Sebastian
My wolf did not mistake the scent. It was indeed Athena's— The warmth and touch of roses and honeysuckles, the sweet touch of it against my lungs as I breathed it in every second I advanced towards where she perhaps was, told me that this heavenly smell belonged to none but her— My Athena.
I did even care about the words I had given her to meet her again. Her life was in danger and I'd do anything to save her even if it makes her hate me even more.
The thought of her getting hurt shook me to my soul. It always had even the time when I had my curse shackling my heart and spirit, even when I had no morals and no intentions to change.
But that was only a thought....
And today it was an actual possibility.
Hurting her was the least a man like Vincent would do. He'd try to take revenge— For everything that happened in the past.
I ran. The paws of my wolf collided against the ground, the air against me fought to lessen my speed, the silence around prompted a sense of something ominous and my dismay only reached higher and higher.
What if I reach there too late?
No! I had to reach her before that fucking Vincent. I had to do something, anyhow get there.
I took a different route, sprinting into the forest, taking the shortcut, to not waste one more second. Every moment mattered at this point.
I could not risk it.
On one hand, there was the agony that made my insides burn, on the other hand, there was fear that coated them in frigid ice. This felt like a race against time, life and death and every element of this planet was against me.
The air thrashed me as if it was my opposition.
The darkness of the night fought to consume.
The ground tried to hold me back.
But one thing kept me going and that was the insane urge to save my mate, the longing to protect her that I was ready to put over my own life. I was ready to put everything at stake, and I wouldn't bother to give it a second thought.
She was mine to protect.
As I ran through the dense bushes and trees that prevented the moonlight from percolating the deep jungle, a whiff of her scent hit my nose— It was faint but at least it meant she was near, or the place she crossed was.
Hopes draped my mind. I increased my speed, not caring about the trees and thick branches I broke in the process— The only thing that mattered to me was her— It had always been her and always would be.
When the jungle was near its end and the edge of the river that resided right beside it, I took off to the roads once again. The atmosphere again started to feel lighter compared to the pin-drop silence of the jungle that barely had any signs of life.
Her scent gradually became stronger, but there was still no sign of her. My rising hopes began shrinking and my heartbeats got so louder that they banged against my chest— I did not know if I had the strength left to deal with hopelessness anymore.
And just when I thought it would only get worse, the sight of my white car came into my view— Parked in the middle of this road that barely had any passerby cross it in weeks.
Athena.....
She must be —
My thoughts ended up in a chaotic mess as my eyes followed the view of the bunch of rogues, jumping and biting Aaron at every chance they got.
It was then that I came to notice that the car was fucking destroyed. The windows were broken, the doors had huge dents with the marks of huge claws and blood was everywhere over it.
Where was Athena? Was she inside?
I ran to the car, finding the backseat empty and a quivering coward sitting in the driver seat— I felt like killing him right on the spot, but at that moment, those rogues surrounding my beta asked for more attention than the traitor.
And guess what? Those bunch of bastards asked for their death themselves. The eyes of one of them fell on me, and with a pathetic sound like a weak hyena and a grind of his teeth that he thought would convey terror, he strode towards me.
Okay. It was time for a dine.
The rogue shot at me at full speed, and from the movement of his jaw and eyes fixated on my neck, I knew where he was aiming and what his intention was.
Poor thing thought he'd be able to kill me.
The moment when he was a few steps away from leaping at me, I jumped and grabbed his neck between my canines, immediately the disgusting smell of its blood hit my nose and with a swift move, I tore its head away from his filthy body.
Satisfaction ran through my nerves. I felt peace— Death and destruction still gave me peace, but there was only one difference— The peace only touched my soul when there was a sense of righteousness involved.
As the last vein of his body detached from its head, the blood gushed out from the stump of its throat and splattered all over my face. A pool of blood gathered in front of me, and the dead body of the rogue lay right in the middle of it; Its head still hung between my canines.
Without making a sound, I headed to the rogues.
Aaron's eyes glanced at me while I advanced, and something flicked in them that I didn't bother to speculate. On the other hand, the rogues seemed to acknowledge my presence as well. A few of them moved from my beta to me, and they let go of him and shifted their attention to me. Rage burned in their eyes as they saw the head of their oh-so companion hanging between my canines.
These average-sized packless wolves were the last creatures on the earth to ever scare me.
Unbothered, I walked over to them, and each step taken slowly seemed to increase the anger flaming in their eyes. I could perceive their intense urge to slaughter me, but unfortunately, the thought that this urge was going to snatch their lives out of it didn't cross their minds for once— It was a death wish.
The reason why they were not attacking me was no mystery. I'd realised it the moment I saw them stand still after their eyes noticed my presence.
And there was something oddly satisfying in seeing them getting provoked. The more enraged they got, the sooner I'd send them to their ultimate destination.
Then, I did what they were waiting for me to do. I dropped the head to the floor right before their eyes.
They all snapped— Five of them attacked me all at once.
The first rogue decided to bite to prevent me from making me move whilst the other one aimed for my head, the rest three went on their mission to tackle me to the ground.
