Blood and Loyalty

Landon’s POV ~When it went dark~ “If we’re really going to attempt expanding this business then I suggest we start by strengthening ties with the neighboring packs.” My uncle, the Beta, nodded at my words, his hand drifting up to stroke the scruffy beard that had grown wild over the past month. I smiled despite myself. The constant care for his newborn had left him looking haggard, shadows under his eyes, shoulders a little more slumped than usual. I guessed that’s what fatherhood did to a man. Or maybe not. My uncle always took his love for family too far, always putting them first until he forgot to care for himself. One day, I hoped to be half the man he was. We talked further, hashing out strategies that might actually work, when the office door slammed open hard enough to rattle the hinges. I was ready to snap at whoever dared barge in like that until I saw the warrior’s face. Pale. Sweating. Eyes wide with urgency. “Alpha… Beta… Rogues,” he rasped, fighting to get the words out. Before he could continue, I was already moving. My muscles had gone stiff from the unpleasant invasion of memories. Suddenly I was sixteen again, sprinting across blood-soaked ground to cradle my dying father, his chest pierced by a silver dagger. My hands balled into fists at the thought of rogues inside my borders again, harming my people again. “Landon…” Beta Gabriel’s voice pulled me back to reality. He had a conflicted look on his face as he hesitated at the threshold of the pack house. I understood immediately. It wasn’t easy running toward danger when you finally had something or someone to live for. “Go be with them,” I told him quietly. “I can handle this.” He gave me a grateful pat on the shoulder before dashing back inside to protect the people he loved. “Where are they?” I asked the warrior, who had calmed enough to keep pace behind me. “They breached the eastern border and last I heard, our warriors were holding them off at the river crossing.” I nodded and opened the mindlink. *The pack is under an attack. Civilians, stay indoors. Warriors converge on the eastern border.* I announced before sprinting to the said location. The once beautiful beach was now a battlefield. Bodies littered the ground: rogues mostly, but too many of my own. Blood soaked the sand dark. “Block them at the ridge.” My voice thunders over the chaos. “Push the fight to the open field, I want them as far away from the pack house as possible.” The warriors sprang into action, doing as I instructed and soon enough, we had gained the upper hand. I tore through every rogue that crossed my path, letting the old grief and fresh rage fuel me. Claws raked flesh. Teeth found throats. The air reeked of blood. It ended quicker than I expected. I snapped the neck of the last rogue and stepped back, chest heaving, as we began tending the wounded. Just then, someone shouted words I didn’t catch and pointed south. Smoke Thick black plumes rising from the residential quarters we had fought so hard to protect. I was running again before the realization fully hit. The decoy. The eastern attack had been a decoy, and like a fool, I’d fallen for it. The closer we got, the worse the smoke became, acrid, choking, burning my lungs. Warriors flanked me, coughing as we pushed through. When we reached the village, the sight left me at a loss for words. Most wooden structures were engulfed in flames. Pack healers darted between the injured. Guards frantically dousing fires with buckets that seemed useless against the inferno. Civilians huddled, some burned, some crying. I ran my fingers through my tangled hair as a warrior walked up to me and gave a report of the situation. I ran my fingers through my tangled hair as a warrior walked up to me and gave a report of the situation. “Alpha, some civilians got hurt but no lives were lost. Also, we’ve eliminated the threats.” I exhaled in relief, but the unease lingered, gnawing at me. If they’d gone to all that trouble for a decoy, there had to be more. Something bigger than just causing havoc. My eyes scanned the destruction, and then it hit me. “Where is the Luna?” The warrior looked blank. Another guard, one I recognised as Cassidy’s personal detail, stepped forward. “Last I checked, she was at your private residence, Alpha. Said she needed to be alone.” I turned without a word and headed for the secluded house my father and I had built in the woods. The smoke had gotten worse thicker but I knew the path by heart so that didn’t deter me. Soon the house came into view and my heart stuttered, the house that was laced with every memory of my father, the house that my dad and I had worked so hard to put together was on fire. ‘This can’t be happening’ I muttered to myself but the proof was staring right at me. The building had smoke coming out of every window and the roof was caving in. I paused as grief slammed into me, sharp and familiar, but then Cassidy’s face flashed in my mind. Panic overrode everything else. I sprinted forward, praying she wasn’t in there, praying she was safe. The worst possible scenarios played out in my head: her asleep, unaware of the fire creeping closer; trapped under fallen beams; overcome by smoke. I had to forcefully shake the thought away to keep from getting affected. Heat seared at my face the minute I got close but I paid no mind to it. I had to get to her. As soon as I kicked the door open and stepped inside, an explosion rang out. Force flung me backward, across the yard and into an iron pole. I attempted getting up but my consciousness slipped and then everything went black.