**Soren’s POV
“Don’t you think it’s ti we went back ho?” Thomas asked as the two of us stood in my tent late one evening. “The war is practically over now, Soren. Your uncle needs you back ho to help him regroup.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, not feeling the need to explain myself to my subordinate. “Not now,” I told him. It was short and to the point, and that’s all he needed.
“But you have to understand, Soren, no one expected Ethan to act that way! After he was banished... he actually attacked your uncle! He went right into that camp and bit his f*cking arm off! The man has clearly lost his mind.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want to hear anything else about my d*mn brother, all right?” I told him. “He doesn’t matter anymore.”
“Wait, what?” Thomas asked . “I thought... if Ethan doesn’t matter anymore, then why the h*ll are we looking for Rosalie? You’re not trying to get her back to hurt him?”
I dropped my gaze to the floor. Thomas didn’t need to know my motivation. “It’s more complicated than that,” I muttered.
“More complicated? Soren... the queen is pregnant with the heir, so Ethan’s baby is nothing now. If you’re not trying to get back at him, then what is it?”
I shook my head. “Leave all of that to ,” I told him.
“Oh, I see,” he said, his lips pursed together as he gave a disapproving look.
Glowering at him, I said, “Thomas, I’ll remind you that you’re not in charge here.”
“Yes, sir,” he said, his eyes narrowed. “It’s just... with Kal’s forces being pushed back after he was injured, I think it’s best if we leave the north and go back ho. They’re in a full retreat now! The East has had all the ti in the world to move in and drive them back since he’s been injured. Having the queen carrying a child didn’t get rid of Ethan, instead, it backfired on us, and indirectly caused our king’s suffering.”
Finally, I agreed with sothing he said. “I warned my uncle to never underestimate Ethan. I personally told him I thought it was better if he didn’t get so close to Mirage in person. But the b*stard didn’t listen. He wanted to feel the glory of winning the war himself.”
I shook my head in disgust. “He said he wanted to see his enemies fall with his own eyes. Now, Uncle Kal is eating the consequences of his own arrogance.” I rested my hand on the table, thinking about how foolish the king had been to go about things the way he had.
He never listened to , and now he was the one suffering for it.
“And Roro?” Thomas said with a chuckle. “It serves his *ss right to be locked up by King Jas for what he did, trying to play both sides. I never did trust that guy.”
“No, I knew better than to trust him, too,” I told him. “He’s no longer useful to Jas, so he had no trouble locking him up for his betrayal.” An image of Roro suffering in a dungeon cell filled my mind, making want to laugh.
“So... you’re not at all interested in going back to the islands?” Thomas asked again, a look of disbelief on his face. “You don’t care that Damian’s claiming to be the new Alpha of the islands? Don’t you want to go back and force his *ss out of your land?”
I sneered, “Roro let use the island as part of the deal he had with my uncle. It wasn’t mine to begin with. Anyway, at the mont, I have more important things to worry about than that asshole. I’ll take care of him later.”
“Because now you’re here, trying to find Rosalie and her baby, because....”
Anger flared up in as I understood exactly what he was getting at. “Maybe if you had done a better job of preventing Rosalie and her baby from fleeing the island to begin with we wouldn’t be in this predicant, now would we?”
“Hey! It’s not all my fault!” Thomas argued. “How was anyone supposed to know Seraphine would be so conniving and betray us the way that she did?”
He had a point there. I never would’ve expected Seraphine to tell Rosalie the truth and stab in the back like that. I had been under the impression that the midwife was loyal to .
It just went to show that you couldn’t ever really trust anyone.
“I guess that ans we’re not leaving the north until we find Ro—”
“Shh!” I said, holding up a finger. “Do you hear that?” I asked him, stepping over to the door of the tent. Sothing wasn’t right. I had an odd feeling inside of my stomach, and I thought I slled sothing different in the air.
“What?” Thomas asked, huffing.
“I don’t hear anything,” I told him. “Nothing at all. Do you?”
“No, but so what?” Thomas asked.
We’d brought quite a few n with us. It made no sense that it would be completely silent in the camp.
I stepped out of the tent to see that everyone was gone. Thomas followed , and we took a few steps around, staying together, knowing sothing wasn’t right.
A flurry in the woods around us had us both panicked as a ton of troops poured out from every direction, surrounding us. Thomas and I stood there, back to back, trying to assess the situation.
“Who are these bastards?” Thomas asked .
“Not sure,” I told him.
Then, a large fra erged from between the others as a muscular middle-aged man stepped into the light.
A shudder went down my spine as I recognized the haggard face. An unforgettable jagged scar marred the left side of his face, running from his ear to his jaw.
I froze...it was him! The one that hunted when I was young, the one who haunted in my nightmares for years!
Why did he suddenly show up again? Did Ethan send him after again? How did Ethan know I was here?!
He was coming right at , and I had no place to hide.
I needed to swallow my fear and try to make them forget that they had completely surrounded. “Where are my n?” I asked, tipping my chin up and squaring my shoulders.
