[Kieran's POV]
Watching Elara covered in her own blood, my eyes blazed with rage, one that seemed to have broken free of its cage as I barely managed a breath.
Right at that moment, I had no idea what had happened—how she entered there, who those black wolves were—but yet, I didn't need to know. All that rang in my mind in those moments was saving Elara and making them pay for what they did to her.
I gave in to my instinct, my rage almost swallowing me up, as I growled, launching ferocious attacks on the black wolves, bringing them down one after the other.
"Grraah!" My gaze caught sight of one of the wolves growling, hoping to attack in a second, but I didn't give it the time to think. I struck hard, my fang sinking deep into its neck as I watched it whimper, trying to flee. But the moment they attacked my Elara, their death was certain. I broke its neck, ripping a chunk of flesh off as it dropped dead.
I didn't know if I had gone crazy, feeling this bloodthirst, but even if it was so, they deserved it—every single bit of it.
"Howl!" I howled, watching some of the black wolves retreat, stepping backward and whimpering, hoping to escape.
"But where did they think they were running off to...?" I moved faster than them, cornering them in each part they ran. Using the mist to my advantage, I brought many of them down.
I felt it, the metallic tang of blood coating my tongue as my fangs ripped through each of their flesh, bringing them to their early grave.
I didn't stop, not until the last one fled into the forest.
As I turned back to Elara, the urge just to hold her again overwhelmed me.
I wasted no time in lifting her up gently in my arms.
"Alpha!" My soldiers made their way, arriving. I could notice the paled look on them, witnessing the bloody scene.
But in those moments, I couldn't take my eyes off Elara. The thought of me arriving late, if she had died, I wouldn't have been able to take it. "Who did this, Elara? I will kill them all..." I said, but it seemed she had lost consciousness. Watching her injured legs, which still dripped with blood, and the scratch marks on her, she needed treatment immediately.
I stood up. "We need to leave now..." I said, only to catch sight of my Beta making his way in haste.
Why was he here? I had given him the job to keep an eye on Elara—that was a simple task, and yet he only seemed to have failed me.
"How did this happen, Lincoln? And under your watch at that..." I said, "I remember telling you to keep an eye on Elara for me, keeping her safe, so tell me how this happened..."
Placing my world under the watch of my Beta was a mistake I saw in my own path.
I received no response from Lincoln at first as he tried avoiding his gaze meeting mine.
I took slow, steady steps closer to him. "A... Alpha, I'm sorry..." I heard him say. "I had no idea how this happened. I was..." he was saying when his gaze rose to meet mine, and I watched him freeze instantly, his words catching in his throat.
"You what?" I demanded, my tone thick and commanding. My gaze darkened as he dropped to his knees in an instant.
"Please, Alpha, I promise not to make this mistake again..." he pleaded. But I shouldn't be venting all this on him. I had to admit he failed in his task, but he wasn't the one who attacked her in the end. And Elara would never be safe in this town. So, this only meant I had to get whoever was behind all this, fast.
I turned away my gaze from my Beta, hoping to leave.
"Alpha, your clothes," he said, drawing my attention back at him, as he brought me some clothes. My teeth gritted, jaw clenched when I witnessed those who were approaching at his back—the same elder leader making his presence known and some onlookers from the bordering lands.
I wore the clothes as Elara still remained in my arms.
The atmosphere grew silent, but I could hear it—those whispers from the very same crowd.
"What happened?" some asked.
"I think he killed her..." others said, while I just remained there in the same spot, caging it in. I couldn't let that rage swallow me up again.
I was the one who should be asking the questions. Raising the suspicions here. She was meant to be with them, those very same elders, so just how... How did Elara end up here, being attacked and in such a bad state?
"Someone tell me the hell what happened here!" I demanded, my voice cutting through the fog like a sharp blade.
Then I watched the elder take a step further.
"Kieran..." he said calmly, too calmly. "We might ask you the same thing. Why is the girl here? Did you bring her here against her will?"
Those accusations, how dare he? It was subtle, yet they struck me like a venom. My eyes narrowed as I froze. Fury coiled tight in my chest, my wolf growled beneath my skin.
"You think I would harm her?" I asked, my voice trembling. I was trying, hoping I could hold the rage that kept spurring by the seconds. "You dare to suggest I would abduct her?"
None of them answered. These people, every single one of them. The way they stared, those whispers that never even ceased from their mouths.
How could they even think? Where were they when my Elara was being attacked? But one thing was sure. I would find out what had happened to my Elara. Who those black wolves were, and why they attacked her.
I wouldn't spare anyone. Nobody.
I looked down at Elara, who was still in my arms, her blood staining my sleeves, her breath shallow, and something inside me snapped.
"You want answers? Then you better get ready, because if I don't get yours..." I growled through my teeth.
"I will tear this forest apart."