The War of the Alphas: Book 1 of the Wolf Rising Saga

30| Rogue

Rogue

Brielle's POV

The snow rested upon my fur as it fell from the heavens. Between the gap in the trees I could see a small log cabin up ahead. Smoke was billowing out of it from a warm fireplace inside. The curtains were drawn so I could not see who and what was inside but the mission would be easy.

That's what my client said at least.

I scrunch my snout up at the word, 'client'. Client makes it sound like I do this often, hunting down strangers and killing them. This is the first time someone has ever approached me about paying me a considerable amount of money to kill a simple girl.

Hair as red as fire. That's the only description I have of her, but it won't be hard to find the right one. The person who wants her dead led me to this cabin, saying she was inside. I would only have to wait until she ventured out and then I could attack, and the whole thing could be written off as a wolf attack.

If I wasn't so desperate for money, for a place to call home, I wouldn't have accepted the offer. But the truth is I can't live in the wild, I'm not made to be a rogue. I need money, and a lot of it to buy a place I can call home.

My heart beats out of control in my rib cage. I'm scared to do this but my payer insisted that she deserved it. But it still doesn't erase the sick feeling I have in my stomach.

I'm about to kill someone. For money.

The front door to the cabin opens and out walks a girl with a hood on. She looks up towards the sky, smiling as snow falls onto her face. She twirls and laughs, running farther from the cabin as her boots stomp into the snow.

She's happy, I notice. That's something I'm not familiar with anymore. A pang of jealousy rises within me that I can't help.

She sticks her tongue out, letting snowflakes melt in her mouth. She giggles and splays her arms out wide, letting her body fall backwards on the field of snow.

It's when she sits back up, her hood pushed down towards her shoulders does her long strands of red hair stand against the white snow.

Moon goddess, I think in my head, looking up towards the white sky, please forgive me for what I'm about to do.

I jump from my hiding spot behind the trees and rush towards her. The sound of my paws hitting the snow catches her attention but it's too late. I'm on top of her, pinning her to the ground.

I growl ferociously in her face as she screams in terror, her eyes clenched shut.

I hesitate, as she's thrashes against me, not able to sink my teeth into her neck like I'm supposed to. How can I? I'm not a murderer. My life was never supposed to play out like this.

I close my jaw and lean back, cocking my head to the side as I observe her. Why would anyone want her dead? She looks too innocent to deserve it.

She stops screaming after a couple of seconds and slowly opens her eyes. Her breathing is rapid as she stares at me in confusion. She's probably wondering why I stopped.

One last look at her and I know that I can't do this. Screw the money, I'm not going to kill her. I begin to back off of her, ready to go run into the wild and try to survive as long as I can. But then a shot rings out through the empty field.

The girl screams once again, scrambling away from me in terror.

"Get away from her," shouts an accented voice angrily from yards away.

I look towards the voice, seeing a man in a flannel standing on the front porch of the cabin, a rifle in his arms. He's tall and muscular with a look of absolute fury upon his face.

One whiff of the air and I can tell he's a wolf. A strong one.

Shit.

Without a second thought I sprint into the woods, trying to put as much distance as I can between us. This was a horrible idea! Why did I agree to this!

There is only one pack in the area that that male wolf can belong to. The Krov pack. They're notorious for being not strong fighters but savage warriors. They burn entire packs down to the ground. They kill anyone who gets in their way, no matter size or strength or even age.

They are the most feared pack in the entire world.

Growing up my Alpha used to tell us kid's horror stories of the Krov pack. He said they eat their young if they aren't strong enough. They kill each other for sport and entertainment since they grow so bored in their isolated lands in Russia. They've taken out and controlled all of the packs in Russia, including some in the neighboring countries.

And the Alpha . . . He's the scariest of all. His bloodline is pure, going all the way back to the beginning of werewolves. His ancestors have only ever mated with other wolves with Alpha blood in them. Some say he's the Alpha of all Alphas.

I dodge trees and bushes and logs and branches, trying to escape the haunches of the wolf coming after me. I look behind me seeing him jumping over a log with ease, the rifle still gripped in his hand. He's far away but it doesn't matter because of the weapon he yields. If he were to shift though I'm sure he would catch up to me in no time.

Why isn't he?

Keeping my eyes on him, watching him as he stops and raises his rifle towards me I run straight into a tree, sending my body flying backwards. I whine, feeling an intense pain going through my front right paw.

My body shifts on command back into my human skin. I've never perfected the art of staying in wolf form while getting hurt. That was a skill I never got to learn before I ran from my pack.

I stand up, on shaky legs staring straight into his eyes as he points the gun at me. I'm frozen in fear as I see the barrel of the gun, a tunnel of pitch darkness.

Is it my time to die, I think to myself? Is this the moon goddess punishing me for agreeing to take a strangers life for money?

I watch in slow motion as his finger rests on the trigger and pulls back, but he doesn't notice the sudden movement behind him. The shot rings out but it goes straight over my head, hitting the tree behind me. I look towards the hole in the tree then back to the man.

He's lying on the ground, groaning in pain with the rifle knocked out of his hands. Lying on his back is the red haired girl, my target. She looks around, her face flushed red and eyes wide in panic. It takes a second for me to realize that she's searching for me.

"Run," she shouts into the air, holding the man's shoulders down. "Go! Now!"

With a fluid motion I shift into my wolf form, a second later the girl's eyes fall on me. "Run," she pleads.

Suddenly the man jumps up, letting the girl fall to the side. He rushes to get his gun but I don't want to see what happens next. I dash through the woods, running as fast as I can to get away from him.

Another shot doesn't ring out but I don't stop running. Who knows if he shifted and will be running after me soon.

I'm not safe anymore, that's for sure. He's seen my face, he's smelt my wolf. He has power over people that I can't even begin to imagine. Seeing as how angry he was that I threatened that girl, I'm guessing she is his mate.

He won't stop until he finds me. Then he'll kill me.

There's only one place that I can be safe.

My pack.

With my mate.

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