Chapter 104 Alexa

Chapter 104 Alexa
I was waiting for news, surrounded by trees my beast had torn down in a fit of pure rage over the threat of losing our mate.
How dared that wretched Alpha kidnap my female and try to force himself on her? I didn’t feel the sting of betrayal—at least the bastard had the sense not to violate my mate—but just imagining what she was enduring as his prisoner made my stomach churn. I will take my mate back, and I will erase that pompous, arrogant Alpha from existence.
My third form took complete control. Fangs bared, claws ready to rip his head clean off.
Anias came sprinting back. He was the tracker chosen to deliver the message to Derik.
"Alpha Ares, I returned as fast as I could. They wouldn’t let me see the Luna, no matter how much I insisted we needed proof of life."
"Is it war he wants?" the guttural voice of my beast growled.
"He replied with this note, Alpha."
I snatched the paper, which reeked of the Black Wolf Clan, and read the message from the future dead man. Esmeralda was alive. I knew it; I could feel our mate bond. Derik was using my female as a shield to prevent a direct assault. Very well. I would play his game.
"General Igor, rally the strike troops. We march on Black Wolf territory in four columns. The moment I give the order, we breach from all sides. I don’t want him having a single chance to counterattack. We outnumber his army more than two to one. When we hit them, he’ll have nowhere left to run!"
"Alpha Ares, you are declaring war without the Council's approval!" Luna Elvira exclaimed, much to my annoyance.
The cynical old hag. I knew that inside, she was gloating at the thought of the high Alphas slaughtering each other.
"I don't need your approval to rescue my mate!"
"Is this human woman worth all this blood? Are you blind to the lives of your pack mates that will be lost for a human who abandoned you and ran into the arms of another male?"
My third form snapped toward the Council elder, finally deigning to look at her. A vicious growl sent the "Luna" stumbling back, her eyes darting around for support or protection against my beast.
"I am far too busy to deal with your kind right now, Beta Elvira. I will bring my mate back. Only then will I settle our accounts."
I turned my back on the nuisance and headed toward the war room, where my mate's Gammas were waiting to draw up the battle plans. However, when I arrived, the Gammas were standing outside. They informed me that someone needed an urgent, private word with me.
To my surprise, a young she-wolf, her face stained with tears, stood beside the Gamma General.
"Alpha, my mate has vital information," he said, his voice rough as he looked down at her, though he kept her hand firmly gripped in his.
"Spit it out, she-wolf. Hurry up, I don't have time!"
"Alpha… I…"
The stench of her fear filled the hallway. The Gamma General sighed before pulling her into a protective embrace.
"Alpha, my mate says she helped the Luna escape."
My third form glared at the young she-wolf with utter contempt. She hadn't even fully matured, and she was already a treasonous criminal.
"I didn't know, Alpha… I didn't mean any harm! They were just notes for the human Luna."
"What did the notes say?"
"I wasn't supposed to read them, but I got curious… They said you were going to turn the Luna into a breeding slave while Beta Estela took the Luna throne. They said that once you marked Estela, the Luna would feel so much pain she might die from the heartbreak. The last ones had escape instructions and the key to the cell. That’s all I did, I swear by the Moon Goddess! I don’t even like the Luna—my male was locked up because of her—but I felt I had to help her leave. It didn’t feel right to let her suffer her mate's betrayal."
"Esmeralda is blameless in this, Alexa! How can you say that? I am deeply disappointed in you!" General Gamma barked.
The young she-wolf burst into tears, her shoulders shaking violently under her mate's harsh reprimand.
"Stop crying, female, and finish your story! Who sent the notes?"
"I don't know. They just appeared under my cabin door along with these gold coins." She pulled a small cloth pouch heavy with coins from her waist. "It was only signed once, with just two letters."
"Which letters?"
"A.H. I don't know who it is. Do you, Alpha?"