2. Adelaide: War

I tucked the dagger in my belt, then grabbed my bow and bag of arrows, walking out of the tent with Samantha following behind me.

“Good luck Lailai, come back in one piece, okay?” Samantha said, wrapping her arms around me, and I lightly smiled, hugging her back, saying,

“You too, Sam, take care of yourself.”

We parted ways, with her going over to the group that Uncle was leading, while I went to mine, my mind pondering on her words.

She was right— Not about the killing Lottie part, but about the rest of the stuff.

What am I going to tell Lottie when she finds out she’s the very creature that she’s been trained to kill?

What am I going to do when she discovers that her parents and pack died because of me and my family?

“Can I talk to you?” I snapped my eyes towards the voice, and Taylor was standing right in front of me, blocking my path.

“Taylor—-“

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, holding my hand, his gaze fixed on me, “I love you, Lai, and I don’t want us to break up.”

“Taylor—“

“You are right,” he cut me off again, “I was wrong for even thinking about killing Charlotte, and from today onwards, I will stand by your principles. No killing kids and no malicious intent towards Charlotte.”

“Kids are innocent, you know,” I said with a sigh, glancing at him, and he placed both his hands on either side of my face, saying,

“I know, and I will make sure we both protect Lottie like we are supposed to. I love you so much,” he removed the mask off my face, about to kiss me, but I lightly moved my head away from him, saying,

“Now’s not the time.”

“Okay, baby girl,” he kissed my forehead, followed by letting me go, and I put my face mask on, tossing my bow and arrows among other weapons we were going with and getting into the van. He got in as well and sat next to me.

Camp broke, and all four groups headed in different directions.

I was feeling jittery, my legs shaking, not out of fear but out of excitement.

I’ve been waiting for this moment for many years, and it’s finally here. I’m finally going to kill Alexander Pierce and get revenge for my father!

“Scared?” I looked at Taylor, who was sitting next to me, his gray eyes fixed on my brown ones.

“Not scared, just excited.”

“You are excited for the war?” he chuckled, while I rolled my eyes, saying,

“Who wouldn’t be? There are thousands of us and only like a thousand of them. It will be a landslide victory, and I just can't Wait to see the look on Alexander's face when I finally pierce this dagger straight to his heart without mercy!" I said, twirling the dagger in my hands, my mind thinking of the many ways I was going to stab him with it.

"Good luck to you then," he responded, silence stretching between us as I was lost in my own thoughts.

I wonder what life would have been like if my dad never died, if that alpha never ambushed us. Maybe right now I would be thinking about going to college or doing something else.

"We are here," Chadwick, the man who was driving our van, said, bringing the van to a stop and dragging me out of my thoughts.

I opened the door on my side and walked out, taking the in-ear piece and putting it in my ear so that I could hear and also communicate with the other groups.

The plan was for the Vaughn group to initiate the attack, and once they gave us the signal, the rest of us could jump right in and attack them on all sides.

Even though I wasn't a werewolf, I could still feel something like a strong barrier in front of me, signifying that we were near their territory, and this feeling made the excitement in my heart grow ever stronger. "These wolves won't even know what hit them," I smirked to myself.

"Here," Taylor said, handing me the spray bottle that contained the scent-masking liquid. This was a liquid we used during war to ensure that the wolves didn't scent us.

I took the bottle and, after spraying the contents all over my suit and head, I gave it back to him, and he threw it into the van while Callisto and a few other men unloaded the weapons from the vans.

Each of us began taking our various weapons, and I went for the bow and arrow since I wasn't much into guns and daggers.

I took as many arrows as I could carry, then took two guns and some extra bullets in case I found myself in a situation where I needed a gun.

Taylor also took his guns, and after putting them in his waist belt, we all dispersed and camouflaged ourselves among the trees and bushes, waiting for the Vaughn family to give the signal, but a distant howl first got my attention.

"Shit, they knew we were coming!" My uncle said through the in-ear piece as distant growls, snapping sounds, and gunshots resounded through the air.

Dozen of wolves emerged from the forest's borders, jumping on us.

"Attack!" Taylor loudly yelled. Both of us took out our individual guns and shot at the wolves, who kept pouring out and killing my family as if we were just a bunch of ants.

I saw one wolf fall limp, while the others didn't even seem phased by the bullets and arrows. Instead, they jumped on us, and in no time, our numbers reduced drastically.

The fight was intense. My guns had run out of bullets countless times, and the only thing saving me was the fact that each time the gun ran out, I would throw it away and grab a filled one from a dead hunter.

I was exhausted, with bruises and marks all over my body, the combat suit was torn in various places, but my face mask was still intact.

One wolf came charging at me, and I aimed my guns at it, shooting only to realize that I didn't have any more bullets!

I threw the guns away and sidestepped the wolf, kicking it in the side, but because it was larger than me, it didn't even get phased and instead turned around, snapping its jaws at me.

I took out the dagger I had prepared for Alexander and plunged it right into the wolf's eye, who howled in pain, followed by falling limp.

I retracted my dagger and continued the fight when, like a flash, a large black wolf with a white and brown tail appeared out of nowhere, jumping into the fight. In less than minutes, the wolf wiped out almost all of my family, leaving only a handful of us.

Looking at the agility and fighting skill, I instantly recognized him: alpha Alexander, the man I was here to kill!

"Retreat!" I heard uncle David shout through the earpiece, but I ignored his words, taking out an arrow and aiming it at the wolf, who was busy biting and decapitating my family.

I pulled and shot the arrow, but, unfortunately, the wolf moved its head out of the way, and the arrow hit the tree an inch away from the wolf.

The wolf, who had been busy chewing up Gavin, spat out his shoe and growled menacingly, followed by jumping on me.

I sidestepped, but the wolf managed to push me down with its left paw.

I let out a loud cry of pain when I felt it sink its teeth into my shoulder, but before any damage could be done, the wolf immediately retracted its teeth, taking a step back away from me, its green eyes staring at me as if staring right through my soul.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Taylor throw a silver bomb at the wolf, who immediately growled out in pain, shifting into a very naked and muscular man, Alpha Alexander Pierce, my biggest enemy!

Ignoring the burning pain from my shoulder, I managed to stand up and pointed my dagger at him while he was busy trying to dust the silver off of him, the smell of his burning flesh filling up my nostrils.

"I've been waiting for this moment for so long," I mumbled to myself, charging against him, but before I could even get a chance, a wolf came out of nowhere and slammed into me hard. The force caused me to slam my back hard against a tree trunk.

My entire body buzzed with pain as stars began to dance in my vision, my head spinning at 360 revolutions per minute.

"Mine!" I heard a wolf growl, and I lightly shook my head, trying to refocus my vision, only to feel a strong hand wrap around my neck, helping me stand on my feet. To my surprise, the hold wasn't enough to choke me, but it was just enough to keep me steady on my feet, with his other hand holding my shoulder, pinning me to the tree.

I groggily looked up, and beautiful green eyes with a goldfish dark ring around them were staring back at me, an emotion I couldn't quite understand flowing within them.

I tried to force my body to fight him, but I was numb all over, I couldn't even lift a finger.

The man let go of me and next thing I know, someone slung me on their shoulder and began running while I tried my hardest not to pass out.