Chapter 9: Wrath of the Alpha

Perseus was used to getting everything he ever had his eyes on. He was born from a family of warrior. His father was a general of the Crescent Peak army, while his mother was the daughter of old man Lucian. He grew up with servants toiling at his every wishes. His father taught him that the strong controls the world. So, he was trained by his father to be the best fighter in town ever since he was able to walk. And he took in every lesson like a sponge.

He was born to fight. His body was made for war. His hands were built to take what he wants.

And he wants to take this Elise woman, but as it happened, it seemed taking the other one is more enjoyable right at the moment.

He walked proudly towards one of the dark spots along the town’s wooden fence. He put her down and let her smoothen her clothes. He put a finger on his lips and smiled at her. “Make a noise and I’ll kill you and everybody in this town.” She nodded in fear at him.

His body expanded outwards and hair grew out of every inch of his skin. His clothes ripped out of his torso and his pants teared into shreds except the upper half. Through his sharp eyes, she saw the tremble under him. He smelled the stench of fear wafting up from her. He grabbed at her and put her back on his shoulder. “Saddle up,” he said on his gruff voice.

He jumped over the fence and landed silently on the ground. The woman had her hands on her mouth and trembling all over. He jumped over one of the nearest houses and stood over the roof, looking down on the town.

He saw men going around with lit torches and pitchforks. He smiled to himself and thought about how easy it would be to mow them down. They are equipped to fight off petty ghouls, and they will be easy kills even to a small werewolf child. Pathetic humans.

He tracked the best path back to the woman’s house and sneaked his way towards it. He swiftly leapt through the wide, open window. He then threw the woman to the bed. “You’re home now,” he mockingly said. “Have a nice night.” He left the woman bewildered and cowering in fear, and went out of the window once again and back on the rooftops.

He then stopped in his tracks and sniffed at the air. Something smelled wrong and he’s not liking it one bit.

***

Selene was apprehensive when Archibald offered her to run away. She was determined to follow through with her decision. At this point, she has not much will to fight for survival. The chance to do good to others made her life seem meaningful to her. And running away and breaking her vows made her feel bad.

“What if he takes revenge on me by killing Elise?” she confronted Archibald. “I can’t have that happening. So, no, I can’t run. I trust you’re concerned about my safety, but I can’t leave like this.”

She looked at Archibald pleadingly. She knew how steadfast he could be. He has the tenacity of a werewolf, something she was well aware of by living with her werewolf parents. “Please,” she said. “Let’s just wait here for Perseus, so we can make sure Elise is fine.”

Archibald, his hazel eyes softly staring back into hers, raised a hand to touch the wounded area on his forehead. She dressed it up with her cloth, but the blood managed to seep out of it. He winced at the touch and looked at his bloodstained hand. Then he returned his gaze at her.

“No,” he stubbornly said. “I can’t keep the thought of him hurting you out of my head. This wound on my head will heal up in no time. But the images that my head is conjuring right now will leave a festering wound inside when I did not do anything about it.”

She was at a loss of words. She has no more to say that can dissuade him from his decision. He was right that her choice was self-destructive. It would hurt her, for sure. It might even kill her. But it was the right thing to do at this moment. She was doing the right thing, and that’s what matters.

They stared at each other, trying to communicate through their eyes their respective opinions on the matter. His gaze intensely burned through her very being, making her feel the guilt of disregarding her own life over another’s. She felt bad for feeling bad for another human being. The tears started to well up in her eyes again. She’s breaking down again, but she can’t. She has to power through this night.

She was the first to break the eye contact and looked down to her feet. “I’m sorry,” she said weakly. “Just go home.”

“No.” Archibald stared at her.

“You can’t do anything about it. I can’t do anything about it. I decided, and that’s that. You have to understand that going against my words will mean somebody’s life will be in danger.”

“But—”

“Stop right there,” she said, keeping herself from breaking down again. “No buts, no reasons, no nothing. Just stop. Go home or stay, I don’t care. I will wait here no matter what. That’s final.” She turned away from him and walked towards the rock she was sitting on before. But before she reached it, she felt hairy hands wrapped around her waist hoisted her up onto an equally hairy and muscular shoulder.

“Put me down!” she shouted. “Put me down!” Selene hit him and kicked him and bit him but he wouldn’t budge.

“No,” Archibald mumbled as they ran away from the town, leaving Perseus and Elise behind. Then they heard the recognizable howl of the alpha.

“Oh no!” Selene cried out. Her struggle intensified and she was thrashing in Archibald’s grasp. She cried. She plead. She cursed at him. She was doing everything she could to make him stop but he won’t. In fact, he increased his speed even more.

She helplessly watched as the light of the town disappeared in the distance.

***

“The damn fools!” Perseus angrily shouted. He sniffed at the air again and howled loudly, sending a message to everybody within kilometers.

The townspeople looked up at him from the ground, and shuddered in fear. “Werewolf!” he heard them shout. “It’s there!” They pointed their torches at him, as if it would scare him away, but he wouldn’t give them a glance.

I will kill you, he sent out telepathically. I will come at you and kill you.

He raised his head and counted how many werewolves were coming towards the town. He counted 9, exactly the number of deviants he ordered to go back to the Peaks.

