The Alpha’s War Prize: Hearts at War (Book 1)

Today was meant to be a beautiful night. One meant to blossom into beautiful memories to last me a lifetime.

It was a full moon tonight which meant the wolves were at their strongest.

It was a night that we always looked forward to, that I had looked forward to since it was my first time joining the pack hunt as an adult.

In our pack, you could only take part in the pack hunt when you turned 18 which I did five years ago but I didn’t get my wolf then so I couldn’t take part.

It was embarrassing and I had almost gotten depressed from it because it was a shame for the alpha’s only daughter not to get her wolf but I finally did three days ago on my 23rd birthday.

My parents were surprised when I suddenly got my wolf but the pack seer said it was a rare occurrence but not uncommon.

My family were too excited because I finally got my wolf after being worried for so long so they didn't dwell on it.

During the hunt, the adults would run as a pack for hours, relishing in their heightened adrenaline and senses which we got from the full moon.

The hunts were more thrilling and everything was more exciting but today was different. It would remain etched in my memory as the worse night of my life.

The air wasn’t filled with excitement. It wasn’t filled with happiness either. There was no peace or calm. Everything was the total opposite.

There was chaos, tension, and fear. The air was thick with terror and you didn’t need to smell the air to see what was the cause of this terror.

It seemed like the moon had turned to blood. The full moon didn’t bring excitement this time, it brought doom.

Dead bodies littered the floor all over the pack land and they seem to make a never ending path. Dead wolves, human bodies, half-turned wolves, men, women, children, they were all dead, some even torn apart, missing limbs that were nowhere in sight.

The pack grounds was in such a disgusting state that bile had made a permanent home in my throat.

The stoned floor was like a small stream but the stream wasn’t made of water but blood. It flowed calmly down an invisible path, some making small puddles and the blood glistened under the moonlight.

We had been getting ready to go for our hunting when we heard a scream that was too chilling to ignore from the pack house but before the warriors could even check it out, we were cornered.

We weren’t even given time to panic or even make sense of what was happening before the dead bodies of my pack members lay on the ground within seconds.

The ones who were lucky enough to flee the forest couldn’t even make it to the pack house underground safe house and even the ones who made it there came face to face with our attackers and were mercilessly slain as well. The safe house wasn’t safe after all.

I had made it to the pack house and was moving as quietly as possible with my back glued to the wall of the dark corridor and was trying my best to make sure I avoided the windows. I couldn’t even comprehend how I had managed to stay alive till this very moment.

My heart was racing.

It was beating so hard and loud against my chest and I feared the attackers would hear it and be able to locate me.

I tried to swallow the bile in my throat and wipe the beads of sweat on my forehead with the back of my hand but it wasn’t helping.

It seemed like the more I wiped off the sweat, the more it came pouring down so I decided to ignore it instead and wiped my sweaty palms against my gown instead.

I pushed down my fear and panic so they would not smell me while my nose tried to sniff out any scent I could attach to my brothers, my parents, or pack members but I couldn’t sense anything amidst the terror in the air.

I got to the door of my eldest brother's room and I was about to open the door when it opened and I was pulled inside. I was about to scream when the hand of the unknown person covered my mouth. Panic overwhelmed me and the smell of my fear was quickly filling the whole room.

I suddenly felt a chill down my spine as my head did a quick math of who had grabbed me. I could not even place the smell of the person because my senses were suddenly not functioning and I knew all these were happening in the space of just seconds even though it felt longer.

“Shhhh Genny, it’s me, calm down” the voice of my 3rd brother, Calum washed over me and relief flooded me immediately. I turned to yell at him for scaring me like that when he spoke in my head.

“Quiet… it’s too dangerous to talk. They might hear” there was panic and also fear laced in his voice as he wrapped his arms around me protectively.

“Have you heard from our other brothers at all? I haven’t been able to locate anyone and I can’t reach them either with the Mind link.” I spoke back with our mind link because I knew it would be dangerous to talk as anyone could be lurking in the hallways now.

“ I saw Ethan a while ago but we had to get separated because he was fighting” Ethan was the eldest and next in line to be the alpha of our pack.

He had trained so hard and was well respected among the pack for his bravery and his leadership skills. He will be taking over the pack next year. If we survive this.

“I have a very bad feeling about this attack, Calum,” I spoke with fear in my voice. Even though I was speaking in the mind link, there were still tremors in my voice to show how shaken I was by the situation.

It was nothing like the previous ones we had. These were not rogues who just came to cause a little havoc. They came intending to wipe out our entire pack. They were killing everyone. Men, women, and children.

“Me too baby. I don’t like this at all. We don’t even know who they are” He wrapped his arms around me tighter and moved us to a corner where we slid to the floor.

