When the gods go to war, it's their people who suffer.
The moon was the most benevolent of them until they took everything from her. Vengeance turned her into the instrument of destruction, now those who destroyed her have to give her back what the...
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The stench of his own fear clouded around him as he entered the throne room. Bringing with it the realisation he'd never been as strong as he'd imagined. He gritted his teeth, an effort to reign it in but to no avail. The first thing an Alpha had to know was to mask their fear, yet his painted the air around him.
The beast inside him shifted position. A painful act unlike what he'd long taken for granted. When he'd rejected Nia he hadn't known the consequences, not known that she was beloved of the moon. If he had it to do over he'd worship the ground she walked on but that would never be.
His connection to his wolf had started to die the moment she'd crossed the pack boundary. Where he'd intended the breaking of the pack bond to finish her off, Nia had lived and his wolf had weakened.
The instant her arrogant sister had declared his Alpha status revoked, he'd felt his wolf die. Umbran however, had given him another. A darker shade that seemed to enjoy his pain and fear, to feed on the pain of others.
The wolf drew a long breath, savouring his fear, his reluctance to approach the god. Still, Jake held his head high and walked with a steady pace to the lounging being. As always he appeared bored, jaded. Unlike his usual jeans and t-shirt, he wore a tailored black suit. His equally dark dress shirt was made of silk as was his tie.
The former Alpha realised mafia bosses took their signature look from him, at least the tv ones. Where before Umbran had appeared dangerous he now embodied all that was lethal. He shivered at the darkness that pierced him form the dark god.
Jake knelt before the god, one knee on the ground, an arm rested on the braced knee and his head down. Just as a knight would before his sovereign. He waited, knowing the god's eyes rested on him by the buzz of pain that inflicted him.
"Don't worry my little pet," the god said at last. "Your failure gave us more than we bargained for." Jake kept his head down, waiting. The god's hand caressed through his hair, as if he were indeed a pet. "If I know my sister, she will find a way to save the child. It will probably take her years, which gives us a longer period where you're connected to him, and her."
"Yes, my lord."
"Now we just wait, watch for the perfect chance to make our next move."
"May I ask what that is?"
"Of course," the dark god purred, pain lashed across his back and he stilled himself against it. The thrill. "She is a healer," he paused and Jake felt the smile gracing his face. "All we need is to find someone to help us get to her. All that empathy to use to our advantage."
The hand kept petting him. Creepy, and yet it reassured him, reminiscent of the feeling of having his father proud of him. Regret washed through Jake at all he'd lost. Why hadn't he appreciated what he had?
"Now tell me," the god shifted a finger to his chin and lifted his head. "Who should we use for bait? We need someone desperate enough to risk angering the pack. Someone powerful but moralistic, someone who'd never suspect or be suspected of a connection to us."
Jake felt a smile grace his own face. "I know the perfect people."
"Go on." Was the gentle encouragement from the god, something that had what amounted to a fire poker piercing the length of his spine.
"The other Alphas in my former alliance never listened to me during our conferences, so I learned to listen and keep track of any frictions."
"Makes sense they wouldn't respect anything you had to say."
The smirk on the god's face warned him not to ask the question, but he knew better than to displease the god by not taking the bait. "Why is that?" He managed to keep his reluctance out of his voice.
The smile turned even more sinister. "Your father threw the Alpha challenge."
Pain unlike anything Umbran had thrown his way stabbed his heart. It felt like the organ was being squeezed into a pulp that then sought to drain out of his body. Why would his father have done that? Undermine him from the start?
"An alpha cannot have an heir until he becomes Alpha." Umbran stated, nailing the subtle distinction between the two titles that only a shifter's ear and tongue could separate. "Your father might have been alpha blooded, but he had no desire to be an Alpha and he was long past his second century when he won his title and only because his own father threw the fight."
Jake hadn't known any of this.
"When you challenged him for, what was it, the eighth time?"
"Eleventh." Jake suplied through numb lips.
"Ah yes, eleventh. He decided if you wanted the title that much then you had to be ready for it. I guess he overestimated your character."
Jake couldn't decide if his father had had such faith in him or if the Alpha had simply wanted to rid himself of the title. He felt raw, exposed. His view of the world and his own worth nothing like he'd thought.
"Now let's get back to watching your little mate." Umbran said, as if he hadn't just shattered Jake's life once again. "Since she most likely won't be pregnant anymore, we'll need to rewind the worlds mirror to the point we had her. Then we can wait for our new friends to bait her."
"Now tell me who our new friends are." Umbran commanded.
