BOUND BY FATE: Contracted To The Enemy Alpha

Chapter 7— Blind Wolves.

Chapter 7— Blind Wolves.

Tristan

“I've got you!” I barked, catching Mark before he hit the ground completely. His chest heaved, blood pumping out through the deep gash at the side of his torso.

His eyes fluttered close, his weight sagged against me. “Stay with me, Mark!” I yelled, shaking him slightly to keep him conscious.

“R–rogues,” he choked, managing to open his eyes. I shook my head. “Save your strength.”

“The border—north…” A cough tore through him. “Fire… children.”

“s**t!” I cursed under my breath. This was bad. Really bad. I placed my hand on his chest. “I get this.”

‘Callie, I need you here and come along with one of the guards stationed at the pack house’ I mindlinked urgently while trying to perform first aid to stop Mark's bleeding.

Every attempt was futile. It was obvious that the wound hadn't been inflicted by just any blade, silver had been mixed with it. He needed a healer and he needed it quick.

Soon enough Callie arrived with a guard. “Take him to the infirmary.” And then I glanced at Kyra, ‘And her’ I mindlinked.

Callie paused mid-step, brows raised but I ignored her silent question. I needed to find out what the f**k was happening?

Without a glance back, I left the training arena.

The wind hit my face the second I stepped into the open air, the stench of smoke penetrated my nose. The fire that Mark was talking about. My eyes caught the thick black smoke in the sky. How did I miss this? I'd thought my earlier unrest was a result of Kyra being used as a live dummy. Whether I liked it or not, she was my mate and my wolf would be triggered if he sensed her unrest or saw her in harm's way.

I shifted mid-run, paws pounding into the dirt, tearing through the woods, and heading straight for the southern border.

By the time I reached the border, the smoke had mostly cleared, but the stench of it— charred timber, burnt hair, flesh clung to the air.

I let out a roar. My wolf was furious, I was furious. How did this happen? How had this happened without anyone sensing it?

My eyes settled on a portion of the pack we called “the low ridge.” It was a patch of land at the southern border also known as the farmers’ settlement. This place was usually filled with crops, and children playing around but what I saw now… everything had been leveled.

The fields were scorched, the barns were reduced to splintered woods, the homes were nothing but rumble, and the kids… a loud howl tore off my chest. The kids, the women.

My gaze lingered on the devastation before shifting to a figure approaching. Kallum, my Beta and best friend approached carrying a young pup who seemed to be around the age of ten.

I shifted back into my human form while he handed her over to one of the guards before he looked at me. “How did this happen?” I whispered. I could feel my fingers trembling, the sight before me reminding me of… I shook my head to keep myself focused. This was not the time to go down memory lane.

I just lost members of my pack. I just lost people who believed in me, people I swore to protect.

“I don't know,” Kallum replied in a shaky breath. “The fire started quickly and was over just as fast. There was no malfunction, no oversight, no nothing. It was like it was… deliberate. But I might be wrong, the patrol guards, the scout would have taken down anyone who got within a meter of the gate.” True.

Our scouts would have sighted anyone from a mile already approaching and would have sent a warning. They wouldn't have even made it alive let alone cross through the border, into the gate, and then do this.

My head fell, and my fingers tugged my hair in frustration. “I didn't even sense a goddamn thing. How is that even possible?” No one crosses into my pack without permission, heck! No one without permission can step into my pack without me sensing it.

He looked at me, something crossing through his eyes. “I tried to reach you but it was like I was blocked. Something was keeping me out.” Kallum looked around before turning to look at me, his voice low. “I think something else was at play here.”

He didn't need to say it out loud. Everything that had just happened was strange. “Or maybe whoever is behind this isn't an outsider,” I stated. I know what kallum was thinking even if he didn't say it. But Kyra was with me, and I refused to accept that I made a mistake in bringing her here. But the pack was supposed to be protected, she wasn't supposed to be able to harm anyone. That was the work of the f*****g blood pact!

He gave me a disapproving glance, “Tristan…”

“Come on. Come with me to address the pack.” I said cutting him off. I didn't wait to hear his reply. The footsteps behind me were answer enough.

The hallway was a place of chaos and cries. Voices filled the air and as soon as the pack members saw me, their cries became louder. My heart ached as I looked at the faces of crying mothers who had lost a child to the fire, women whose mates were dead, and children whose parents were either dead or hospitalized.

My eyes settled on a young girl with blistered hands clinging to an older male, both smeared in soot and blood. Two healers crouched over another body nearby.

My fingers flexed at my sides. The weight of my pack's eyes followed me with every step. Grief. Anger. Fear. It clung to them like a second skin. I met every gaze with calm control, letting them know that I was with them and I was sharing the pain with them.

I stopped at the front facing them. The elders were present, each having a look of disappointment. The murmurs finally died down when I stood at the podium.

