Page 165 of Alpha's Forbidden Fate

I am just about to run towards Colt to help him take down the bastard, but it does not look like he needs my help. His mouth is on Blake’s throat, squeezing.

Blake lets out a gurgled noise as Colt bites into his throat and tears it out.

He doesn’t stop there, though. He proceeds to remove Blake’s head from his body as his claws make a purchase in Colt’s torso, tearing more flesh. Satisfied that he is dead, I turn to the rest of the room.

There is still the noise of battle all around us, but they all seem to be handling everything just fine.

I charge outside, following my parents’ and Raskogr. There is still an attack going on outside. I stand at the edge of the chaos, ready to fight alongside my family.

But then, my father steps forward, his authoritative voice cutting through the commotion.

“Listen up!” he commands, his voice booming across the courtyard. “Levi and Blake are defeated. You will not win. If you want a chance at redemption, lay down your weapons now. Finish your sentences, and you can reintegrate back into society. But if you choose to fight and die here tonight, know this: you’ll do so without honor and, if by some chance you survive, without a home to come back to.”

His words hang heavy in the air. The chaos seems to freeze for a moment, as if everyone is holding their breath, waiting to see what will happen next.

Just then, the door swings open, and Colt comes out. He’s covered in blood and carrying Blake’s severed head, which is bleeding into the concrete. “He is dead,” he pants.

There is an audible gasp rippling among everyone.

My mother rushes to Colt’s side. “It is okay. Give me his head.”

Colt shakes his head. Everyone is quiet. Watching.

Layla and Selene walk out right behind him. Selene looks at her brother’s head and I hear her let out a loud whimper.

“Don’t look at him, Selene. Look at me,” Layla says. Selene is shaking. I want to run up to her, scoop her in my arms and tell her that I am so sorry she had to witness the deaths of her brothers.

Emmett and Grayson are next. Gray's forehead has a gushing wound, but other than that, they all look relatively unharmed.

One of the prisoners takes a step forward. He is a tall man with ginger hair. “How sure are we that we will not surrender and then have you slaughter all of us in cold blood.”

There is a murmur of agreement among the people. I quickly transform back to my human form.

Selene watches me in amazement.

“I think this is bullshit,” the ginger man says. “This is an ambush.”

“Who are you?” I ask. “You are here at my family’s home, threatening us. You all have ambushed us, not the other way around.”

“You are wrong, wolf,” he replies.

“Identify yourself,” my father says.

“Huzna. I was Katya’s cousin. You killed her. You killed all of them. All they wanted, all we wanted, was a chance to roam freely as your equals, and you killed them for it. Will you kill us too?”

My father takes a bold step forward. “You and your people broke the accords. That is why those that attacked us are dead.”

“You fucking imprisoned us. Punishing us for being what we are. I think I speak for everyone here when I say that we would rather die than go back to that kind of life. That was not living.”

Selene is still supported by my sister as she walks towards the crowd. “Listen, I know we lost people tonight. People we cared about. People we loved. But when will it all change. We can’t continue this cycle of violence and hope to survive.”

“Shut up, traitor,” a voice calls from the crowd.

All my instincts to protect her surge forward, and I take a step in her direction. She looks at me and shakes her head, her eyes begging me to stay out of it.

This is between her and the people who blindly followed her brothers.

“Am I a traitor, really?” she asks. “I am a pure blood. I was born a vampire. All my life, I have grown up hearing about how vampires and wolves cannot coexist. That was my reality for so many years. But I am proof that we can coexist. I have been living around the Night family, and they have done nothing but protect and care for me. Even when my own family threatened to kill them for it, they stood by me. This has nothing to do with us versus them. This has everything to do with good versus evil.”

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