My magic is for you, Alpha

Chapter 17

The wolf briefly looked at her before focusing on the opponent. Erik had not expected to see Caelan on the battlefield, as he was supposed to be lying in his bed, paralyzed like the other Alphas. However, his former student was not to be underestimated.

This was true. After talking to Erik, Caelan had immediately mind-linked his Beta, Krescent, to meet in one of the packhouse's guest rooms.

"Have you noticed anything suspicious from Erik's warriors?" he asked Krescent, shutting the door behind him.

"Erik's warriors? Weren't we supposed to be observing the Southern Alphas?" Krescent replied.

"Yes, we were, but plans have changed. Something's about to go down, I can feel it," Caelan said, briefing Krescent on Erik's plan. "There's a part of me that thinks Erik wants to move quickly. He already has enough warriors to take down a small pack, but attacking the packhouse with all the Alphas present would be too risky. I want to take precautions, nevertheless. Put everyone on patrol today or have them stay in the guesthouses outside this zone. I want all our warriors on standby."

Krescent nodded in agreement.

"I'm not going to leave the packhouse," Caelan continued. "And neither should you. It's not worth drawing attention with our absence. But be prepared for anything that might come our way."

"Yes, Alpha. However, if Alpha Erik attacks, what should we do?" Krescent asked.

"We fight back."

"Fight against Alpha Erik?"

"What choice do we have? Join the slaughter just because he was my mentor?"

"It's not really our fight, Alpha."

"Under Erik, I learned two things. First, you're either with him or against him; he doesn't understand neutrality. And now, we're not with him. Second, war is contagious. When someone near you burns, you can be sure the fire will spread. We must be ready."

Late at night, Caelan heard footsteps approaching his room. The shifter's keen sense of hearing allowed him to detect the intruders' light footsteps. He turned from the window to face the door when the knob slowly began to turn. Erik must have decided to take him out before the fight. Caelan had two options: jump out of the window and risk Erik becoming alerted to his escape or stay and wait for the attackers. He quickly moved towards the door so that when two Northerners entered the room, they did not immediately see him. One approached the bed while the other closed the door. Caelan knocked the latter to the ground and then quickly attacked the former. Caelan had to be quiet and fast to avoid alerting others, so he used his knife to swiftly slice the warrior's neck. He regretted taking a life, but he had no other choice.

Caelan then jumped out of the window and shifted into his wolf form. Yar, his wolf, sniffed the ground and led him to an area of the forest where other werewolves could not detect him. He mind-linked his pack and waited for an opportunity to strike.

An opportunity arose when he encountered a pack of wolves preparing in the woods. He caught their scent and attacked them preemptively. Despite there being three of them, they couldn't stand against an Alpha who had also taken them by surprise. He saw the main battle happening just in front of the packhouse. Caelan quickly rushed through the forest to get closer to the lawn, while also avoiding detection by hiding behind thick branches of the trees. He searched for Erik, knowing that he would need to defeat him to stop the madness. However, he was reluctant to do so. He saw Erik saved by his Beta, who had attacked Shaun. He also saw Erik attacking Arne, but he froze at the thought of attacking his teacher, mentor, and the person who saved his life in exile, instead of taking it. His hesitation ended when he heard a gunshot and saw a woman's figure in a dirty dress standing near the packhouse with fear in her eyes. Caelan finally felt something greater than the respect he had for his teacher - he needed to protect her.