Traded To The Faceless King - Werewolf Special

Chapter 5 Echoes Of Pain

"I will die anyway. Look at my body," Mr. Smith groaned, barely managing to articulate his words through the sharp agony. His body was littered with multiple stab wounds, each one a testament to the violent skirmish we had just endured. I couldn’t shake the feeling that the poison coursing through his veins was claiming him rapidly, adding urgency to the situation.

The moment I heard him say "die," I fell to my knees, the weight of despair crashing over me.

“Old Cranky Man!” the words slipped from my mouth unconsciously. “Please don’t die! We’ll get you out of here and get you treated.” Tears streamed down my cheeks as I cried, my heart a tapestry of grief not just for him but for all the innocent children lost in this senseless violence.

He forced a weak smile through his pain and gazed at me, whispering, “It’s great to still hear you call me that, even at your moment of vulnerability. Thank you.”

“Let’s get you out of here and treated!” Valtor urged, moving to lift Mr. Smith.

“It’s pointless. Listen to what I have to say in the little time I have left. Those kids belong to an underworld organization called Shell. Each of these little ones, from what I’ve heard, are called Shellers. There isn’t much time left for me to relay everything I know. Just know they are impersonating the Windsor Pack to create conflict - war amongst us and the Firepack, and they are obviously hired by another clan to do their dirty work,” Mr. Smith stated, his voice growing fainter.

“I don’t care if this creates war. The Firepack should be smart enough to know this isn’t us. We’re under attack too!” Alpha Valtor retorted, his frustration boiling over.

By now, Gamma Rho had finished his fight.

“You still have so much to figure out, Valtor. Take care of my new daughter,” Mr. Smith pronounced, his frail hand reaching out to grasp mine. As he called me his daughter and gave up the ghost, tears I had tried to suppress flowed freely once more. I was an orphan, alone in this world, and his words broke through the last barrier of my resilience.

Valtor didn’t show any visible emotion; his expression was unreadable. He carefully eased Mr. Smith down and moved to check on the closest young enemy Rho had defeated—a girl who appeared no older than thirteen. He tore open the fabric of her clothing to investigate her.

“Shell,” he declared in a deep, resonant voice I hadn’t heard from him before.

I stepped closer, catching a glimpse of a distinctive mark on her shoulder, a snail shell with a sword passing through it under which was inscribed the word “Shell.” I forced myself to look away from the c*****e of her wounds.

“Let’s move!” Valtor snapped as he began to move at a brisk pace, and I struggled to keep up, my heart pounding with anxiety and despair.

“You want me to carry you?” he asked, glancing back at me.

“No, there’s no need,” I replied.

When we reached a door to move forward, Valtor instructed me to move back. As he opened it cautiously, Alpha Jack’s body came tumbling through, crashing to the floor. He had died against it, his face contorted in terror and surprise. I nearly vomited at the sight, he had been brutally murdered. On his body was drawn "Windsor" with an obvious knife. Darn it, this is so brutal.

“By killing the Alpha, who do they think will come to take revenge on us?” Valtor declared, anger lacing his words.

"It is only a fool that will believe it is Windsor who did this, and will now write Windsor like this," Gamma Rho added.

“Well, they are welcome to seek vengeance. I’ll kill them all anyway,” Valtor replied coldly, his voice hollow as we stepped through the doorway.

We were met with a hall strewn with corpses, my friends that are guards are laying lifeless on the floor. My heart stopped as my mind immediately searched for Harry amidst the c*****e.

“Harry!” I breathed, a desperate burst of fear clawing at my throat.

I tried to break away, to rush forward, but Valtor caught me by the arm and pulled me into his embrace. “There’s no way I’m letting you go to your death,” he insisted, though his tone was authoritative rather than comforting.

“I’m the only one who has the right to kill you, pending that time. I will protect you,” he said, but now I was confused. Was this a threat, or a promise?

He released me and moved to survey the area.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t take that word ‘kill’ too seriously,” Gamma Rho advised, noticing my worried expression.

We continued moving cautiously until we reached a quarter designated for visitors. Valtor forced the door open with a swift movement, revealing yet another horrific scene.

“Feyo, Isabella, Georgina!” Gamma Rho gasped as we surveyed the lifeless bodies. I turned to Valtor, whose expression remained inscrutable.

“Let's check the others... my men,” the Faceless King urged, fear gripping my insides.

“They’re all dead. Mason, Logan, Nathan, Ryan, none of them survived the attack we were hit with,” Gamma Rho reported, his voice heavy with sorrow. "I was with them before I came to meet you".

