Adversaries

CHAPTER 1

RAIZEN'S POV

Aloha!

Aloha!

'Stay with me. Don't close your eyes yet. Stay awake a little more. I'll be back, I promise!' I growled loudly as I let go of my heart as she bled out. I should have stayed with her.

The shouts of fighting warriors, the smell of blood, her fading breath. Everything was louder than normal. It tried to suffocate me and yet, that was what I wanted. The peace that would come after I joined my lovely Aloha at the other side. She was always calling out to me and it was time to answer.

Raizen!

Raizen!

That sounded nothing like my girl. It was a more masculine voice. The louder it got, the more I felt the heat from the person. With sharp movements, I rolled away from my assailant and turned before pinning him down on the bed.

"Alpha Raizen! It is me," The person called out from underneath me. Recognising the voice to belong to my Beta, Salvax Goren.

"f**k this!" I shouted. I dreamt of her again. My lovely mate. I wasn't there for her when she was dying. That was my biggest regret.

"Alpha?" My beta called out again. It has been him calling for me in my sleep.

"What is it?" I let go of him. Walking to the custom made sofa in the room. I plunged deep into the softness. I did not wish to start my day with a wake up call from my beta.

"It is good to know that your reflexes are still as sharp as they should be. There are urgent matters for you to attend to, Alpha." Salvax said before ushering a maid carrying a tray into the room. There was a large cut piece of meat, prepared according to my taste. The smell was strong enough for me to salivate.

"What do you want?" I eyed him. It was clear that I was annoyed. The entire Ashburn rainforest could do without me.

"There's an urgent matter for you to attend to." Salvax repeated himself again, before dropping a piece of black cloth that looked like it had been ripped from someone's bloody body.

"Handle all pack matters Salvax, unless it is a fight. Then I'll step in. Why don't you find that easy to understand?" I rubbed my hair to the back in frustration. It was a habit that Aloha had tried to stop. She mentioned that it was a bad habit, and I would rub off all the hair on my head then end up looking like Damora Orimon. The Alpha of the Canine's Pack, and my sworn enemy.

"You're always looking for a fight, alpha. Luckily for you, there is one at the moment. Damora is on the move again!" Salvax said, then shut the door behind him on his way out.

I picked up the blood stained cloth. The damage looked like it had been dealt by a werewolf. The only fool who was bold enough to challenge me even when I didn't care for his antics was Damora. He always tried to best me. He strangely had a inexplicable grudge against me. A century ago, was the only time where the bloodthirsty Alpha had ever fought side by side with me. The same time when my lovely Aloha was taken from me in that shady battle. Like an eternal flame, Damora always came back to fight with me. Now, that he was back with his useless challenge, I was going to defeat him once and for all.

The news about the Damora's challenge, was enough to bring me out of my room. Everytime he wanted a fight, he kidnapped one of my pack members who served as merchants. A childish display but it always brought me to him like he desired. I entered my office and went to sit on my chair, completely ignoring Salvax who had a triumphant smile on his face. Even my beta had been having a hard time with getting me to let go of my grief.

"Wipe that stupid grin off your face and tell me everything you know about Damora's warriors," I ordered.

Salvax stood up from his seat in the office and went to pour me a cup of wine. He set the marble cup on the table before moving to the pile of papers on my table.

"Who knew that Damora was the catalyst we needed to bring you out all this while?" He tossed a sealed paper that had the Canine seal on it.

I opened it to find a message. I growled as I read through the well written challenge. There was a symbol by the end of the letter. I studied the drawing. It looked new yet very familiar.

"What village or tribe used this symbol in their emblem?" I asked while trying to recall.

Salvax hissed as he looked at the drawing. "The southside pack outlet. A group of wolves that act as merchants between the eight big Packs," he replied while handing the letter back to me.

"Why do the merchants have their own village?" That piece of information annoyed me more than the fact that Damora was the reason that I was out and about.

"A lot has changed since you went into reclusion. This is just one of the many merchant villages." Salvax explained while pouring himself a cup of the wine.

"This particular village is a derivative of our pack along with another smaller pack that can't defend against Damora's jokes," He added.

"A joke truly. And he has come after a hundred years to boil my blood, Goren." I smirked. I could see the surprise on my Beta's face morph into relief. The fact that I used his last name instead of Salvax must have made him happy. It also indicated that I was back in business.

"So we're going to rescue merchants from Damora?" I asked.

"It would seem so." My trusted Beta, smiled.

"Salvax, we set out by nightfall for the southside merchant village. There's a hunt playdate waiting for us," I commanded, my voice carrying a low growl that rumbled in my throat. Damora was going to get what he wanted.