The Alpha's Shatter Zone
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If it weren’t for the rapid beating of her heart, almost everything within Chesca would have frozen as Elbert uttered those terrible words.

The score is nearly settled…

What score? What was he talking about? What had her father done that so ticked off this cunning and manipulative man?

Jackson, get all the pups out of here! she hastily mindlinked the blonde Alpha she knew was watching her for a command.

Chesca knew more than sensed that the only way through this slight misconception would be a fight, and she didn’t want the loss of anymore innocent lives resting on her shoulders. This wouldn’t be just any fight, but one that involved more than a few Alphas on her beautiful territory. A territory that had seen betrayal and tragedy, loss and heartache, but also growth and hope. New beginning after a terrible ending; strength after so much weakness. But also turmoil and razor edge divisions of loyalty after Kaiden’s arrival in her life. A tension between two Alphas who had struggled for domination in this small region of mountains and valleys.

Now, when their differences had finally been set aside in the name of love and mateship, a new threat had finally taken form. A threat that had hung in the background like a black pall, but now a name and face had morphed from the shadows. Had she and Kaiden merely been puppets while the real danger toyed with them right behind their backs?

Elbert.

Even as Jackson and his warriors made their way into the mass of wolves, picking up the children and hurrying into the safety of the pack residence, Elbert stood grinning like he knew something they didn’t. His guards suddenly barred the entrance and shoved Jackson back, who growled and wrestled the nearest guard to his death. When Chesca demanded the guards back off to allow the children to gain safety, Elbert dropped his grin. With an impassive face, he raised his hand, and Chesca knew the time had come to really prove what she was worth.

“If you want this pack, you’ll have to take it over my dead body,” she growled and charged towards him.

“Gladly,” he narrowed his eyes.

She ran forward until her body crashed into his, but with a simple twist and flick of his arm, she went sprawling to the ground. The animalistic growl from her mate rent the air, and was soon joined by shouts and cries as the entire square erupted in fighting. Chesca didn’t have time to stand before two wolves tried pinning her down, their teeth snapping at her throat. She shifted to match them equally, and tore through their fur and veins. Jumping onto the back of the next wolf who tried taking her down, she dug in her claws and shoved him into the cold cobblestones. Another fighting pair of wolves crashed against her, but she shrugged them off and made for the nearest rogue, ending his life with a slash and tearing of flesh.

“I didn’t intend for it to be this way, Chesca,” Elbert’s patronising voice reached her ears amidst the screams of pain and groans of death. “Too much blood for my liking. But if my son had only done what he was raised to do….”

Her eyes met his across the battlefield, as he still stood on her castle steps, his neatly pressed suit only speckled with a few drops of blood.

She knew he wanted her to ask what he meant, but she only glared at him in response.

He continued after batting away one of her warriors as though they were a pesky fly. For an aging man, he was surprisingly strong. But the grim reality was, that he was an Alpha, and she couldn’t expect him to be anything less.

“All he had to do was fight for what was his,” he spoke again. “An Alpha without a pack is entitled to a few, shall we say….perks.”

“You’re wrong, Father,” Kaiden threw a body from his hands as he came up beside Chesca and joined the conversation. “You expected me to kill her and take the pack, I get it. You drove me to the edge and I nearly did things I would forever regret. But then I found out Chesca was my mate. I would never hurt my mate, or anyone else who is innocent.”

“Didn’t I teach you anything, my son?” Elbert stalked closer, completely ignoring the fighting going on around them. Chesca could only pray that her pack members were faring better than the large number of rogues her and Kaiden had managed to slay. “You must take from life what you want, because it won’t be handed to you on a silver platter. I trained you, I strengthened you—“

“You abused me!” Kaiden roared and shook a fist in Elbert’s face. Chesca could feel the anger and pain coursing through his veins, and could only admire the restraint her mate showed in not lashing out with the obvious pent up emotions. “You tormented me and turned my own pack against me.”

“I turned you into someone worthy to lead. Or so I thought. Instead you went weak at the knees and fell under the enchantment of a woman.”

Chesca’s own blood boiled at the words. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cora standing in the shade behind a pillar. With a cool expression on her otherwise impassive face, her sister was just watching the fighting take place, joining neither side. It was almost like Cora didn’t care who won, just as long as everyone was killed. What was it she really wanted? Chesca suddenly felt pity for her sister, as a strange understanding settled over her. Perhaps Cora too had been manipulated and twisted by this disgusting man before them.

“She’s my mate! Did you really expect me to kill her?” Kaiden shook his head as he asked the paradoxical question, not really inviting an answer.

Elbert turned a sickening smile to Chesca, and she felt her lungs freeze when his mouth twisted into a well-worded reply. “That’s what would have made this so perfect.”

