Zander Talks to Seren

Alpha Zander's POV

The pack was on a panic. And it wasn't rocket science kinda problem that was haunting us. No, it was none other than the brute, Kieran.

Walking down the halls of the pack house, I sensed tension in the air. I could see the fear on the faces of every man and woman that passed me.

They were scared. They were all scared.

And they had every right to be. In less than a week, we had an unexpected guest. One that didn't bring a lasagna dish when he visits. No.

Our visitor only brought death and destruction to our doorstep. And not the death of only one man, no. He killed my men in the dozen.

And he did it without batting an eye, nor did he break a sweat.

And our guest was none other than the Exiled Alpha, Kieran Blackwood. A notorious and dangerous figure to have lurking around my pack.

Scratch that, my son's pack.

He was yet to be declared alpha, but all the formalities had been done. However, I wasn't going to hand over the pack to him, until I was certain that the threat was neutralized.

I believed in Ryder, but not when it came to Kieran.

Such a threat needed someone with experience to handle. I hoped that he would see it as a last mission ran by me, his father, before handing everything over to him.

I was engrossed in my own thoughts that I didn't even realize that someone was standing in front of me.

"Alpha Zander," a voice snapped me from my thoughts, just a second away from crashing into the person.

"What?" I snapped back, pissed off by the fact that whoever it was, stood there stopping me from going to where I was expected.

Looking at the person, I realized that their face was familiar.

It was a woman, and I had definitely seen her around the pack more than I could count. Her name was on the tip of my tongue, I just couldn't find it.

"I know you," I said to her, still trying to figure out who she was.

"I'm Seren," she responded, reminding me her name.

It was then that I recognized her even better and remembered where I had seen her. She was Lilith's close friend.

The two of the were basically sisters, being that they formed their friendship bond from when they were young.

The question was, what was Seren doing in my face?

I knew that she could tell that I wasn't happy. It was common knowledge at best. However,she didn't look like she gave a single fuck.

Actually, her eyes were puffy and red, as if she had been crying the entire day. Looking at her, I realized that she might actually have an idea of where Lilith was.

Something was telling me that it wasn't a coincidence that Kieran came for Lilith more than once. And even more incriminating, was that the guards who Kieran threatened to kill the second time that she disappeared with him, said that she offered herself to be taken.

"Where is Lilith?" I demanded, realizing that this could be over before it becomes a whole pain in the neck situation.

Seren's eyes widened with disbelief, shocked at my question. She was playing innocent, and I wasn't buying any of that.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, tears starting to form at the corner of her eyes.

"Lilith wasn't taken by Kieran, she went with him. And I'm sure as hell that you know where she went! I know this because I know that Lilith was looking for a way out of the wedding to Ryder!" I growled, stepping up to her face and flashing my canines.

She was in pure terror as I did this, and in a way, I started to question whether it was genuine or if she was playing with me.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she pleaded, trying her best to plead her innocence.

"I don't believe you!" I roared, my voice echoing through the hall.

All the other pack members that were around, had now scattered an were nowhere to be seen. By now, Seren was basically trembling like a twig being blown by the wind. Looking down at her knees, they were wobbling to a point where I started to question how she was still standing.

"I'm telling you the truth. Please believe me. I would cover for Lilith any day, but she's with Kieran! There's no way I would have allowed her to go with a monster like him!" She said in a whisper.

Looking at her, I saw that she was not acting. She was genuinely terrified about where her best friend was. And not just that, I could tell that she was mortified with the thought of who was in the company of Lilith.

"Then, why are you here wasting my time? I have a meeting to get to and you're making me late," I huffed, wanting to shove her to the side and keep walking.

"I just wanted to ask you to send a search party. Not just a search party, but everyone, Lilith could be in danger. She could be dead by now," she said with a gasp, clasping her hands to her mouth.

It was almost as if, that thought went ahead of her thinking, terrifying her as it came out of her mouth.

"There's already a search party in the woods looking for her," I declared, wondering how clueless she thought I was when it came to running my pack.

"I saw them leave. They were barely ten men in that group. Kieran obliterated more than ten men in the blink of an eye. He'll definitely go through the search party the same way...."

"Silence! That group was sent to gather information, and not to engage with Kieran. If they find anything, they'll..." as I cut her off and started speaking, I realized that I was explaining myself to her.

What the hell was wrong with me?

Since when did I start explaining myself and my actions as alpha to anyone in the pack?

"You know what, I don't need to explain anything that I do to you or anyone! Don't you fucking pester me again, or else you'll have to pay the consequences for your actions!" I roared at her, reminding her of her place in the pack.

As I was about to shove her aside and continue with where I was going, I stopped to deliver one last message.

"I'll say this again. If I find out that you had any knowledge that this was going on, or if she contacts you and you don't tell me, you'll learn never to cross me. The hard way!"

She opened her mouth to speak, but even before she said anything, I shoved her out of my way and was already on my way to the meeting chambers.

"I don't know anything! Lilith is out there with a monster and instead of sending the entire pack to help her, you sent your ten men to their slaughter," her voice rang from down the hall as I took a turn, and the doors to the chambers came to view.

Looking back, Seren was already gone, but her words stuck with me.

She didn't question my leadership, however, she questioned something that had me thinking.

Standing outside the meeting chamber doors, I had a few seconds of silence to think.

What if Seren was right?

What if the search party had all gone to their deaths?

Kieran had shown what he could do before. I didn't have any doubt that he would do it again, so easily to add.

'They had their orders not to engage!' I assured myself.

'What if they get greedy? Blinded by the thought of taking down one of the most sought after rogues of the modern century. You don't think they'll try to take him down if the opportunity arises?' My wolf questioned, highlighting the most logical thought process of my men.

And the scary part was, Seren could be right and so could my wolf. The search party sent comprised of men who were just climbing the ranks among the warriors.

I knew deep down, that each one of them would want to take down Kieran. I knew how blinded they would be with the thought of the accolades and rise in rank that would accompany that feat.

And, I knew how pathetic and stupid it would be for any of those men to think that they stand a chance against Kieran.

Before I became Alpha, I had that same hunger eating me from the inside.

The need to be recognized and honored by the pack members, was either going to be the reason behind their logic, or the reason for their annihilation of all of them.