Rain’s POV
I watched as her eyes rolled back in her skull and her body became limp. But before she’d even closed her eyes, my arms were around her, catching her before she could fall. In my arms, she felt so light and little. Her golden hair of strawberry blond fell onto her bleeding face, marring it with streaks of red.
Blood...
“Who. Did. This?” I growled, barely able to contain my fury. My wolf was howling, wanting blood. And as I watched the two fools who’d been tasked to watch the prisoners, I felt no need to hold him back. They’d disobeyed my order. I had one rule and I expected it to be followed. And if the fools couldn’t even do that…
They forfeit their lives!
“Alpha,” Elijah said calmly, hoping his subdued voice could reach my raging wolf. They knew that he had the ability to calm him. They even thought he might consider him a friend or a brother.
Neither was true!
My wolf was a wild, savage animal. He didn’t care for anyone. All he wanted was blood! To kill and destroy. He hadn’t killed Elijah so far, because the alpha wolf in question was useful to him. To us!
We had plans for him...
And we needed him alive for that!
Slowly, I turned my gaze onto the man, knowing that there was a murderous glare in my eyes. Vacant and far beyond human reach. They were the eyes of a bloodthirsty beast, looking for his next kill. The next flesh-bag to tear into.
Looking for his next prey...
I liked it!
I hadn’t chosen this path for myself. I’d been brutally and ruthlessly put upon it. It had all happened that night 10 years ago when my life had been torn inside out. When my family had been murdered and my innocence had been ripped away.
He’d set me on this blood path…
Alistar Throme!
The now dead king…
He’d truly been a fool thinking I wouldn’t come back for him. Thinking that he’d be safe behind his castle walls and with his army of wolves to protect him. His mindless little drones doing his bidding.
He’d almost been too easy to kill!
Elijah kept his mouth shut, knowing that when I looked like this, there was no stopping me. And why would he? He may be an alpha wolf, but the pup wasn’t half my strength. Stronger than most, true. But no match for me…
I’d rip him to shreds if he took this away from me!
And he knew it...
“I gave you one rule,” I continued, my voice rough from the power of my wolf. “Don’t. Harm. HUMANS!”
It had been my one and only rule since I gathered this misfit band of mine. I never really planned for it as much as it just happened. I was a rogue. I was one of them, and I was the strongest. I took over their so-called pack and trained them.
Made them deadly!
In return, their life was mine...
“A-Alpha,” Sam said, his voice shaking as he knew what was coming for him. Why he still pleated for his life was beyond me. “That’s Alistar Throm’s daughter!”
I knew that Alistar had a daughter, but I never expected it to be HER!
The woman who owned my life!
In my mind, I’d always called her Azura. Her eyes were so blue, they were like nothing I’d ever seen before. They’d been my solace and comfort during many a painful memory. When the nightmares became reality and when I was so lost, I couldn’t find my way back.
She was there…
And now she was in my arms. I remembered her being quite beautiful back then, but I couldn’t see any of that now. Her eyes were swollen shut, her lips split, and her body soiled. More bruises, marks, and wounds than I could count.
I could feel her pain.
I’d been there once too…
“Did I ask for excuses?” I grinned, knowing I sounded like the f*****g maniac I looked to be. And I didn’t let them speak. “NO!” I growled, dropping the smile I’d put on, and wondering what their blood would taste like. “When I give you an order it is to be followed. No. Matter. WHAT!”
I couldn’t explain how one of the most powerful alphas in the world had a human daughter, but to be honest, I didn’t care. All I cared about was the woman I’d been looking for - for 10 f*****g years! - was finally back in my arms.
Oh…
And now I was going to kill the idiots who hurt her!
Gently, I put the human girl down--- and then shifted so fast that my clothes basically exploded off my body. My wolf was twice the size of theirs, so even if they shifted, they didn’t stand a chance against me. Sam cried and screamed. Tried to shift, but it was useless. Blood sprayed, flesh ripped, and the smell of gut and iron filled the air.
I shifted back, licking his blood from my hands. My wolf purred with a rough chuckle, loving the taste. He didn’t care that this was a pack mate. Didn’t care that the wolf had been with us for years, helping us fight against our enemies.
He wanted blood.
So blood was what I gave him...
I wasn’t going to question why my wolf let one of the bastards live. I already knew what I wanted to do, and my wolf liked it. Hell, he loved that we were f****d enough to lick up the blood of our enemy. He got sick in the head that night 10 years ago, and I wasn’t much better off.
“Have I made myself clear?” I asked with a grin, watching the horrified faces of my fellow pack members. I especially enjoyed the look of terror on Deckland's face, when he realized that I’d torn Sam into pieces. The little fucker probably thought that he was next.
And all because of one small human girl.
Isn’t life ironic sometimes?
“Yes, Alpha!” Elijah replied calmly, the only one not surprised or taken aback by my actions. Considering the s**t the bastard had seen throughout the years, I wasn’t surprised that he’d taken it in stride. If I wasn’t mistaken, there was even an exasperated sigh in his tone.
My wolf liked it...
My gaze turned back to Deckland and the wolf immediately stiffened in blind panic.
“Y-yes, Alpha!” he exclaimed, his voice shaking with fear.
“Good!” I grinned--- and then dropped the smile like a bad habit. “Now jump on one leg!”
The i***t actually seemed confused. Fear permeated the room as he looked at the other wolves in the room. I wasn’t sure what he was looking for. Validation? He was f****d and he knew it. Hell, everyone knew it, and still he actually had the audacity to question me.
“Wh-wha---?!” The i***t asked--- and then screamed, as I dug my claws into his ear and skull, pulling him close.
“Did I stutter?” I bellowed, growling and letting some of my wolf’s power out, making the wolf in my clutches cry out in pain and fear. “Do as you’re told, or I swear, shitting yourself in public, will be the least of your worries!”
He whimpered but obediently lifted one leg up in the air. I let go, and like a good f*****g mutt, he began to jump on one leg. I eyed the surrounding wolves, seeing the horror in their eyes as they saw the powerful, feared, and strong worrier whimper and obey like a f*****g dog. That’s because he knew something they didn’t…
Not yet anyway…
Elijah knew about the darkness I kept inside. The dark part of my soul that I kept hidden from everyone else. The part that only my enemies saw. Or just anyone who generally pissed me off. They knew I was damaged. And they knew I’d molded those damaged parts of me into sharp, deadly weapons...
Satisfied, I went back for the human and picked her up. So light in my arms, so little. Yet the darkness inside of me suddenly felt so much brighter. My wolf let out a soft whine and stretched, just wanting to be close to her.
My blue-eyed angel.
My little Azura...