57

57

Kaelan's POV

It takes quite a while for me to finish rounding up all the little fish coming up against me. Finally, I look at the one with the golden skin as he glares at me with shiny eyes. I have seen fancy alpha wolves before, and right now he is just one of them—pretty, yes, but he is going to go down all the same.

I smile to myself, noticing that I am still in my human form. It is one thing for wolves to kill others in their primal form at their strongest, but for me to have accomplished such a feat without even transforming, it shows clearly that I don't take them seriously and that I am far beyond his level, wherever he thinks he is. He doesn't seem to mind, however.

Taking an apprehensive step forward, the werewolf is strong, and I find it hard to deal with him with my bare hands like I have been. Alex, who has been fighting with me, probably just for the benefit and to ease my work a little, backs away, not joining this time around, and I know that it is what I expect of him. He isn't supposed to involve himself in a fight between just the two of us because that would make the odds uneven, and as much as I am going to defeat him anyway, I am going to defeat him with honor, and make him know that I am not one to be trifled with.

No matter what he does, his best to hold me off is a valiant effort, actually speaking, but I keep on attacking him brutally, and soon he finds himself pushed into a corner—perfectly where I want him to be at the moment. Alex offers me a gun for a weapon, but I put it down, thinking I can handle it. However, at that moment, I feel a sharp pain on my arm and look to see his teeth sunk in there.

If he thinks that I am going to sit back and watch him do things like this to me, then he is being mistaken. I make up my mind then to make him pay and take him seriously for the first time. I transform into my real form.

He continues fighting valiantly even after I slash at his legs a couple of times and make sure that he is getting weaker and weaker. Is he able to touch me? Well, probably once in a while, but most of the time I completely solo him, and at that moment, I am simply having fun with him. I am not quite sure if he realizes the truth of his situation yet.

I watch as the werewolf turns back into a human—a pretty handsome guy with hard features and a determined set to his jaw. He is definitely the kind of person to do exactly what he wants to, and I am not sure if he is dynamic enough to adapt to my rule.

I look at Alex. "Would this be a nice addition?" I ask him. "I don't want anyone that will be a thorn in my side later on, and he doesn't seem like the kind to adapt at all."

Alex contemplates him. I wait for his reaction patiently, trusting his judgment of character, especially because of his technical expertise. He has worked with a lot of people in his time, and he is the kind of person to know when someone is an asset or not.

Alex contemplates for a while, thinking about the possibilities. His narrowed eyes tell me that he is thinking about it carefully, but when he speaks, I frown. "Maybe he can be. We don't know much about him yet."

"I'll be loyal," the golden-skinned wolf says. "Don't kill me, please."

Looking at the words from both of them, I contemplate for a while. Alex is someone I expect to say no immediately, actually speaking, but there are some reasons for him to say yes. There is the fact that he seems to not want any more bloodshed to happen, and he is obviously up for sparing lives. There is also the fact that he is a technical genius and always wants to explore new things.

"He will come with me to my pack," I say finally, deciding that maybe he might be of some help if he can tell me some things about other packs against us. If not, I will kill him immediately. I am not looking for someone who can be of use to me in the long term just because I have a new recruit.

"What's your name?" I ask, and he replies swiftly: "Jonathan."

"Jonathan," I say before turning to Alex, "take care of him. Don't let him out of your sight. I'm really serious. You are the one who suggested I keep him after all, so watch him. He's under your responsibility."

He nods, looking at the man grimly. I take in a deep breath, stretching myself despite my injuries. "Let's go back," I say. "We'll figure out a couple more things when it's morning."

We make our way back to the pack slowly and this time without incidents. No other werewolf is foolish enough to come at us, and therefore, we get back swiftly. I look around me at all the people, the city sleeping, except for the diligent guards doing their job. At least we have that much security. It makes me happy to think that people just can't come over and create a ruckus here without anything to stop them.

I go past the capital, feeling a little disturbed as I go through the city. Of course, I can just use the borders to get back to the dock near the sea where I have been staying to monitor the rogue attacks, but I just want to go through the entire city, and I find myself reminiscing about the times I have spent here, having a lot of fun with my people and all the experiences I have gotten.

Anyone who attempts to destroy what I have put so much effort into building is going to pay the price. I look at Alex, wondering if he can understand, if he would know why I have done all this killing today, and if he would ever be able to do what I had done had he been in my shoes. I shake my head and don't really expect that from him either way. After all, he is just my beta and not the next alpha, neither is he my heir. I would train my son to be exactly that—who is just when he needs to be in order to protect the people he has responsibility for. As for Alex, well, he can just keep on being himself. It would be helpful to everyone after all, and it isn't going to be a bad thing at all.

I continue on my journey with Alex taking the other guy, who has fallen asleep. Before long, I finally get there and walk in only to find that Lana is there waiting for me. She looks very relieved upon seeing me, and I smile. "Don't tell me you've been up all night," I say, coming towards her and looking at her intently.

"No, I've not," she says, but I already know she is lying.

"Oh, you little girl," I say, swooping her up in my arms. Alex nods at me in the background and walks away with the other guy. I know that he will take care of him well and make sure he doesn't turn out to be a nuisance. He is one person I can trust with matters just as this, so I'm not afraid at all of how it will turn out.

I notice Lana frowning and frown in response. "What's the matter, dearest?"

"Blood," she says. "You smell of blood."

I contemplate for a moment before deciding she deserves the truth after all. "Yes, because I've been killing," I say, my eyes darkening. "I've been killing people who threaten our pack."

She blinks at me, her face filled with terror. "Don't tell me you've turned into some kind of serial killer," she tells me, shaking her head. "We don't expect the alpha of the pack to go off on a killing spree. Leave that for the soldiers. You do the planning and other important stuff."

I laugh a little. "Occasionally, I just need to let off some steam. And occasionally, the crime is too much for me to leave it in the hands of people who don't understand what is required," I tell her simply. "They captured some of our people. I don't know what they could be going through, torture or whatnot, but it doesn't matter. I'm going to make sure to make them pay, and that's exactly what I spent a lot of time doing," I report to her.

She shakes her head, obviously still not approving, but this time around she doesn't object or say anything in opposition to me. I smile—Lana is a good girl. There is no stopping me in this, so the best she can do is keep quiet if she doesn't support me in doing what I have to do.

"Well, come along. I'm sure you must be hungry," she says.

"Don't tell me you had food ready for me," I say, feeling my stomach grumbling but not expecting her to be that considerate as a person.

She smiles at me. "Of course I did. I knew that you would come back, though I was very worried, so I prepared the food ready for the time when you would show up," she says. "And just like I thought, you did." The smile she has on her face, the confidence she has in me, makes me smile in return.

"You're back now, aren't you?" she asks. "Don't tell me you're going out again to try to fight like before."

I shake my head. "Definitely not," I tell her simply. "No more fighting, not for today. Maybe later on though, another day, I can complete what I have started."

"Please, I'm begging, leave it for the soldiers," she tells me, and I simply laugh.

"Don't worry about this at all. Bring me to the table, I'm actually very famished."