CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Dante had gotten his warriors ready and some men from his first pack.

He ensured the people who had confessed were given a chance to prove they had changed their loyalties.

After getting ready to leave, he called them to the pack house.

“Everyone of you has contributed to the destruction of the beautiful world the goddess has made for us and in doing that, you have put our pack in jeopardy. You have to prove to everyone in this pack that you are willing to give up anything possible to repair the damage you have done. I'm going to rescue my mate from him and you are going to be my means of getting in undetected.”

He brought out a map of the location that one of the men had informed him was the territory occupied by Jethro.

It was a pack Dante's father had been sent to dissolve twenty years back for their refusal to accept the Alpha King. The members were absorbed into his pack and the Royal Pack as well.

“So here's the best of my knowledge of this place.

Everyone of you is familiar with the terrain of his pack and you will guide the rest of us. This is a stealth mission, not a direct attack. She's the priority in all of this and anything that will jeopardize her life must be eliminated”

“Yes Alpha”

“Now, before we leave, you all must be brought back into the pack as loyal members. We don't want anyone changing their mind halfway.” He said while bringing out his knife.

He performed a quick induction ceremony before they all set out.

Black had been anxious all day as they prepared to leave. It was evening and Dante noticed something was terribly wrong.

“Black, are you alright?”

“I think I've been poisoned. My system is resisting it pretty well but this is not normal.” He replied, his voice weak.

“Damn! We must cleanse the pack once we get back. There are still many traitors who will support his cause and we need to root them out. You know what, why don't you sleep, I'll take over for now. It'll slow our journey but you need to preserve your energy while your body works out the poison.”

“But these men have not been tested. How do we know they are truly loyal? If they attack you, our men are outnumbered. I'll keep running, I can last till we get to her. Her blood will heal us”

“If we could reach Celia, all of this would have been easier. We wouldn't even need this amount of men or their guidance.”

“Maybe the issue is from our end? I haven't been able to reach Jake either. It's infuriating. They are supposed to have sent a squad to go rescue her right from the onset.”

“Don't think like that Black, I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation for it.”

They continued running all through the night, not stopping for anything.

In the wee hours of the early morning, the wolf leading them slowed down.

“Alpha, we're here.” He announced.

***

Taylor was tired. She had eaten once in three days now and that wasn't the least of her worries.

A different wolf than the usual came to take her blood today. And he was not nice about it.

“Ouch!” She reacted in pain.

“Shush, you are lucky you are still a little bit useful to the Master. He would have killed you by now” he shushed her.

Taylor noticed that this man wasn't under the influence of Jethro's dark magic.

“Wait, you are doing this willingly? But why?”

He looked at her, angry at what she was insinuating.

“So you think no one in their right minds will support his mission? A better world where you don't crumble into pieces just because you lost your mate? You think everyone wants to keep living like this? Under so many masters?”

“Well, whatever you are suffering now will definitely be nothing compared to the doom Jethro is trying to create. But then, if you can't see through it, you are probably just like him so no need for this conversation. Please finish up, my arm is sore.” She told him dismissively.

“You don't know what I've been through! She rejected me because I was an Omega! Why will the goddess pair me to such a wicked soul?”

“You are not aware? She doesn't pair anyone. You are created as one and upon birth, you are divided in two, walking different paths in life. The goddess helps you find each other. You are obviously an ambitious person so you can see why your other half will behave that way.”

“You mean it's all my fault?” He asked in a quiet time, confused.

“No, I'm saying you are no different than she is as you are obviously doing the same thing she did. Chasing a personal interest at the expense of a thousand others. If you had stayed true to yourself, the goddess gives second chance mates. That's where she plays an authoritarian role. She looks at people who have lost their mates knowingly or not and she pairs them together.” She replied to him.

“But how do you know all of these? Master said you were a slave a few moons ago. All of this coming from you is a bit difficult to ingest”.

“I've met the goddess and she opened my mind to an infinite amount of knowledge. It always comes in handy when I need it.”

The man was shocked at this and quickly ran out, scared of offending her further.

After an elongated wait, the wildest thing happened.

Taylor was half asleep, her body weak when Damien rushed into Taylor's cell, his eyes different and his body leaner.

“You need to come quickly, your mate is here to rescue you” he announced, untying her. One of the men in the cell that was working on ran to attack him but a hawk that came with him engaged the man in a tussle, scattering the table where her blood was being collected.

The blood entered the man's blood stream through the cuts made by the Hawk's claws and he regained his mind. But this meant that Jethro knew something was wrong.

“Shit, we need to leave, right now! He's going to be here in less than five minutes.” he hurried her.

“I can't walk, is there any way you can help me release my wolf?”

“I wish I could but whatever I gave you only lasted that night. He has been injecting you with something else. We have to walk, well, run actually.I don't think we can face a horde of his minions right now.”

“I know a shorter route and even the master himself has no idea about it” they heard the man say.

“Really? Will you help us? If this is a trap, you will not survive the consequences. Even if I'm incapacitated, my birds are not” Damian threatened.

“I know you have no reason to trust me but in a few moments from now, he will walk through that door and that's the end of it. So you have to make a choice now”

“Let's go with him,” Taylor told Damian.