Part two- Chapter 33

“When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.”

― Winston S. Churchill

TEMPLAR P.O.V

Randall’s whole posture changed. He became taut, but he quickly schooled back it to an uninterested one. But that one tiny betrayal of his stance was my hope.

“What do you mean?” he questioned, quite innocently, cocking an eyebrow.

“Wouldn’t you like you to know” I said with a smirk and Randall narrowed his eyes.

United we stand. Divided we fall. Nicely done Randall. Nicely done.

I knew everyone was looking at me and so, I took a step towards Randall. “You are not the only one who heard ‘The Lion and The Cows’ story” I added in a mocking tone and Randall’s eyes darkened. “But just one tiny mistake- you forgot who is the king of this jungle” I murmured smoothly and then turned to face my pack wolves.

“What do you want me to do?” I demanded looking at them.

“There is a traitor amongst us and he has planted bombs around the pack” Ophelia said with a gulp.

“There are children” Mike added and others agreed. “We want our pack safe Templar” Mike was hesitant to get directly to the point and I sighed.

“I say- there is NO bomb in the pack” I announced confidently and everyone shot me a confused look.

“But there is a traitor amongst us” Sveta said holding Luka closer to her chest.

“There is and the person is here, watching her every move” Randall spoke up and I closed my eyes shut, because I didn’t want to watch the fear in my pack’s eyes.

“I am going to say one last time- There is no bomb in our pack” I said through gritted teeth and opened my eyes.

“If you want to believe her,-”

“GAG THIS MUTT” I thundered pointing my finger at Randall and the guards nodded. Two were already holding Randall. Another one guard stepped forward to cover Randall’s mouth, but he snapped right in front of the guards face. Growling in frustration, I took the cloth, punched Randall and when his head flew back, stuffed the cloth inside his mouth.

The guard reacted quickly and tied the cloth from behind.

“Hmm… this is good” I said patting Randall’s cheek. “You look better now” I said and when Randall tried to lunge at me, I punched him in the stomach.

When I faced my pack wolves, I found them watching me with fear, with disapproval. The disapproval look hurt me and my wolf whined. When I saw it, I realized that if I want to become a good leader, I also needed the trust of all wolves. And what better way to start it than from my own pack?

If they trust me now, it would be a confidence boost for me and if they don’t…. I will fail, everywhere.

I could have just said it to them and force them to agree, but that was not the right way. So I went through the other way.

Raising my chin, I addressed the crowd, “I trust you. Each one of you. And I know no one among you is the traitor” I said and they stared at me anxiously. “We have been in this pack for years and we all know each other. We are family. We all love each other. So, do you seriously think, one of our own would betray us?” Something I said was making sense to them because they slowly shook their head.

Behind me, I heard Randall fighting his hold.

“I say there is no traitor. Who is with me?” I demanded looking at the crowd.

Everett stepped forward and entwined his left hand with my right one. I shot him a thankful smile and he just leaned forward and kissed my forehead.

Jan held my free hand and I smiled at her too. I had their support and very soon everyone would support me.

“I am with you” I heard Keith saying and I heaved a sigh. He came forward and held Jan’s hand on the other side. Slowly, everyone from the crowd joined their hands and I swallowed audibly as I watched that. My heart was racing in my chest and I wanted everyone to support me.

I took a deep breath, when the last person too entwined his hand. After that, the crowd raised their joined hands high above their head. Even Harry was one of them and I personally thanked him through the link.

My wolf raised her head proudly when she saw the support and tears of happiness rolled down my cheek. I slowly let go of Everett and Jan’s hand and then moved forward.

“Thank-you” I told them and they all bowed their head in respect. “I will never give you a reason to regret this” I swore in a sincere tone.

Once everyone lowered their hands, I turned my head and shot Randall a smug look, before facing the audience again.

“This man-” I proclaimed pointing at Randall, who growled lowly, “-Was trying to create a rift between us. There is no traitor. No bombs at all. It was all a lie, made up by this rogue to save his life. He wanted us to suspect each other, fight with each other. He wanted to divide us, our family. By showing him our unity today, we all have defeated him.”

Some wolves nodded in understanding and others gasped, while the others growled at him.

“Handle him to us Luna, we will tear him to shreds” Philip imparted furiously.

“Yes, yes” others agreed and I glanced at Randall. He couldn’t hide his fear and my lips curved upwards when I saw that.

“So, Randall- ” I began walking towards him. “-You still think I am weak intellectually?” I asked raising my brows. “My anger is my weakness but when I overcame that weakness, I was able to overcome every other weakness in me too” I added gleefully.

“Handle him to the crowd” Jan said but I shook my head.

“No. This was a game between us and the game is not over yet. He made his move and I dodged his attack. Now, it is my turn” I said through gritted teeth, tugging the cloth from his mouth.

“You still think I am lying?” Randall asked with a smirk.

“I know you are lying. No one in my pack helped you. No one would” I replied confidently.

“Then how do you think I came to know so much?” Randall asked cocking an eyebrow. I smiled and shook my head. This man is indeed the most cunning person in the world.

He would never give up. Like I thought before- he would do anything; say anything, to save his life.

