Chapter 19

The glow on the field increased in intensity as fires were lit sporadically. They were lit close to the posts in preparation of any new tortures that were about to happen to the males that were not going to be kept alive as prisoners. All in the name of satisfying Corbin’s morbid curiosities.

Basically, any male that was strong enough to fight back, or those too old to change the mentality of, was led to the unsuspecting posts that previously seemed to have been placed for no apparent reason by Corbin’s men. But, as the reason for them dawned upon me, it stirred a new pain in my heart at all the loses yet to come. My tears dried up, and my mind seemed to be shutting down, numbing me as it went into shock.

I was lost.

A place that I had grown up in and was as familiar with as the back of my own hand, was now an unrecognisable, dull hellhole and I just stood paralised, unable to focus yet alone move even a toe.

I watched as my pack mates were separated and tied to posts. Others were roughly led away to an area further into the darkness, closer to the road that wound all throughout the territory and ended at the once magnificent Packhouse, and I did not react. I could not do a thing. I did not know what to think, what I should be feeling, or what I should do to help. It was overwhelming in so many ways, and I just stood there like a sour, rotting lemon.

As the invading wolves attempted to separate and drag wolves to the nearest of the wooden posts, the males that had the power and strength to resist capture were subdued with repeated fists and kicks to any reachable part of their damaged bodies. They were then restrained with rough, frayed ropes that had obviously been brought along with them.

The force of the blows that rained down repeatedly on the poor wolves had the sounds of flesh beating on flesh, and the crunching and snapping sounds of bones breaking, forever getting seared into my memories. Most of the unfortunate managed to hold back any sounds of pain escaping their lips; they were refusing to give their captors any more satisfaction than they were already getting. The others that were subjected to such severe beatings found that it was impossible for them not to cry out. Either way, I still saw them all as brave brothers. Our stubborn, prideful natures never let up, even when faced with an agonising and demeaning death.

Blood sprayed from every wolf that was on the floor taking hit after hit; the amount that sprayed from their lips increasing dangerously close to being fatal, the smell of it left to forever rise from the cold, now tainted ground.

Each new smack, scream or smell that overloaded my senses, edged me closer to running from the field in a feeble attempt to block it all out. It most likely would not matter how far I ran though, nowhere would ever be far enough to forget.

It was only when I tried to swallow and ended up gagging, swiftly followed by a coughing fit, that I realised that my mouth had been hanging open in my empty stupor and had dried to the point of feeling raw. It was as though someone had run sandpaper through my mouth and scratched at every surface.

“And do you wanna know what I think?” I doubt that Corbin expected an answer from any of us, but he threw the question to the anxious crowd as it was forcefully dispersed anyway.

‘Not really, you fucking prick.’ Beaux suddenly snarled sarcastically in my head. I barely managed to stop myself from snorting in amusement at her snarky outburst.

Just as I had thought though, Corbin was not deterred by the lack of a response to his question.

“I think, that we should use this as an opportunity to send a message.” He paused, giving time for his vague comment to settle, and making sure that more than just a few eyebrows twist and arch in confusion.

He slowly wandered back and forth on his imaginary stage in front of the slow, thinning crowd. His eyes were focused down on the floor, his face set in concentration, with his hands joined together at his lower back, just at the top of his fat arse that looked as though at any second it wanted to burst from his cheap, tailored trousers and start singing a cabaret.

“I think that we should leave this sack of flesh here, as it is. Not just leave it on display for the work of art that it is, but to also let anyone know that comes looking, what happened here tonight. Also, to warn those that stand against me, that this is what will happen to them.” He hissed as he spoke, as if anyone that opposed him would be a treasonous act and the worst thing in the world to happen.

The insane wolf had stopped his pacing and turned to face everyone present, just to watch their faces as the realisation of what he had said settled in. A haunting darkness was cast upon his face from the glow of light as he smiled evily, enjoying every ounce of terror that he had caused.

