Chapter 4

Kane was quick; he dodged her attack and held her hands behind her. “Mason!” Kane yelled for his beta, “Come, get her out of here.” He couldn’t stand to see her in pain, especially when he was the cause of the pain.

Quick footsteps were approaching them, and Mason was soon in sight. “Alpha.” The beta said, lowering his head in respect.

“Get her out of my sight. She doesn’t need to watch this.”

“Yes alpha.” Mason replied and was moving towards her side; no question was needed. All he cared about was doing his bidding.

Mason jerked her off Kane’s hold, dragging her away. But the little shit still got a fight in her. “Noooo.” Ariel cried, and both men were cringing from the noise; it was too loud for their sensitive ears. But Ariel saw an opening, and she jerked her arms from Mason’s hold.

Maybe a little too hard, as she felt sharp pain like that of a lightning bolt traveling down her arm, but she ignored it and ran towards her father.

“Dad? Daddy? Wake up, please wake up.” Fat drops of tears were dripping out of her eyes as she held on to her father, shaking him hard.

“Ari.” Kane heard the weary voice of the alpha, and he knew that it wasn’t long before he met his ancestors. His little girl moved closer to his face as she heard her name, and Mason made to go after her, but Kane raised his hands.

It is alright; just give them time.

It was only right that he gave the father and daughter a little bond time—a parting gift.

Ariel kneeled in front of her father, applying her ears to his mouth, and the dying alpha was whispering to her ears even as Kane looked on with a faraway look, and Ariel was nodding her head at every word.

The next event happened so fast that Kane could barely stop it. The alpha produced a needle from his pocket and stabbed his daughter’s thigh, even while the other needle was already jammed in his thighs, pumping loads and loads of wolfbane into his system in such a lethal dose that no wolf could survive it.

“The fucker!” Kane yelled, kicking the syringe out of his hands. But it was too late; the damage had already been done, and the alpha fell on his side, white foam spewing from his mouth.

Kane heard a dull thud, and he watched in slow motion as his mate crumpled to the floor beside her father. Wet trails of tears were still visible on her face, and he shook his head.

“What have I done to deserve this?”

Kane’s eyes were still bulging from the fact that he had just witnessed a fucking suicide before his eyes, and his heart rate was skyrocketing. He wasn’t a stranger to blood and gore; he was born in it, and all his life has been about blood and gore.

However, the sight in front of him was so horrible that goosebumps broke all over his body, and Kane shivered despite the fact that the air was not even a bit cold.

“What should we do about him, Alpha?" The voice of his beta was disrupting his thoughts, and Mason eyed the murder scene with distaste. Despite the massacre, the late alpha was a great man, but suicide was frowned upon in the werewolf world.

“Light the pack on fire. The Moonlight pack is no more, but make sure to take everything that will be useful for the pack. I will be going now.”

“Yes alpha.” Mason said, bowing his head as a sign of respect, until his eyes landed on the crumpled bundle on the floor. “What are we doing about her alpha? Are we killing her?”

“Don’t touch her!” Max snarled, baring his bloody teeth towards Mason. “I will break anyone’s hand who dares to touch her.” The power leaked from his voice, and all the werewolves around were having trouble keeping their heads up.

“I am sorry, Alpha. I never meant to anger you; I was just concerned.” Mason apologized in a calm voice, lowering his head to the point that he was sure he would develop neck pain if he continued.

“No one gets to touch her but me, no one!” Max barked, and even for a beta, the power that Kane had was so great that he wanted to bend his knees.

Then it clicked in his brain.

“She is your mate.”

No sooner than he said the words, Kane pounced on him, having regained control, and his hands tightened around Mason’s neck.

“You will tell no one about this.” He snarled, and Mason nodded his head in affirmation before he was scurrying off to carry out the bidding of his alpha.

Kane lowered himself to the sleeping form on the floor, his bloody hands reaching gingerly to her nose. A little sigh of relief left him as he felt the hot air of her exhale, and he was picking her up gently.

For a moment, his heart had stopped beating as he watched his mate crumple to the floor like a rag doll, and he thought the former alpha was so wicked to kill his daughter.

But he hadn’t felt any loss from the mate bond, and it was only then that he was reassured that she lived, but even at that, Max was still going crazy at the thought that she was unconscious.

“Max! Stop acting like a lovesick puppy.” Kane spat out, as he couldn’t bear the constant whining from his wolf any longer. “Fuck sake, you have only known her for a few minutes, and you are acting like she is your world.”

It was insulting to call a wolf of his caliber a puppy, but Max refused to take the jab; instead, he settled in his space and laid his head.

“Ariel.” Kane murmured the name he had heard them call her, and he reached out, stroking her hair. The long hair was full of debris from blowing the house up, and it was matted and tangled.

He was going to have to run her a bath when they got home.

He picked his mate up, the spacks igniting on their touch as if to confirm that it was really the person sent by the goddess for him.

“Why?” Kane couldn’t help but whine as he walked to where the warriors were still chanting war songs about their victory.