➳
For the past few weeks, both Matthew and Nathan had been very busy. The rogues near their territory had been attacking more often, and there's a lot more of them they expected. It was evident that a war between them was inevitable, and very imminent.
"I'll come talk to you again later, I have a meeting with my Beta right now," Matthew said, glancing at his watch.
"Alright. Also, if you can, bring some chocolates for Maddie. She really appreciates them during this time of the month."
Matthew did not quite understand what Nathan meant by 'this time of the month', but agreed nonetheless. He enjoyed buying gifts for his mate, especially when he got to see her angelic smile as she received them.
This time, however, she did not smile. She did not even get up from the couch to greet him like she normally does. He stared at her worriedly while she ripped open the chocolate bar wrapper and took a bite, her other arm tightly clutching her stomach in pain.
"What's going on?" His eyes suddenly widened as an unusual smell hit him. Blood.
Before he could say anything, Nathan quickly pulled him to the side. "I know what you're thinking. Don't say anything about it."
"What? She's injured-"
"She's not, trust me. She's just... bleeding."
"That's what I just said."
"No- Can we get out of here so I can explain? She'll get embarrassed if she knows what I'm talking about." They moved to a different room. Madeline was still enjoying her chocolate bar, not paying attention.
"Will you tell what's wrong with her now?" Matthew demanded impatiently.
"There's nothing wrong with her. Bleeding is normal for female humans. It's like, their version of a heat, I think."
"She's in heat?"
"... No. She's just- I'm not an expert on humans, alright? All I know is that they bleed for about a week, once a month. And they like to eat chocolate during that week."
Matthew pondered for a while. He knew many things about humans, but he had never heard of this before. "Bleeding for a week? Where do they even bleed from?" He decided to do more research about it once he gets to his office. For now, they both figured it would be best to just leave Madeline alone during the next few days.
-----
"Sergeant Nathan! You're positioned at the North border. Your squad is already on the way there," The Beta's loud voice boomed, before he turned to the next man in line to instruct him.
Several days had passed; the war had finally commenced. Members of the Pack had been training hard, willing to put their lives on the line and defend their land.
As Nathan neared the border, he noticed how multiple rogues already made it quite far into the territory. He joined his fellow warriors, trying to protect their Pack from the invaders, but the situation was quickly getting out of hand. What they had expected to be an easy victory was turning out to be quite a challenge.
"This is only the North Border. They're invading from every direction, how many of them are there?" He thought, getting more discouraged by the minute. A rogue leaped across the border, landing right in front of him.
He tackled the creature down, who responded by shifting into his wolf form and flipping them over, baring his canines at him. Nathan's eyes widened as his jaw surrounded his neck, preparing to bite down.
Bang.
The rogue froze momentarily, before limply dropping down on his side. Nathan hastily pushed him off and got up, discerning a gunshot wound on the side of his head. He looked to the side to see a Pack member, slipping his gun back into its holster.
"Thank you." Nathan gave him a curt nod; a sign of gratitude.
"Be careful, sergeant," The warrior replied, returning the nod before running off to look for his next target.
-----
On the other hand, Matthew defended the East border alone. Direwolf abilities were considerably more refined than werewolves'. He could smell rogues from miles away, sense their exact location, and detect their every movement. His injuries healed in seconds, even gunshot and stab wounds. The Alpha was practically invincible, any rogue who dared appear in his sight met death in a matter of seconds.
He scowled, sensing how poorly his Pack was doing. Rogues were getting further into his territory, he could feel it. "When this war is over I'll have to give them all a punishment for being so incompetent." Some saw his punishments as cruel, but he wanted the best for his pack, and needed to make sure they were able to defend themselves properly.
Shortly thereafter, he could not smell any more rogues coming towards the East border. He began heading North to help his warriors out, but stopped as his mate came to mind. "Is Madeline alright?"
-----
Nathan had the same concern as his Alpha. Something in his heart told him to make sure his sister was okay. He ran back to their house, paying attention to spot any rogues on the way there. Once at the house, he stiffened when he heard three voices coming from the front:
"Do you smell that? There's a human in there!"
"I heard they're super easy to kill. They can't even smell us coming!"
"And it's a female too. Might as well have a little fun before killing her." The rogues snickered, revelling in the idea of ravishing a young girl.
Nathan felt his blood boil as he listened to the conversation from the other side. Nobody could touch his sister, certainly not some filthy rogues. He was unsure if he could take on three men at once, but when he heard them break through the door, Nathan could no longer hold himself back.
