Suits and Rogues

Chapter 13

    Odin gasped as he came out of the male’s mind. He had managed to erase the memories needed to keep the secret, but already, his mind is ready to shut down. So far, he had managed to erase all the memories of the people who witnessed it in the span of 1 and half day. That’s probably the reason he’s so mentally tired. One erasure of memories usually takes 5-8 hours to complete although it feels like it’s only minutes. But since Odin needs to erase their memories before they regain consciousness and because he has no one to protect him, he sped up the process. Thank goddess he knocked them hard enough to pass out for days.

    It took all of his mental strength to do the task and he’s drained as hell. His mind could not even command his body to at least go to somewhere comfortable to lie down to. It just shut down as Odin collapses on the floor and darkness came to sweep him to oblivion.

*****

    Clank! Clink! Sssccchhhrrrr! BOOOOM!

    Odin suddenly found himself standing at a very dark place with the sound of battle echoing around him. ‘Where am I?’ he wondered as he took note of how pitch black the place is. He can barely see the silhouette of his hands as he lifts them up to his face.

    A flash of light suddenly appeared on the periphery of his vision – nearly blinding him. He used his hand to shield his eyes as the light continues to glow brighter. He felt a familiar throb of energy course through the air; making goose bumps appear on his arms. ‘I’m not supposed to be here.’ Odin thought as he feels a surge of danger from the place. He tried looking around for exits but the darkness of the place prevented him from doing so. Even his amazing eyesight could not make out anything. The only place that he could see something is the place eliminated by the flashing light in the distance. The logical thing to do is to get near to that light but his instincts are telling him that it’s dangerous. Still, what choice does he have?

    Cursing whoever put him in this place, he blindly followed the direction of the light. He only managed to take three steps before he bumped into a wall. “f**k!” he cursed angrily as he stepped back. It turns out it was a pillar that he bumped into when he spread his arms in front of him. “Whoever it is that is living here needs a better architect.” He grumbled; rubbing his nose that feels like it turned flat. Walking around the pillar, he extended his hands out to avoid smashing his face flat to any wall or pillar on the way. As if his misfortune wasn’t enough, he kept bumping into things. His stomach got attacked by a table, a rock suddenly fell on his toes, something above slapped him in the face, a chair arm punched his balls, his hands accidentally grabbed on foul and painful things, and his forehead bumped into a wall. ‘This must be how it feels to be blind.’ He thought.

    Odin knows that he should stay as quiet as possible because he’s in an unknown territory with an unknown enemy, but with every bump with the things he can’t see, more and more curse words escape his mouth – far worse than the first.

    When he bumped to another table, he decided enough is enough. “f**k this!” he roared before delivering a destructive blow to the table in front of him. He expected the table to break but instead, his fist took the damage. “FUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKKKK!” Odin roared as a searing, white pain attacked Odin’s hand. He felt the bones in his hands break, his veins popping, muscles and flesh tearing, and his nerves going haywire. He collapsed on the ground in pain. Sweat broke out of his pores as blood ooze out of his damaged hand. A wail of pain escaped him as intense pain continues to throb and worsen in his hand. For the first time, Odin experienced a whole new level of pain. It was even worse than when he was kidnapped and tortured when he was 7. At least back then, the pain was external. This time, the damage dug deep to the core and Odin feared that the damage will be permanent.

    ‘Dang it, Odin. This is what you get for being a grumpy bastard!’ he scolded himself as he writhe and curl himself into a ball. It felt like his entire body got damaged just from that one blow. Dang it, he’s in trouble.

    Panting, he tried to calm his breathing and focused on calming himself down. There’s no use in writhing in pain. He has to think of ways to apply first aid to his injury. Taking more deep breaths in, he stretched his body, laid on his back, and closed his eyes. He focused on breathing in and out, listening to the sounds of breathing, and unwinding his tense muscles. He flinches and his breath hitch whenever the throbbing pain becomes intense but he continues on trying to relax. Being tense will only make the pain worse.

    He doesn't know how long he stayed laying there and trying to calm himself down. He just continued trying to make the pain go away and triggering his natural healing - unaware that he had driven attention to himself.

    'What an unfortunate soul.' A certain being thought when he sensed someone else had got in while he fought with the darkness. Grinning wickedly, the being jumped away from his enemy and charged towards the fallen werewolf.

    At the sound of pounding footsteps, Odin dared to peek an eye open only for it to widen at the sight. Now that he's closer to the actual battle, he can now see clearly. To his surprise, the darkness that surrounds the place seems to be trying to eliminate the light. Shreds of darkness stabs and coils through the light that keeps throbing and letting out sparks in defense. The alarming part, the light is charging towards him with a speed that is faster than a blink of an eye.

