Fated to the war general

Temptation

Kane

For the past ten minutes, Delilah has been practising her kicks on the tree. The sun set an hour ago, and it's already dark down here in the woods.

Delilah is skilled but lacks strength in her movements. With her current condition, any werewolf with minimal training can beat her in a fight. She's omega-level strong, or even less than that.

I stand up from the tree stump I've been sitting on. "Let's call it a day."

Delilah shakes her head. "No, I'm not satisfied with my training for today."

"You can continue tomorrow. It's not safe for you to be out here at this hour."

She stops and turns to me with an eye roll. "You don't have to stay here with me if you don't want to."

"Considering the situation of things, you can't be out here on your own. Let's go inside."

She lets out a sigh, finally agreeing as she follows me back to my quarters. Nora attends to her needs for the night while I handle issues regarding the pack's security.

After calling for Ezekiel, I go in to get a shower. When I'm done dressing up I meet him in my study.

"What is the situation of things?" I ask, walking to my seat.

"The rogues have been spotted crossing the Yuletide pack."

"Does Geraldine know about this?"

"He does. He also did not mention anything about stopping them. I will talk to the surrounding packs to do something to stop the rogues when they arrive at their territory."

"No," I sharply put in. "This fight must not spread. We can accept assistance from them but the fight must occur here. Send word to the other Alphas."

"Yes, sir. Although some rogues are reported to have infiltrated the other packs."

I look away from Ezekiel in annoyance. It's not like I expect any better from rogues. They lack all the conduct of normal warfare. So I have to plan differently when dealing with them.

"How long before they arrive here?"

"Three days, Sir."

Three days won't be enough to train Delilah sufficiently. I click my tongue as an idea pops up in my head.

"Let's map out an area in the woods between the Blood Moon Pack and the Cedar Wood Pack. We can lure the rogues there. That way our pack won't be at much risk."

"Sir, if I'm getting you correctly, you're trying to divert the fight outside our boundary lines. That would mean encroaching on part of the cedar wood and possibly the Ruby Lake pack. You said it yourself, the rogues are reckless so they would definitely disperse."

I shut my eyes in disappointment. We're back to square one. And we can't just leave our fate to chance. It's vital to know one's strength in warfare and utilise it properly.

Opening my eyes, I pick up a pen and paper and write a letter to Alpha Geraldine of the Yuletide pack. Inside the paper, I fold a stick of wolfsbane created solely for rogues. Handing it over to Ezekiel, I give him clear instructions, "This should get to Geraldine before sunrise."

Ezekiel leaves with the message.

The next morning I check the map table when I return to my study. It has a digital display of Avalon on its surface.

I zoom in on the Blood Moon Pack and its surrounding areas. There are very possible points that the rogues could use in entering. The fight wouldn't escalate if we started our attack from the pack's borders. But our aim is to entrap them in the blood moon pack without risking any spread to surrounding places. Therefore they would definitely have to pass our borders unharmed.

There has to be another way around this. I can't risk a blood bath here with Delilah around. Not when she's in this state? If I lose her all the questions I've had about my childhood would be left unanswered. All the pain I've carried all these years would be for no reason. Concluding this investigation on Delilah is the only way I can find out the truth about my past.

Leaving the study, I go in search of her. Ezekiel can plan the attack. Rogues aren't too difficult to deal with. My major concern is Delilah, and currently, I can't entrust her well-being to anyone else.

I knock on her room door and wait patiently for an answer. I knock a second time and finally open the door after a minute passes without receiving any answer.

Delilah isn't in her room when I enter. Panic seizes my heart, and I go in search of her at the place we trained yesterday. Tension starts to rise in my body when I don't find her there too. I walk around the place and even call her name but receive no reply.

I rush over to my personal spot by the pond and heave a sigh of relief when I find her there, training.

"You're never going to give up this spot are you?"

She flinches and turns around as if startled by my presence. "Jeez! You scared me," she says, holding her chest.

"You need to be alert. There's an ongoing attack."

She c***s her head and says, "That's not helping."

Truly, it wasn't. I walk over to her and join her train. We practice some moves together, but she has problems maintaining the right stance.

"Let your weight be equally distributed throughout your body. Try to create that balance," I tell her.

She takes a position but isn't getting it right. I move over to her and help her raise her hands to the right level. I pull on her leg to place it in the right order and my fingers graze her thigh. She shifts slightly in discomfort, and I realise my mistake.

"Sorry," I apologise and move away from her, a bit embarrassed. "Just try to maintain that stance and your moves should have a better effect."

She nods without looking at me.

"Now, try those moves again," I tell her.

Delilah bends slightly and throws an upward kick into the air.

"Again."

She repeats the move but still doesn't get it right. Instinctively, I move to her and hold her waist for a better balance.

"Again," I say, now standing behind her.

She tries doing another kick which is better than the previous ones. It still needs refining so I move closer to her until our bodies are slightly touching.

"Again," I repeat. I feel her hesitancy before she does another kick. When she bends, our bodies come in close contact, and that's when I feel the shivers. My hand tightens on her waist on impulse and I let her go almost immediately. An alarm goes off inside my head, warning me against the boundary I am about to cross. She turns around and looks at me wide-eyed, and I'm almost at a loss for words.

"Uh... good, you've finally gotten that move," I tell her and she nods quickly, faster than normal.

She looks downwards and stylishly moves two steps backwards from me. "I think I'll continue the rest of the training on my own."

"Sure... I mean, yes, there's something I need to do inside."

"Great."

"Yeah," I reply and an awkward moment of silence passes between us. "I'll be heading off now."

"Yeah, you should go," she replies, and I walk away immediately.

I shut my eyes tightly in embarrassment. What just happened between us? Did I just feel a s****l urge for her? No, I can't let myself feel things like this. But how do I avoid her and keep my body subject when I have to be this close to her during our training?