Staring up at the dark cloud, Alpha Maynard had a fulfilled smile planted on his face. The slightly heavy rain pouring down was just an added effect to the action already going down. Soaking up the rain and blocking out the cries and sounds of pain around him, he was in his own little world of peace.
"We can't find Alpha Ammon!" Derek shouted, coming up behind his father. He was soaked in a mixture of rain and blood.
Coming back to reality, Alpha Maynard looked around him at the disaster occuring. It was an all out battle between his pack and Alpha Ammon's pack. Looking around the woods leading to his pack settlement, it was a bloodbath. Tons of lifeless bodies belonging to both sides, fully shifted and partially shifted wolves engaged in fierce struggles.
He turned to face Derek and nodded his head. "Bring him" He ordered softly.
Derek sighed, running his fingers through his wet hair. He glanced back at the van they had brought. He made his way over, paused for a second and then pulled the door open. "It's time" He announced, moving out of the way for him.
Jumping down from the van, Damien stood in front of Derek with his head tilted down. He slowly raised up his head, grabbed the piece of clothing that wrapped around his eyes and pulled it loose, exposing his glowing, blood red eyes. He dropped the piece of clothing, letting it fall to the soaked earth and then proceeded to tie his hair into a messy bun.
Derek watched on in silence as Damien made his way over to where his father was. He stopped in front of the Alpha, staring blankly with rage in his eyes, waiting for his orders. "Look around at your people...blinded with rage and mercilessly killing through this poor pack" Alpha Maynard pointed out with a cunning smile. "Now I need you to do what you do best. Clean up and bring me their Alpha" He ordered.
Without saying a word, Damien walked past him toward the pack settlement, ignoring the wolves fighting around him. He picked up a long stake splitting it in two equal sharp halves just as a bunch of angry partially shifted wolves ran up to him, standing in front of him and blocking his path toward the Alpha's quarter.
They were a bit taken aback by his constant glowing red eyes. They didn't expect him to be an Alpha. He looked menacing and intimidating but they had to stand their ground and protect their Alpha. Damien stood still with both stakes in hand. He was patiently waiting for one of them to make the first move.
He gripped the stakes tighter, a low growl erupting from his chest. They growled angrily and fiercely at him but it didn't seem to intimidate him in the slightest. They thought them being a number of ten would be able to take him down regardless of his Alpha status.
One of the wolves leapt off the floor toward him with claws out. Without giving him a chance to land, Damien took off from the floor also, meeting him mid air and plunging one of the stakes into his heart and the other into his throat. It happened so fast that it took the remaining nine by surprise. They all stared at their dead comrade's body on the floor as Damien pulled out the stakes.
The air crackled with anticipation as Damien twirled the sharp stakes in his hands. With lightning speed and precision, he lunged forward, his eyes locked on the nine opponents. The first wolf rushed in, but Damien swiftly parried his attack, striking back with a powerful blow that sent him sprawling to the ground.
Undeterred, the remaining wolves closed in, their movements synchronized. But he was a force to be reckoned with. He spun, dodged, and struck, his stakes slicing through the air like streaks of silver. Each opponent fell, one by one, under the relentless assault. They had no time to react to his relentless attacks. He was too fast for them. An abnormal speed even for an Alpha.
He hadn't shifted not even partially safe for his glowing eyes and yet he wasn't on their level of speed and strength. They tried attacking once more together with hopes of either clawing or sinking their fangs into him to weaken him but it was as though he was reading their minds and attacks. He made sure there was always distance between them, avoiding their attacks as he ran through them one after the other, this time ending them with his stake or snapping their necks.
As the puddle of water settled after their bodies fell on it, Damien stood victorious, his chest heaving with exertion. The woods turned battlefield was littered with defeated foes, a testament to their skill and numbers. Alpha Maynard had made sure to bring every single warrior he had, including the wolves of Direwolf clan. With them fighting for him, taking down Alpha Ammon's pack was a walk in the park. Seeing them in action, he fully understood the hype about them and their unusual strength and speed even from the ones that weren't Alphas.
Damien, sure they were all dead, proceeded into the Alpha's quarter, searching the whole place and making sure there was no stone left unturned, all the while cutting down any wolf that stood in his way. Alpha Maynard waited patiently outside, hoping Alpha Ammon hadn't escaped somehow. He looked up once more, the rain seemed to be slowing down. It wasn't as heavy as before. "There!" Derek who had been standing beside his father the whole time, pointed at the entrance of the Alpha's quarter.
Alpha Maynard smiled with relief on seeing Damien coming toward him, dragging the fat Alpha Ammon along with him. As they got closer, Alpha Maynard realized the Alpha was bleeding and his arms seemed broken. "Well done Damien. I knew I could count on you" Said the Alpha.
"What the hell is this Maynard? Do you know the gravity of what you're doing?" Alpha Ammon shouted angrily, his lips still bleeding.
"Of course I know. I'm ushering in a new dawn and sorry you had to be the first one to go on the list" He replied
"You won't get away with this! You can't get away with this!"
"Look around you..." He paused, showing the Alpha the lifeless bodies of his pack. "I won already. Any member of your pack who isn't dead will have no choice but to join me, my pack"
"Your pack??" Alpha Ammon reiterated with a puzzled look.
"Yes..." Alpha Maynard moved closer to him and showed him his glowing red eye. "My pack"
"I see you're the one who killed your Alpha" The Alpha shook his head with disgust.
"Yes and you won't be alive to tell the tale" He replied and then turned to Damien. "Knock him out and throw him into the van. We'll make use of him when we get back to our town. For now I have to go give the surviving members of his pack the only ultimatum they are going to get" He ordered. Damien did as he was ordered, knocked out the Alpha and carried him to the van.
As soon as Damien left with the Alpha, Derek turned to his father with a curious look. "What do you plan on doing with him? Why don't you just end him here, in front of his pack. Wouldn't that be better and solidify your strength with them?"
"We have a bigger war coming son. It's time to move the pawns on the chessboard and make them into knights or rooks. You saw how deadly the Direwolf clan are with how they easily tackled Alpha Ammon's pack. And they are the ones we are going against in the main war, stronger ones at that. We can't win if you're still losing to someone like Nate" Alpha Maynard explained.
"What are you trying to say father?" He asked, getting a bit offended by his father's words.
"I'm saying it's time you get stronger so you can actually face them when the time comes. I am already an Alpha, so killing Alpha Ammon would be a waste. That is why you're going to be the one to kill him and become an Alpha yourself"
"What?" Derek's eyes widened with shock, an expression which slowly turned into joy and anticipation.
"I told you, everything I do, I do for my family, to elevate our status and to make our name be a name that is revered and feared by all wolves. This is the way we are going to make that happen. So get ready to become an Alpha when we get back. For now let's wrap up things here" He concluded and walked away with pride clearly visible on his face.
Derek followed closely behind him with a smirk on his face. He knew what that meant. His days of being looked down on was finally over. That was about to be the greatest gift he had gotten from his father. A gift that would up his chances to get Tessa back, even if it meant forcing her back and keeping her against her will. He was about to be an Alpha, an unexpected rise in the scale of power.