Chapter 61 Chapter 61
Zane
I had felt her eyes on me since the moment the body hit the ground.
Through passing out instructions and telling my wolves what to do, my wolf was hinting at the glaring stare she was giving us.
And after a while of acting nonchalant, I turned my head slightly, just enough to catch her through the gap in the tent flap.
Her face was pale and her eyes wide with fear, shock written plainly across her face.
And for a moment—just a brief, unwelcome moment—I wondered what she saw when she looked at me.
A protector? An Alpha doing what needed to be done?
Or a monster?
I turned away before the thought could take root, directing my attention back to the task at hand.
“Burn the body beyond the ward line,” I said, my voice steady despite the uncomfortable twist in my chest. “I want no trace of him left. Also, search him thoroughly for any clue we could use.”
“Yes, Alpha,” Rasmus said, already moving to follow the command.
The others fell into the routine, wrapping the corpse and preparing to haul it away. They’d done this before. We all had.
But that didn’t make it easier.
People assumed that killing came naturally to Alphas. That violence was something we relished, and that it fed the beast inside us.
Yes, being an Alpha automatically meant having a beast within but they were not exactly right.
I had taken my first life at thirteen. It was a rogue who had attacked my mother during a border skirmish. I had acted on instinct, ripping his throat out before I’d even fully processed what was happening.
The smell of the blood surrounded me and instead of filling me with pride, all I felt was shame.
Returning to the pack, my father had clapped me on the shoulder afterward, with pride in his eyes. “That’s my son. A true Alpha.”He had said.
To me, my actions had only made me feel sick.
Almost twenty years later, and that feeling still hadn’t changed.
I still did what needed to be done. I still eliminated threats without hesitation when the safety of my pack demanded it.
But I didn’t enjoy it.
I never had.
The spy—or rogue, or whatever he had been—had given me no choice. I had tried to extract information only and had given him chances to talk, to cooperate in a way that could make this easier for both of us.
But he had chosen violence instead.
And so I ended it.
Quickly. Efficiently. The way I had been trained.
The same way I had ended the wolf who had given me this injury in the first place, three days ago, before we even made it to camp.
I had gone into the woods alone, to scout the area. Which was standard procedure that must not be fulfilled, but I preferred fulfilling it.
The routine was that the Alpha checks the perimeter first, ensuring it was safe before bringing the rest of the group. Although this was only done when there was no obvious insecurity to the pack.
I had been moving through the dense underbrush when I caught the scent of a wolf, but it was not one of mine. Immediately, I shifted, my wolf taking over as I tracked the scent to its source.
There I caught the wolf that apparently had been waiting, crouched behind a fallen log with a crude blade clutched in one hand. It was silver laced because even from a distance, I could smell it, and it was obvious he was up to no good.
He’d lunged at me before I could issue a warning, the blade slicing across my inner thigh as I twisted, in an attempt to avoid a more vital strike.
The pain that hit me came immediately and very out of place, enough to let me know that he had used the silver-laced portion on me. I knew from that moment that whatever wound I had to deal with, was not ordinary and would cause me much harm.
Regardless, I had been trained for situations like this and had fought through worse.
Even with the violence he threw at me, I was willing to let him go if he just gave me the information I wanted.
But he’d fought like a rabid animal, so I'd snapped his neck too.
Just like I’d done tonight with the spy.
Because that’s what Alphas did. We protect our packs, even when it meant getting our hands bloody.
One thing I noted was the amount of hold whoever was sending these spies had, because it was not the first kill and yet they were unwilling to speak.
Now to why I hid my injury, I did not want my wolves to notice any weakness and on a border mission, it was automatically an invitation for our enemies to strike.
My pack always needed to see the strong me. Even if I was bleeding and feverish and barely keeping myself upright.
Tiana had seen through it, of course.
‘Stubborn woman.’ I clicked my tongue.
I had tried to push her away and handle it myself the way I always did. But she’d refused to back down.
And when she’d fallen onto my lap this morning, after insisting on helping despite my protests… I knew I had to be firmer with my boundaries else everything I had fought for would be washed down the drains in a blink.
“Alpha.”
Rowan’s voice pulled me back to the present. Quietly, I turned my face to him.
“The body’s been disposed of. No trace remains and no clues were found.”
I nodded. “Good. Double the perimeter watch tonight. I want three wolves on rotation instead of two.”
“Understood, Alpha.”