The Alpha's Heir

CHAPTER.15

The night was bitter with cold, but the heat of battle cut through the chill in the air. Before Elena and Marcus, Lucas stood, his body tensing as it began to shift. In his eyes, an unnatural amber shone, teeth lengthening into long fangs, bones cracking to stretch and mold into the form of a great wolf. This was Lucas at full strength—a force of nature.

This rogue werewolf growled viciously, with his wild eyes full of madness. The fur was matted; his body was twitching with uncontrollable rage. The rogue was bigger than any normal wolf, but Lucas was quicker and stronger. He let out a deep guttural growl to serve as a warning for the rogue to back off, but it was pretty obvious this beast wasn't here for a fair fight.

Elena froze, heart threatening to burst inside her chest. She'd seen Lucas shift before, but this was war.

"Back!" Lucas growled, the word thick with the weight of his wolf.

The rogue launched himself at him with terrifying speed, claws raking through the air. Lucas sprang forward to meet the attack head-on. The two wolves crashed together, snarls and growls ripping through the night.

Dazed, still from the knock-down fall, Marcus scrambled to his feet. Eyes wide with terror, and yet something else-realization that no running from this world, no escaping it-Marcus grasped Elena and tugged her toward the trees, hoping to get her to safety.

"Elena, come on!" Marcus urged, but his voice faltered.

"We can't just leave him!" she yelled, jerking her arm free.

Lucas and the rogue fought furiously, their snarling and yelping echoing in the air. For one instant, Lucas had the rogue pinned down, but the feral wolf writhed under him in such a fierce under-body bite that forced Lucas to stumble backward. Blood soaked into the ground, the iron smell thick in the air.

Elena's breath hitched as she watched helpless. She had absolutely no idea if Lucas would win this fight.

"Lucas!" she screamed, but he was too far gone in the battle to listen.

The rogue howled, a horrid sound that reverberated between the trees, insanity laced into every note. Lucas replied with an enraged roar as his claws dug deep into the side of the rogue. They were bleeding now, fur matted down with dirt and blood, and yet Lucas refused to back down.

"Look at him," Marcus muttered, eyes wide in shock. "He's. unstoppable.

"He has to be," Elena whispered. "It's not just about the organization anymore, Marcus. It's these rogues too."

Marcus frowned, his gaze refusing to leave the fight. "Rogues? You mean there are more like this?"

Elena's heart sank. She hadn't yet mentioned it to Marcus or to Lucas, but Sarah had hinted at something like that. "Yes," Elena said in a low tone. "Rogues…driven insane by the experiments conducted by the organization. They're after Lucas."

Marcus looked as though he was shocked to hear it. "Experiments? How do you know this?

She opened her mouth to reply, but before she was able to respond, the rogue let loose another blood-curdling scream. Lucas had him pinned once more, his fangs inches from the rogue's throat. But instead of fighting back, the rogue's eyes went wide, wild with desperation.

They're coming!" the rogue rasped, his voice garbled and strange. "More like me… more of us! They'll find you, wolf! You can't stop them!"

Lucas snarled, teeth bared. "Who sent you?"

The rogue threw a sickening laugh, curling his lips in a sneer, showing his bloody mouth. "They made us this way. They want you… want your pack. You're just the beginning!

Lucas's grip turned tighter, and his claws dug deep into the rogue's flesh. "Who? Who is behind this?

But the rogue merely coughed, and blood trickled from his mouth. "You'll see… when they come for you…" The body went limp as a last heave of the chest stilled.

Lucas panted heavily, fur matted with blood, defeated rogue at his feet. But the threat he'd spoken of seemed to fill the air like some sort of dark cloud. Elena watched realization grow inside her. There were coming more rogues.

Marcus swallowed hard. "This… this is insane. We can't fight these things, Elena."

Elena looked up at him, her face as white as snow. "We have no choice, Marcus. They're hunting us now."

Lucas began to shift back into his human form, gasping in great lungfuls of air as he struggled to his feet. His body was battered, blood welling from deep gashes across his side, but he was alive. He wiped a hand across his face smearing blood into streaks along his jaw. "He was telling the truth. There are more coming.

Marcus turned to him, his face a battleground of fear and frustration. "And then what? Fight them off until we die?"

Lucas held his gaze, his tone taut. "If we have to."

The phone in Elena's pocket buzzed before Marcus could have his say. She retrieved it, her heart racing at the message on the screen from Sarah: "You've chosen your side. Now live with it."

Elena's hand shook with every reread of the words. Sarah knew. She knew Elena had chosen Lucas over her offer of safety. Now, there was no going back. They were all in this together for better or worse.

Lucas caught the shift in her expression. "What is it?"

Elena hesitated, then passed him the phone. Lucas's face darkened at the message scrawled across the page, his jaw clenching.

"They're not going to stop, are they?" Elena asked softly.

"No," Lucas said low and deadly. "They'll come for us. One by one, until they get what they want."

Marcus threw his hands up again, pacing once more. "This is madness! We can't survive this, Elena! We're humans, for god's sake!"

Elena looked at Lucas, then back at Marcus. "I know you are scared, Marcus. Me too. But running isn't going to save us. We need to stand and fight."

Lucas nodded, his eyes with resolution. "She's right. We fight. We protect what's ours."

"But what if we can't?" Marcus asked in a whisper.

Lucas stepped forward, his hand laid on Marcus' shoulder. "We can. And we will. Together.

She watched them, her heart heavy with the weight of what lay ahead. She had made her choice. Now, there was no going back. Whatever came next, they would face it. Together.

But as night wore on, and the treetop

s around them began to block out most of the sky, Elena couldn't get rid of the feeling that the worst was yet to come.