The alpha I hated

Chapter 19: The Pack 3

ELIAS'S POV

The elders filed out of the meeting room, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I had bought some time, but I wasn't sure how much. And I still didn't know if Noah was safe.

I walked to the window and looked out at the pack grounds. The younger wolves were still playing in the yard, but now some of the adults had joined them. They were trying to keep things normal, but I could see the worry in everyone's eyes.

That's when I heard the first scream.

It came from the north side of the territory, near the old storage buildings. A high, terrified sound that made my blood freeze.

I ran outside just as another scream echoed through the forest. This one was closer.

"What's happening?" asked Jenny, one of the younger pack members. She had stopped playing with the pups and was looking around nervously.

"I don't know," I said. "But everyone needs to get inside. Now."

I started herding the younger wolves toward the pack house, but then I saw them.

Creatures moving through the trees. But these weren't vampires or werewolves. They looked like shadows given form, with glowing red eyes and claws that seemed to be made of darkness itself.

"Shadow demons," I whispered. I had only heard about them in the old stories. Creatures from the space between worlds that fed on fear and pain.

There were dozens of them, moving through our territory like a black wave.

"Everyone inside!" I shouted. "Now!"

The pack members started running toward the main house, but the shadow demons were faster. One of them leaped out of the trees and landed right in front of Jenny.

She screamed and tried to shift into her wolf form, but the demon's claws raked across her shoulder before she could complete the change. Black blood started pouring from the wounds.

I shifted into my wolf form and lunged at the demon. My teeth sank into what should have been its neck, but it felt like biting smoke. The creature laughed and threw me across the yard.

More demons poured out of the forest. They surrounded the pack house, cutting off our escape routes. Some of them headed straight for the storage buildings where we kept our emergency supplies.

I heard the sound of wood splintering as the demons tore through the buildings like they were made of paper.

"The pack house won't hold them," I realized. These creatures could tear through wood and stone like it was nothing.

I shifted back to human form and grabbed Jenny, helping her to her feet.

"Can you fight?" I asked.

She nodded, even though her shoulder was bleeding badly.

"Good. We need to protect the pups."

More pack warriors came running out of the houses. Marcus, David, Sarah, and about twenty others. They had all shifted into their wolf forms and were ready to fight.

But I could tell just by looking at the shadow demons that we were outnumbered. And these creatures weren't like anything we had ever fought before.

One of the demons grabbed Marcus by the throat and lifted him off the ground. Its claws started glowing with dark energy, and Marcus began screaming in agony.

I lunged forward and tackled the demon, knocking Marcus free. But as soon as I touched the creature, I felt a terrible cold spreading through my body. Like it was draining the life right out of me.

The demon threw me aside and turned its attention back to Marcus, who was lying on the ground gasping for air.

That's when David and Sarah attacked together, coming at the demon from both sides. Their wolf forms were bigger and stronger than mine, and they managed to knock the demon down.

But three more demons immediately took its place.

"There are too many of them!" Sarah shouted as she dodged the claws of one of the creatures.

She was right. No matter how many demons we fought off, more kept coming. And they were destroying everything in their path.

I watched in horror as one group of demons surrounded the old oak tree where Noah and I used to play as kids. They raked their claws down the trunk, and the ancient tree began to wither and die.

Another group of demons reached the first pack house on the edge of the territory. They tore through the walls like they were made of tissue paper. I could hear the family inside screaming.

"We have to save them!" Jenny shouted.

But before we could move, the entire house collapsed. The demons had destroyed the support beams, and the roof came crashing down.

I prayed that the family had made it to the basement, but I couldn't tell if anyone had survived.

More houses started falling. The demons were working their way through our territory, destroying everything they touched. Our homes, our buildings, our sacred places. Everything we had built over generations was being torn apart.

And we couldn't stop them.

"Fall back to the main house!" I ordered. "Everyone, fall back!"

The pack warriors started retreating, but the demons followed us. They surrounded the main pack house, trapping us inside with nowhere to go.

I looked around at my pack members. Some were injured. All were terrified. And I had no idea how to save them.

That's when I saw something that made my heart stop.

One of the demons had grabbed little Tommy, a five-year-old pup who had been playing in the yard when the attack started. The creature was holding him up by his shirt, and Tommy was crying and reaching out for help.

"Let him go!" I roared, charging at the demon.

But another demon intercepted me, slashing its claws across my chest. The wounds burned like acid, and I fell to my knees.

The demon holding Tommy started walking toward the forest, carrying the child away from us.

"No!" I tried to get up, but the pain from my wounds was too much.

That's when everything changed.

A figure appeared out of nowhere, moving faster than anything I had ever seen. He was tall and lean, with dark hair and clothes that looked like they had seen a lot of fighting.

The man raised his hand, and a strange silver smoke began pouring from his fingers. The smoke spread across the yard, covering everything in a thick mist.

The moment the smoke touched the shadow demons, they began screaming. Not the terrible laughing sounds they had been making before, but sounds of actual pain and fear.

The demon holding Tommy dropped the child and started backing away from the smoke. All of the demons began retreating, moving back toward the forest as fast as they could.

"What is that?" Jenny whispered, staring at the silver smoke.

"I don't know," I said. "But it's working."

Within minutes, all of the demons had disappeared back into the forest. The silver smoke slowly faded away, leaving us standing in the ruins of our territory.

The man who had saved us walked over to where I was still kneeling on the ground.

"You're hurt," he said, offering me his hand.

I looked up at his face and saw kind brown eyes and a gentle smile. He didn't look like a warrior, but he had just single-handedly driven off an army of shadow demons.

"Who are you?" I asked as he helped me to my feet.

"A friend," he said. "My name is Alex."

That's when I heard the sound of running footsteps. I turned and saw Noah bursting out of the forest, carrying Daisy in his arms. She was unconscious and looked pale, but she was breathing.

"Elias!" Noah shouted when he saw me. "What happened here?"

"Shadow demons," I said. "They attacked the territory. Destroyed half the houses."

Noah looked around at the destruction, his face filled with horror and guilt.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I should have been here."

"You were trying to save her," I said, nodding toward Daisy.

"And us. How did it go?"