Rhyden looked at her. “Don't let her leave.”

He walked away. Evara watched him vanish through the gates. Then she looked at Orelia. “You're coming with me.”

The old woman offered a faint smile.

Inside the house, Evara tossed the book onto the table.

“Now. Tell me everything.”

Orelia sat into her seat slowly. “I can't.”

Evara stared at her in disbelief. “You just told me my life is tied to an Alpha I was sent to kill, showed me a date six months away, and now you're telling me you can't explain it?”

“I can explain some of it," Orelia glanced toward the door. “Your mother wasn't supposed to have you. She was part of a group that studied future deaths.”

“My mother wasn't a scholar.” She interrupted.

“No. She was a fighter.”

“Then what was she studying?”

Orelia lowered her voice, almost a whisper. “She was researching children born with unusual connections.” She hesitated for a second, then said, "Like you."

Evara sank into a chair, fatigue washing over her for the first time that night. “What happened to the others?” She inquired, her heart racing.

“Most died because their wolves awakened too early,” Orelia said, her tone heavy with sorrow.

Evara looked at her hands, lost in thought. “And mine?” She asked, a hint of fear creeping in.

“Your mother hid you,” Orelia answered.

Suddenly, a loud crash echoed from outside, shaking the house.

Evara jumped to her feet. “What was that? “Stay here.”

Orelia grabbed her wrist. “You don't understand what is happening.”

Another explosion shook the building, and a window shattered, sending shards of glass flying across the room. Evara ducked, but Orelia stumbled and fell. Evara grabbed her, pulling her behind the table for cover.

Outside, someone shouted, and then came the sound of claws scraping against the ground. Evara peered through the broken window, her heart sinking as she saw the wolves pouring into the settlement. The southern gate had fallen.

“Damn,” she cursed under her breath, pulling out her knife.

Orelia grabbed her arm tightly. “Don't go.”

Evara turned to her.

“They're attacking the house!” Evara exclaimed, panic rising.

“They aren't here for the house. They're here for you,” Orelia replied, her voice steady.

Evara pushed the old woman toward the hallway. “Stay behind me.”

She bolted outside. The courtyard had become a battlefield once more. Rhyden stood near the southern gate, fighting three wolves at once. He transformed completely, his black wolf moving faster than Evara had ever seen.

One attacker came from his left. Rhyden caught it by the throat. Another slammed into him. They crashed through a wooden barrier.

“Rhyden!”

He looked toward her.

That moment cost him dearly. A fourth wolf charged in from behind. Evara shifted, and hit it before it reached him. They rolled across the ground. The wolf bit into her shoulder. Pain exploded through her. Evara screamed and struck its face. Her wolf surged forward, her claws lengthened and her strength doubled.

The attacking wolf suddenly stopped. It stared at her, then backed away. Evara froze in place. The wolf lowered its head, not surrendering but recognizing.

Rhyden shifted back to his human form. She turned to him, blood trickling down her arm.

He stared at the wolf. “Why did it stop?”

“I have no idea.”

Suddenly, the wolf fled while three others followed.

Rhyden turned to her. “You need to get inside.”

“No. I can fight.”

“I know.”

He stepped closer. “That's not what I'm worried about.”

Before she could ask, another group rushed through the gate. These weren't wolves. They were humans armed with silver-tipped weapons.

Evara's eyes widened. “Why are humans here?”

Rhyden's face hardened, confusing washing over him.

One of them fired a shot. Rhyden pushed Evara down. The projectile passed over them and struck the wall.

“Move!”

They sprinted away. Rhyden grabbed a sword from a fallen fighter, while Evara followed closely behind. A human attacker charged at them. Rhyden blocked the first strike. Evara attacked from the side, and the man fell. Another came, then another. They fought back to back.

For several minutes, neither spoke. Rhyden covered her blind side and Evara kept her eyes on his.

When the last attacker dropped, they stood there panting heavily.

Rhyden looked at her. “You've fought humans before?”

Evara glanced down at her hands. "No."

Rhyden took a step closer.

Her wolf moved beneath her skin. A deep growl rumbled from her chest.

Rhyden stopped, his eyes changed, and his wolf was reacting too.

It felt like the ground was slipping away beneath Evara's feet. For one second, she saw something that wasn't there. A room, a woman crying, a newborn baby, and Orven standing beside a bed.

Rhyden wasn't there.

Then the vision changed. A stone chamber, a group of wolves kneeling, a man cutting his palm while blood dripping onto a symbol carved into the floor. Evara gasped, and the vision faded away.

Rhyden caught her before she fell. “What happened?”

She pushed away from him. “I saw my father.”

Evara looked toward Orelia. The old woman was standing in the doorway. She had witnessed everything.

Evara walked toward her. “You knew.” Orelia shook her head.

“What did my father do?”

Orelia looked at Rhyden, then back at Evara. “He helped create the rule.”

Evara went completely still.

She continued, “He believed he was protecting you.”

Evara's voice rose. “My father didn't create anything. You're lying.”

Orelia remained still. “He helped create the system that decides whose death is tied to whose wolf.”

Evara stepped back, her face had gone pale.

Rhyden approached. “Why would he do that?”

Orelia looked at him. “Because twenty-two years ago, he believed your life depended on it.”

A distant horn sounded. Veyron came running. “Alpha!”

Rhyden turned sharply.

“We caught one of the attackers.”

“Alive?”

“Yes.”

“Bring him here.”

Veyron hesitated. “He asked for Evara.”

Everyone looked at her. “Me?”

“He said he knows why you were born.”

Evara's stomach dropped. Rhyden stepped between her and the gate. “Bring him.”

Veyron left. Evara turned to Rhyden. “What if he's lying?”

“Then we'll find out. And if he's not?” Rhyden held her gaze. "We will find out who lied to you.”

Evara looked down at the old black book which she clutched in her hand.

. Six months. Her father's secret. The wolves outside. And now a prisoner who claimed to know why she was born.

Evara understood that killing Rhyden might not be the real mission.