“I know…” I swallowed, my tongue feeling heavy. “Words can't fill the hole that's been ripped in our hearts today. I know some of you have lost your mates, your children, your homes… and I failed to protect you.”

For a brief moment, I looked down, feeling my throat tightening. I hate this. I hate that this was what I had to address, I hate that we were mourning. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

“This pack is my responsibility. Your safety, my priority. And I know that with what happened today you have every reason to doubt me. To question my ability. I stand before y'all to make a promise.”

I paused, meeting the tear-streaked faces, the hollow stares of grief, and pain. “I will find whoever is behind this and they will answer for every life lost, every tear shed, and everything we lost…”

“Are you saying that whoever was behind this hasn't been apprehended?” A voice called out through the crowd. My eyes searched the crowd until it landed on a middle-aged man, Rafael Flynnor. Elder Corvin's nephew.

I swallowed, feeling all eyes on me. Anticipation clung to the air, and slow murmuring began to grow. “Sadly, no, Rafael. But I do promise that soon they will be caught and be brought to answer for their crime.”

Rafael gave a bitter laugh, then shook his head and pushed forward. “I lost a daughter today and you're telling me that the person behind my daughter's death is out there!”

“I'm not going to stop until I reach the root of this.”

“What root Alpha?” He spat. He turned to the crowd. “Do we all want to pretend that we don't know the reason behind the fire outbreak?”

Murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd like a wind through a field of tall grass.

“It's the Ferguson girl!” someone yelled from the crowd.

“Yes, she did this.”

“This is her revenge for humiliating her.”

Rafael spoke, eyes flashing like someone high on something. “It's no coincidence that a few days after the Ferguson witch came, this happened. Maybe you should have killed her when you had the chance…”

“Enough!” I barked. I felt my fingers trembling by my sides. Their words still echo in my head. I'd long to see the Ferguson bloodline suffer, to make them pay for the pain they caused me for so long that I thought was the only way I could get my revenge.

“I understand your pain, your grief.” I addressed the crowd before my eyes rested on Rafael. “And I know y'all hate Kyra Ferguson as much as I do but she is not responsible for this. She can't do this without having consequences from the blood pact.”

Someone scoffed. “She's a witch, she must have found a loophole. And you're only saying that because she's your mate…”

In a blur, I was in front of the male. “Like I said,” I growled, “she's innocent and I am going to get to the root of this. I'm going to fish out the person responsible for this.”

I forced my anger down and then moved back. “You all want vengeance, then trust that I do too.”

“What about our food? The barns are nothing but ashes now, our foodstuff burnt. Our homes are gone.” I turned to the female whose eyes were red, dried tears on her cheek.

“I will make arrangements for shelter, food is going to be rationed starting today. The storeroom and the armory rooms still have supplies, and we will make them stretch.” I said, my voice steady even though I could already feel the weight of worry on my shoulder. How long would the supplies last before another outburst?

“Hunting teams will be organized in shifts to bring in fresh meat, and we’ll begin salvaging anything that survived the fire.” I continued. I scanned the crowd, their anger had dwindled but it wasn't gone completely.

“Callie and Myla will oversee the distribution to make sure every family gets what they need. You have my word—you will not starve under my watch.” I concluded then nodded to the guards.

“Everyone is dismissed. Go. I want the females who are experienced to help the healers tend to the wounded. Others take a rest, until the full moon to bury our dead.”

The room began to empty slowly, grudgingly save for the elders, Callie, Kallum, and Myla, his mate. Rafael shot one long look at me before finally leaving.

I turned to them, exhaling deeply as the door shut behind Rafael.

Corvin was the first to speak. “You know Rafael was right. This is the Ferguson witch handiwork. The same thing she did in her pack that got her banished.”

A silent sigh escaped me. “She was in the training arena with me when it happened,” I explained. The blood pact was supposed to protect everyone from her harm, she was with me when all this was happening.

“Defending her already now, are we?” Callie hissed. I sent her a glare. It was difficult having to face the pack and address something even I didn't understand, it was difficult facing Corvin and his accusation, and now Callie?

“Like the mate bond is taking its place,” Elder Rowan added, his eyes looking at me intently as if he didn't want to miss anything.

“This has nothing to do with the mate bond and if Kyra is behind this, then trust I will break the blood pact and see she gets what she deserves.”

“You better,” Corvin said darkly. “Before we'd be the next burning.” He turned and left, the rest of the elders trailing behind him.

“You said you had her under control,” Callie spoke as soon as they were out of earshot.

“I do.”

She arched a brow, “then what is this? And please do not tell me she's not behind this. A thing like this has never happened before.”

“Like I said to Rafael and everyone, if she's behind it then she will pay.”

“Hmm.” She tsked, looking at me. “There's an old tale about blind wolves, Tristan. They don’t stay Alphas for long. I really do hope you aren't blind.”

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