The Alphas Revenge: The Sin of Deceit

Chapter 14: Animals

Raven

Tears welled in my eyes, blurring the grisly scene before me until shapes and colors bled into one another. Fear pressed against my chest so heavily that it felt as though I could scarcely draw breath. My heart pounded wildly, each beat loud in my ears.

Leon’s body had barely grown cold in the ground.

And now she dared to speak.

I had never loved Lilian. Not truly. She had always been sharp-tongued, calculating in a way that unsettled me. But even then, watching her kneel there trembling, her voice breaking with fear, I found that I did not wish death upon her.

Not like this.

"I... I can point them out," she stammered out, falling heavily to her knees in the dirt. Her shoulders shook violently as tears streamed down her face. "But please... Please don’t kill us all."

Her voice cracked so pitifully that for a fleeting moment I almost believed her sincerity. Almost. For it was impossible for her to put herself.

My stomach twisted as she lifted a shaking hand and pointed. freewebnoveℓ.com

The man she singled out was an elderly one who stood near the back of the gathered villagers. His hair was silver, his shoulders stooped with age. The moment Lilian’s finger landed on him, his face drained of color.

He looked as though he might collapse from shock.

His eyes fluttered shut slowly, and after a moment his head lowered in quiet resignation, as though he had already accepted the fate that awaited him.

A sickening chill crept down my spine. But Lilian did not stop there. Her hand moved again.

This time she pointed to a younger woman—a woman I recognized at once. She had no husband, no parents, no brothers. No one who might rise to defend her.

The woman stared in disbelief, her lips parting soundlessly. But Lilian continued, precise in her choices. Every person she indicated had something in common.

They were alone.

People with no family to stand for them. People whose deaths would not provoke retaliation.

Next she pointed to a middle-aged woman who gasped sharply, her hand flying to her mouth. For a brief moment it seemed she might protest, might cry out in fury or desperation.

But then her gaze flickered toward the young boy clutching her skirts—her son. And slowly, painfully, she bowed her head. She understood.

Lilian was willing to sacrifice her son if she dared resist.

"They are all her family members!" Lilian cried suddenly, her voice rising into a desperate wail. "Every one of them!"

Her sobbing grew louder, her body trembling violently as though grief consumed her. The performance was so convincing that even I almost believed it. But I knew the truth.

My eyes widened as I stared at her. She was lying through her teeth, she condemned innocent people to death. Yet before the last echo of her words had faded, Axel moved.

One moment he stood beside Rex. The next he was nothing more than a blur. The speed was terrifying. Steel flashed in the air.

And then—Heads fell.

It happened so quickly that my mind struggled to comprehend it.

He moved through them like a farmer harvesting fruit, his blade slicing cleanly through flesh and bone as though it were nothing.

Blood sprayed across the dirt. Across the stones. Across him. The metallic scent filled the air so thickly that it made my stomach churn. The sight was so horrifying that bile rose in my throat.

I gagged, bending forward as I fought the urge to vomit, but my stomach was empty. There was nothing to bring up.

Only dry, painful retching. I coughed harshly, tears spilling freely down my face. When I finally forced myself to lift my gaze again, my eyes locked onto Axel.

He stood in the center of the square drenched in blood. One severed head still hung loosely from his hand. The expression on its face was frozen in eternal terror.

A sob escaped someone nearby.

Then another.

Soon the quiet square filled with muffled cries and broken weeping. Fear wrapped around us all like a suffocating fog. Most people did not dare lift their heads.

Those who did quickly lowered them again. No one spoke. No one protested. Those who could only sobbed helplessly because there was nothing else they could do.

It was the law of nature. The strong ruled. The weak endured. We had been defeated and now all we could do was bow.

My own head lowered slowly. My hands clenched into fists atop my knees as I knelt in the dirt waiting for my fate. I was not foolish enough to believe they would spare me.

More tears slid silently down my face. They had come here for me and I was going to die. That much was obvious.

Yet just as I braced myself for the moment they would end it and leave the rest of the pack alive, Rex’s voice cut through the square.

His words struck my ears like a blade of ice.

"Kill the alpha and his wife."

The command was simple. Absolute. A gasp tore from my throat. Axel did not hesitate. He moved instantly toward my father and he reacted just as quickly.

He sprang to his feet and transformed, bones cracking as his body twisted into the massive form of his wolf. For a brief moment the beast stood tall and proud.

As though sheer will might turn the tide.

But before he could even take two steps forward, the men stationed along the edges of the square raised their bows.

The twang of bowstrings echoed sharply. Arrows rained through the air. They did not care who stood in their path. Some arrows missed but others struck.

Even so, father did not retreat. He was prepared to die fighting. Mother, who had until now remained hidden among the kneeling crowd, scrambled to her feet in sudden desperation.

"Please!" she screamed, her voice cracking.

"Please, don’t kill him!"

Tears streamed down her face as she rushed forward.

"He will submit to you! He will submit, and the pack will be yours!"

Her voice was frantic, trembling with raw emotion. It was the most feeling I had ever heard from her. She looked utterly broken. But father—Father was proud. Stubborn beyond reason.

And in that moment I realized something that terrified me. I did not know if I wanted him to live.

"...He can swear a slave’s oath!" Mother cried suddenly.

My eyes widened in shock. A slave’s oath. It was a fate worse than death. To swear such an oath was to surrender not only your life but your very soul. And father would never accept that. He was an alpha.

Pride ran through his veins as fiercely as blood.

With a furious snarl he lunged forward, charging toward Axel. But Axel had already shifted. The monstrous wolf that stood in his place dwarfed my father.

The difference in their size alone was enough to shatter any hope. Father had no chance. I knew it and I think he did too.

Still he ran forward and Axel leapt. The impact slammed father into the ground with bone-crushing force. His jaws closed around father’s body.

Flesh tore. Bone snapped. Father’s howl was cut short as blood soaked the dirt beneath him. The damage was so severe that he could no longer maintain his wolf form. His body twisted painfully back into human shape.

He lay there broken and bleeding, barely clinging to life. For a moment I expected Axel to finish him. But Rex spoke again.

His voice boomed across the square.

"You can either swear allegiance to me... or die."

Father did not answer. He lay motionless, his breaths heavy so I knew he was still alive.

Desperation surged within me. I opened my mouth, ready to beg Rex to wait. To give him time. But before a single word could escape my lips, Rex lifted his hand.

That small gesture was all the command Axel needed.

Still in his wolf form, he stepped forward.

And with a single brutal motion— He bit my father’s head off. The sound of bone crunching echoed horribly through the square. Then he swallowed.

I doubled over as violent retching tore through me.

Revulsion twisted my stomach as tears streamed down my face. Never in my life had I witnessed such brutality.

We were not humans.

But until that moment—

I had never truly believed we were animals either.