Chapter 5 Ch 5
The warriors dragged Gwen and Horace in opposite directions. Horace roared and struggled, but the silver chains around his wrists burned deep into his skin, weakening him
Luna Rhonda stood in the center of the pack grounds, holding little Dominique in her arms.
"Take the witch to the burial grounds," she ordered the warriors holding Gwen. "I want her to watch."
"Watch what?" Gwen demanded. Terror gripped her heart. "What are you going to do?"
"You will see soon enough."
They dragged Gwen through the pack territory. Other werewolves came out of their homes to watch and no one tried to help her
"No," Gwen whispered. She understood now. "No, please. Please do not do this."
"Hold her still," Luna Rhonda commanded. "Make sure she watches every moment."
Gwen watched helplessly as her pup was buried alive
"This creature is an abomination," Rhonda announced to the gathered crowd. "Half witch, half wolf. It threatens our entire way of life. Our laws are clear. Hybrids must be destroyed."
"Take her to the cells," Luna Rhonda said. "Lock her up tight. We will deal with her later."
The warriors pulled Gwen to her feet and dragged her away. She did not fight. She did not resist. What was the point? Everything was gone.
They had dragged Horace to the Alpha's house where his father, Magnus, was having his evening meal
"Father!" Horace called out when he saw Magnus "Father, you have to listen to me. Rhonda and Duane are planning something terrible, they took Gwen and the baby, they are going to—"
"The baby is an abomination," Magnus said. His voice was cold. Hard. "You broke the oldest laws we have, Horace. You betrayed your pack, Your family, Everything I taught you."
"I fell in love," Horace said desperately. "The moon chose her for me, she is my mate. What was I supposed to do?"
"You were supposed to reject the bond!" Magnus roared. "You were supposed to put your pack first, like an Alpha should!"
"I am not Alpha yet," Horace said. "And maybe I never will be. But I will not apologize for loving Gwen. She is good and kind and she never hurt anyone."
"She is a witch," Magnus repeated. "And you created a hybrid with her. Do you understand what that means? Hybrids are dangerous, they could destroy us all."
"He is a baby! A three day old baby!" Horace pulled against his chains
Magnus turned away. "It is already done, Rhonda dealt with the creature while we were talking"
Horace felt his heart shatter into a million pieces. "No. You are lying."
"I am not lying, brother," Duane said with a cruel smile. "Your bastard is dead. Buried in the ground where it belongs."
Something inside Horace snapped. Rage like he had never felt before filled every part of him. His wolf took over, breaking through the silver chains through sheer force of will. He shifted mid-lunge, going for Duane's throat.
But Magnus moved faster. The old Alpha grabbed Horace in wolf form and slammed him against the wall. "Stand down, Horace! I am still your Alpha! Stand down!"
Horace shifted back to human form. Blood dripped from his wrists where the silver had burned him. "You let them kill my son. You let them kill your own grandson."
"That thing was not my grandson," Magnus said. "It was a mistake that needed to be corrected."
Luna Rhonda stepped forward. In her hand was a small knife. The blade was coated with something dark and oily. "My lord, perhaps you should let me handle this. Horace is clearly too dangerous to be allowed to live."
"What are you doing, Rhonda?" Magnus asked.
"Protecting our pack," she said. Then she plunged the knife into Magnus's back.
The old Alpha gasped and fell to his knees. Blood spread across his shirt, dark and wet. "Rhonda? What?"
"You have been Alpha for too long, my dear husband," Luna Rhonda said sweetly. "It is time for new leadership. Younger leadership." She pulled the knife out and wiped it on her dress. "Duane will make a much better Alpha than you ever were."
"Mother, now!" Duane shouted.
Six pack warriors burst into the room. They had been waiting outside the door the whole time. They grabbed Horace before he could move.
"No!" Horace fought against them. "Father!"
Magnus tried to stand but collapsed. The poison on the blade was working fast. His breathing became labored and shallow
"Put the knife in Horace's hand," Luna Rhonda ordered.
The warriors forced Horace's fingers around the knife handle. He tried to drop it but they held his hand closed. They pressed his palm against the blade, making sure his blood mixed with Magnus's blood.
"Perfect," Luna Rhonda said. "Now it will look like Horace killed the Alpha” Guards, seize him"
But the warriors who burst in next were not the ones who saw what really happened. They only saw Horace holding the bloody knife, standing over Magnus's dying body.
"Horace killed the Alpha!" one of them shouted.
"He murdered his own father!" another cried.
"Stop him! Do not let him escape!"
He shifted into his wolf form and crashed through the window. Glass shattered everywhere. He hit the ground running, his powerful legs carrying him toward the forest.
"After him!" Duane yelled. "Do not let him reach the border! Kill him!"
Ten warriors shifted and gave chase. Horace was fast, but he was injured and tired, the silver burns on his wrists slowed him down. He could hear the pack getting closer behind him.
An arrow whistled through the air and struck his back leg. Pain exploded through him but he kept running. Another arrow hit his shoulder. Then another in his side.
The last arrow was different. When it pierced his skin, he felt poison spreading through his body. His vision started to blur. His legs felt heavy.
He stumbled and fell, rolling down a hill into a ravine. His body crashed through bushes and branches before landing hard at the bottom. Everything hurt. He could barely move.
He heard the warriors above him, searching.
"Do you see him?" one called out.
"No. He fell into the ravine. It is too dark to see down there."
"Should we go down and finish him?"
"No need. He took three arrows, one of them poisoned. He will be dead by morning."
"Good. Let us go back and report to Alpha Duane."
Horace lay in the ravine, bleeding and broken. The poison burned through his veins like fire. He tried to shift back to human form but his body would not obey.
His last thoughts before darkness took him were of Gwen and Dominique. He had failed them, failed to protect them, failed to save them.
The cell door opened. Luna Rhonda walked in, followed by Duane.
"Hello, witch," Luna Rhonda said pleasantly. "I have some news for you. Alpha Magnus is dead. Killed by his own son, Horace."
Gwen looked up slowly. "Horace would never kill his father."
"But he did. Everyone saw him holding the bloody knife. He murdered Magnus and then ran like the coward he is." Luna Rhonda smiled. "My warriors hunted him down. They shot him full of arrows and he fell into a ravine. He is dead, dear. Your mate is gone."
"You are lying," Gwen whispered. But her voice had no strength. No conviction.
Duane stepped forward. "You will become my mate. Tomorrow night, we will have a ceremony, you will stand beside me and say the words. You will become the Luna of this pack."
Gwen stared at him. "I will never be your mate."
"Yes, you will. Because if you refuse, we will dig up your pup’s corpse and burn it. We will scatter the ashes so you can never even visit the grave, Is that what you want?"
Somewhere, deep in her heart, she felt something. A tiny flicker. A connection that should not still be there if Dominique was truly dead.
The bond with Horace was gone. She felt that absence like a gaping wound. But the bond between mother and child felt different. Faint, but still there. Like a candle flame in the distance.
Was it possible? Could Dominique still be alive somehow?
"I will be your mate," Gwen said quietly. "I will do whatever you want."
Duane smiled. "Smart girl. The ceremony is tomorrow at sunset. Do not disappoint me."
Far away in the ravine, Horace's eyes opened. An old woman's face appeared above him. She had gray hair and kind eyes. "Hold on, young wolf," she said softly. "I will help you. But you must fight. Do not give up."
Horace tried to speak but no words came out. The woman began chanting in a language he did not understand.
She was a healer, A powerful one
As consciousness faded again, Horace's last thought was a vow. He would survive this, he would get stronger, and he would return to destroy everyone who hurt his family.
