Chapter 147 – The Alpha’s Roar
The first howl hit my ears like a warning from the gods.
Then the second. Then the third.
“They’re here,” Kian growled.
I didn’t waste another second. I shifted.
Pain shot through my body as bones cracked and reshaped. My spine lengthened. My muscles tore and rebuilt stronger. Fur burst through my skin.
The world sharpened. Smells intensified.
Blood. Gunpowder. Fear.
I hit the ground on four paws and roared.
The sound echoed across Silverpine Ravine like thunder.
The hunters answered.
They came out of the trees fast, some in wolf form, some human with guns raised.
Gunshots exploded through the forest.
One of my Betas went down with a cry.
“Spread out!” I commanded through the pack link. “Don’t let them trap you!”
Kian lunged first, slamming into a massive dark wolf. They rolled through the dirt violently.
Damien shifted beside me and attacked another hunter. He fought hard. Brutal. Precise.
Too precise.
I noticed.
But I didn’t have time to think.
Then I saw her.
On the bridge.
Small. Bleeding.
Clinging to a broken stone.
Maya.
Her scent was faint but clear, fear and blood mixed together. She looked very tired and broken.
Jovan saw her too. He was heartbroken to see his daughter in that state.
“My daughter!” he roared before shifting and charging forward.
A hunter in human form fired at him.
The bullet grazed the stone near his paws.
Rage exploded inside me.
I launched forward and tackled the shooter before he could fire again. My jaws clamped down on his shoulder. He screamed.
I threw him aside like he weighed nothing.
The bridge groaned loudly.
I turned my head.
Maya slipped.
The cracked stone beneath her foot gave way.
She fell backward, but caught the edge with one shaking hand.
Her injured arm trembled violently.
Below her, the river roared like it was waiting for her to land.
The hunter wolf on the bridge stepped toward her slowly.
Confident and cruel.
Jovan tried to run forward but another hunter blocked him.
I snapped my teeth at the wolf in front of me and broke free.
“Clear the bridge!” I commanded through the link.
Two Betas forced the hunters back with gunfire.
But the wolf on the bridge didn’t retreat.
It lunged at Jovan instead.
They collided in the center of the old structure.
The entire bridge shook.
Cracks spread under their weight.
Stone fell into the river below.
If that bridge collapsed, all three of them would die.
Kian broke away from his fight and sprinted toward them.
Damien was fighting near the right flank.
He took down a hunter with frightening force. No hesitation. No mercy.
But I saw something in his movements.
Not fear of death.
Fear of something else.
Like he was fighting for a reason deeper than survival.
A gunshot rang close to the bridge.
I turned sharply.
Another hunter had taken position near a pillar, aiming directly at Jovan.
Before I could reach him, Damien slammed into the man, knocking the gun aside.
They struggled violently.
Damien hit him again.
And again.
The man stopped moving.
Damien rose, breathing hard.
For a moment, our eyes met.
He looked… tense.
Then he shifted back into the fight.
On the bridge, Maya cried out.
“I can’t hold on!”
Her fingers slipped lower.
The hunter wolf twisted out of Jovan’s grip.
Instead of attacking Jovan again, he turned toward Maya.
His jaws opened.
Teeth inches from her face.
Everything slowed.
Kian was still ten strides away.
Too far.
If the wolf grabbed her now, it was over.
I made a decision.
“Kian!” I roared through the link. “Full speed! Don’t slow down!”
The bridge would not hold three wolves fighting carefully.
So we wouldn’t fight carefully.
We would overwhelm it.
Kian didn’t question me.
He ran harder.
The hunter lunged at Maya.
At the same time, I charged onto the bridge too.
The structure cracked loudly beneath my weight.
Elder Rowan shouted something behind me but I ignored it.
There was no time.
The hunter’s jaws snapped shut inches from her shoulder, and I leapt.
Mid-air.
Straight for its throat.
The bridge screamed under us.
Stone split.
Dust filled the air.
Kian was right behind me.
If this collapsed now, we were all going into the river.
But I didn’t stop.
I hit the hunter with full force.
And the bridge gave another violent crack beneath us.
In the middle of the chaos, I felt it.
A different presence. Stronger.
Not one of the regular hunters.
He stepped out from behind the trees in human form first. Tall, scar running across his jaw, eyes empty of mercy.
Ronan.
Even without being told, I knew he was their leader.
He shifted slowly, almost confidently, like he wasn’t afraid of any of us.
His wolf form was massive. Dark gray and muscular.
Not wild like the others. He came straight for me.
So he knew. He knew who I was. Good.
I welcomed it. I jumped out of the bridge and we collided hard.
The impact shook the ground beneath us.
He was strong. Stronger than the others.
Our teeth snapped inches from each other’s throats. His claws tore into my shoulder. Pain burned through me, but I didn’t fall back.
“You picked the wrong pack,” I growled low in my chest.
He kept pushing harder.
He fought like a man who had done this many times.
But I fought like an Alpha protecting his people.
I twisted suddenly, using my full weight to slam him into a tree. The trunk cracked on impact. Before he could recover, I lunged and sank my teeth deep into his side.
He roared in pain.
I threw him across the dirt.
He hit the ground hard and struggled to stand.
I moved toward him slowly this time.
Dominant. Certain.
“This is your last stop,” I growled.
For a second, I thought he might charge again.
Instead, he gave a sharp signal howl.
Retreat.
The remaining hunters began pulling back immediately.
Ronan shifted back into human form mid-step, blood running down his side, eyes burning with hatred.
“This isn’t over,” he said coldly before disappearing into the trees.
I didn’t chase him.
Not with Maya still on that bridge.
Behind me, Jovan was no longer fighting like a pack member.
He was fighting like a father.
I watched him tear through two hunters back to back, not stopping even when one tried to surrender. His claws were merciless. His eyes were wild with grief and rage.
“You touched my daughter!” he roared as he ripped another wolf off its feet.
There was no strategy in his movements anymore.
Only pain. Only fury.
And none of the hunters who crossed his path walked away.
The clearing was covered in blood by the time the remaining hunters fled after Ronan.
Maya was still on the bridge and needed saving.