Madeline was in her bedroom, praying that the war would end soon and her brother would be safe. With her weak human senses, she could not smell the rogues entering her home, or even hear them walking upstairs.
Her scream resonated through the house when they barged through her bedroom. She tried to run out, but one of them grabbed her by the waist, throwing her onto the bed.
"Where are you going, cutie?" He smirked menacingly, hovering above her. The young girl froze in fear. Her arms were pinned back, preventing her from defending herself as she felt his hand trailing up her leg. "Oh, aren't you a pretty one. This is going to be fun."
"S-stop!" She tried kicking him away, but her strength was no match for his. He only made it up to her thigh when Nathan shoved the door open, growling in anger.
In a flash, he grabbed the rogue on top of her and rammed his head into the wall, forming a dent. He sensed the other two approaching him and sent them both tumbling back with a kick.
"Don't. Touch. My. Sister. Understood?" He snapped, slamming the rogue's head through the wall with each word. The other two rogues ran out, rushing back downstairs to escape. "I didn't forget about you guys!" Nathan chased after them, dragging the third one down the stairs behind him.
Madeline sighed in relief when they finally left. Her entire body was shaking badly. She was eternally grateful that Nathan came to save her in time. Although she was petrified, she crept out of her room to observe the fight happening downstairs.
The rogue Nathan had plowed into the wall was now unconscious; there was only two left to defeat. While he was distracted fighting one of them, the other snuck into the kitchen. He grabbed sharp, gleaming object and approached Nathan, who was facing the other way.
Madeline's eyes widened when she saw him pull out a huge santoku knife.
"NATHAN WATCH OUT!"
Her brother looked up, their eyes briefly locking. She saw the pain flash through them as the knife pierced through his back. He fell to his knees as she screamed once again, rushing downstairs. The rogues did not matter to her anymore; she had to make sure her brother was okay.
"Do you smell that?" One of them whispered. "It's getting closer."
The rogues froze in place when they realized who the scent belonged to. Alpha Blade. They slowly turned to the door, and visibly paled at the sight of him standing in the doorway.
The Alpha's attention drifted to Nathan's wound. His condition seemed critical, he was losing blood too fast.
"I-It's in my h-heart," He choked out, gasping for air.
"Hang in there. I'll take care of these three and take you to the hospital." Matthew grabbed all three rogues by their shirt collars and brought them outside. He felt their heart rates accelerating in pure terror, making him smirk. Let's just say, within the next minute, they no longer had a heart rate.
"Nathan, you won't die right? Please don't die," Madeline whimpered, holding his hand tightly. His vision had started to black out, but he managed to give his sister a weak smile.
"I l-love you M-Maddie. Remember t-that it's n-not your fault," He stammered breathlessly.
Tears welled up in her eyes as her lip quivered. "I love you too. But don't die, please. Please Nathan." She sobbed loudly, wrapping her arms around her brother's neck. She was getting covered in his blood, but couldn't care less at the moment. All she wanted was her brother's safety.
Matthew walked back in, frowning at the grievous scene. It was clear that Nathan would not survive. The knife had damaged his most vital organs, and the amount of blood lost was irrevocable.
He kneeled down in front of his fallen soldier, lowering his head to show his respect.
"P-protect her, please," Nathan whispered, before he breathed his last.
