Her Return As An Alpha

Chapter 15 : Events Of The Past

The sun was high in the clear sky. Distant cries echoes from the training arena, where most of the younger shifters practiced their skills in battle and combat.

Liana sat beneath the sprawling branches of a grand oak tree, the ancient tree’s gnarled roots cradling her as she was surrounded by the Golden Arc council. The weather was cool, perfect for an impromptu picnic. Yet, as Liana faced the weathered members of the pack, cold sweat crept down her spine.

The council members were a mix of formidable elders and battle-hardened veterans, their faces lined with age and experience. Their emotions were raw and varied: some wept tears of joy, while others clutched her hands, their grip trembling with a mix of reverence and emotion. Liana felt a whirlwind of nerves and confusion as she tried to console them with soft, comforting words and an awkward smile. Her fingers fidgeted, wholly uncomfortable with the attention and intense gazes that focused on her every movement.

Lucian, standing tall and authoritative beside her, raised a hand to signal for silence. The murmurs and sobs gradually faded as the council turned their attention to him. The solemn atmosphere grew heavier as he began to speak.

“My esteemed council,” Lucian began, his voice steady but tinged with a deep sadness. “Today, we gather not just to welcome our new Alpha but to remember and honor our previous leaders, Alpha Eamon and Luna Cassia. Since Liana, as she prefers to be called for the time being, was too young when she was taken, it is my duty, as her Beta, to narrate the events of the past.”

Liana looked around at the council members, their faces filled with a blend of regret, agitation and sorrow. Lucian continued, his voice weaving a tale that echoed with the poignant beauty of a tragic fairytale.

“Alpha Eamon and Luna Cassia were childhood sweethearts, bound by fate from the very beginning. Eamon was the golden boy of the pack, strong, confident and a natural leader. Cassia, beautiful as a rose, was from the Divine Blood pack, sent to attend school in our pack since theirs did not teach girls to fight and train in battle during her days. From the moment they met at school, their souls seemed to recognize each other, as if drawn together by some divine force. They were destined to be mates, and their bond was discernible celebrated by all.”

Lucian’s gaze grew distant, his eyes reflecting the sorrowful nostalgia of the story he was recounting. “When Alpha Eamon turned eighteen, he eagerly awaited his Luna’s coming of age. Their bond would be complete on her eighteenth birthday, and the entire pack looked forward to their union. The night of Cassia's eighteenth birthday was filled with much anticipation and expectation.”

A soft sigh escaped Lucian’s lips as he continued. “But on that fateful night, as the moon rose high and the stars shone brightly, Alpha Eamon disappeared. His absence was felt deeply, and Cassia's heart was torn with confusion and despair. As dawn approached, she set out to find him, driven by worry and fear.”

Lucian’s voice faltered slightly as he spoke of the heartache that followed. “Finally, she entered his mansion, where she was always granted free access. Cassia found Alpha Eamon in the early morning light, wrapped naked in the arms of another woman. The woman was a stranger, and the sight was a cruel betrayal of the love and promises they had shared. From that day onward, Alpha Eamon chose to forget his Luna, parading around with the new woman and forsaking the bond they once held so dear. Every moment she spent in his sight, he glared at her with hatred and disdain.”

Instead, he devoted himself to Nyx, the new woman who had entered his life. Nyx was enchanting in every sense: her long, curly hair flowed like a cascading river of night, and her skin was as pale as moonlight. Her eyes, dark as the midnight sky, held an allure that captivated everyone who met her. Slowly but surely, Nyx began to replace Cassia in Eamon’s heart. Even the pack, initially resistant to this change, found themselves charmed by Nyx’s bewitching presence. Her grace and beauty wove a spell over them, making her the center of their adoration. As time went on, the pack eventually forgot the fact that Nyx had never shown her wolf, nor did she have the scent of a shifter.

Eamon, enraptured under Nyx’s spell, went to great lengths to ensure her comfort and safety. He dispatched his most loyal warriors to guard Nyx’s family, who resided in the treacherous mountains. This arrangement lasted for a decade, during which the warriors were tasked with defending Nyx’s kin from any potential threats.

However, as time passed, a troubling pattern emerged. One by one, the warriors sent to the mountains began to disappear without a trace. Eamon, blinded by his infatuation and convinced of their loyalty, dismissed the disappearances as acts of betrayal. New warriors were dispatched to replace those who vanished, but they too failed to return. Eamon’s trust in Nyx and his belief in the need for her family's protection clouded his judgment, forcing him to willingly turn against his own subjects.