“Why are we seating? Let’s go find the others” I panicked. Should we be saving ourselves when our siblings and parents are in grave danger?

“We are not hiding. You cannot fight and I am already exhausted. If we go out now, we would not survive” I could see in his eyes how exhausted he was. I think I even saw a wound on his back that wasn’t healing but I still could not just hide here while my family was in grave danger.

“No Calum, we need to at least try.” I insisted and got up, walking as fast as I could to get to the door but Calum was right behind me and he pulled my hands before I could open it.

“Stop it Genny, staying here is the best for now”

“How?” I cried out .

“What would you do if you see an attacker? Run? We both know that would not work” he screamed at me

“But staying here like a coward isn’t going to help either way. I won’t stay here anymore. I need to find Dad” I explained while trying to free myself from his grip.

“Genny please, don’t do this” he pleaded and I wished I listened. I wished I wasn’t such a stupid girl.

I ripped myself from him and tore open the door. It would be my biggest mistake and regret in history because just as I opened the door, two huge male wolves rounded the corner. They were so freaking fast that I didn’t have enough time to warn Calum before we were both grabbed.

One of the wolves seemed to be irritated by Calum's struggle as he tried to free himself but he was too tired to do anything. The wolf holding Calum gave him a hard blow at the back of his neck and he was out like a light.

“Calum!!!” I screamed in terror as his head rolled to the side.

“Shut up if you don’t want me to kill him instead” the man who has holding Calum gave me a deadly glare that had me clamping my lips shut in fear but you could hear the whimpers behind my closed lips.

“They are the last ones right?” The one holding me asked the other and I felt dread wash over me. Does this mean they already got everyone else?

“Yes, I think so. They are the only ones missing” The blonde holding calum told the brunette gripping me harshly.

“Okay, let’s go” I was pulled so roughly that I almost fell but the grip on my arms prevented me from falling. I know he didn’t catch me so I won’t get hurt but instead so I won’t escape.

The blonde was practically dragging calum through the house and was not even bothered to hold him properly. I winced as I glanced back to look at my brother to find his knees scraping the ground as he was dragged unconscious.

“You are hurting him” I spoke angrily to the man dragging Calum like he was a log of wood but I received a hard smack in response from the one holding me and I could feel my ears ring from how hard the hit was. Why were they so strong?

You better shut your mouth before you end up in a worse position” He spat and some of his spit landed on my cheeks which made me groan in disgust. I tried to clean the spit with my hands but I couldn't so I rubbed it against my cloth by the shoulders.

“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry” I kept muttering through my pain as we were dragged through the house towards the front door. If only I had listened to Calum and stayed behind in that room we would not be in this position.

I would not even try to shift to my wolf form because I knew there was nothing I could do to save my brother from these monsters. I couldn’t fight and they would kill me before I even transformed fully so I decided to put my head down and quietly follow them for the sake of my brother.

When we were dragged out the front door, Calum was tossed carelessly to the ground like a log of wood and I winced in pain as he landed with a huge thud.

I gasped in terror as I lifted my eyes to see my family beaten and dripping in blood. They were extremely hurt. My dad was practically covering my mother with his full body but it could not prevent me from seeing the blood flowing from her head.

I was appalled at the site. They were not healing. Why weren’t they healing? What did these people use to hurt my family?

“Dad, Mom are you okay?” I cried as I tried to go to them but I was forcefully pulled back against the chest of the demon who was holding me.

“Please let me go, I beg you” I pleaded with him not daring to look at his face. He was silent for a while before I was tossed roughly to the floor.

I swallowed my whimpers of pain as my lap brushed hard against the little rocks on the floor. I would heal so I did not even bother to check my legs and scrambled to my dad.

As soon as I got to him, he pulled me into his chest trying to hide my face in his chest.

“Dad, what’s happening? Who are these people? Why aren’t you healing?” I had a lot of questions to ask.

My mother let out a painful moan and my dad released me so he could wrap his hands around my mother instead and I was pulled into Ethan’s chest.

“Ethan talk to me. I’m scared” he held me tighter as his breath became unstable and fast.

From my brothers’ arms, I tried to examine the condition of my other brothers. Joseph and Luca were also in terrible states. My brothers who were known to be powerful warriors were reduced to nothing by these unknown monsters.

“Don’t be scared Genny, we won’t allow any harm to come to you” he tried to reassure me but even his voice was quivering with fear as though he was trying to reassure himself and not me.

I reach out my hand to grab Luca’s hand that was laying beside mine on the floor and he squeezed my hands.

“Don’t be afraid Gen. We will make sure you are fine even if it’s the last thing we do” Luca spoke in the mind link and I could feel everyone’s resolve weaken at his words.

Were we not going to make the night?