Chapter 85

Xaden’s POV

“Where the hell have you boys been?!” Father growled as we walked into the Alpha house. “I called you two hours ago.”

“We had to speak with Principal Rapport and get our affairs in order first,” I answered for the both of us.

“When I call for you, I need you to be here immediately. This isn’t a joke. You are the future Alpha and there is a battle going on. The pack expects you to be present for them.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, bowing my head in respect to my father.

He was one of the most powerful Alphas and his son, I was expected to live up to his expectations. It was difficult, but if I wanted to be the Alpha of the Bloodmoon pack, then I couldn’t complain.

“The new Alpha King had ascended his army already and we have warriors fighting alongside our neighboring pack. It doesn’t feel like a battle for the title anymore. It’s like this asshole has something to prove. He’s not holding back, and we are losing men quickly.”

“Then we should pull them out until we have a strategy,” Zach said, stepping forward. “Going in blind is never a good idea and you above all should know that.”

Father narrowed his eyes at Zach; it was no secret that my father and Zach had a rocky relationship, though most of it was always a misunderstanding created by Zach. My father only wanted Zach to be stronger and better, but Zach took the hardships as neglect and disrespect.

“Now you want to act like you give a shit about this pack?” Father said through his teeth, his tone harsh and snapped like a whip. “If I remember correctly, you wanted this pack to burn with the last war. You abandoned the gammas when they needed a leader the most and because of that, I lost a lot of good men.”

“And where were you, Alpha?” Zach spat, saying the word “Alpha” like it was a bad taste on his tongue.

“Now is not the time,” I said, putting a strong hand on Zach’s shoulder, which he shrugged off immediately.

“Tell him that,” Zach hissed, fury clear in his eyes.

Father growled at Zach before fixing his eyes on me.

“There are rumors about this Alpha King and we need to tread carefully,” Father warned.

“What are these rumors?” I dared to ask.

“That he’s working with the Dragon King.”

A chill went up my spine and I couldn’t help but shudder.

“The Dragon King?” I asked, my jaw hardening. “You’re sure?”

“It’s a rumor. I hadn’t seen any dragons yet. I’ve been out on the field with the warriors for hours and just returned to strengthen my wolf. I just sent healers to the field to save as many lives as they could. It’s a bloodbath out there. If the rumors are true, then we might have another war coming.”

“I’m pulling what’s left of our warriors, with or without your permission,” Zach seethed, about to march away to do just that until Father grabbed him by the shirt.

“The hell you are!”

“Let him go,” I said, grabbing Father's arm and removing it from Zach’s shirt. Both father and Zach stared at me like I had just grown another head. “Face it, Zach is the only one who knows the warriors through and through. He’s proven himself more times than we can count combined. If he says we are pulling the warriors, then I trust him.”

“Prove himself?!” Father yelled. “He’s let us down more times than we can count as well.”

“I am the future Alpha, Father. If you don’t trust him, that’s fine, but you need to trust me.”

I wasn’t backing down from this. He looked as if he was about to combust, but with a growl that emerged deep in his throat, and stepped back.

“Fine, do what you must.”

I looked at Zach and nodded. He looked shocked; he stared at me with wide eyes, frozen for a moment.

“Go,” I said through my teeth, keeping my eyes locked on his alarmed ones. “And don’t make me regret this, brother.”

He nodded and then he turned and ran.

“Don’t you make me regret this, Xaden,” Father hissed.

…..

Things were quiet while we waited for the next attack. It was late in the evening, and most had set up camp between the 4 packs affected by this battle. I spent most of the evening studying everything I could about Edmond Richards and his army. Trying to figure out what his weaknesses are. Zach spent the evening making a plan with the warriors and then helping them set up camp for the night once things started to calm down.

We moved most of the pack, those who can’t fight such as women, children, and elderly, into the Alpha house for safety.

Instead of staying in the Alpha house myself, I grabbed some supplies and joined the gammas in the forest where they were camping. Zach and a few others were on watch duty when I approached.

I could hear the clicking of a gun and a growl when I broke through the clearing.

“It’s just the future Alpha,” I heard one of the men say in a raspy tone.

I heard others sighing in relief.

“Rough night?” I asked as I made my way over to my brother who was perched on a tree, looking exhausted.

“You could say that,” Zach muttered, leaning his head on the tree trunk. “More men died than I thought. Father was an idiot to keep them out there without an actual plan.”