My stomach churned and ached at the very idea of what he was suggesting; it was inhumane. My brother being left forgotten, suspended from two posts for nature to run its course over his exposed insides. I was distraught by the possibility of leaving him behind, never to see him again.

I know that our beliefs lead us to think that when we pass on, our wolves run free in the fields and forests of the Moon Goddess under her watchful eyes, but it was hard not to fear the what-ifs at the idea of not being able to do that again with Elliot and his wolf.

Tears gathered instantly and fell unstopping as I stood there feeling lost, my limbs heavy as though they had been tied down with lead weights. Depression settled deep in the roots of every thought and memory that I had. This megalomaniac had tainted everything that I had experienced with my friends, family and pack members and nothing was ever going to be the same again.

Mates howled, cried and fought to stay with each other, whilst pups clung to any part of their fathers that they could grip, before being torn away from their last ever embrace with them.

Screams rang out through all the territory where the same was happening to them; wolves were dragged from their beds where they had previously been in slumber, completely unaware of all that was happening, whilst others were killed where they lay.

I could only assume that the worst had happened to the wolves that were on patrol if these idiots were running free on our territory; torturing then killing every person that they had captured, all without the fear of being found by our soldiers.

The sporadic sounds of fighting could be heard as people retaliated and tried to defend their homes, but there was no point. The ones that seemed to win a fight, soon succumbed in the following seconds after being overwhelmed by rogues or members of the Bloodmoon pack that had come with their greedy Alpha. Their numbers were too vast, and they had caught us all completely unaware with our pants around our ankles, we should not have been so vulnerable.

I could feel the pain of all my pack members through the pack bond. Everything about my life felt heavy, crushing and suffocating, but the waning pack strength was minor in comparison to everything else.

As wolves belonging to The Moonlight Pack and all the others that came for the Mating Ball were being killed, I began to feel physically weaker. But the terrified screams and cries of mates that felt the deaths of their soulmates chipped away at my emotional strength more than any physical loss from the pack bond could ever do. Seeing females crumble to the floor, never to be whole again after losing their soul mate chipped away some more. But when I stood still, numb and unable to move as soldiers preyed upon the distraught females, it obliterated everything that that had previously held me together. I could only watch as one by one; they were slaughtered with any means available to the predators and with no hesitation or apparent remorse. Mainly claws after a partial transformation were used, or throats being torn out by the sharp teeth of a fully transformed werewolf.

They were butchering the fallen females because they were more than likely never going to be useful to them. Even if they were to survive the loss of their mate, then they were never going to recover or be the same again.

Losing our counterparts was paralising, most of us that did survive were unable to function on even just a basic level after. They would never be of any use to Corbin, which is most likely why his soldiers were ordered to end their lives. Killing them now was probably doing them a merciless kindness though, sparing them from the worst possible suffering of them all.

The only fallen female that was left untouched, broken on the floor was mum, as she felt and suffered through every loss of our pack mates. But as the Luna, she would always be of use to Corbin the dick, regardless of what emotional state she was in.

Before now, I only ever saw the beauty in being a werewolf, but observing the brutality happening all around me drastically changed my views on the so-called blessing.

As I was watching my pack members being forcefully led across the grass, I noticed that they were being led to the convoy that comprised of a mix of Luton vans and small lorries sitting there waiting, hiding in the shadows ready to take them on to the next part of Corbin’s diabolical plan.

But also as I watched, I could see a small number of random wolves break away from the groups of women, children and elderly, but they did not stand a chance. Those that the soldiers caught up to that submitted quickly and easily were spared; kept alive to suffer another day. However, those that did not submit, that continued to fight for their escape by running or by standing their ground, were ploughed down with unrefined savagery.

Cries and wails from small, terrified children pierced the night and my heart. I watched as guards grabbed kids of all ages, some carrying more than one to the vans, loading them up and locking them in to prevent any from escaping.

I jumped out of my skin as someone grabbed my hand and pulled sharply, tearing at my shoulder and jolting me around to face them to get my attention.

It was Pops!

