claimd and

hapter 8

Rogues surrounded them before they could even notice, giving the rogues the upper hand from the very beginning.

Ka’al’s hands tightened around Elise the moment he heard a dark chuckle from one of the males who emerged from the shadows. He had an eye patch on his left eye, and his pale tall build, his grim face stretched into an unsettling smile.

“I knew I smelled a good one,” he said as the rest of the four males emerged, their hungry and lustful eyes fixed on Elise. Ka’al gave them a warning snarl to keep them at bay.

There were three betas, with the rest being delta rogues. The mischievous glint in their eyes proved to Ka’al that they wouldn’t back off without a fight. Rogues were meant to steal and take, and now that they found a female so tempting, they would do anything to have her, even kill.

“Do not take another step closer unless you want your heads taken off,” Ka’al warned. He wasn’t back to full power, but they could feel the intense pressure of his warning pheromones.

“If you don’t want this to become a very brutal and bl**dy fight, I suggest you leave the female, and we will let you pass this lonely backwaters road to whatever destination you want,” their leader said.

Elise held onto Ka’al’s hand tightly and stayed behind him. Even as the males tried to peer at her, Ka’al’s growl stopped them.

“Judging from your pheromones, you are an alpha, a strong one, but we have tools to stop even the mightiest of wolves, dangerous ones that could leave you dead, so do not try to fight us,” they warned.

*Elise, Ka’al said through his carnal psychic powers, *the minute they charge at me and I shift, I need you to run south; there is a cave before the forest ends; stay there till I’m done, he told Elise.

Not a moment later, the wolf attacked, with both betas being shifters turning into their wolves, which were painfully smaller than Kaal’s. But being rogues, they lived to kill and hunt and had skills for a fight. Their delta henchmen had wolf strength but no trace of a shifter in them apart from their claws and canines. They snarled their teeth at Ka’al.

*Go!* He ordered as he shifted into his mighty black wolf, and the fight began. Ka’al broke through the group’s defenses, their plans wild yet coordinated as their claws. reached for Kaal’s heel to wound him.

1517. Sol, Aug 31

Kahl’s canines bit deep into one of the betas’ decks, and in a curdling snarl, the crack of bones echoed through the forest. The two betas left looked shocked by Kaal’s strength.

But Ka’al wasn’t done with them yet; one of the deltas was his next victim, killed with a vicious strike and slammed into a tree. The moment he set his eye on the second beta and was battling his way with the beta males, the delta snuck in for an attack.

Ka’al howled in in from a stab wound from a knife-not just any knife but one covered with Vardnom bane, a wicked drug used to poison wolves and potent enough to weaken them.

He killed the beta, crushing his skull as another beta fell to his attack. Their leader was left, and Ka’al gave him a striking blow to the neck. The beta yelped in pain as he bouldered into a tree.

He shifted back to his human form, eyes filled with pain and pride as he spat out blood. “You’re him, aren’t you? the dread wolf of the south,” the beta called as Ka’al snarled in

answer.

“I was reckless; I’d give you that, but you were too,” he said to Ka’al, whose wolf’s head turned in confusion. “I never told you we were only five; for all we know, they have gotten to her already,” he said with an evil grin.

A deadly howl left Ka’al’s throat as he pushed his claws into the beta’s neck, and blood splashed on the tree bark.

He had no time to waste, but when Elise was in danger, the moment he tried to run, he felt a stabbing pain from the Vardnom. It was going to slow his speed, but Ka’al didn’t mind as he raced for Elise, hoping he’d get there in time.

Elise could hardly keep track of how far she had run, and with the blaring carnal warning from Ka’al, she dared not turn back.

She sighted the cave that he told her about, and as relief filled her, she stalked up to it, but Elise quickly came to a halt as a shadow passed through the trees beside her.

She looked up to see that the shadow was a male who had appeared in front of her, blocking her way. He had a sinister look on his face as he approached.

