Chapter 104- Face Me!

His feet pounded almost soundlessly on the cold, muddy grounds of the forest. He could feel his heart beat rapidly in his chest and suddenly, the forest was no longer as peaceful as it was to him before- he wanted nothing more than to be out of it.

The quiet in which he found pleasure in earlier was now driving him to the edge of insanity as he was now able to revel in his own thoughts.

He thought about how he had allowed Darian to manipulate him, how he had let Darian get the best of him but most of all, he wondered how he hadn't seen this coming.

He scoofed, of course he had not seen it coming! Darian was his best friend who he believed he could trust his fucking life with. He never expected this from Darian- Imogen... he was not that surprised, although it was soul crushing but Darian!

"Darian", Asher said out loud in disbelief as he tried to think and rake his brain as to why Darian would even attempt to do such a thing. Addilyn had a reason- not that it was valid but at least she had a reason but Darian... what reason did he have? What was his motive? What was he playing at?

As he neared the border of his pack, he could sense the chaos and destruction- Darian had not only set him up but he had set up his poor, innocent pack members and Asher had let him do it. With in him, Asher thanked his stars that his mother had taken away the less agile members of the pack. He was just a mile away from the border when a familiar man came running towards him. The man was badly beaten and bloodied up but he was still managing to push himself forward. The man sensed he was not alone and he immediately became rigid, thinking it was a rogue but once he saw his Alpha, he eased up.

"Alpha", the man breathed out, "Beta Darian- everything was a trap. Once you left the pack, the rogues flooded in and started to attack us", the man was talking quickly and was short of breath due to the lck of oxygen and loss of blood,

"Shouldn't you be healing?", Asher asked curiosly and the man shook his head,

"Wolfsbane, Alpha", the man said, "He is fighting along side the rogues and he has killed many of us. I was able to get out but barely- he set your house on fire", the man breathed out. Asher's face hardened at the news and a scowl made it's way to his face as his entire frame became rigid and angry,

"Thank you for letting me know", he said through grited teeth, he looked up and sure enough, he could see a large cloud of smoke forming from somewhere with in the pack- his house. His generational house- that house belonged to his forefathers and he was going to make sure that Darian paid for destroying such a heirloom. "You should find a place to rest, out of sight until you are able to recouperate", Asher suggested.

The man shook his head no, "It was wonderful serving you Alpha, bring justice to our fallen brothers", out of nowhwere, the man pulled out a dagger laced with wolfsbane and before Asher could stop him or even realise what he was about to do, the man plunged it straight into his chest, falling and dying in an instant.

Asher looked like a deer caught in headlights and he really did not know what to do in this situation. This man- a pack member of his had just committed suicide right in front of him. He knelt down in respect for the fallen soldier and noticed immediately that the man was a true worshipper of the moon goddess. He sighed, "May the goddess forgive you of your sins".

Asher stood to his feet and continued towards the pack with more stealth this time- he knew he had to hurry if he still wanted to meet any of his men alive. He crossed the border and about five rogues started to chase after him- he wasn't going to run away. He immediately came to a halt and turned around, grabbing one of their necks and snapping it with his bare hands. The other four came rushing towards him with full force and were able to push him to the ground- clearly, he was out numbered, right?

One of the rogues sent a kick straight to Asher's rib and he swore he felt it literally crack into two. Just as one was about to hover ove him, Asher changed into his gigantic wolf and pushed them off him. He grabed one by the neck while he clawed another's face off- he could not help but enjoy the screams that left each of their dry, cracked lips but he knew he could not waste much time on these mutts as he still had a lot to battle. He killed the last one and rushed deep into the pack where he was faced with a whole entire war, his men were fighting against hundreds of rogues who seemed as though they were just doubling in number.

Dead bodies were scattered across the grounds and Asher could recognise some as his men. Although the rogues had lost more men, they were still more and Asher and his pack were clearly out numbered. What a bad day to not have any allies, huh?

Asher was taking in the horror of the scene when a rogue attempted to pounce on him but luckily, he was in his wolf form and even though Asher was distracted, his wolf was always on high alert. Asher leapt up and took the rouge's neck in his mouth, tearing him to shreds before his paws even touched the ground and that was when Asher began to see red. He allowed his wolf take complete charge of his form, the beast showing himself in a loud growl that shook the earth. He pounced into the middle of the fight and took out a dozen men without any effort. Hed continued like this on a rampage, saving most of his men from death until he got to the front and saw Darian.

His best friend had the head of one of his pack members in his hands and he showed not even an ounce of remorse on his face as he threw the head unto the ground and attacked another pack member. That was when Asher sent his wolf back and took control of himself. He trudged over to where Darian was slowly and managed to push him away from the pack member he was trying to kill. Darian fell to the floor and Asher quickly helped the other man up. Once that had been done, he turned his large head back to his best friend who was also picking himself off the floor with a smirk on his face,

"You're late", he stated, an evil glint that was so foreign to Asher dancing in his eyes. Was he sure this was the same person or was his eyes playing tricks on him?

Asher morphed back into his human form, "Stop this madness Darian, now! That's an order!",

Darian laughed. The driest and most humorless laugh Asher had ever head in his entire life. This laugh had gained the attention of all the othe men and the fight came to a halt, the men standing behind their respective leaders, "That's an order", Darian mimicked in a mocking tone and suddenly, his laughing came to a stop and his face became dark, "You can't order me around anymore, I'll make sure of that", his tone was challenging and Asher knew for a fact that the Darian he once knew was long gone- this was not his best friend.

Asher scoffed, "You're challenging me?", he had so many questions for this man but all his pride and position could hear was Darian's tone of challenge. Before Darian could answer, Asher shook his head, "Do not answer that", it was clear as day- Darian was challenging him and the was no point wasting time on that when he came be focused on so many other pressing issues like, "What on earth is going on here? What the fuck are you doing Darian?",

"I am getting my revenge", he said, "You!", if looks could kill, Asher would be dead and buried six feet under the ground, "You ruined my family and this pack- you and your entire family just have a way of messing with my family! Is it a fucking sin to be your Beta?", he spat angrily.

"My family did no such thing!", Asher defended, "We did not ruin your family because it wasn't even perfect to begin with! Your aunt, father and mother were psychotic people who tried to ruin my mother's life for fun-",

"Your father did the same thing!",

"Well, my family was ruined from the day it started and I have come to terms with that fact", Asher stated harshly.

Darian ignored him, "You think it was funny, huh? Thinking you could just jump between my sisters? Thinking you could hurt both of them...", at this point, Asher knew Darian had a loose screw. His face looked madened and his eyes were twitching. What the fuck was wrong with him?

"You were the one that hurt your sisters the most. Yes, I did have my part in it and I am terribly sorry for that but you were the one who set Viola up that day to be killed by those men- was it because she knew too much?", Darian's face scrunched up in disgust,

"I would've gotten away with it if not for you", he said and that was when Asher realized...

"You don't give a shit about the pack or your family", he stated, "Maybe you did at one point but not anymore",

"No! I care about this pack more than you do", Darian said defensively,

"Oh yeah?", Asher tilted his head to the side, "Look around you, Darian. If you really did care about this pack, you wouldn't be doing this- killing these men because you have a feud to settle with me. Face me! They have no part in this and you know it".