Chapter 115

Third Person POV

Kenneth had known Burton for a long time and long before Kenneth became an Alpha, their packs were allies.

He and Burton had gone up North months ago with a group of warriors when word got out about a human village; they were supposed to go and eliminate them per orders of the Alpha King. However, a battle broke out and injured many of the men; Kenneth stayed behind while their warriors healed and Burton traveled alone, using his keen tracking abilities to hunt down this village. But when he returned, Burton said that there was no village that needed their concern.

However, Kenneth couldn’t help but wonder if Burton was telling the truth. He had been keeping an eye on Burton ever since that trip 6 months ago and he knew Burton had gone up North since that trip.

Kenneth went to his office late in the evening to speak with Burton, but what he found wasn’t Burton… it was much more interesting.

“Kenneth, what are you doing in my office?” Burton asked standing at the entryway of his office.

“I came looking for you,” Kenneth said, stepping around his desk. “You’ve been absent quite frequently and I wanted to catch up with a friend.”

He had just finished snooping through some of his things and saw that Burton had been doing research about Enigmas.

Why on earth would Burton be looking into them?

“Were you snooping through my things, Alpha?” Burton asked.

“Of course not,” Kenneth said, raising his brows. “And why so formal suddenly? Are we no longer friends?”

“Now that you are an Alpha, you need to abide by Alpha rules. I need to be notified of your visitations going forward,” Burton scolded.

“I apologize for the intrusion,” Kenneth murmured. “I thought we could continue our friendship, even after I became the Alpha of Dawnguard Pride. My mistake. You’ve been so quiet lately and I’m hearing rumors that you have spent a heavy amount of time up North since our last trip. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were hiding another family.”

Burton’s blood ran cold; could Kenneth have figured out his secret? No, that was impossible. If anyone knew what he had done… impregnating a woman from a human witch tribe and keeping this tribe a secret from the werewolf community, he would be killed in a heartbeat and his pack would be taken by a new Alpha.

He couldn’t let that happen.

“Victoria would have my ass if I had an affair months before our official mating ceremony,” Burton muttered. “I’ve made an alliance with a pack in the North territory, and I’ve been visiting with them strictly for business.”

“I see,” Kenneth said, observing him carefully. “And Victoria is okay with her future mate disappearing like that?”

“She has no choice,” Burton snapped. “I’m doing this for our pack. She will understand once she’s a Luna. Besides, some space would do us some good. She’s been driving me crazy lately because she’s still unable to get pregnant. I told her I didn’t want to try until she was officially my mate and the Luna of Moonstone, but she’s relentless.”

“Trouble in paradise?” Kenneth asked teasingly.

Burton grabbed his briefcase off the ground and started to pack some important files, including the research he’d done on Enigmas. He was planning on returning to the Red Oak Tribe for a couple of days. He had gotten word that Esme was unwell; she was only 6 months pregnant, but showing signs of premature labor.

“It will get easier in time,” Burton said, sighing. “We’ve been together for 2 years. She can wait another couple of months. I must leave now. I have business to take care of. Please, leave my office and don’t arrive unannounced again.”

Kenneth nodded and he left before Burton, but he couldn’t help but wonder what Burton was truly hiding and what it had to do with Enigmas.

…..

Burton returned to the Red Oak tribe just in time for Esme to go into labor. It was much sooner than planned; this baby would be premature and need treatment right away or he might not survive. Though, he’s supposed to be an Enigma, so he will be tough.

“Promise me…” Esme gasped as pain coursed through her body. “That when this baby is born… you’ll leave Red Oak alone…”

She had already come to terms with the fact that she might be losing her child to this wolf. It broke her heart, but if she didn’t, her entire tribe would suffer because of her. She had to do what she could to protect her people. As an Enigma, her child will be kept safe in the wolf pack and that was what mattered to her the most. As long as her son was protected and her tribe was safe, Esme could find happiness in life again.

“I have already given you my word,” he said darkly. “Just bear me this Enigma child and your tribe is safe.”

