Rejected and Broken: Claimed by the Warring Alpha

Chapter 2

Aydin

Kaelen had been a barely functional Alpha for two years, and now his grief-fueled insanity had spilled over our borders. He'd weaponized his personal failure, aiming his psychotic rage directly at what he felt he’d been cheated of: a son.

He could burn in the deepest circle of the Underworld.

‘Status, Corvus,’ I demanded, throwing the query to my wolf as we hurtled through the forest. My focus was absolute: securing our pup. Corvus was the pragmatic strategist, I was the desperate father, and together we were attempting the impossible.

‘The line is buckling but holding, Aydin. Malak is doing well at the perimeter. They know this is a targeted strike. But we need to move. The fighting is too close to the packhouse. Tiernan is our vulnerability.’

Corvus was right. My son, Tiernan, was nine. He was a year away from his first shift, a year from the protection of his wolf. A year of pure, defenseless vulnerability. Leaving the battle now, abandoning my warriors at the height of the assault, felt like a betrayal of my Alpha oath, a physical twist in my gut. But my oath as a father superseded all else. Kaelen was hunting Tiernan, and I had to break the connection.

Tiernan rode tightly between my shoulders in my wolf form, his small hands buried in Corvus’s thick fur. His slight frame shook with every jarring leap Corvus made.

“Dad, where are we going?” Tiernan’s voice was thin, strained by nerves, and amplified by the silence of the forest we were tearing through. He knew I couldn't respond in wolf form, but the question was less for information and more a desperate call for comfort.

‘He’s terrified, Aydin. Let him know we hear him.’

I gave a low, rumbling huff of acknowledgment, a sound that I hoped conveyed both urgency and reassurance, before turning my attention back to my wolf. ‘The old smuggler’s trails on the mountain. Too steep for mass movement, too far for Kaelen’s diversionary units to bother with. We hide him in the central peak’s cleft.’

‘Understood. Make the drop fast. Every second we spend here is a life lost back at the house.’ Corvus didn't spare my feelings, and I was grateful for it. We were a single unit, driven by necessity.

Corvus strained, pushing his body to maximum speed across the uneven terrain until we reached the lower slopes of the mountain. We found a small, densely overgrown thicket, a tangle of rhododendron and thorny underbrush that was impossible for an adult wolf or man to navigate silently, but which a nine-year-old could easily slip into and disappear.

I shifted instantly, the bone-wrenching transformation a distraction I barely noticed. I was naked, covered in sweat and grime, but focused only on the pup I pulled from my back.

“Tiernan, listen to me.” I gripped his small shoulders, forcing his eyes to meet mine. “You are going into this thicket now. You will stay silent, you will stay hidden, and you will not move for any reason. Do you understand?”

“But Dad, the pack needs you "

“No buts!” My voice was sharp, laced with Alpha command, though softened instantly by desperation. I knelt, pulling him into a violent, brief embrace. "I need you safe. I need to protect the pack, but you are my heart. Stay here, stay quiet. I will return for you. I love you, son."

I pushed him gently but firmly toward the thicket. I watched, every muscle coiled, until he vanished completely into the greenery. The sight of the disturbed leaves settling back into place was the most terrifying thing I’d witnessed all day. Then, I spun, shifted, and became a weapon again.

‘Update, Corvus.’

‘The forward units breached the perimeter fence ten minutes ago. They’ve pushed our line back almost to the rear walls of the packhouse. They need us now, Alpha.’

The fear of Kaelen reaching the safe rooms sent a fresh surge of adrenaline through my veins. Corvus pushed harder, running with the desperate speed of a creature fighting for its home.

When we finally broke through the ancient oak line shielding the packhouse, the scene was c*****e. Bodies both ours and Kaelen’s were scattered across the trampled ground, the grass slick with blood. The air was a maelstrom of snapping teeth, snarls, and the metallic scent of fresh injury.

I didn't waste time assessing the general fight. I searched only for the eye of the storm: Alrik, Kaelen’s massive, soot-black wolf.

