Bound to Enemy

8

'They will all fall at your feet, alpha.' The wolf tilted its head to the side and watched me. 'One by one I will kill everyone, and a new age of wolf will be born.'

I tried to reach for my wolf again, but that barrier still remained. It was as if my connection to him had been severed, which left me vulnerable and exposed. There were a few things in this world that rocked my foundation. One of the said things was not having access to my wolf. It was like missing an extension of myself and leaving me vulnerable to the big bad world outside.

The rogue stalked toward me, his blood-red eyes brightening ever so slightly.

'You won't win, rogue!' My voice roared through the small clearing. 'Your kind will fall and you will die.'

The rogue before me crouched down, readying himself for an attack. 'Not before I kill you!'

He launched himself at me, his teeth snapping down on my neck, puncturing my vital artery.

My body lurched forward in the bed, sweat beaded my forehead as I tried to calm the internal storm that raged within me.

My breathing came out quick and shallow; my lungs just seemed unable to take in as much oxygen as possible. I balled my fists into the silk sheets of the bed and closed my eyes.

The nightmares were back.

Ever since I had witnessed the death of my father, I had suffered from night terrors. They were crippling in ways that I had never openly admitted to anyone.

I pulled the blanket off my sweat-clad body and walked to the window. I pulled the window open to allow the cool morning air in.

It was just coming to four in the morning, and the sun was still far from rising. Sleep would be as likely as snow in the summer for me, so there was no point in trying to find rest again.

I looked to the dark sky at the full moon and breathed in and out deeply.

Unlike the myths that the humans had conjured up, our shifting abilities were not governed by the moon. We had access to our wolves all days of the year. However, during the full moon, the tether between the natural and supernatural strengthened. I did not practice our religion meticulously, but I knew that the full moon was a sacred time for us all.

I stared at the dark sky wondering how my parents were enjoying the other side. If the goddess had welcomed them into her eternal forest with open arms. I wondered if my father was proud of me. If he was happy with the way I had dealt with our pack.

He left me at such a young age I still considered myself a boy at the time.

I shook my head trying to shake away the negative thoughts. I could not be dwelling on the lives lost and gone to the wind. I had to keep my feet rooted in the present. My father was not coming back; I could not think like him right now. I had to use my free-thinking mind and adapt to what was in front of me.

I walked to the bathroom so I could splash my face with some cold water. I braced my hands against the marble of the sink and stared at myself in the mirror.

Dark circles decorated my under eyes, my cheeks were flushed as if I had come from a run, and sweat beaded the top of my forehead.

My breathing had calmed some, but my wolf still felt unsettled.

"f*****g s**t," I groaned. "I need to get it together."

The last thing I needed to be doing was coming undone behind enemy lines. They could easily exploit me, and after my last interaction with the ever-lovely Alessandra, I knew she was more than ready to catch me at a weak point.

I ran the water into my hands and splashed my face. When I stood to my full height, I stared at myself in the mirror again.

My hazel eyes took on a much bluer shade under the bright lights of the bathroom. My wolf was doing his best trying to push his way forward as a means to calm me, but I had to push him back. The last thing that I needed was to risk him attacking someone on instinct.

I closed my eyes and took a few calming breaths. I tried to center myself and calm the raging storm within my heart and mind.

They had always been two contrasting aspects of myself. Rarely were my mind and heart aligned. But from my understanding, an alpha could not rule from the heart because emotions were wild and fickle things. I had structure, facts, and logic. Emotions would not save my people.

When I opened them again, the green in my eyes returned and my wolf retreated into my mind.

"Dammit," I hissed under my breath.

Many wolves believed that we were in full control of our beasts, but that was simply not the case. The wolves within us, although bonded to us, were still beasts on their own. It was a symbiotic relationship that we had with them.

In the same way you could not tame a lion, you could not tame the wolf. They were free-thinking beings, and that was the relationship that the rogue alpha had perverted.

There were multiple fears about what he wanted the moonstone for, and if my hunch was to be believed, then stopping him was paramount.

For the last year and a half of my life, I had tried to research and find ways to cripple him, and it seemed I always came back to the same answer: here -- Black Stone.

I needed some air.

I walked back into my room to grab a shirt and made my way out of the pack house and toward the backyard that graced a large lake.

I was hit by the cool morning air as soon as I stepped out onto the large porch. I could hear the gentle chirping of the crickets in the distance and the straggling fireflies that were yet to make their way back to their homes.

The sun was set to rise within the next hour or so. It had been some time since I had last watched the sunrise in a peaceful environment.

War did not allow for such privileges. And even though it was considered to be enemy land, I could not deny the calming effect of the nature and surroundings of Black Stone.

It was believed that this area was one of the most sacred lands that the goddess had blessed. The history archives correlated with that claim. It was why Lake Rova was such an important water source.

The moon shone on the surface of the water, making it look like there were diamonds on the surface. The wind blew through the thick pine trees off in the east. The fresh and crisp air filled my lungs, calming the remnants of chaos the nightmare had left behind.

As I neared the water, I noticed someone close to the bank sitting on the ground. As I drew closer, I realized that it was the one I betrothed. She was dressed in a white cloak with her hood down. Her blonde hair was pulled up into a bun which was being held up by a golden hair clip.

What was she doing?

The last thing I needed was to get into it with her so early in the morning, so I decided to turn around and make my way back to the house. But I paused when I heard her voice move through the silent night.

"I'm tired..." Her tone was very different from the one she had used when we first met. There was no malice, heat, or anger in it. She sounded... broken almost.

I should have kept walking back to the house, but the nosy part of me wanted to know why she sounded so depleted.

I crept toward the large oak that was not too far off from where she sat by the river bank. It would act as good cover. I pressed my body against the trunk of the tree and watched her for a moment. She was a stark contrast to the fire-filled Alessandra who held a knife to my throat.

She looked far more humane and approachable.