“You knew…” she finally breathed. “You knew we were mates? How…?” She nearly regretted the words when Elbert stepped closer and grabbed her chin forcefully.

“Mates are nothing but a distraction, a drain on the strength and dominance of an Alpha. I was doing my son a favour by sending him here to finish you off. Had I known he’d be such an idiot and make the same mistake I had…” he broke off and pressed his lips firmly together, a flash of anger and regret storming across his features. But only for a moment, because then his stony resilience once more took its place in his eyes. “I won’t allow history to repeat itself!”

Before she knew what was happening, Elbert had extended his claws, lashing out towards her throat. With the quickness of an Alpha, Chesca turned in time, and felt them tearing across her back instead. The force made her stumble and roll down the steps, only coming to a stop when she tumbled into a few rogue bodies. Getting up on shaky knees, she grunted in pain and turned just in time to see Kaiden lunging through the air with a snarl marring his every feature. The pure anger and disgust that burned in his black eyes frightened her, and she knew Elbert’s actions had finally unleashed the monster within his Alpha son. The monster within her mate.

“Kaiden, NO!” She screamed, but it was too late.

When her mate landed on the ground hard, and slowly raised his head to meet her shocked gaze, his father lay dead beneath his hands.

But not before Elbert had inflicted one last wound.

Kaiden pushed himself up and stared blankly at the bright red blood that ran from fresh gashes across his chest and ribs. It wasn’t possible for Chesca’s heart to beat any more slowly than when the realisation of what Kaiden had just done leaked through the mate bond—

He’d killed his father, and there was no escaping that burden for the rest of his life.

“So you had my mom killed? Is that it?” She heard Kaiden whisper, her heart sinking even more. “Well…” he breathed heavily and stared at his father’s lifeless body, the grey eyes staring dully at the clouded sky above them. “You will never again hurt anyone, especially not my mate.”

Chesca stepped towards him, with all intentions to comfort and tend to his wounds, but a sudden quiet whimpering stopped her in her tracks. Turning, she realised most of the fighting had stopped, and Alpha Jackson and his warriors, along with hers and Kaiden’s, were seemingly the victors. Bodies lay strewn about her town square, some in human form, some in wolf, staggering to get up but falling under the weight of fatal wounds.

But the one particular sight her eyes landed on made everything else fade into insignificance.

“Momma, Daddy...pwease wake up! Momma… come on, Momma wake up!”

Chesca’s feet hurried over on their own accord, the scent of blood thick in her nostrils, and the desperate cries filling her ears.

“Daddy? Why won’t you wake up?!” the little pup beat her tiny fists on the man’s shoulder.

“Ohh, baby, it’s ok,” Chesca wrapped her arms around the little girl, turning her from the mangled bodies of her parents. The bodies of Austin and his mate. “Ariella, darling, its...it’s going to be okay.” Chesca’s heart broke as she pushed the lie through her lips. It was never going to be okay. Her eyes blurred with tears as she sank to her knees and held the sobbing pup. Looking over Ariella’s shoulder at the broken and lifeless bodies of her warriors, her heart broke in complete similarity to the time her own parents had lain dead at her feet. Chesca’s sobs rose louder and louder until she threw her head back and released a cry with such an emptiness that it echoed for miles around.

She’d failed them. She’d failed her pack. All she’d ever wanted to do was lead her wolves to hope and a brighter future, but instead, it seemed death and despair was all she’d ever know. The lives of countless wolves now fell to her, their blood on her hands and their deaths on her head.

Her body shook uncontrollably as sobs overtook her, Ariella tucked in her arms as wolves all around mourned the dead.

Alpha...It’s not your fault, the voice of Lexi filled her mind, and Chesca looked up to see her best friend gripping a pale-looking Charles. They both seemed to be alright, until Lexi moved slightly and revealed a growing red stain on her stomach.

Are you…..? Chesca couldn’t complete the question.

The grimace on her friend’s face was answer enough, despite her strong words, I’m sure the baby will be okay. He’s the son of a Beta, after all.

But Chesca could feel the truth, could see it in Charles’ eyes as well as the emptiness of pain in Lexi’s. How many more lives had been lost? she wondered as her eyes roamed the townsquare and the surrounding village streets. How many more lives had placed their trust in her, only to be let down miserably?

Alpha Jackson made his way over and tugged her to her feet, taking the young pup from her arms and hugging them both supportively. Though warming for a brief moment, the gesture did little to ease the acute pain of sadness and grief within her. She didn’t think she could feel any worse, but when she sought out her mate, she realised she was wrong.

Kaiden was standing unsteadily on his feet, looking down at his father’s body with regret, even as blood poured from the wounds that had been inflicted by the older wolf’s insidious claws. Kaiden’s eyes rose to meet hers as if he felt her gaze upon him.

Then, with one last agonised look, her mate collapsed to the ground.

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