“Let’s just leave the Fire Pack’s mansion,” Valtor declared, his tone chillingly flat, yet I could sense the pain hidden beneath. He lost almost everyone he brought to this occasion, except his Gamma, who is still alive. Well, if everyone else will go down, I don't expect the Gamma to go down like that, judging from the fact that every one of the Windsor Pack are said to be extra formidable, but faced with the Shellers, they seem edged with whatever training or things that have been done to them. Those poor innocent kids.

"I want to check on someone," I declared, still worried sick about Harry, as I headed towards the room that's nearby, where he always stays when he comes here, while being followed by Valtor and Rho, who did not say a single word. I did not find him there, and of course, we have to navigate our way through the corpses of both my clansmen and theirs.

I came across the lifeless body of Harriet's junior sister and many maids I knew. By the time we exited the Fire Pack mansion, I realized that nearly everyone I knew was dead except for Harry and Harriet, who were both unaccounted for, their corpses missing. It is safe to say they are alive, that's good news to me.

“It seems the remaining Shellers have retreated,” Gamma Rho noted, surveying the area.

“Let’s get out of here,” Valtor urged, climbing into the Bentley Continental, an expensive car that gleamed under the moonlight. I climbed in after him, and Gamma Rho took the driver’s seat.

He started the engine and accelerated aggressively away from the compound.

“The night is dangerous. We need to stay on alert,” Valtor declared, checking the time barely past 1 AM.

“Yes. The Shellers could still be out there. They may be planning to ambush us along the road,” Gamma Rho added.

"Those wicked, heartless people who created the shellers, using teenagers and exploiting them for assassination purposes, need to die," I burst out in anger.

"Don't worry, no matter how wicked anyone thinks I am, I don't support that act," The Faceless King continued, speaking in a manner that was both proverbial and resolute, meaning every single one of his words. "Even if it takes me a hundred and ten years to achieve it, I will make sure to uproot them completely, no matter how deep they have gotten."

I turned to look at the Fire pack mansion, and then the memory of all those I knew who died flooded me. The head guard, Mrs. Amelia, along with five other female pack members - Ava, Peace, Aria, Lila, and Evelyn - and four male guards - Ryder, Thane, Kaid, and Jax - they're all dead. These people, whom I interacted with almost daily, including many more whom I didn't mention, were all gone. Who would have thought that they would still meet such a tragic end, regardless of the Faceless King's involvement.

I was just one lucky girl who got swapped, traded, and got to live. If not, I would also be dead like them. May their souls rest in perfect peace. No, they are all heroes, facing death with courage and resilience. Facing a brutal death after putting up a fight is not an easy feat. May their souls rest in power.

I looked at the Firepack mansion one last time. When suddenly, the voice of Rho rang out. "History has been written with that mansion. We lost many of our loved ones to it."

"Yes," I replied, leading the sad conversation on. "It is a memory I will never forget for the rest of my life."

"It is no more Firepack mansion," The Faceless King added, when I was already thinking he wasn't interested in the conversation. "It is currently a bloodbath mansion."

"Yes, a bloodbath mansion which may turn haunted one day," I replied.

Gamma Rho sped into the night, passing the narrow road that led to the open road, and I sat back down.

“What the heck?” I suddenly yelled as I spotted shellers blocking our path ahead.

“Stop the car!” I screamed in horror.

“Go through!” Valtor ordered.

Harriet's POV

My legs felt like they were on fire as we raced toward the nearby sea, clinging to the desperate hope of finding a boat.

If not for Harry’s presence beside me, I thought I would have surrendered to despair to death long ago. We arrived at the shore of the sea.

“You know, we could have used a car to get to your pack,” I remarked.

"That route is swarming with them. We would have been dead by now if we tried,” Harry explained, and I had no counter-arguments left.

Looking ahead, I spotted an aged man standing by a boat on the shoreline.

“Looks like luck is on our side,” I said.

“Be careful. It’s strange to see a man with a boat at this hour of the night. I was only hoping to see a boat or wait until morning,” he replied.

“We would like to cross the sea to Black City,” Harry declared when we approached him.

“No problem,” the old man responded, nodding.

“Who are you? It's unusual to encounter someone here at this hour without a hidden agenda,” Harry asked, his skepticism evident.

“You might be right. But I have no place to sleep, and this boat is my abode,” the old man answered.

“It’s dangerous for an aged man like you to sleep in a boat. So I will be giving you a payment that will be enough for you to get a nice apartment." I declared.

“Thank you,” he murmured, his gratitude barely audible.

As we boarded the boat and the old man began to row us across the water, I took a moment to breathe, feeling the weight of terror ease just slightly.