➳He stood therewhile Madeline sobbedbitterly into his chest. Matthewhad seen too many deaths, it almost never affectedhim anymore. But this time, it wasagonizing. He could notimagine how much pain his mate was going through. Madeline had to be rippedaway from her brother's body;she was refusing to let go, insisting that he wasn't dead yet. He had never seen someone cry this much in his life. It physically pained him; his heart wrenched with every sob.Matthew was notused to this; he had no idea how to console her. "If only I had arrived earlier, I could've saved him..." The Alphaneverblamed himself for the death of his warriors, since they willingly put their life on the line, buthe couldn't help but feel responsible for Nathan's."P-protect her, please..."His last words replayed in his head. He looked down at the young girl crying in his
➳Matthew woke up, feeling a light weight top of him. Raising his head, he looked down to see his little materesting her head on his chest, still asleep. He mentally smiled as his handbrushed her chestnut-brown hair away from her face, revealing her pretty features. No matter how many times he hadseen her, herbeauty always took his breath away.His smile diminished when he saw traces of dried tears on her face. She almost never cried in front of him anymore, but he would sometimes hear her sniffling during the night or whenever she was alone. It was clear that she missed her brother deeply. As much as he wanted to help her, he knew only time would heal her wounds.He gentlyplaced her head on the pillow so he could get up. As usual, he had a busy day of work ahead of him today, starting with a meeting with his Beta...."Good morning, Alpha." The Beta bowed his head slightly, before entering his offi
➳As the weeks went by, Matthew became increasingly impatient. His lovefor his mate grew strongerevery day;he beganto find it hard to control his ardent desires. Each timeshetalked to him, he wanted to taste her lips, and whenever they wouldlayin bed together, he felt like running his hands all over her body.Madeline, on the other hand, was still painfully oblivious tohis feelings. She constantly mistook his displays of affection for friendship. A strange sensation would growin her heart every time he'd hold her close, compliment her, or give her gifts, but she could notunderstand what it was.A smile formed on her lips as she remembered theconversation they had this morning...."Do you like this dress?" She asked, twirling around in his office. Matthew was busy doingpaperwork at his desk."I told you you're not allowed to come in
➳Over the next week, Matthew had been very busy with the merging of the two Packs. At first, the majority ofthe other Pack wasagainst this, but theyslowly realized this new integration would mean morestrengthand better protection. They all began warming up to their new Alpha...especially the females.Their previous Alpha was nowhere near as attractive as Matthew. They all drooled over him, secretly hoping he'd claim one of them as his mate. Whenever he'd train with his new Pack members, he would sense a crowd of females peeking through the windows, gawking at his shirtless, muscular body.He never paid much attention to other women. Sure, he had slept around with some, but he never heldany deeper feelingstowards them; except for Madeline, of course. His lips twitched into a tiny smile as his cute little mate entered his mind.Despite everything that's been going on, he always fo
➳"Do I seriously have to fight a female?" The Beta asked derisively, holding up a punching bag whileMatthew repeatedly hit it. The twostood at the fighting grounds, waiting for the Beta female. Since she was taking rather long to show up, they took this time to do some physical training."She won't leave me alone until I letyou fight her. I doubt she's strong enough to hurt you, just hold her down or something," Matthew replied, his attention focused on the punching bag.A feminine voice echoed through the room. "I am strong enough to hurt him. Don't go easy on me."The two males turned their heads towards the entrance to look at her."Finally, you're here. I don't have much time, so start whenever you're ready," Matthew spoke in an uninterested tone. He glancedback athis Beta, only to see him gawking at the woman with wide eyes and a gaping mouth."Mate."The Alpha sta
➳Matthew glanced at his watch impatiently."Is sheready yet?"A ball wastakingplace this day to celebrate the integration of the two Packs and bring them closer. He was not fond of such large parties, but being the Alpha, he was obliged to attend."Sorry for making you wait, Alpha." The stylist hurriedly pushed Madeline out the bedroom, giving some final touches to her hair.His jaw almost dropped when caught a glimpse of her. She wore a stunning, strapless blue gown, her hair styledin an elegant up-do. She warmlythanked the stylist, before steppingdown the stairs, being careful to not trip over the gown. Matthew kept his eyes on her the entire time, not blinking as she approached him.She lookeddown at her gown, smoothing it with her hands."Do you like it? I've never worn a dress this pretty before."Taking a step closer, he softly tipped up her chin, locking their ga
➳Madeline froze in place, her eyes wide, as Matthew gently moved his lips against hers. Her headache disappeared right away,replaced by euphoric sensations all across her mind. Her entire body tingled with the intensity ofthe feeling.She wasn't kissing back at all; her senses had gone numb, she couldn't even breathe.He could hear her heart thundering in her chest, andrealized she had stopped breathing. Although he didn't want to, he finally pulled away from the kiss, letting her get some air.A myriad of emotions soared through her head;joy, love, shock, fear, confusion, and... Resentment."Stop messing with me like this!" She tried to push him away, but her strength could noteven budge him. His brows furrowed in bemusementwhenhe saw tears welling up in her eyes."Why are you upset? I thought you liked me.""You keep being so romantic, it's only making my fe
➳"Just kill usalready, you monster."Matthew's lips curved into a smirk, whilehe slowly paced around his victims. "But that wouldn't be any fun for me, would it?""You're horrible. This is why direwolves must be eradicated and-" He was interrupted by a loud crack. A howl of pain echoed through the room as Matthew pulled back the whip.The Alpha felt a rush of pleasure at theircries. He knew it was sadistic, but torturing his captivesfilled him with unbearable satisfaction. All of his confined emotions were taken out on them;it was a thrilling experience for him."I'm horrible? Yet you are the ones who had my entire family killed." Rage flowed through his body like lava as he remembered what happened to his kin."Direwolves are demons. They all deserved to die, and you'll be next-"Crack."I suffer every single day because of you," Crack."Thi