Indeed there was no doubt that they were fucking idiots.
With my extended claws, I sliced the skin off of the head of the rogue biting my arm. His pained howl soon turned into a scream of agony as I bit down on the skin hanging off and pulled it to his tail, exposing his bare red flesh starting from the side of his head, against the stone-cold air of the night.
The other rogues tried to play it smart and made an attempt to attack me from behind, whilst one of them tried to bury his canines into my neck but I did what I had to. I tore each of them from the middle and left their bodies into parts flying here and there, laying all across the street in only flesh, veins, organs, and blood. The scene was not displeasing to me, but it promoted fear in other enemies who were afraid to approach though it was obvious they eventually would.
I wanted to get this done as soon as I could. Surely my mate wasn't here and I did not have a single idea about where she could actually be or if she was even safe or not. She was my first priority, the one whose safety I'd put over the cost of my bloody life. So when I saw none of the bastards making a move, I eventually ended up taking things in my hand.
Grabbing each of the rogues, I bestowed a pitiful death upon them. Surely they did not have any care for their lives but the state of their dead companions and the way I killed them, turned them into fearful cowards.
They started to flee away, to save themselves from a death they had never imagined to have.
Five more minutes was the cost that took me to carnage them and it'd be a lie if I had said that I did not find it absolutely delightful to watch their life fading away before my eyes– Slowly and painfully– Little by little.
Once I could spot no sign of life standing out amidst the pile of dead bodies, I finally shifted back and headed to the car as I buckled my belt.
I remained fully aware of my next target who knew my mate's location, so reaching the car yanked the door open and threw it afar. I grabbed the Driver by his collar and pulled him out of the car.
"Where's Athena?!"
It was a severe struggle to keep my claws underneath my skin and my canines buried in my gums when the culprit was right in front of my eyes. I wanted to tear him into tiny pieces just like I did to the rogues, the devastating implications of repressed urges tried to consume me, however, the fact that keeping this piece of shit alive was the last way left to get to my Athena, kept me away from the haze.
I needed to control my rage otherwise it would destroy this last chance.
"Alpha....I-I...." He looked flabbergasted, almost as if he hadn't expected this.
Shifting back to his human form, Aaron arrived running towards me, "Alpha, they took Athena away. It was Vincent and...." He paused for a second for reasons I couldn't figure out, "An unknown woman, she was old and I don't remember myself ever seeing her before today but Athena knew her."
"What?" Confusion drew upon me.
"Yes, she knew her. I didn't really get to hear her name amidst all of this," A low groan left his mouth as he rested his hand over the wound on his shoulder, "Athena perhaps, made a call to her to rescue her but it's obvious that she is not aware of that the woman she trusted with her safety is in reality involved with that piece of shit. We need to do something to save her, they have taken her away. But we don't know her location."
"But this bastard knows. He was involved with Vincent the whole time," My gaze snapped back at the driver, and the next second I slammed his head against the car bonnet causing a painful hiss to leave his mouth, before I pulled him back to his feet again; The glass pieces that had been laying on the surface of the bonnet till now, was now punctured deep into the side of his face.
"Tell me where that bastard has taken my mate!"
"Alpha, trust me, I don't know where—"
"I have made that mistake already, now either you tell me the truth or die. It's up to you, buddy," Before he could come up with another excuse I spoke up, "And my suggestion would be to not try avoiding making excuses and fabricating the truth. I have already seen the video from the party where you allowed Vicent and his people inside. So, telling the truth would be a better choice, wouldn't it?"
Senses seemed to finally kick in his mind, "I-I... allowed them in the party but I did not give Vincent any information about today, sir forbid me to do so."
Someone forbid him....
So there was another person involved in these dirty ploys of Vincent.
"Sir? Interesting," I grabbed a hold of his throat, intending to excavate my claws through both sides of his neck at any second, "Who else is involved with you?"
He swallowed, and fear shaded his eyes.
"Answer the damn question!"
'I can track her.....I can feel her wolf.'— My wolf's sudden voice gashed the conflicts in my mind, distracting me for a while.
My hand automatically released the hold of the culprit's neck and I stepped away, prioritising the information more than the burning hunger for revenge.
'Is her wolf awakened?'My tongue formed the question on its own.
'Yes, she is.'
Every other thought flew out of my mind. I caught the distant howl that none but I could hear— The cue I needed.
My mate wasn't far away......
'Lead me to her right now!'
I hurriedly turned to Aaron, my body ready to sprint into a motion, "Take care of this traitor, make sure he doesn't escape."
"Alpha, let me come with you. There could be a lot more danger ahead." He let out, hastily.
"It's my fight, Aaron. I don't want to put anyone's life at risk, besides you are already injured and it's not safe for you to accompany me."
"But—"
"Do as I say."
I could tell he still wanted to convince me, but judging the flicker of an unspecified thought passing his eyes that left him silent, I knew he wouldn't argue anymore.
And I took off at full speed this time not following her scent but her....wolf's signal.