I nodded, sitting beside him.

“I agree. It was stupid not knowing what we were going into,” I said, probably to his surprise because I rarely agree with him. “Have you checked in with the other packs? How are they doing?”

“Pretty much the same as how we are doing,” Zach muttered. “Alpha Rubert of the Yellowstone back lost hundreds. He’s not even sure what the Alpha King’s motives are. This is no longer about the title. It’s like he’s after revenge.”

“What about those rumors about the dragon king?” I asked.

“There has been no sign of him or a dragon,” Zach said, shaking his head. “As of right now, those are just rumors.”

“What would the dragon king be working with the Alpha King for?” I asked, trying to wrap my head around it. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Perhaps he wants more power than he already has,” Zach suggested. “He’s been banished to the underground city with his dragons and the dragon masters. He’s probably just sick of it and wants to resurface.”

I groaned at the thought.

“He’s trying to open the doors to hell,” I murmured.

“Sounds like it.”

We fell into a comfortable silence until one of the men stood from their position.

“I’m going to patrol the area and make sure there are no sneak attacks. It took us a while to find a spot that wasn’t corrupted by the Alpha King’s men. It would be a shame if it was taken from us.”

“Be careful,” Zach warned. “Johnson, go with him.”

He pointed to one of the others and motioned for him to go.

Both men hurried off.

“I feel like we are sitting ducks,” I muttered.

“You’re telling me. It was hard to pull my men away mid-battle,” Zach admitted. “Especially when we could see so many others dying.”

“Do we have a steady plan though?”

“I think so,” Zach said. “The strongest of the men will be fighting in wolf form. They will be front and center. I have a couple of men who are great snipers, and we found some areas for them to stake out to cover our asses. We grabbed armor and guns for those who don’t fight well in their skin, and I got some swords and other hand weapons for up-close confrontation if needed. Our main goal should always be to protect the pack. Right now, we are camping out on our pack territory lines. We are not going to be looking for a fight and we are sorry for those in other packs, but we have to protect ourselves at whatever cost. We don’t fight and lose any more men unless the battle comes to us.”

I nodded in agreement.

“That’s a great strategy,” I agreed.

He was right; Father had our warriors in other pack territories blindly fighting alongside them. We had lost too many to continue that, and the battle seemed to be getting closer to our pack lines. We have one of the biggest packs in the world, which means we have a lot of women, children, and other innocents in our territory. If the battle crosses our territory line, we could lose way more than just warriors.

I wouldn’t put them at risk like that.

“Why did you stand up for me earlier with father?” Zach surprised me by asking.

I looked at him, raising my brows.

“I didn’t stand up for you,” I told him honestly. “I stood up for what I knew was right.”

“But you trusted me,” Zach said, his frown deepening. “You’ve never trusted me before. What’s changed?”

I thought about it for a moment; he was right. I have never trusted him before. When things got tough during our last war, Zach bailed, leaving us all high and dry. A lot of suffering because of that. But I also knew that nobody was listening to a thing he was saying, and Father continued to belittle him and second guess everything little thing he said during that war. A part of me couldn’t blame him for walking.

Father blamed him for that, but honestly, it was Father’s fault.

I also thought back to my conversation with the Moon Queen. Anila needs her mates, all of us. Which includes Zach. I knew I needed to put whatever shit I had against him to the side for Anila’s sake. Regardless of how difficult I knew that was going to be.

“You’re my brother,” I decided to say. “I know I haven’t always been there for you in the past and I know I’ve been an asshole for most of your life. But you are still my brother.”

“You blamed me for your mother’s death…” Zach murmured. “I was only a boy. I had nothing to do with her death.”

“I blamed your mother,” I admitted, staring down at my hands. “If she hadn’t come into the picture and gotten pregnant with you, my mother would still be alive. Her wolf wouldn’t have gotten sick, and it wouldn’t have taken my mother’s life along with it. Losing her was the worst experience of my life.”

“My mother is our father’s fated mate,” Zach said. “It couldn’t have been helped.”

“I know,” I said softly. “And now I understand how father felt.”

I felt Zach’s eyes on me.

“Anila.”

I nodded.

“If I were with another and Anila walked into my life, I don’t think I would have been able to just walk away from Anila. You know?”

“Yes,” Zach whispered, and I knew he understood.

I opened my mouth to say something else, anything… but then a scream sounded throughout the night.

“Dragon!!!!!!!!”