“Thanks for your protection,” I said to Harry as we glided over the water.

“Don’t mention it. I’m just glad we managed to escape. I hope Ember is safe too,” he replied, sadness flickering in his expression.

“Those damn Windsor backstabbing bastards!” I erupted angrily.

“It’s not the Windsors. Those who attacked us were the Shellers,” Harry corrected, his face set in a hard line.

“I know, but it’s obvious the Windsors hired them as assassins to take us out after signing the treaty for peace,” I spat back.

“But they didn’t only kill Fire; they also killed Wind. So I doubt it,” Harry countered thoughtfully.

“According to what I’ve heard about the Faceless King, he might kill off his own pack members to divert attention away from himself that he breach the treaty,” I argued, feeling the knot of tension return.

“Still, those Shellers marked the bodies with ‘Windsor.’ Doesn’t that mean they are innocent?” he replied, making a good point.

“This confusion is precisely what the Windsors want to create,” the aged man interjected.

“Who are you?” Harry and I asked in unison.

“Your uncle, Harriet,” he said, lowering the scarf he had used to cover his head. I was overjoyed to see him, wrapping my arms around him in a tight hug.

“Uncle Bob!” I cried, tears of relief brimming in my eyes. “Father is dead, my little sister is dead,” I added, my voice trembling with grief.

“It’s okay,” he murmured, attempting to comfort me while I wept under his embrace.

It took several moments before I broke away, finally gaining some composure as I sat down.

“Well... can we continue the conversation from where we left off?” Harry asked cautiously, clearly wanting clarity amid the chaos.

“The Windsors want to eliminate the Firepack. Your father worked tirelessly to get the Faceless King to sign a peace treaty, using the high price of your marriage to persuade him. Judging from the constant pleading, he finally accepted,” Uncle Bob shared, his tone grave.

“I hate to say it, but your father is weak,” Harry said, and I chose not to respond or think too deeply about it.

“I understand that he wanted to protect the pack. But if I were in his shoes, I would have placed the weaker members in hiding and prepared for war against the Windsors, even if it meant my own death. But now, as you can see, after everything he did, he still ended up a victim of the Windsors,” Uncle Bob continued.

“Let’s get back to what we were discussing. He came for what he demanded in return, for you. He couldn’t get you, and in the end, he ended up marrying your lowlife servant. This may have been what led him to hire the Shellers. Who knows... regardless, he hired them to dispose of you all and eliminated his own clan members to cover up any thoughts of breaching the contract. He likely thought everyone would believe the Faceless King could be ruthless enough to kill his own. So he decided to put the blame on the Windsors, ensuring everyone would think they aimed to implicate him,” Uncle Bob explained and I concurred to his insight.

“Are you willing to avenge your father's death your family's death?” he asked, and I felt a twinge of guilt. A part of me yearned to exact revenge on the Faceless King for taking away everything. Another part was against it.

“I will,” I declared, with uncertainty, because my feelings remained torn between love and revenge, as I didn't know which one to choose yet, but one must win.

“But we can’t act against the Faceless King. He’s too strong, his clan is formidable, and he commands great support from the Alphas because he keeps balance in the werewolf realm,” I continued, acknowledging the harsh reality.

“Yes. He’s incredibly powerful and a king. He also has many enemies who wish to kill him for either revenge or to take over his throne. Now since he killed our family , he has made us one of his main enemies, who will not stop until we bring him down.,” Uncle Bob replied, his eyes filled with determination.

“And uncle… there’s someone else I wish to kill more than ever,” I blurted out, without thinking.

“Who?” they both asked, drawn into my outburst.

“Never mind,” I quickly said, the thought of Ember reeling in my mind. I couldn’t share my desire for revenge on her, not with Harry present. He still harbored feelings for her.

“It’s surprising how informed you are about everything that’s been happening,” I remarked, redirecting the tension.

“I have spies in your pack, and your father always kept me updated about how he was running the pack. Though he hid some parts, I figured things out through my contacts. He told me you were getting married, which is why I came here undercover, only to find another girl being wed to the Faceless King" He replied.

"What went wrong between you and my father that I last saw you many years ago?" I asked, my curiosity piqued, because my father had refused to tell me.

"My younger brother and I had disputes that caused us to separate,” Uncle Bob revealed, not willing to go deeper.

Silence engulfed us for a moment, and I wanted to pry more into the past that lay between Uncle Bob and my father, what could have severed that deep relationship? But I chose to hold back, letting the gravity of our current situation ground me.

“I have a surprise for you when we reach Black City,” Uncle Bob announced.