Hade's Rose

Chapter 26: Separation

Cold air whisked through his fur, sharpening his senses as the breeze carried smells and sounds from the recently slaughtered encampment: acrid blood and the movement of dismembered bodies getting ready to be burnt. The crunch of paws and feet on frosted grass, as his men cheerlessly went about their work in the early hours of the morning.

Hadrian patrolled the area, sniffing for signs of any rebels that had managed to get away. Unsurprisingly, there was nothing. His men were too thorough by now, but it didn't hurt to check.

Dawn was rising in the East, pushing the Moon Goddess back into another day's sleep; it was a rest that Hades envied. Despite his supernatural size and strength, his body and mind were weary with fatigue. But, Hadrian knew this was not simply due to a few days spent travelling on the road or even the late nights strategizing with his war staff. He could see how his men looked at him from the corner of their eyes, tense and nervous. He had always inspired a healthy amount of fear as their leader, but this was different. The last few days spent on the road had been disrupted by outbursts of anger and pent up frustration from his Wolf.

There was a deep unrest within his soul that no sleep or food could satisfy: without his mate, he was incomplete. Each day without Rose left him a little more unbalanced than the last. Every moment he was awake, he could feel his Wolf urging him to return home to her and this is what caused his weariness. It was the constant battle against his instincts, to turn tail and run back home in fear for her safety, fear for her being without him, fear that he'd never get to speak to her again and put things right between them.

Their relationship felt oddly cursed, rather than blessed. Hades shivered a little at the blasphemous thought, but even he couldn't deny how every moment of potential intimacy or reconciliation had been foiled repeatedly; if he didn't know better, he'd have thought the Moon Goddess to be working against them.

Rejecting his longing to run back to Rose, Hades began to trot back to his men; the cold air still twitching his nose.

Gamma Treygan had warned him before he left that he would be prone to anxiety and rages. He was the only member of his Council who had a human mate, someone raised in Ardel though and well versed in Wolf culture. Treygan oversaw the administration of his court, a role he'd already been in previously, so Hades couldn't have said whether his having a human mate had really changed him. So, he was certainly surprised at the earnestness in which Treygan had tried to explain what it was like being apart from his Stacey. Now, Hades understood his warning in full.

This would most likely be the last time he'd ever leave Rose again. The thought should have chilled him: how could be he king and not freely travel his Empire? But, such questions were pointless. He was King by divine right of the Moon Goddess. These problems would resolve themselves.

"Your Majesty!"

Hadrian was forced out of his reverie when he heard the urgent call of his Beta Joseph, as he padded back into the camp. Almost all of the rogues had been piled together by now at one end, a jumble of slashed and bitten bodies: fur and skin entwined. His second-in-command and head of his military was swiftly striding past the last of the clean-up. A thick, burly man with the roughened skin of a life spent in combat and training, Joseph was usually a man he could trust to be calm in any crisis. Therefore, it was a surprise to see the man move with haste.

"Your Majesty, we have just received a message through the Link."

Hadrian had already begun transforming back into his human shape, his bones crackling and shifting in a grotesque reconstruction of form. Joseph held out a pair of loose trousers and tunic for him to slip into, which he did as soon as his body had stabilised.

"What message Beta?" he spoke curtly, walking with Joseph to their make-shift command station commandeered from the rebels; it was a large bell tent positioned away from the encampment's centre.

"Beta?" Hades raised one eyebrow in concern at his companion's silence, whilst pushing the tent flap aside only to find the room oddly empty. Quickly piecing together the strange behaviour of his War council, he spun around with a growl: "Is it about my mate?"

Joseph, a grizzly veteran with a mate of his own back in Ardel, found himself having to suppress a shiver of alarm. No sane individual wanted to be caught alone with a newly mated wolfman and having to bare him bad news involving said mate.

"Alpha... I would stress that the message made it very clear that she is safe and unharmed."

Hadrian's form grew as his body partially shifted due to the take-over of his Wolf, words weren't even able to form in his mouth as his jaw had already begun to change.

Joseph pressed on, keeping his bearing straight but not making eye contact, "There was apparently an attempt to poison the Luna, but the exact information is unclear. She is safe." He stressed that last word in the hopes that it would soften the blow, but it wasn't enough. The man quaked as his Alpha let out a brutal roar of aggression and dominance, forcing his own wolf into submission as he bowed his knee to the ground in a rapid slump.

I'll see you back in Ardel. The thought forced its way into Joseph's consciousness, grating through his mind like the scraping of skin against rock. Before he could recover and respond, Hades was gone. Leaving nothing behind but torn strips of clothing and a ragged mess in the tent's canopy.

"Beta?" After a minute or two had passed, Gamma Jasper peered in. Jasper was the only other member of the King's inner council to be part of this Rogue operation, a Wolfman Joseph had once praised for his fortitude and bravery. Clearly, the man was no longer worthy of such compliments.

"Nice to see you finally." Joseph growled, getting back onto his feet.

Jasper looked sheepish for a moment, "I... uh, was just overseeing the last of the clean-up."

"Hmph!" Joseph was able to stand, but the beginnings of a piercing headache was making his eyes water.

"So... you did stress that she's safe right?" Jasper came further into the tent, slightly jittery from the tension left in the atmosphere; his own wolf disquieted by the sudden aggression in his Alpha.

"What do you think?" Joseph spat, his voice gristly with age and annoyance. But, Jasper had worked with the man too long to take offence; he'd been trained by Joseph as far back as when he was a mere pup. Underneath the grumpy exterior, was a man worried for his King: they all were.

"I'm guessing he's gone back to her?"

Joseph just silenced the young man with a look. Jasper sighed through his nose and gazed about the room. Despite having been here only a few hours, the Deltas and generals had already rolled out their maps on the large table in the centre. Jasper didn't need to see it to know the papers were covered in crosses from where their team had blitzed through this region, squashing all signs of rebellion swiftly and efficiently. This encampment was most likely the last of them.

"Come on, no time to be wasting. Let's finish up here then complete our scout of the area. We were pretty sure that was the last of them, but we'll pop into the nearby packs and check for any more rumours." Joseph paced over to the table with a frown, hands clasped behind his back.

Jasper's brow furrowed, "Seems a bit overkill. We've already sent scouts to report back to us."

Joseph didn't look up from the table, but spoke dryly: "Jasper my friend, I don't think it would be unwise to take a few extra days to get back home."

Eyes widening with understanding, Jasper nodded, "Right you are Beta. I'll rally the men at once."

"Very good. And for Goddess sake, go find me something to bloody drink would ya?" Joseph sat down, his hands moving to his now pounding head and groaned. Jasper scampered off to do as he was asked, making the old Wolf smile a little. He then sighed, he knew Hades would apologise for the forced communication once his senses returned to him. That didn't worry him. It was this girl... His Luna. She was the Goddess' choice alright, but that didn't mean those two didn't have stuff to straighten out. And they better do it fast Joseph thought grimly, for all our sakes.