Chapter 19

Chapter 19
The following day, as the sun rose above the horizon brightening the lightless woods below it, buried between two giant mountains a village roared with life. Innocent village dwellers cowered at the sight of an eight-foot Lycanthrope steadily walking through–his occasional growls accompanied by saliva sliding off his elongated canines had them reeking of fear. Alpha Nox prowled into the packhouse where his beta awaited him, the man gingerly looked at Nox and received a warning growl that sent him cowering.

Still, he managed to throw some clothes at his Alpha and watched as he slid into them.

“He took her. He took her from me...again,” to demonstrate his fury Nox kicked a mahogany table into the wall where it shattered. “He took my mate from me, and there was nothing I could've done to stop him. I tolerated his incompetence long enough, this is downright outrageous! After all the years of emotional torture, I went through thinking my mate killed my son, this filthy human dares put his hands on what's mine. How could he?”

“Alpha. Alpha, we can get her back!” Storm merely missed the vase that came flying his way. “We can get your mate Alpha, right?” he glanced around hoping someone would help prove his statement but everyone looked elsewhere.

Nox, however, wasn't willing to hear anything from anyone. The man began ruthlessly shredding the wallpaper, throwing paintings around, kicking over furniture... He destroyed almost everything in sight without an ounce of remorse. When he was done he backed up to a wall and slid down it to huddle and hold his face in his palms. His knuckles bled ceaselessly until the skin patched together and healed on its own. Nox's hair was tousled and damp with sweat, the white v-neck he donned drenched and his pants, well, torn up.

Storm and the others waited for Nox's heart to beat normally then cautiously approached. “Alpha, Alpha Nox, are...are you okay?” he sheepishly asked.

Nox, whose hair now covered his face, looked up through the thin dark strands of his shoulder-length hair. His eyes shone bright Scarlet, through clenched jaws he muttered, “Do I look okay to you, Storm Savoie? Ask less dumb questions, or I suppose you want to end up like that dresser,” he watched them turn to look at the dresser, every piece of wood on it was broken and on cue, it fell further apart.

Storm gulped.

“Leave, I must speak to our Alpha,” he said, the others nodded and scurried. “Nox...I know you're hurt by this, but destroying the packhouse isn't going to fix anything.”

“You don't get it,” Nox tiredly pulled a hand over his face. “I feel...useless. How could I have let him take her? Now I'm sure I won't see her again. Y'know, Storm, she said I was divine last night as she gazed into my eyes. She told me I was–” he licked his dry, chapped lips, “–beautiful. I've never been told that before, I'm used to being called scary and a fucking monster. And that came from someone I wanted to kill, Storm, I fantasised about chopping her head off just for her to tell me I had a marvellous name. You don't understand.”

Storm sighed, holding Nox's shoulder as he had a mental breakdown. “I know it hurts, I know, Alpha.”

“And he just took her away...without a fucking regret,” he growled. “Bloody,” he spat the man's name menacingly and got up. “He disrespected me at a bar one time, I didn't do anything though I was angry. See, that's forgivable, this is not.”

“What do you recommend?” Storm pulled out a black scrunchie and handed it to Nox. “Oh and, how did he...you know, him and those Rogues? I know you don't have an answer, but I find it so bizarre. Humans rarely make deals with wolves, especially rogues. They hate them. So how did he...” Storm asked, puzzled.

“He's a Werewolf Hunter. We've met before.”

Storm's eyes widened comically. “He is a what? But if he's a werewolf hunter how–”

“Just shut up and listen,” Nox aggressively dragged a chair to sit on. “Werewolf Hunters have been around for centuries, you may think they've all disappeared ever since the twenty-first century but they haven't. They are around though in small numbers. I'm sure you've heard of a man known as Joaquin Jones.”

“Yes, I have.”

“That prick and Bloody are the same person,” he narrated to Storm how they met, “The rifle Bloody brought out last night and the one Joaquin had are the same, they were customized with 'DR' imprints on the handles. And from what Archibald said I assume he became one because werewolves killed his ex-wives. That man has deep-rooted hatred for us which has nothing to do with us. Why doesn't he go find the airheads that killed his women and leave mine the hell alone.”