“Shut the f*ck up, Soren!” the b*stard shouted. “You’re just a useless *sshole like your father.” He wrinkled his nose up at and glared down at . “You think you’re so f*cking smart, but you’re just a useless piece of sh*t. The only thing you’ll ever be good at is ruining things!”
I wanted to lash out at him, to demand he tell where my n were right then, but how could I say anything at all when we were surrounded, and he was towering over .
Those nightmares from my childhood ca flooding back through my mind.
With his nose only a fraction of an inch away from mine, he lowered his voice and growled out, “I told the king I should’ve killed you ten years ago, but he told that you might be useful long term...”
What was he talking about?!
He licked his lips and smirked, “Had he listened to , he wouldn’t have to lose his arm and go through all the suffering thanks to you f*cking piece of sh*t!”
My eyes widened as I realized exactly what scarface was telling .
Ten years ago, I’d been hunted down and almost killed by a group of n. I had always assud they’d been sent by my half brother, that Ethan would be the one who wanted to kill .
But that wasn’t the case at all. It was Kal! My own uncle, the man who I thought saved , and told that it was all Ethan’s fault. He told that one day, he would help to get my revenge.
Over the years, he never announced to the public that I was his nephew because I thought he wanted to protect . I didn’t mind taking care of all of his dirty work for him with my hidden identity...
I didn’t agree with him on a lot of things, but that was fine. I’d always thought that at least, I was his family no matter what.
However, it was all a lie! He just used as a pawn against Jas and Ethan, and now he wanted dead?! Because I couldn’t help him win the war, and I wasn’t useful to him any more, so he wanted my life?!
Rage mixed with a cold chill and splintered down my back as I asked again, “Where the h*ll are my n?”
A snarl of a smile split his face. “They were disrespectful to , little man,” he told . “So we killed them.”
Horror washed over as the faces of all of the n who’d co with to the north flashed before my eyes. They had trusted and ca here because I needed their help.
Now, they were dead, every single one of them!
Rage boiled up inside of . Using the mind-link, I told Thomas, “Get them!”
He didn’t hesitate, as I was sure he was feeling the sa outrage I was.
It might’ve been considered dirty fighting, but I needed to do what I could. With no warning, I raised my knee and shoved it right into the scar-faced man’s balls. He doubled over in pain, and I grabbed his head and slamd it into my thigh, throwing him backward into the n standing behind him.
Thomas was fighting behind , and the two of us managed to take them by surprise enough to break through their lines. As I cut between two of Kal’s warriors, one of them lashed out with a knife, catching in the back, near my rib cage. Pain ripped through my center, but I couldn’t slow down. I just grabbed his arm and yanked, pulling him up into the air and using his body as a club to hit the man on the other side of . I released his arm and both of them tumbled to the ground.
Despite the pain, I knew we had to run so I took off into the woods, shifting into my wolf form, but grabbing my pants in my mouth to take them with in case I needed them.
‘Soren, where are you going?’ Thomas mindlinked .
‘Stop following . You go back to the island and check on others!’ I ordered.
‘Boss, but–’
‘This is an order. I’ll be fine. Just f*cking go. Now! ’ I reiterated.
He let out a long howl and finally changed his direction.
I ran as fast as I could, heading north. Knowing Thomas went south was a relief. Scarface’s target was , and only . The further I was away from Thomas, the safer it was for him.
It was night, and the woods were alive with the sounds of creatures, many of them predators.
How many of them were rogues? If I was lucky, I might be able to run into the few rogue groups I worked with before. But if I was unlucky...
I continued to run through the night, hearing howls and growls in the distance as I wound my way further north. By dawn, I was exhausted and starving. I had found water but no food. My legs were beginning to cramp up from running for so long, but I had to keep going.
And then, I tore around a large bush to co face to face with three large wolves.
I froze, thinking perhaps I could backtrack and get away from them. But I was so tired, I couldn’t even get my feet to move again.
All three of Kal’s n ca rushing at , their teeth gnashing , their claws ripping into my fur. I cursed, but I knew then, I was a dead man.
The agony that rippled through my body from every direction was excruciating. I did my best to try to get away, to guard my neck to keep them from tearing out my throat, and to fight them off, but I was just too tired.
Then, in the distance, the sound of paws hitting the ground quickly sounded, and the wolves that had in their clutches pulled their heads away.
Soone was coming, and whatever forces they were, there were a lot of them.
By the behavior of these three after , I could tell that they weren’t expecting friends. They took off into the woods, and I collapsed on the ground under a tree.
With the last amount of strength I had left, I shifted and pulled on my pants, thinking it would be easier for to get help from humans who might have dicine if I was in my human form.
But I didn’t have any more energy. I couldn’t drag myself from beneath the tree where I had fallen to go look for help.
As darkness overca , Rosalie’s face flashed before my eyes, and I wished so badly that she was there so I could tell her how truly sorry I was for everything I’d done to her.
I knew, though, I’d never see her again.
The world faded away, and even though I thought I heard the sound of her voice carrying to on the wind... I knew it had to be a fignt of my imagination as I faded away into oblivion.
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