Chapter Twenty-Six.

Leon

I scoffed.

"King of rogues? Nice try." I said in a bored tone and Blake glared at me.

"I'm serious, Wolf. My army is ready to take you down." He growled and I chuckled bitterly.

"Take me down? You're claiming to be a king, yet you're just another pathetic wolf who let the power of an Alpha get too much in your brain. You're the weakest Alpha." I spat at him.

"That's enough, Alpha Wolf." Elder Carter said and I nodded. "Why do you call yourself the king of rogues?" He asked, more like commanded Blake to answer him. Blake let out a small whine under the command and hung his head.

"Because I'm their leader." He said under the command. Elder Diaz stepped up then.

"Leader for what?" He asked, using the command on him.

"I promised them Wolf's territory if they followed me." He said and I internally scoffed at that.

"What does that child have anything to do with this?" Elder Francis asked.

"He was to be my greatest weapon. He has the power to destroy everyone in a flash." Blake said quietly.

"What makes you think that?" I couldn't help but ask. He looked up at the Elders with a sly look in his eyes.

"The prophecy." He said and the Elders froze.

"How do you know about that?" Elder Jones asked.

"You'd be surprised what one wolf can spill when you threaten the life of their mate." Blake said and the Elders growled. I could've sworn the cells shook by the power that came from the growls.

"Do you know the consequences of your actions, Blake?" Elder Diaz spat at him.

"Death. I was hoping you'd discover the truth when it's too late." Blake said and Elder Diaz's face went red.

"Open the cell door, Wolf." He commanded and I quickly motioned one of the guards to do so. He ran and opened the cell door and all of the Elders went in the cell.

"Death it is, Blake." Elder Carter said and Blake's eyes widened.

"You can't do this! I'm an Alpha!" He growled.

"And we're the Elders." Elder Francis said coldly and took Blake's head in his hands, blocking my view of them. I could see Blake trying to snatch his head away but he was too late. The cracking of bones echoed through the whole dungeon. When Elder Francis moved back, I couldn't help but wince.

He had turned Blake's face 180°.

"Take the body and throw it to the rogues near his territory." Elder Jones commanded the guards and they nodded, wide eyed. They went in after the Elders stepped out of the cell and unchained Blake's body.

"Wolf, I hope you won't mind managing Blake's territory." Elder Carter said as they all strolled out of the dungeon and I quietly followed them.

"Of course not, Elder Carter. However, I think it would be better if the territory would be given to an Alpha who needed territory to expand his pack. I already have enough territory." I said and the Elders

looked like they were thinking about my suggestion.

"You're right. Alpha Johnson has been requesting territory to expand his pack." Elder Francis said with a nod.

"The mess Blake has made with his pack would need to be seen personally. We shall head there today. Get our transport ready, Wolf." Elder Diaz said.

"Ours would be...?" I asked hesitantly. I didn't want to leave Jennifer after we had just completed our mating. Elder Carter chuckled.

"We aren't making you leave your mate after you just completed the mating. We Elders would go." He said and I internally sighed in relief.

"Of course." I said.

Back in the house, everything was calm. Jennifer was having a conversation with Nicole while Xander and Bella were colouring. Though Xander was just giving the colours Bella asked for. Mom and dad were nowhere in sight, and the same was to be said for Andrew and Alicia.

Their heads snapped up when they heard us come in. All of them giving us curious looks.

"He's dead." Elder Jones said and I could see Nicole's shoulder sag in relief. "We will be taking our leave now. His pack will be handed over to another Alpha but be cautious around the borders." He said to me and I nodded.

"Nicole, can you fill us in about what had Blake been doing to the pack?" Elder Edgar asked and she nodded.

"I've already told you most of the stuff, Elders. There were some times that he'd make the men watch their mate's when the rogues..." She trialed off, looking down at the kids.

"Bella, go find Casper. It's time for your training. You too, Xander." I said and they nodded. They quietly left the room and the Elders sat down on the couches, looking expectantly at Nicole.

"Well, he'd make the men watch their mate's get raped by the rogues. Sometimes, he'd do the same to the she-wolves when the men were taken away as targets. Make them watch their mate's get brutally killed by them. Some of the unmated she-wolves were taken to a room he had under his house... One of them had confessed that he had taken advantage of them. They say he kept on saying that this behavior will make them know better than to defy him." Nicole said in a whisper. I could feel bile rising up in my throat while Jennifer looked pale. The Elders kept their expression neutral but I could see the disgust in their eyes.

"What about your mate?" Elder Diaz asked. Nicole visibly swallowed.

"He refused to tell Blake that Xander had shifted even though Blake kept insisting on it. When he realised that Mike, my mate, wasn't going to tell him the truth, he announced a public execution for him for defying the Alpha." She said and shuddered. Jennifer put her arms around her in comfort and I couldn't help but smile at the gesture.

"Public execution?" Elder Carter asked and Nicole nodded.

"He had tied Mike to a pole to make the pack see what would happen when they defied him. He did the same to Xander and I to make sure we didn't run away from the scene, make us watch..."

"What did he do, Nicole?" Elder Jones asked and Nicole started crying.

"He burned him alive... He burned my mate alive..." She choked out before breaking down completely.

My heart broke for her, for what she must have gone through. For Xander. A child who had to watch his father burn to death. I couldn't imagine someone being that cruel. Ever.

Jennifer was trying to comfort Nicole but I could see from her expression that she was at a loss of what to do. The Elders faces turned grave, and disgusted.

"Death was a way too easy punishment for him." Elder Diaz growled and even I nodded this time with the Elders.

"We simply cannot delay going to his pack. This is far worse than I had imagined." Elder Edgar said and stood up. The Elders copied his actions and stood up as well. Elder Francis turned to me.

"We shall be sending to trainers who have been prepared to train Bella and Xander especially. They should arrive by tomorrow morning." He said and I nodded.

"Yes, Elder Francis." I said quietly before escorting them out of the mansion. Their car was already present at the door. They quietly got in and their car sped out of the driveway.

-One week later-

"Harder!" Edward commanded Bella and Xander. Edward and Samantha were the trainers Elders had sent for Bella and Xander. For the first two days, they were supervised by Casper and Frank who told them about Bella and Xander's weaknesses as well as their strengths.

Xander punched the pad harder as Edward held on to it. Both Bella and Xander were drenched in sweat, tired, but still trying their hardest to do as told.

Samantha was making Bella practice her kicks on a little distance from them just as hard. Jennifer was standing beside me, looking over their training. From the bond, I could feel that Jennifer just wanted to pull Bella away from all this but she knew that Bella needed to learn how to defend herself.

"We'll take a five minutes break." Samantha said and Bella dropped down on the ground with a breath of relief. Jennifer and I chuckled, even Samantha's lips twitched at the ends.

"My legs hurt, mommy." Bella whined and Jennifer chuckled. Walking over to her, Jennifer kneeled.

"You were the one who wanted to start training, Bella." Jennifer said playfully. All of us laughed when Bella whined again.

"Alpha." A voice called and I turned around to a pack member jogging up to me.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I was on patrol duty last night and found this pinned to a dead rabbit on a tree." He said holding out a note to me. I frowned and took it from him, nodding at him.

"Thank you." I said and he nodded at me before leaving. I looked down at the note in my hand and unfolded it, only to feel my blood run cold when I read what was inside.

"They'll be mine when they turn eighteen, Wolf. The war has just begun."

The note read, but that wasn't what had my blood run cold. It was the signature underneath.

King of the rogues.