I launched myself at her, flinging my arms around her neck and locking them as tight as I could in case she disappeared from my touch. I instantly broke down, sobbing and rambling incoherently about what was going on, her doing the exact same in return.

We eventually pulled back to look at each other, both briefly scanning the other for any injuries, and both satisfied that none of us was sporting any.

“We have to go.” Poppy urged me, desperation lacing her voice in a way that I had never heard on her before. “We need to get out of here before they do something. If you make it to that pack, then you’re never going to be leaving, Oli.” She started tugging at my wrists, trying to egg me into running with her.

“I can’t. I’ll never make it far. He’ll never let me go, and who knows what he’ll do to you if he catches you with me if I run.” I pull my wrists back from her grasp, sorrow all over my face at having to decide not to go with my best friend.

I lower my eyes so that I cannot see any disappointment or rage in Poppy’s face at my inability to find the courage and run. But Reid refused to accept my rejection, we are still bonded. If I ran, then I would only suffer pain and depression until death claimed me, all thanks to the mating bond trying to push us together in some twisted way.

“Then I stay too.” Poppy’s voice was gentle whilst she was tugging at my hands to get me to lift my face to her. She need not have bothered, what she had said had me lifting my head up so fast, that I swear I was going to cause permanent damage to my neck.

“No! Run, you must run. Don’t you fucking dare stay for me, you stupid trollop!” I started pushing her hands back towards her, enough so that her frame faulted and stumbled back ever-so-slightly, just not enough to get her to go anywhere.

“Not without you. Where you go, I go, remember? You'll never get rid of me that easy, shitface.” Pops gave me one of her sympathetic smiles, melting my momentary strong resolve and having me throw my arms around her once more.

“You idiotic, stubborn fucker. I could kill you sometimes, y’know?” I whispered threateningly into her ear, but thankful that our ride-or-die friendship was exactly that; strong no matter what the weather.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see one wolf causing more trouble for Corbin’s men than any other was, there were many bodies littering the floor around the commotion. As I watched, more joined both the body count at their feet and those trying to subdue the wildfire unfurling.

It was Elijah.

Elijah has Alpha blood in him.

It did not matter how much wolfsbane was given to him, if he is not given enough to kill him then he will not completely lose all his strength. He would still be stronger than the strongest of humans and even some of the weaker wolves. But, as it had been a couple of hours since we were all injected, some of his Alpha strength had returned and he was causing a fiasco right in the middle of Corbin’s plans.

Watching him tear into so many of the pricks that tagged along for Corbin’s mad dash for power left me feeling so very, deeply satisfied, that even a slip of a smile tugged at the corners of my lips for the first time in the last couple of hours. Some were only injured slightly before they were running off with their tails between their legs, trying to get away before they met a more permanent fate. Most of the wolves that had approached him nefariously, hobbled away or died with limbs missing.

Elijah was an absolute beast, even in human form; he was a weapon of destruction.

Eli’s warrior training would have prepared him for situations like this; how to fight and survive in a diminished capacity against all types of enemies.

I was in awe watching this machine take down our enemies one after the other like they were nothing more than annoying nats that had flown from the safety of the wildlife, only to pester him and be slaughtered.

Every single wolf from the large number that were failing to over-power Elijah had tried to charge him; they tried using speed in an attempt to catch him off-guard. But in the shadows, I could see one wolf stalking up to his prey slowly, watching it to try and figure out its weakness before attacking. Elijah was locked in their sights and about to face their wrath.

Reid was in hunting mode, about to pounce and I could not do a fucking thing.

Do I call out to my brother to turn around and save his life by letting him attack and befall my mate like all the others before?

Do I call out to my mate in the hopes that he is pulled out of his hyper-focus? Risk his temper directed towards me instead? That is providing that the mate bond is strong enough to pull his attention onto me.

It was only about five seconds that had passed, but it felt more like an infinite, stomach-twisting limbo of indecisions, before Reid was close enough to launch his attack on the unsuspecting and distracted victim; Elijah.