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Lucian's POV

After the deed was done, my entire body was coated in blood and her father fell down, completely dead. The battle had taken a little longer than I expected, and he had put up quite a fight. Maybe he would have had a change of heart if he had lived on eventually, but unfortunately, the fight had to end with one of us killing the other, and therefore I had no choice.

Immediately after wiping my bloody hands on the nearest piece of cloth I could find, I sat back in a corner of the room to clear my head. But I didn't have much time to clear my head because I immediately remembered that Elena was somewhere in bad condition.

Back when I had initially arrived and taken her out, I wanted to take her right away, but I could not leave every single one of my men with Alpha Derrick. He was an alpha and superior to each and every one of them. There was a good chance I would return and meet my best men murdered. And that is why I decided to drop her off in a safe and secure location before returning back to face Alpha Derrick.

Now that Alpha Derrick had been dealt with, I immediately got up and began to head for Elena's location. As I took my first step, I realized that the fatigue was far stronger than I had realized. Alpha Derrick certainly did a number on me, and it would take me a while before I was finally ready. Immediately after I stepped out of that room and into the next, I heard the sound of brutal battle and men killing each other. The sound of flesh tearing under weapons and claws could be heard, and I knew I needed to put an end to it immediately.

But I didn't walk too far away before I realized that Lord Noah was holding on to Artemis. Artemis was currently in really bad shape and had different injuries all over his body. I had never seen Lord Noah with tears in his eyes, but for some reason, he had them on right now.

Taking a closer look, I realized that the two twins were not too far away from them, lying on the ground dead. Their hearts had been ripped out, and apparently, Lord Noah and Artemis won.

But the price for that was apparently Artemis's life. Artemis was still alive, but it was clear he would die in a very short amount of time. "There's no way for me anymore. I'm not walking out of here alive, and I'm going to leave everything in your care. Take care of Elena for me. I don't know if after she becomes a mother she'll get to require any training, but she's going to need a bit of a mentor to look after her. Do that for me," Artemis said weakly.

"Come on, Artemis. You can't die. We both said that we would walk out of here alive, didn't we? We are going to spar and remain rivals till we die. If you die here, that won't be possible. So how about you save the little bit of energy you have till we get back, okay?" Lord Noah said.

"Unfortunately, Noah, that won't be possible. You are the one holding on to me right now, and you can see the amount of blood rushing onto your hands. Trying to save me will only be a waste of time and lives that could have been saved. This place will be my place of death, but make sure it doesn't be the place I'm buried. Thinking back now, I think I had a pretty good life. I had a lot of ups and downs, but battle was probably the thing I loved the most. I died by the hands of a formidable enemy, and I had the best rival anyone could ever have. I have no regrets, Noah, and neither should you," Artemis said, and the light in his eyes began to dim.

"Artemis... Artemis..." Lord Noah called out frantically.

I didn't look on and simply escaped from an opening I found in another wall. My eyes began to grow red and wet, and it wasn't because I was an alpha, but it was because tears were flowing from them. Artemis had been a bit of a father figure to me while growing up because my own father treated me worse than how a man who hated another person's child treated their son.

This great loss will definitely put a dent in the pack. Artemis was one of the pillars holding the pack together, and his death was truly tragic. I believed that of all people, Artemis would be the one to make it alive in this great battle, but I guess he had to be sacrificed for us to win. If he hadn't been there and Lord Noah had faced those formidable twins on his own, Lord Noah would have died before long, and those two would have been unleashed on my men.

With those two attacking my men, practically the battle would come to an end, after all, my men stood no chance against them. I couldn't remember the last time I cried. It probably had to be years and years ago when my father's terrible training really got to me. But trying to remember now, I couldn't really place a finger on it. Artemis dying was something that was really going to get to not only me but to Elena as well. Breaking the news to her later on would not be easy, and I completely dreaded the moment.

But I guess breaking the news to her was not at the top of the list of my problems. I had to make sure she was alive first before I could worry about anything else. Whatever drug she had taken while she was here was taking its toll on her, and she would probably die soon. I couldn't allow her to die, and therefore I practically ran to where I had kept her before.

I was welcomed by the sight of brutal battle and men killing each other. There was so much blood that a shallow pool had been formed. Men were stepping on blood and the bodies of dead men in order to kill other men. The sight was truly ghastly and hard to take in.

As soon as everyone realized my presence, both opposing parties came to a realization. My own men bowed in acknowledgment, and Derrick's men stood there petrified. They couldn't believe that their own alpha had lost, which would mean that they would probably die as well.

They stood there waiting for me to unleash my rage on them and kill each and every one of them. I actually was able to do that, but I suddenly lost the will to. A lot of these men were probably victims of circumstance, and killing them like this was not the wise choice. After all, my own pack had suffered greatly, and our numbers had reduced.

"For every man here who is not under my jurisdiction and was under the authority of the late Alpha Derrick, I have an announcement for you. I give each and every one of you two options, of which the better one is obvious. You can choose to bow your head to me and be taken prisoner and work for me, eventually gaining your freedom and having a choice on what to do. With your freedom, you can choose to continue serving me or go out into the world. Or you can choose to oppose me right here and now and die by my hand. The choice is yours," I said, standing there impatiently waiting for them to take the right decision.

After a short while of pondering, enemy after enemy dropped to their knees, acknowledging me as their true Alpha. Clearly, these men didn't want to die and probably still had reasons to live. After I was sure they were all ready to serve me, I then ordered them to the nearest hospital to get themselves treated. After which, I returned to my search for Elena and headed straight for her location.

I had kept her in an isolated room that seemed no one would be able to walk into in the heat of battle. When I opened the door to the room, I held my breath, praying desperately that she was still there. And after I opened the door and stepped in, I was glad to realize that she was. But she wasn't alone.

To my absolute surprise, Edwina was there with her, holding her in her hands. I was shocked to see Edwina here, after all, I thought Edwina was still back at the pack, never even venturing to step foot in here.

"Edwina, what the hell are you doing here? How did you get in here, and why aren't you back at the pack?" I asked in confusion.

"Sorry for not telling you this earlier, Lucian. But for a long period of time now, I have been under the control and manipulation of Alpha Derrick. He threatened me many times and threatened me. Occasionally, he even resorted to using violence, and I grew to fear him. But when I realized that he wanted to kill Elena, I rushed here to save her. I think she won't last long, and we better hurry her to the hospital," Edwina said in tears.

I had a bucket load of questions to ask her, but at the moment, there was no time for it. Therefore, I reached out for Elena and rushed out of the room. Edwina followed behind me, and after running for some time, we arrived at the hospital of my pack. Elena was checked in, and she was under severe treatment.

In the next room, of course, Lana was there fighting for her life.