“You had me followed and probably even asked my human friends. I am honestly not interested in discussing it further” I said lifting a shoulder unconcernedly. “Just remember, nothing you say or do is going to turn my pack against me” I pointed the obvious through gritted teeth.

“In a mind game, which is your greatest strength, I have defeated you. Now, in a one-to-one fight between us, let’s see who is going to win. If you defeat me, here, then I am going to let you go and never come after you. But if I defeat you then… I think you know what I am going to do” I said with a grin. My wolf growled savagely. She was happy because she finally would get a chance to kill this mutt.

“So?” I patiently waited for his answer.

“You want me to fight with my hands cuffed?” Randall questioned and I smirked.

“Unlock it” I commanded to a guard, who quickly completed the task. “No one will stop us” I told to my pack. “I don’t want him to fight more than one person at a time and say it’s cheating” I added and Randall growled.

I was the first one to charge at Randall. I ran towards him and leaped high in the air. While I managed to kick him in the face, he clawed my thighs and both of us fell on the ground in a thud. We managed to stand up quickly too.

Once again I rushed towards him and then catching his neck, I pinned him to the ground so that my claws scraped his neck. To rescue himself, not only did Randall claw my wrist, but also my face. Screaming, I let go of his neck and he used that opportunity to dig his claws on my stomach.

“Templar” I heard people screaming the very same time Rett shifted.

While I was gasping, he pushed his claws deeper and smirked at me.

“No” I breathed out while Rett was about to lunge at Randall. While Randall turned to stare at Rett’s black wolf, I used the claws of my feet and slashed his legs. He winced in pain but didn’t pull out his claws from my stomach.

My wolf was growing restless but I didn’t shift because it would be painful. Instead, I clawed his hand and scratched it repeatedly, peeling off his skin. Randall was forced to let go of my stomach and while he clutched his hand, I held my stomach and breathed repeatedly.

He had managed to dig deep and it hurt a lot. I had to grit my teeth to stop myself from crying in pain. Rett licked the side of my face and I smiled at him. Even though the wound in the stomach was hurting, I stood up. While Randall saw it, he too did, holding his injured hand.

This time while I ran to him, I punched him in the stomach with all my energy and he hit a trunk of a nearby tree.

“Kill him” I could hear my pack wolves shouting and encouraging me.

I walked to him while he was coughing repeatedly. When he saw me, he stood up, stormed my way and before I could attack, he caught me by the waist and just threw me like a doll towards a nearby tree.

I grunted painfully while my head hit a branch of a tree before I finally fell on the ground. Randall was already next to me and clutching my hair, he slammed me face first to the ground. Many from my pack had shifted and were surrounding us. Snarling and snapping their jaws at Randall. My nose started bleeding and I could feel blood trailing on my face. While he was about to repeat it, I quickly clawed his left foot and he jumped back. I used that opportunity to roll over and before he could kick me, I raised my feet and kicked his sensitive part.

As Randall groaned in pain, I flipped and wiped the blood on my upper lip. I stood up and then punched Randall in the face first then turning slammed my elbows on his neck, chest followed by his stomach. While he skid backwards, I leapt high in the air and twirling, kicked him in the face so hard that he fell on the ground, spitting blood during the process.

“Yes” I heard and when I looked I saw Theo shouting with a smile, while also wiping the tears in his eyes. My heart soared with love and then holding Randall by his hair, I forced him to kneel on the ground and slammed my knees on his face twice.

He fell flat on his stomach and stayed like that grunting in pain.

“Get up” I said through gritted teeth. “I am not finished with you” I said standing near his face. “Get up” I shouted kicking his side, while wolves watched him through narrowed eyes.

When there was no response from him, I crouched down next to him to look at his face. The moment, I tried to touch him, he dug his claws on my hand and rolling over, he held my neck and then in a quick moment pinned me to the ground, trapping me. Randall used this moment to his fullest advantage and not just punched me in the face, but once again punctured my stomach with his long nails. It was the same place and it injured because the wounds were not yet healed.

This time I couldn’t stop crying in pain and Randall laughed. His laugh was like an energy booster to my wolf because it made her furious. I buried my own claws on the side of his neck and while he left me to clutch his neck, I rolled over and somehow managed to stand up. But my whole body was in pain and not only was my heart beating rapidly, but my vision was also blurry.

‘Templar, do not stop. Just kill him’ Sveta hissed and there were many voices going on in my mind and suddenly my head felt heavy.

But I was still determined and so was my wolf, so I dropped my hands, straightened my spine and turned to look at Randall. My wolf was already fuming and then I let her take over in such a way that I was the one controlling all my actions. I bared my fangs and growled savagely and his eyes widened when he saw me.

I knew my eyes were the color of blood and since my wolf was at forefront, there was nothing stopping me. I attacked him. Kicked him in the face with everything in me and as he fell on the ground, I caught his right hand and then bending his fingers backwards, I broke all five of them one after the other.

He let out a loud painful cry as I dropped his hand. I stood near his head and placed my one foot on his neck and the other on his left wrist. Since the fingers of his right hand were broken, Randall could no longer fight me.