Perfect Opportunity to Practice

Perfect Opportunity to Practice
Chapter 163: Perfect Opportunity to Practice

The next morning came with an intense cold and gray weather. The light from the sun barely reached the earth and it only made things look worse.

Cain had barely slept that night; his mind kept circling back to Lena's breakdown, the way she kept trembling and even after waking up from her nap, she cried herself back to sleep.

That and the anxiousness he felt that just refused to go away.

He quickly took his bath, and changed into something comfortable. He left his room, hoping to head to Lena's room to see how she was doing since Reah insisted that no one disturbed her.

But on his way there he found Shayla and Lyra in the main hall. There were maps, supply lists and blueprints spread across the long table, with various writing materials and chalks.

Shayla noticed his presence first, and looked up, but her eyes carried the same exhaustion he had in his eyes.

He felt sorry for her.

“Alpha," she greeted, bowing slightly. “We've got this. Go be with her. Lyra and I can handle the other things."

Cain studied both of them for a long moment. Lyra barely paid attention to him because she was busy drawing and taking down notes. He was glad she had grown into the position faster than he had expected, even with all the new things being implemented.

“If there's anything urgent, you call me immediately," he said in a low tone. “No acting tough or buying time. Clear?"

“Clear,” they answered in unison.

He gave a single nod and left without another word.

By mid-morning when the pack was already getting into the day's work, a stranger appeared at the entrance of the pack.

It was a rogue; they switched to their normal form—thin, scarred with bright red eyes similar to that of the crawlers. They stepped out of the treeline at the northern border with their hands raised in mock surrender.

Two of Cain's soldiers, around that area at the time, took the rogue in and restrained them before they could even get the opportunity to explain their purpose.

They dragged them to the supply route that was almost perfectly fixed, and put him down before Ashley.

Ashley frowned as her gaze settled on the rogue. “It's uncommon for you rogues to switch to your original forms. What is the meaning of this?"

The rogue looked up at her through the hood of their lashes and he smiled. “Elias sends his regards."

Ashley froze, then she sent a look to one of the guards, who instantly hurried off. “What exactly do you mean by that?"

“He's giving within a year to hand over the white wolf… the half-breed who thinks she can hide forever." His grin turned wicked. “Do it, or the next wave won't just stop at the borders. He's targeting the entire pack and more if he can't get his hands on her."

Ashley tilted her head. She expected herself to be terrified or worried about the nonsense the rogue was spewing, no matter how true it may be, but she only felt annoyed.

Even the guards that had caught him showed little to no sign of fear.

It made her happy but at the same time worried that they may be feeling too confident.

Andrew, who had heard about the rogue from one of the workers, approached them with a gun and sword in his hand. Then he tilted his head. "They are capable of switching back," he said to no one in particular and pointed the gun at the rogue. "The half-breed is nowhere near here. Not even on this land. We sent her away the moment those pests stopped moving."

The rogue laughed out loud, despite being surrounded by enemies. "You think we are stupid? Elias wouldn't send us here if he knew she wasn't here. I can smell her stinky from miles away.”

“Oh, then where are the rest of you?" Andrew asked, looking around him. “Did they abandon you?"

The rogue’s grin faltered only when Andrew cocked the gun and stepped forward.

“Where are the other rogues?” he asked again, this time his expression turning cold. Then suddenly, the rogue smirked.

“They're leading a group of crawlers to take the girl. Let's see if you can……”

Bang!

The rogue’s body crumpled to the ground as soon as the gun was fired and Ashley snapped her head to her father with her eyes wide open.

"Why did you do that?!”

Andrew shrugged, "Send word to Cain and the commander. We have visitors.”

It hadn't been up to five minutes that the news got around; the crawlers had already appeared near the entrance of the pack.

However, they were not in the mindless swarm or solo like before. This time they were in pairs. One of the guards, positioned near the pack entrance, reported that there were six, and in pairs hidden in the forest along those paths. A group farther up ahead waiting for the next wave.

Flanking each pair were two rogues.

The cannons and ballistas had already been set up the night before according to Orion's instructions and Reah's gut feeling.

The moment the crawlers breached the tree line, a loud bang echoed from one of the towers at the entrance.

Three ballista arrows, each as thick and as big as an average tree, pierced into the neck and skull of the crawler.

The third arrow caught one of the rogues in the chest, tearing it off clean.

The human soldiers positioned on the two towers fired and replaced each arrow, while below, hidden in the bushes, were pairs made of the humans and werewolves.

They began firing in turns as a way to teach the werewolves how to use the weapons.

A single cannon shot tore the upper part of a crawler in half. The shell, specially packed with segmented steel and incendiary compound, detonated on impact.

The lead crawler simply… scattered, splattering blood and flesh all over the forest. Its partner staggered, half its face gone, only to catch a second shell that flipped it onto its back and killed it instantly.

The ballistas focused on the rogues while the cannons focused on the crawlers.

From the pack house roof, Cain watched the flashes light up the dull environment. Lena stood beside him, wrapped in a thick blanket, eyes wide in horror and she flinched each time a cannon fired. She hadn’t spoken much since waking, but she hadn’t cried again either.

“They’re really using them,” she whispered.

“They are,” Cain answered. He placed his hand on her shoulder and pulled her close. Down below, near the entrance, Orion held a device that made his voice almost as loud as the explosions, screaming orders.

“The next wave comes from the north. Adjust elevation to two degrees above. Reload! And fire!”

The explosions came, and Cain could have sworn he saw lights of fire tear through the air before smashing into their targets, despite the distance.

Cain felt something in his chest, a sense of relief and hope. Then he glanced at Lena. “You still think you’re nothing but a distraction?”

She exhaled. “I don’t know what I think anymore...” She flinched at the sound of another explosion and shuddered. “I thought humans were loud enough, but this is… just worse.”

Cain chuckled. “We'll have to get used to that, because we'll be getting weapons like that made as well." He paused and then smiled. "You'll also have to learn how to use one or two before the baby grows larger.”

Her head snapped toward him. “What?”

“You heard me. If Elias wants you, he’s going to have to go through every single one of us, and we’re going to make sure he regrets it.”

Lena's jaw dropped in disbelief. She turned back to the chaotic pack entrance and let out a sigh of defeat. “This is just too much."