    Odin could swear he was about to die when suddenly, things slowed as if he's watching a movie in slow motion. An ethereal presence appeared behind him and gentle, slender hands landed on his shoulders. Intense cold suddenly assaulted his body, making him shiver and nearly pass out. Not even the cold of the far northern world could compare to what he's feeling right now.

    "Stay..." a wispy feminine voice sounded beside his ear. If the being wasn't so close to his ear, Odin must've missed it.

    Odin couldn't reply due to his clattering teeth and intensely shivering body. He wants to turn around and look at the person behind him but the cold had locked his body frozen.

    "Stay...and...let...it...come...to...you. That will prove your loyalty to me." The same slender hand caressed his hair in an almost loving way that caused goosebumps to appear all over his body. Despite the innocent touch, Odin's danger is going off.

    Who is she? And what loyalty is she talking about?

    "Wh-who-?"

    "Who is your mate? Stay and let it come to you. Then...I'll give her to you. My absolute gift. The gift only my children are blessed with." The ethereal voice said before placing a gentle kiss on his cheek.

    A sudden loud growl echoed around the place and Odin realized in shock upon realizing who the person behind him is - more like...a deity. But what shocked him even more is his wolf's angry growl directed at the goddess behind him.

    'What are you doing?' He asked his wolf as his wolf continued to growl at the goddess. 'She's Lun! Our goddess! How dare you disrespect her?!' He shouted at his wolf but it seems like he's gone deaf and continued to express his aggressiveness to their deity.

    'Stop it!' Odin cried desperately. 'If you anger her, she may not give us our real mate!'

    Still, his wolf continued to growl and snap his jaws as threat to the goddess.

    "My my...it seems like you've been tainted." The goddess said before tapping a finger on Odin's head and suddenly, an excruciating headache formed on Odin's head; making him roar out in pain.

    The moment his pained roar died out, all his strength left him and everywhere in his body throbs in searing pain. Collapsing face first to the ground, he landed with a loud thud even though everything was in slow motion. His wolf was suddenly gone and he panicked.

    "Stay and prove your loyalty to me, alpha, only then will you get what your heart desires." Were the goddess' parting words before she left. And just like that, things rapidly came back to normal pace and that's when Odin knew he's going to die. The ball of light came charging at him in a speed and force that will surely obliterate his existence. Even at a distance, Odin could feel his body melting. His pores seared as if burned and an excruciating white pain blinded him as the light approaches.

    Odin could clearly see the light charging and the darkness chasing it, but still, he couldn't save himself. Odin could only watch helplessly as all his tired eyes, aching head, and pained body could only do is lay still as their doom approaches them.

    For a split second, time slowed once again but when the light was only an arm's length away from him, the slowness got suddenly cut off and the light's pace is back. The blinding light got close and before it could disintegrate his whole being, Odin closed his eyes and said farewell to all of his pack including his father who will probably won't pay attention to his last words.

    He doesn't know if he got the message across because suddenly, he's being burned inside out and outside in. Everything in him burns. A scream tore out of his throat but only a loud ringing was heard. He could feel every part of his body go through insurmountable pain.

    This is really it. He's dying and he couldn't even get the chance to thank his beta for his patience with him. He couldn't even get to see his mother one last time. He couldn't even say sorry to his pack. He couldn't even make sure they are left in good hands. He's just...he failed them again. Maybe it was better this way...no more grumpy alpha to worry about. Maybe his pack will be happier...

    Just as he was about to succumb to death, the pain suddenly stopped.

    "AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!" An enraged male voice echoed.

    Despite the pain and near death experience, Odin managed to open his eyes for a little peek to see a towering figure standing in front of him almost protectively.

    "Pesky mortal!" A furious voice roared and suddenly, the light got brighter but somehow, the area around the figure in front of him stayed dark as if immune to the light.

    What's going on?

    Suddenly, Odin's heart started racing and that's when the figure turned his head to look at him. Those fiery golden-yellow eyes stared at him with such burning intensity he felt like being burned alive all over again. But instead of feeling like he's dying, he felt even more...alive. Like a strong life force suddenly got injected in his system and he felt like all good things embraced him.

    Odin could only stare in shock. Why is he here? Did he follow me? Odin wondered.

    "You shouldn't be here." He said and before Odin knew it, he felt airy tendrils lift him up and in a flash, he was falling down...

    Down...

    Down....

    Down...

    Down...

    And....

*****

    Odin shot up; gasping for breath. His hands reached around him; trying to grasp anything to ground himself.

