Chapter 128 The ploy
Chapter 128: The ploy
Damon pov
Everyone's attention was on Elijah, who had just screamed for everyone to stop.
Elijah pointed down at me with one thick finger. "That omega just attacked a Luna Commander. He nearly killed her. “Elijah pointed down at me, cradling Milo.
“According to the new pack law you set up…your law, Damon…he must be arrested and detained immediately for going against the rules of the death match."
"What? How dare you…” I fumed, barely in control of my anger. “He wasn't in control of his wolf! He was…"
"The law doesn't care about excuses," Elijah interrupted. "You made these rules yourself, Alpha. Or do rules only apply when it's convenient for you?"
The crowd stirred after his words. They started murmuring words of agreements with what he was saying.
"He's right!"
"The omega should be punished!"
"He's too dangerous!"
I looked around in shock. Some of my own guards… wolves who were supposed to obey me…were nodding along. Their swords were pointed at Milo, who was unconscious on my lap like they were facing a huge dangerous monster. Some were even starting to move cautiously.
"Stay back," I growled, holding Milo tighter against my chest. "Don't come any closer."
But they kept coming. Slowly, but coming.
I felt my wolf surging up inside me. Angry that we were being disrespected. My eyes probably started glowing again. My canines grew out of my gums, feeling my mouth.
"I said STAY BACK!" I roared.
This time, they paused. Everybody who had my command in the arena was forced to stop. Hesitation and fear flashed in their eyes, but then, Commander Elijah's voice rang out again: "Guards, do your duty, protect the pack. Apprehend the criminal."
Criminal. He called Milo a criminal.
Something inside me snapped.
I started shifting again… not all the way, but enough. Enough to be a dangerous man-wolf. My growl turned into something deeper, scarier. The air around me felt heavy and thick as my Alpha aura spilled out around me.
I was about to lose it completely. I'm about to attack my own guards to protect Milo.
“Stop!”
James screamed at the last moment, appearing before me. His sword was drawn, but not at me. It was pointed towards the advancing guards.
"If you want to get to him," James said calmly, "you have to go through me first."
Then, as if to answer his words, more shadows appeared from nowhere, all of them in their black cloaks that fluttered in the wind.
Gasps of shock and chaos broke loose among the people. Even among the general Elijah, I could see their hesitation for once in his eyes.
Who were the shadow units?
They were trained blood spellers. shadow warriors, the best fighters in the whole world. They were hardly seen in the pack, always on outside duty, but then just in one night, more than 10 shadows had gathered together. They formed a circle around me and Milo, their emotionless face ready to spill blood if need may come.
"We stand with our Alpha," one of them announced, stomping his foot on the ground. "And we stand with milo, our fellow shadow."
“For the alpha” the rest of their voices echoed, stomping their feet at the same time, in the show of camaraderie.
"This is treason!" Elijah roared, his face turning red. "You all dare disobey a direct order from the council?"
"We dare," James said simply. "Our loyalty is to our commander. Not to you."
Another gasp came from the crowd from the shocking revelation.
The guards backed away, looking nervous now and scared. Nobody wanted to fight the shadow unit in a physical clash. Stories of their brutality were ingrained in their souls like a brand..
I stared at James and the shadow warriors, my unit I had created, my heart swelled with gratitude for their shocking loyalty. They were ever ready to risk everything, even if it's to face their families and friends.
General Grath stood up fully now, his bears brittling in anger and frustration. "Damon, you created these laws to keep order! You said no one was above them… "Not even you! So why are you going against your own rules for some omega whore?"
I tensed, something primal flashing in my eyes.
I rose slowly,
The tension that filled the air could be cut with a knife.The surrounding shadows tensed as well in response to my killing intent.
I could feel everyone watching, waiting to see what I would do.
I opened my mouth to answer, or to maybe start a war between me and my own commanders…
But then a loud sound cut through everything before I could give the command.
HOOOOOOONK! HOOOOOOONK!
That was the pack emergency alarm!!
Everyone's heads whipped around, looking for the source of the Sound.
“ALPHA!!” A guard burst through the arena, his face pale and scared like he had seen a ghost.
“They have breached the northern border! Hundreds of them!.... The Righteous Pack is attacking!!!”
The crowd exploded into chaos.
People started screaming and running up and down, pushing each other.
The Righteous Pack… our enemies. The band of packs under the general council that see us those that are affiliated with the council as evil rogues…
They had chosen tonight, of all nights, to attack.
Knowing fully well of the blood moon that is two days …
Either they have gone completely mad in their obsession to get us. Or they have an evil plan.
Why do I feel like it's more of the latter than the former?
I looked down at Milo who was still unconscious in my arms.
Then, at Selene, he broke on the ground.
Then, at Elijah and my other commanders who were still glaring at me ,like I was their enemy.
Then, towards the sky, I could see smoke starting to rise as they took us when we were unprepared.
My blood ran cold as the cold realization ran through my entire body like electricity.
“This entire attack was a coordinated ploy. And whoever it was…”
“Had planned to take us unawares.”
“THE NORTHERN BORDER HAS BEEN BREECHED.”
The war alarm kept on blaring inside my head, drilling into my skull like a nail being hammered over and over again.
The Righteous Pack was attacking. And my pack. My people were defenseless from their attack.
But when I looked down at Milo… unconscious, and barely breathing, in my hands…my feet refused to move.
I was the Alpha. I was supposed to lead my warriors into battle. That's what Alphas do. Especially now that we were taken unawares. They protect their pack, even if it means dying.
My pack needed me to be that alpha…
But Milo… Milo needed me too.
I stood there frozen, torn in half like someone had grabbed both my arms and was pulling in opposite directions. My brain screamed at me to go damn it all and jump straight in the war.
But my heart screamed at me to stay and at least make sure he is okay.
"Damon." James's hand landed on my shoulder, firm and steady. "Go, Take Milo somewhere safe. I will handle this."
I whipped my head around to stare at him. "What? No! I'm the Alpha! I should be…"
"You should be protecting him," James interrupted, his voice hard. He wasn't asking anymore. He was telling me what to do. "That's what your wolf wants. That's what you want. So do it."
"But the pack…"
"Will be FINE!" James's eyes were already changing color, glowing with battle-light. His whole body was already alternating between shifts, this was an evidence that he was about to shift into his wolf "I am your Beta. This is literally my job. Let me handle it from here.”
I choked, different emotion welling up in my body, gritting my teeth so hard I heard a crack in between my mouth,
"James, I can't just…"
"You can and you will!" He grabbed both my shoulders now, giving me a little shake as if to shake sense into me. "Listen to me! Something is wrong with Milo, we all know that. He's not just tired… he's barely breathing! He needs a healer, and he needs YOU. The pack has me, and all the commanders, and hundreds of warriors. Milo only has you."
I opened my mouth, probably to argue stupidly, but James was done.
He turned away from me, facing the shadow unit warriors who were standing ready. His aura that has been on a leash all this time exploded.
"SHADOW UNITS!" James roared, his voice carrying across the whole arena. "TO ARMS!"