I found him near the armory entrance, fighting three of my seasoned warriors simultaneously. He was moving with the frenzied, desperate power of a dying animal.

‘Now!’ I commanded.

Corvus screamed a challenge that cut through the battle noise, then veered sharply, deliberately clipping one of Kaelen’s lesser warriors before launching ourselves at Alrik. The impact was concussive. Corvus hit Alrik’s back with our full hundred and fifty pounds of muscle, driving him headlong into the blood-soaked earth.

We were on him instantly. Corvus’s jaws snapped, aiming for the spine where the neck meets the shoulders. My warriors, trusting my dominance, peeled away to rejoin the larger fray, leaving the Alpha battle to us.

Alrik was fast, fueled by madness. He twisted violently just as Corvus’s teeth clamped down, ripping flesh but missing the critical vertebral joint. Corvus held fast, using his superior weight and height to pin the smaller Alrik, shaking his head with brute force, tearing at the thick muscles of Alrik’s neck.

With a desperate, guttural howl, Alrik jerked, using the pain as momentum to tear himself free. A large piece of Kaelen’s neck flesh remained in Corvus’s mouth. Corvus spat the gore onto the ground, lowering his massive head, a low, menacing snarl vibrating in his chest.

Alrik scrambled back, his breath coming in ragged, bloody gasps. A crimson tide was quickly soaking his black coat. I watched the rational realization dawn in Kaelen's mind: he was too heavily wounded, too weak to win this confrontation now.

He didn't hesitate. He let loose a desperate, wavering retreat howl, signaling his remaining pack to disengage. Then, he turned and fled, a dark, bleeding shadow disappearing into the trees.

‘Coward!’ I roared in the pack-link, but Corvus was already in pursuit, fury blinding us to everything but the taste of that blood, the need to finish the job and end the war now.

I howled for my pack to attack the retreating enemy. Behind me, I could hear the sounds of my wolves driving Kaelen’s forces back, chasing them off our land.

We were hard on Alrik’s heels when Corvus suddenly swerved. A scattering of Kaelen’s loyalists, realizing the fight was lost, were diverting from the main escape route, heading toward the less-patrolled western side which led directly into the mountain range.

‘The mountain, Aydin. They’re running toward the mountain,’ Corvus snarled, the realization hitting us both. The war was important, but if even one of Kaelen’s soldiers found Tiernan...

I slammed the brakes on our pursuit. Corvus executed a brutal, swift attack on two of the diverting wolves, snapping a foreleg and sending another reeling with a crushing blow to the ribs, forcing them to turn back.

‘Malak! I need you to lead the pursuit of Kaelen. Do not lose his scent. Drive them off, but your priority is the Alpha. I am diverting,’ I sent over the mind-link to my Beta.

‘Alpha, yes! He’s running like a whipped cur! We’ve got him. Be safe!’ Malak’s energy was infectious.

‘Alrik is badly wounded. Profusely bleeding. He won’t last the night without Healers, but he’s still dangerous. Do not engage alone,’ I warned.

‘Understood, Alpha. Good hunting on the others.’

Malak was loyal, a tactician, and his mate and pup were safe in the bunker. I trusted him implicitly. I then reached out to Vadim, my Gamma, and several other warriors near me, diverting their escape route.

‘Vadim, three wolves with me. Mountain run. Potential threat to the pup. Move!’

We changed course, sprinting toward the base of the mountain. Every stride was weighted by terror. I didn't care about the retreating rogues or Kaelen’s life anymore. Only one thing mattered.

As Corvus closed the distance to the thicket where I had left my son, the wind shifted. A scent hit my heightened senses, a heavy, metallic cloud that cut through the clean mountain air.

‘Blood. Tiernan’s blood,’ Corvus whispered, his voice shaking.

We shifted instantly, running the last hundred yards on two legs. We burst into the small clearing and my heart shattered.

The thicket was violently torn open, leaves scattered everywhere. And the odor of blood was overwhelming.