    His hands finally grasped something - the carpet. He looked at the carpet in his hands and relief flooded through him.

    It was only a dream. It's harmless. He assured himself as he tried to calm himself down. What a f*****g terrible dream!

    "Alpha! You're awake!"

    "Alpha! Thank goddess you're awake!"

    "Alpha!"

    "Glad to have you back, alpha!"

    Suddenly, Odin got surrounded by his crewmen and secretary. Almost all of them looked relieved upon seeing him. Some of them even have tears in their eyes.

    What's going on?

    "What's wrong?" He asked looking around the place. It's as he last remembered it except for the now awake members.

    "Alpha, don't you remember? The intruder attacked us but somehow none of us are killed." The investigation team captain answered and Odin looked away to hide his guilt. Seeing them so concerned about him when he just broke the law and took away their memories and tampered them made him feel like the absolute worst person. The guilt gnawed at him but he pretended like everything is fine.

"That's good then. Is everyone 100% safe? No injuries whatsoever?" He asked.

"Just minor ones, alpha."

"That's good. Whoever the intruder is, his intention might not be to hurt us. Still, be alert. We might not be as lucky next time." He warned them and they nodded.

"Then I guess it's time to lift the lockdown. The threat is clear so everybody should be able to go in and out now." He stated before trying to stand only for his legs to buckle underneath him.

"Alpha!" Immediately, his pack members caught him and supported his weight.

"I'm fine." Odin said in embarrassment, pulling himself away from them on unsteady legs. This is so embarrassing! Out of all the times to be weak, it has to be in front of my men! Dang it!

"Alpha, you should rest. You don't seem well." His secretary said as she handed him water.

"I'm fine. Just notify the others to lift the lock down." He insisted although he felt like fainting any time soon.

"There's no need for that, alpha." His secretary nervously told him.

"Why's that?" He asked suspiciously.

"We already lifted it when you were still unconscious. We're sorry, alpha. It's the only way for the medics to get in. We sensed you dying. We don't know what to do so we asked for help. Please forgive us for disobeying you. We will not do it again, alpha." His secretary apologized, bowing with tears in her eyes as the rest did the same.

For a while, Odin was stunned. He haven't had anyone under his care treat him with intense respect and care like they are doing now for almost four decades now due to the waning belief in his capabilities as a leader. A part of him misses feeling his pack's concern for him but a bigger part weighs him down in guilt. They're only acting that way because he erased and tampered with their memories. If he didn't, they would've probably taken the chance to kill him when he was unconscious or let him die.

"It's ok." He finally managed to say after a tense silence. At this his pack members were relieved.

Just then, something clicked in his mind. "What did you mean by feeling me die?"

Everyone froze at his question. After a few moments of silence, his secretary answered him.

"Alpha, we felt you dying. We felt the pack bond getting severed as you died. We even heard you saying goodbye to all of us. We felt your pain as you were fading away."

So...it really happened? What I went through in my dream, it means it's real. So that also means...his mind flashed back towards his brief encounter with the goddess. What did she mean by prove his loyalty to her? Were his years of loyal servitude not enough to prove his loyalty to her? She told him to stay and he wasn't able to. He was teleported back in his body. Does that mean he failed? Dang it!

That damn hellhound! He could've succeeded in the goddess' task if he didn't intervene! But then again, he'd probably be dead already if he didn't. So does that mean he owes his life to that bastard then? Odin shook his head to clear out his thoughts.

"I'm alive. That's what matters." He assured them and they all nodded.

"Alpha..." a voice spoke somewhere near the door.

"Forgive us but it seems like the news of your death had gone viral. The world is in shock at the news and we're currently trying to do damage control."

Odin sighed. This complicates things. To top it off, he has an important business meeting to hold with the Poseidon's Shipping Company this Friday.

"We'll deal with that later on. What time and day is it? We have to freshen ourselves first." He told them and all of them looked hesitant to answer.

"Uhhhmmm...alpha, it's been 5 days that we're all here and..."

It took a while for Odin to process the information. The incident happened at Wednesday. If it's been five days since that happened, that means today's...

"WHAT THE f**k?!" He roared, making them all flinch, cover their ears, and tilt their neck to the side in submission. "WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME THIS SOONER?!" he exclaimed, running a hand through his hair in agitation. f**k! He missed that important meeting! His company will go through a hard time at this rate.

"Because a worthless piece of trash like you are no longer the CEO of this company nor are you also fit to be an alpha." Odin's head whipped to the entrance to see a familiar figure whom he got his silvery-gray eyes from.

"F-father..."