“I...” Storm pursed his lips not knowing what to say. It's not like he didn't know what a Werewolf Hunter was, heck, even Faerie Hunters exist. But one making a deal with the same species they hunt is something he never heard of. Of course, it was a deal, a rogue would never willingly help a human.

“I'm surprised he doesn't remember who I am, and I just realized who he was since Joaquin Jones used to wear a mask. What they share in common is a whale-shaped birthmark behind their ears.”

“But how do rogues and him–”

“Werewolf Hunters and Demon Hunters tend to make pacts with other members of the species they hunt. A Wolf Hunter, however, pays or makes pacts with Rogue wolves to help take down Alphas and packs since they know doing it solo is suicidal. Kraige Forest is a hotspot for rogue wolves so of course, that conceited Godfather would find some along the way and make a deal,” Nox snarled.

“This is a hard pill to swallow, but I'm sure we can still get her back. He's a human and a very infamous person, someone must know his location,” Storm tapped his chin, thinking of something. “Hmm, but Alpha, what do you suggest? I think we should wait–”

“Wait?” Nox released a chuckle, sounding like something from the bottom of hell, “Wait for what? Him to fuck her? Who knows, he probably did it already. And that...that...” Storm quickly hid behind a wall to watch Nox trash the living room again. “Makes me so. Goddamn. Angry. Only I get to see her stark body, only I get to hear her needy moans, only I get to fucking touch her cunt. Who does he think he is...” claws that seemed to have come straight out of a horror film sprouted from his fingertips, and he slashed the wall repeatedly til a hole was made. “Storm!”

“Yes Alpha Nox!” the man walked out and stood in a pile of broken glass and wood. His chest puffed out and his expression solemn but only a supernatural could hear how rapidly his heart thumped.

Storm watched Nox strut to a window that hadn't been shattered yet. He placed one massive hand on the glass, claws still out, and tapped on it with his index. The other hand hung limply at his side. “Storm, round up the pack elders, sigma, and gamma. You're right. I need to wait...” Nox faced Storm, hair hovering over his face dripping with sweat, “When the right time comes, I'll get back what rightfully belongs to me. You're right, Storm, destroying the packhouse won't do me any justice.”

“Yes Alpha, as you wish,” Storm slightly bowed and waited for dismissal but asked, “So, wait, Alpha, if...she didn't kill Waylen... Then who did?”

Nox stooped with a sigh. “Honestly, I have no clue. Nothing adds up, I checked every pack in this area and around. No connections were found. No evidence to tie them to the incident. Storm, I don't know who my son's killer is...”

Before leaving to set up a meeting, Storm walked over to Nox and squeezed his shoulder. “Waverly. I know you're hurting on the inside. I know you feel all hope is lost. I know all you want to do is crawl into a cave and let your tears flow freely... I know it hurts, Waverly. But look at me,” he turned his face, “Everything is going to be okay. We'll find the murderers of both Waylen and Luna Eden. And we will get you your mate, trust your pack, Alpha.”

Nox fought back the tears, refusing to show emotional weakness in such a serious situation, but regardless hot droplets fell.

After a few minutes of intimacy between Alpha and Beta, they parted ways. One went to round up other high-ranking pack members and the other made a phone call. “Archibald, our deal is over, you told me where to find Bloody but not where he lived. I don't need disloyal people working with me,” he pauses as the person spoke, “I've told you once, and I will say it twice, I will not join your gang. Goodbye, Archibald.”

‘𝑾𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌,’ Nate growled out.

‘𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒆, 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍,’ Nox replied, ‘𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏.’

····

Bloody watched from a room on the third floor of his home as rogue wolves giddily bounded off his property after being paid. Coldness rolled off him in lethal waves, his eyes seemed lifeless and his hair was neatly combed and straightened–most of it flopped over the left side of his handsome face to almost completely cover his left eye. He squeezed the silver revolver he held and looked beyond his home to the mountains far in the distance.

“Lorenzo,” he called sternly.

“Capo,” Renzo replied while fondling the bandages on his stomach.

“Bring me my bunny,” his stomach clenched, “Now.”