“You think you can run away from us, beauty?” He chuckled. Elise tried to walk back, only to feel another person behind her. She was ambushed.

“Don’t you dare come near me!” Elise said, but her high-pitched voice was barely a

15.47 Sat, Aug 31.0

Chapters

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threat to the maler:

“Don’t worry, we’ll make you feel so good that you will forget about that alpha-agh!” He groaned as Elise landed a hit on his groin the moment he touched her shoulder.

“You little b***h!” He snarled. His partner was quick enough to grab her hand, bending it backward until she was immobilized and couldn’t attack or run.

“Nice try, you b**h,” he hissed. He raised his hands high, giving a hard backhanded slap to her checks. Elise’s skin throbbed, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle. After all the abuse, this was nothing

ng to show who’s

She held his stare and growled at him, “Look at this little pup; I’m boss, lay her down, and get her pants off!” She ordered him to fight back.

Biting the arms of the second captor, he retaliated by pushing her against a stony hedge, where Elise’s head hit a hard rock. Her vision immediately blurred as she fell to the ground.

She could hardly breathe; she wondered where Ka’al was, but she couldn’t blame him, knowing that he was still fighting off the rest. Elise bound her hand in a fist until it drew blood. “Moon goddess, I need the strength,” she whispered.

The footsteps drew closer as one of them dragged her hair and pulled her up; their snickers felt like distant echoes as Elise’s eyes shot open; her eyes were a violet hue burning with power as her body felt like it was on fire as power surged into her.

The last thing Elise felt was rage, and she saw red before all hell broke loose.

“Elise!” Ka’al shouted as he raced towards the cave; he had shifted back to human save his energy as he pushed forward through the trees.

TO

He came across the clearing, his nose twitching from the smell of blood as panic arose in him. “No, no, no,” he muttered as he reached forward.

The scene in front of him shocked and confused him. The brutal claw marks and bloodied bodies of two males were littered by the rocks; their eyes were open, and they still looked shocked in terror, even in death.

“El!” He called again as he moved forward, seeing red hair behind the rocks. He saw Elise, unconscious yet unharmed; her hand was bloodied, and it wasn’t her blood.

“What in the moon’s name happened here?” He wondered in a whisper, and he reached down to pick her up.

547 Sat Aug:

He placed her on his back and quickly walked into the forest; for all he knew, the rogue. betas could have reinforcements that could arrive at any moment.

Ka’al walked for almost two hours before he felt Elise’s cold body finally twitch. Her eyes flew open, and her body and mind panicked but calmed down the moment she took in Ka’al’s familiar scent. “Ka’al

“You’re awake,” he grunted. “Don’t worry, were almost there,” he said as Elise glanced around, realizing it was already nighttime.

“Where are we?”

“We are in the gated territory of the Blackmoon pack; the rogues can’t come here,” he said to her, and Elise’s eyes widened.

She pushed herself off his back, not caring if she’d fall to the ground, but Ka’al stopped her in time. “What the hell are you doing?”

“We can’t be here,” she warned, her eyes filled with panic. “My parents always warned about the Blackmoon pack, that they are savages led by their alpha king, who is known as the “dread wolf,” and they kill anyone that tr**es on their land; they will hurt us,” she told Ka’al, who tried to control his features.

“Nothing will happen, little wolf,” he assured.

“How do you know they won’t hurt?” Elise asked, but she stiffened when she heard shuffling across the trees; this time trooped males crept out of the trees as Elise clutched onto Ka’al’s palm with a tight squeeze.

The male who was in front looked like he had seen a ghost, but there was relief in his eyes as he stared at Ka’al, leaving Elise confused.

“Alpha, you’re back.” He bowed with one knee bent to the ground to show his utmost respect, and other wolves followed. That was when it all clicked and made sense.

The very man beside her was the alpha of the Blackmoon pack, the dread wolf, Ka’al was their alpha king!