Chapter 19

MARCUS'S POV

There are five betas standing in front of the line of the trees when I walk up there. Their fangs and claws are out and their eyes are a glowing yellow. I walk to the one standing at the head of the line. Everything is calm and quiet. The air seems clean and the grass smells fresh. I am about to walk past him when he places an arm on my chest.

I punch clean through his chest and grab onto his heart, feeling it best in my hand, then I rip it out and throw it away as the blood spurts out and he falls at my feet. He is dead before he hits the ground. I look at the others who bare their teeth and I let my eyes show, I press the weight of my presence against them and they take a few steps backwards then I turn to Elliot who is standing behind me.

“Don't leave even one alive,” I say and continue walking. They all attack, shifting at the same time but they are knocked from the air by my own wolves and I can hear the snarls and growls, the ripping of flesh as I walk deeper into the woods with Elliott behind me.

I had not taken more than five steps before I see him standing there. His eyes are on me and I can smell his fear. He seems to be little more than twenty and immediately, I start to feel a headache.

“What the fuck is wrong with you,” I whisper then beckon to him. He doesn't move.

“You don't know what is coming for you, Alpha Marcus. You don't know the destruction that is coming for you and your family. You will lose everything. Your lands will be stripped from you. You still fail to see that you are outmatched in every way. You don't stand a chance against…”

“Stop that blabbering and get over here,” I say to him. Anger fills my chest, not anger at what he has done but what I have to do to him. There are things I can ignore as Alpha but there are also things I must react to.

He shifts into his wolf form instead of coming closer and that is when I look at Elliot with his one arm then I nod.

“Cut him down,” I say to Elliot who nods at me then shifts at the same time as Gavin who dashes at him. I watch them, knowing well that Gavin does not really think Elliot is his match since the man and the wolf does not have one arm but he is quickly surprised as Elliott bites into him, lifts him clean up and slams him against the ground then proceeds to pummel him with one hand until he begins to whine and howl in pain.

I raise a hand and Elliott stops, then I walk to him just as he shifts back to his human form, naked, his body a mess of cuts and blood. I watch him quietly then I squat beside him.

“Did Dona order you to do this?” I ask. He looks at me with pure hatred in his eyes but the pain forces him to wince and he shuts his sues, coughing blood.

“Answer me. This is very important. Did Dona order this attack?” I ask him again and he slowly shakes his head.

“She couldn't. She…she said it would be breaking faith with you, betraying a deal but…I know her. I know what she wanted me to do. She could not do it by herself so I have done it for her,” he says. He meets my eyes with his and I can tell that he truly believes what he is saying. I stand up then nod at him.

Is that the way you see it, then?” I ask. He nods. I watch him for a while then I draw my claws, faster than he can see them, and slash him across the throat. I stand and take a handkerchief from my pocket then wipe my hand with it.

Elliot has shifted back to his human form and is leaning against a tree. I can see the anger in his sues and I can see something else, something akin to excitement.

“What are we going to do? He has attacked us on our land and they have killed a few of our wolves. We certainly cannot let this rest,” he says to me and I nod.

“You think I don't know that?” I ask him then throw the bloodied handkerchief on Gavin's body then turn around and look at the entire area.

I can smell the blood of the people my other wolves have killed. It was an easy thing but this was just a mad act by a young member of Dona's pack. She is being pushed to start a war with me the same way I'm being pushed to start a war with her. There has to be a way around this. There has to.

“Elliot,” I call and he walks up beside me.

“Take some men and tell them to send Dona's cousin's body back to her and tell her that she is summoned to the border of the black woods. I want to know what…”

“Is there a point to that? I say we hit her fast and we hit her hard, when and where she does not expect us to. This could be over before she even knows it has begun.

“No.”

“What do you mean…”

“You will do as I ask and there will be no more questions from you. Do you understand that?” I ask him. He clenches his teeth then he nods.

“Your will,” he says and walks away but I can see the stiffness in his steps and I know he is brimming with many things left unsaid.