One fateful night, as Eamon lay entwined with Nyx in an intimate embrace, the air in the room seemed to shimmer with an unnatural energy. She sang softly to him, her voice easing his muscles like the whispered notes of a Siren. It washed down his defences and lulled him into a trance. When his glazed eyes closed with a relaxed smile, she insisted that the warriors who had disappeared were traitors, and the Alpha deserved better subjects, a better family like hers. Alpha Eamon grinned, his eyes milky white, and agreed to the letter.

Unbeknownst to them, a large band of Eamon’s best warriors surged towards the mountains in a desperate bid to uncover the fate of their missing comrades. Their mission was to investigate the mysterious disappearances and bring back answers.

As the first light of dawn broke over the pack’s territory, a horrifying sight awaited the members of the Golden Arc pack. The once peaceful streets were now strewn with the grim evidence of a tragedy. The warriors who had been sent to the mountains were found barely clinging to life, their bodies marred with severe wounds and burns. The air was thick with the acrid stench of scorched flesh, and the ground was soaked with the blood of the fallen.

Doors and windows were flung open, and cries of terror and grief echoed through the streets as the full horror of the scene became clear. The once pristine and revered territory was now a scene of chaos and devastation. The warriors, who had been steadfast in their duty, were abandoned on the streets like broken relics of a shattered dream. The members were helpless, each desperate attempt to save their kin proving useless.

Pack members, drawn by the screams, rushed out of their homes, their faces blanching at the sight before them. Mothers tearfully shielded their children’s eyes, elders murmured prayers, and the young and strong sprang into action, trying to tend to the wounded with the limited knowledge they had. The torches that had once given a festive glow now flickered ominously, casting long, eerie shadows over the scene of c*****e.

The truth of the mountains’ peril and the fate of those who had ventured there became known to all. The spell of Nyx’s beauty and charm had been overshadowed by a cruel and tragic reality. The pack, still reeling from the shock and horror, was left to grapple with the devastating consequences of Eamon’s misplaced trust and the dark magic that had ensnared them all.

In the midst of the chaos, Beta Riley stood frozen, her heart pounding in her chest as she took in the devastation. The warriors had been some of the best the pack had to offer, and yet, they had all collapsed under the powers of their unseen enemy. She clenched her fists, her mind racing to find a solution, to bring some semblance of order to the madness. She barked orders, her voice carrying authority despite the tremor of rage and sorrow that underpinned it. “Get them inside! We need healers, now!”

He knelt beside one of the fallen warriors, his fingers gently brushing over a particularly deep wound. The flesh around it was blackened, the edges angry and inflamed, a clear sign of dark magic. Witches and warlocks.

Riley's heart sank further. She recognized the work of malevolent forces, but the source of such power eluded her. The pack was strong, their defenses nearly impenetrable, yet here was evidence of a threat that had slipped through their vigilant watch.

Witches had their own territories. While some did escape and sneak past the treaties made between their kind and the shifters, they would rarely involve themselves in a fight that could publicise their involvement, lest they get the attention of powerful White Witches. White Witches protected the innocent and they would not hesitate to go against their darker counterparts to uphold justice when they witnessed any wrongdoings.

"How did sorcerers enter our territory?" Riley demanded from one of the lesser injured warriors, her hands rapidly bandaging his bleeding arm.

"It's her," the warrior wheezed. "Nyx! Her family attacked us. We asked them to lead us to the guardian posts, but they trapped us instead. They have poisoned the mountains with their evil spells. We had no chance..."

Riley blanched as the warrior clutched her hands, his eyes rolled back into his head. It was her, the Alpha's wife, who had caused it! If her family were the instigators, then Nyx should have known it too. Goddess knew how long she had been hypnotising the Alpha to give in to her every demand.

As Riley rose to her feet and her heart pounded with panic, a distant conversation entered her mind. A memory she had shared with a red haired beauty, who claimed that she was born of a union between a wolf shifter and a witch. Her green eyes had sparkled as she explained how her wolf genes were dominant, but she would do her best to learn witchcraft, to heal the wounded warriors of her father's pack.

"I need to find her," Riley thought as she gave out a few immediate orders to her men. Then she ran to the start of the forests and shifted into a massive brown wolf, a circle or pure gold around her collar fur. With a low howl, she dashed into the depths of the woods.

As the hours passed, makeshift infirmaries were set up, and the pack’s healers worked tirelessly, their faces etched with determination and fatigue. Despite their efforts, the wounds resisted conventional treatments, festering and spreading with an insidious persistence.

The air was thick with tension and fear, the once vibrant energy of the pack replaced by a somber silence. The warriors, once proud and indomitable, lay weakened and vulnerable, their lives hanging by a thread. The pack’s council gathered in hushed urgency, their expressions grave as they discussed the dire situation. They glanced constantly at the woods, wondering where their Beta was, and whether she would make it back before the wounded warriors died.