Chapter 57

57 Nine Hours

Luke

We arrived at the scene, and the battle was intense. My father immediately organised the troops, and we

parted ways to join our assigned groups. Mike was on my team, and we were undressing to shift and join

the battle. The attackers had indeed used guns, but they could not keep up with the assault.

“Why is this battle still on?” I linked Mike.

“They have had reinforcements coming from other places, so Grey‘s effort on the shore is futile. It is as if

they anticipated we would guard the shore. I believe they had come to Woodclaw in batches and settled

in various places. All the packs on the island have troops here

to fight them back, but the attackers‘ reinforcements keep coming.” He said, and I nodded.

“Were you able to interrogate a captive?” I asked, and he shook his head. “Wolfsbane. They bite the

poison once they are caught. We are better off killing them,” he explained, and I wondered what could be

so serious that these people would want to die like this. There was only one way to leave here alive: to

kill them all, taking no prisoners. I linked my father and Caleb to link their groups to forget about taking

prisoners and killing the

enemy. My mark burned bright orange, and it made all the marks on all our wolves glow with the same

colour. Even wolves, not directly our pack members but from packs on our island, had a secondary mark

like mine glow brightly on their wolves. I did not know how I did it, but it happened. Now everyone had

the same symbol as the one on my upper right arm glowing on their foreheads either as their primary or

secondary mark. The demarcation was clear, and we knew who was on our side and against us.

“How did you do this, Luke?” my father asked, and I did not know. I took off my clothes and shifted. My

mark burned and glowed on my arm, which singled me out as the pack‘s Alpha. We charge to kill any

wolf that did not have our mark. The night had favoured us. Who would have guessed this was possible.

Four hours into the fight, the enemy stopped having reinforcements, and we were able to kill them all.

Some of our wolves were injured, but other than the ones killed with guns, the rest were alright. I howled

at the moon to show my respect to the goddess and commend our soldiers. They howled along with us.

Our marks stopped glowing when the battle ended, and my arm stopped burning. I noticed wolves from

other packs on the island who had my mark as their secondary mark no longer had it. I guess we were

united as one for the duration of the fight only. Caleb came to find me; he had shifted back to his human

f

“Wow, Luke, that was awesome. The mark on my arm glowed,” he said, and I smiled.

“Did it burn?” I asked him, and he shook his head.

Our father joined us and shifted. He was limping.

“Victory is ours,” he said joyfully and commended both of us.

“You fought and led brilliantly. You are indeed a powerful Alpha Luke. My grandfather used to make our

marks glow when he was Alpha. All the packs on this island were born from Woodclaw. That is why their

soldiers bore our marks temporarily for the fight,” My father said, and he frowned at me,

“But how did you do it?” He finally asked, and I shrugged.

“I was ready for battle and determined to win,” I said, and he smiled.

“‘The heart of a true Alpha. Well, thanks to our glowing marks, we could easily know those that weren‘t a

part of us and kill them,” he said, and I smiled because that was true. There was no need to guess

whether you were fighting your comrade or not. The mark made it easy for us to detect our pack

members. I guess that was the reason for our marks.

Mike came to meet me and greeted my father with all the respect he could manage. Caleb said hello to

him and congratulated him on his forthcoming wedding, which was around the corner. I did not know that

everyone knew Mike was getting married. “Glad it is over,” Caleb said.

“Thank Luna Tia. She placed a curfew everywhere, so no one could go out,” Mike said, and I frowned at

him. My father began to laugh with so much joy.

“What?“I said.

“Yeah, I just heard that the Luna has placed an indefinite curfew until the fight is over. So the

reinforcement waiting for them in the neighbouring towns and cities could not join the fight. Instead, they

were apprehended. But of course, a majority of them because of the wolfbane in their mouths. Two of

them did not have the heart to kill themselves. They have been apprehended,” he said, and I thanked the

goddess for our luck and Tia‘s quick thinking. I knew she was a mess when I left her, but how could she

have been able to act so quickly even in that mental state?

“This is amazing. Stacy would have never thought of this,” my father said with excitement.

We walked toward and newly erected tents used to treat the soldiers and Eastwood residents from their

injuries. They brought us shorts to wear, and I gladly wore them. I really wanted to head back to the city.

I watched as a medic attended to my father, who was just beaming with joy. His smile was not because

of our victory but because of Tia‘s quick thinking. If those reinforcements kept coming, they would have

worn us out and overpowered us because we had no reinforcement on the way. It was genius of Tia to

set a curfew the way she did. Thanks to the curfew, we might find out who has been organising the

attacks and maybe why.

“We waited to tend to trivial matters and delegate guarding duty to the Infantry soldiers that just joined us

before we boarded the helicopter to return. Mike followed us.

The instant the chopper touched down on the helipad. I was ready to leave. My father laughed

at me.

“She is waiting for you at home safely. It has just been nine hours, and look at you,” he teased me, and I

did not care.

“To think you initially rejected the union,” he said, and I still did not say a word. I walked to the elevator

and waited for the four of us to get in before I pressed the button that would take us to the ground floor.

The moment we got to the ground floor. We exited the building. We were all shirtless in shorts. We

looked like we were running a fitness product commercial. A van was waiting for us outside, and we

hopped in.

I imagined what Tia would be doing. Was she sleeping or watching the news and waiting for

We soon arrived at the mansion. Bart, Kirk and some guys were waiting for us, Caleb and Kirk hugged

“You did a good job, Delta,” my father said to Kirk. Although demoted to delta, the young man was still

happy to serve. “It was under Luna Tia‘s orders, Alpha,” he said, and I did not bother to wait to discuss

anything with anyone. I rushed into the house. “Alpha, Kimberly is in the room with Luna Tia,” Bart linked

me, and I was a bit mad at Tia that she would allow Kimberly into our room.

“Caleb, come and take your pregnant girlfriend from my room,” i linked my brother, and he did not

respond as usual. I moved quickly and tried the knob on the door. The door was open. I entered and

strolled into the room, trying not to make a sound. Kimberly was sleeping on the couch with the television

on mute. I went into the bedroom, and the bed was empty. I looked around and saw Tia on the corner on

the floor curled up in fetus style, wearing my t–shirt. The first t–shirt she wore on our wedding night that

now had holes in it.

I went to shower quickly, ensuring I did not spend more than fifteen minutes in the shower, wore a new

pair of shorts and carried her from the corner where she was sleeping. I laid her gently on the bed. I

knew she was tired. She went from continuous and multiple orgasms to terror; It was enough to wear

anyone out. “Please be safe..” she murmured in her sleep. I leaned closed to her and kissed her

forehead and then her lips.

“I am home, Tia,” I whispered. She managed to open her eyes. She was silent a bit as we stared at each

other. I knew she was still trying to figure out what was happening and when it clicked, she wrapped her

arms around me, buried her face in the crook of my neck, and cried with relief.

“Thank goddess, you are home. Thank goddess, you are alright,” she cried, and I held her. At that

minute, I was emotional because I could imagine what was going on in her mind while I was out there.

She was alone, with no one to lean on or support her. She had experienced nine hours of fear and

uncertainty. She was allowed to cry.