He stood by her side during her long hours of labor and when she finally gave birth to a baby, his heart sank the moment he saw the child.

It was…. A girl.

He saw red and it wasn’t just the color of the girl’s hair… it was fury.

“You lied to me,” he said through his teeth. “This whole thing was a lie to protect your tribe!!”

“What?” Esme gasped, cradling her baby in her arms. “N… no, of course not! It was predicted that I would have an Enigma descendent…”

“That child isn’t an Enigma! She can’t be!!” He growled. “You deceived me! You humans are nothing but liars!! This is why you deserve to die!!”

“W…what?? You promised!!”

“I promised that I’d keep your tribe safe if you gave me an Enigma. That baby was nothing but a mistake,” he hissed. “A lie.”

“Burton, please…”

He raised his hand and slapped her across the face, making the doctor who just delivered the baby wince and cower in the corner.

“You dare speak my given name??” Burton growled, his Alpha aura radiating as his wolf surged to take control. “Now, you will watch as I destroy your entire tribe!”

Kenneth had heard the entire thing after following Burton to this tribe. He had hidden himself in the shadows while Burton destroyed the village of human witches. It was dead in the night, so the human warriors were unaware of what was happening until it was too late. Burton was known to be a strong fighter even without his wolf and he proved that quickly.

“Please, don’t do this!” Esme cried. “Leave us alone; we just want to live!!”

“No,” Burton growled through his teeth. “None of you deserve to live after what you did! You are nothing but a liar and a deceitful woman. I should have never put my trust in you!”

“Please!” Esme sobbed; after a blood-curdling scream, there was nothing but silence. Burton turned his anger towards the infant, but Kenneth made himself known at that very moment, stopping him from doing something even stupider.

“What are you doing here?” Burton asked, his clothes dripping with the blood of his victims.

“I followed you,” Kenneth replied simply, his eyes trained on the infant. “And seems you’ve been rather busy.”

“You don’t know anything,” Burton hissed.

“I know that you got a human witch pregnant,” he muttered, his eyes finally lifting to meet Burtons. “And I know you are about to kill the last hope for an Enigma.

“That baby is not an Enigma. She’s a mistake and I’m going to fix it.”

Kenneth let out a laugh.

“Of course, the girl isn’t an Enigma, but she still has her mother’s bloodline. The same bloodline is predicted to produce Enigma children. You were rash in your decision-making. You shouldn’t have given up after one child. You should have kept trying until you had a proper heir, but alas, you allowed your anger to get the best of you.”

The color drained from Burton’s face as he stared at the baby; she had fiery red hair and looked nothing like him. It infuriated him.

“You are truly an idiot, old friend,” Kenneth continued, shaking his head. “Your little human witch fling didn’t lie to you. Yet, you killed her entire tribe. A tribe that shouldn’t have been protected in the first place. What would the others think if they found out about this? Not only did you protect a human tribe after being ordered to eliminate them by the Alpha King himself, but you just killed an entire tribe of Enigma birthers. You kept the prophecy to yourself. Either way, your head will be put on a stake.”

Burton knew he was in deep shit; he made a huge mistake by keeping this from the King, but his greed overpowered his senses.

“You won’t tell…” Burton said, his resolve fading.

Kenneth grinned and shrugged his shoulder.

“I won’t tell,” Kenneth confirmed. “But only if you give me this child once she turns of age. Then I want her to join my pack and become a birthing machine. She will mate with my son, and they will produce children until an Enigma is born.”

“Victoria would never forgive me for this…”

“Victoria craves power, she would never leave you. Not even if you have a million affairs. You are a powerful Alpha, and you are willing to hand her everything she wants,” Kenneth murmured. “The least she can do is care for this bastard child as her own.”

“My pack would never believe this redheaded child was a product of Victoria and me…”

“That can be fixed with simple hair dye,” Kenneth told him, rolling his eyes. “We can conceal her identity until she turns of age, and then she will belong to me and mate my son.”