Didn’t I tell you all to go back? he angrily said.

He sprinted towards the direction where the werewolves were coming from. The humans clumsily ran away at the sight of him sprinting. But he paid them no mind. His focus was on the treasonous bunch returning for more.

He easily leapt above the fence and raced under the cover of darkness. He spotted two werewolves half a kilometer away, so he sped up, ready to pounce. Before the two knew it, their necks were torn into shreds by his sharp claws. He howled once again.

Come at me!

He sensed three more running towards him from three separate directions. He poised for the impact and as soon as the three were near, a bullet hit him on the arm. His eyes tracked the direction it came from and saw a werewolf in human form holding a musket. The shot distracted him enough for the incoming attacks to hit their marks.

His chest, face and right leg were clawed by the assault. He fell on one knee as the three werewolves ran into the cover of the trees. He can still precisely sense their location despite the blockage, but he was concerned about the silver bullets they have.

Cowards and Fools! Hiding behind covers and using human weapons won’t kill me.

A shot echoed from a different direction and he managed to dodge in time to have it graze his shoulder instead. Then the telltale sign of approaching three-way attack made him laugh out loud. As the three werewolves appeared, he swiftly grabbed at one’s head and used it to bash at the other two in a circular motion. As soon as the two fell to the ground, he stomped on their heads like watermelons. The crunch echoed around the forest. Then, he easily squished the face of the werewolf in his hand.

Five down. Four more to go.

Perseus counted at least two gunners coming from the east and the west, and two more from the north. He decided to attack the gunners first, so he sprinted towards the east. He sensed the other two from the north were swiftly coming too but he paid them little mind as he closes the distance with the gunner.

A shot rang out towards him but it missed him completely. But as he pounced at the defenseless gunman, two werewolves threw daggers at him, hitting him on the left side of his torso. He fell to the ground. He groaned at the weapons sticking out of him. He pulled the two out, hissing with more anger than pain. He dropped the daggers on the ground.

The two werewolves took the opportunity to grab both his arms. “We got you now, alpha,” one of them said. “Your days as an alpha will end now.”

The gunner from the west appeared and said, “If we return to the Peaks as we are now, Lucian will surely kill us. But if one of us became an alpha, then we can start our own pack. And we won’t need to go back.”

Perseus spat at the four men. “Dream on,” he said. “You can’t kill me even if you try.”

“Oh, we will try,” the gunman from the west said as he trained his musket to his already wounded chest. “Let’s try this.” He shot the musket point blank to his chest. Blood splattered and Perseus felt a sharp numbing pain as the bullet penetrated his skin, then hit and broken a rib.

“Not enough,” he sneered.

“Oh, nice,” the gunman said. “Hey, are you done reloading?” he asked the other gunner.

“Yes,” it answered.

“Hand me the musket, and reload this one too,” he said as they exchanged weapons.

“Now, where next?” he traced Perseus’ body, looking for the spot to fire the gun to. “How about here?” he pointed at his groin.

Perseus glared at him and pushed forward but the two werewolves holding him held tight.

The gunman laughed. “Seems like a good place to try this on.” He shot the gun but Perseus managed to hop from the ground and dodge the bullet. It gave him enough time to quickly pull the two werewolves on his sides together. They hit each other with a nasty thud, then they fell to the ground, unconscious.

Perseus picked the silver daggers on the ground and simultaneously stabbed them straight in between the werewolves’ eyes. Then he trained his eyes on the other two survivors.

The gunman who was torturing him kneeled at him. “Please forgive me,” he said. “I’ll return to the Peaks as you said.” He walked towards him and loomed over.

“What did you say?” he said.

“I said—”

A loud bang sounded as the other gunman shot at the back of Perseus’ head. He fell forward and almost crushed the kneeling man. His eyes went dark, and his senses dulled. He somehow felt cold air coming from inside him, going from his stomach, towards his entire body. He felt his consciousness waning, slowly losing it.

“—kill him.” He barely heard one of the men saying. He was not sure who because their voices were muffled.

“—his head.” What about his head? Are they going to cut off his head? Eat his head? How do transferring alpha powers work anyway? He was born an alpha so he wouldn’t know. He was what the elders called ‘true alpha’. Unlike Lucian, he was born with the physicality and will of an alpha. He doesn’t need to inherit the powers from another alpha. He was born with it. He was born with the power to survive anything.

Has he?

Then why is it dark?

Why can’t I move?

How did I get into this position?

Am I going to die?

Of course not.

“What did you say—” Perseus suddenly stood up and grabbed the head of the conniving gunman that pathetically kneeled for forgiveness. He nonchalantly threw him onto the other gunman, holding the silver knife. The two bodies collided with enough force to break their bodies by contact.

They lay on the ground, wheezing and coughing blood. He looked down on them with disgust and grabbed onto each of their legs. And threw them upwards into the sky, letting gravity turn their bones into dust. Their screams went from loud, then to soft, then to loud, then to a sudden stop when they returned to the ground.

He turned away from the carnage and walked groggily towards the town he came from.

I must get back to the woman.

I must reclaim my prize.

I must have what’s mine.

I must…

The darkness swept over him as he collapsed a couple of meters away from the town’s gate. He returned to his human form, revealing macabre wounds that would be fatal to an average person.

Mine.