Chapter 2: Secrets

Finally, he crouched and hid himself behind the bushes; he would definitely find out the truth today and he was determined to not rest until he did.

Rain Alance was the Alpha of the Orion pack, and being a five hundred twenty seven year young Alpha, all he had wanted was to enjoy life without any responsibilities or burden, or even any tension if things went as per his wish.

He had been blessed enough to have his Dad and older brother stay by his side for five hundred and twenty four years, but a sudden snap in the path of destiny had deprived him of the presence of both of them, along with his sister-in-law. He had never been as sad in his entire life, not even when had hit his lowest point in life, as he had been when he heard about the accident. It had not just robbed him of all the joys of his life and brutally taken away his entire family and the people he loved, but also burdened him with plenty of responsibility for the entire pack, as the ruling Alpha.

He had lost his mother at an age where he couldn't even remember her anymore, but he had never complained about it as he always had them by his side...his family!

And now, everyone was gone forever in just the blink of an eye, and he was left devastated by this sudden attack of cruel destiny.

But right after reaching the scene of the accident, he had become sure of one thing: no matter how hard they had tried to portray it as an accident, it was definitely not one.

But he had kept quiet at the moment and mourned for their loss, knowing that whoever had the links and means to have reached the ruling Alpha and his family would definitely be standing nearby; because no matter how modern he claimed to be, he had kept the law of betrayal close to his heart- that it is always possible by the person you trust the most. It is not possible to ever get betrayed by an unknown person, as they don't know you in the first place, nor did you ever trust them; so how would they even intrude into your closest circumference?

He continued to act like the carefree boy he used to be, to get everyone present there to believe him and offer him their sympathy, in order to reach the real culprit by showing his vulnerable side.

But only he knew the reality: the accident had made him mature in the span of a few seconds, whereas five centuries and a few years had fallen short for the same purpose.

He started being cautious in his sleep as well, as he didn't want to take any chances- he couldn't! Or else, he would never be able to find the culprit.

Until today! Today, he had finally managed to find him: the real culprit of the accident, the reason behind it and the criminal responsible for it. Although he had had his doubts about him from the very beginning, he was bound to stop himself from publicly announcing anything due to not having any sort of proof in his hands.

Moreover, getting information about a different pack was well nigh impossible- until and unless one had disguised themselves well enough that not even the grim reaper could identify who they actually were. If not, the spy infiltrating the pack was found, and the traitor was sentenced to be killed at the earliest!

But for that, he had to wait; wait patiently, and he was doing that. He had been doing exactly that for the last three years; the mighty Alpha who was famous for having no calm and the stubbornness of a five year old residing inside a frame of six feet had suddenly grown a fully developed tree of patience. When it came to the games of power and life in the mystical world of theirs, he dare not risk anything that would lead him to danger, and his pack right along with him.

But today, when he had finally been so close to catching the culprit, he couldn't hold on to his patience anymore and had started chasing after the carriage. It was rare that the person was using a horse-drawn carriage during the time of new moon, knowing that their wolf powers would be low and after some time, they wouldn't be able to stand in front of any animals as the eclipse was also scheduled to happen.

His instincts had kicked in at that moment, telling him there must be something mysterious happening, and to find that out, he needed to chase them anyhow. That is how he had ended up in the position he was in now- hidden from view while crouching in the bushes, all his focus on the events unfolding in front of him, and being extremely grateful that he had indeed followed his instinct.

And now, it was just a matter of a few more seconds for the identity of the spy to become revealed to him; and another thought arrived in his mind, alerting him to a new possibility.

'Maybe the person will be making the deals for the next plan without even opening his mouth, knowing that even one's voice will be enough to give him away!?'

Just as he was considering moving to a different spot that would afford him less obscurity but more visibility, as if on cue, the person turned suddenly and his face became visible to him.

The face that had just become illuminated by the torches lit in the dark made him gasp without any prior notice, and that was the only mistake he made before getting caught.

It didn't take even a second for him to sense the blunder he had created. Just when he decided to run, two warrior betas held him by both arms while holding silver spears in their other hands: the pointed head of the weapon was indeed fashioned out of pure silver, but the handle was wooden.

Rain started struggling for his life, but it was no use either; he was still trying regardless, but froze when he heard the voice of the Alpha of his rival Moon pack.

"Ohho! It seems like we have an uninvited guest here; hello, Alpha Rain Alance! I hope you are well and definitely having a very hard time spending your miserable life burdened with responsibilities! Then why don't you just die in peace and go and visit your family up there, in hell or heaven, whatever their choice of residence is?"

Saying this, he dragged him towards himself and plunged a dagger into his stomach, the sound of his guffaws drowning out the groans as well as cheers surrounding the spectacle.

"Happy death, Rain-"

But his statement was abruptly halted as Rain somehow managed to wrestle the dagger from his hand right when the rival alpha had expected that he would be drained of his strength.

Manoeuvring himself into a standing position somehow, he roared, "Step away from me, everyone! Twenty feet- now, or I will kill you all!"

'I noticed everyone stepping backwards as soon as I had issued my warning, and I knew that I was left with only one option now - to run.'

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Rain knew that although he had escaped the imminent danger by running away in his wolf form, it was going to be a long struggle before he reached somewhere safer, and this was the exact nature of the discussion going on inside his mind.

He knew he was badly injured, and he had to transform into his human shape.

'I can't enter the civilisation in this form and in my injured state, but if they are thinking that I will not be coming back and they have succeeded in whatever they were planning to do, I really have extremely bad news for them.'

Thinking this, he shifted into his human form; and the moment he did this, he was aware that it had not been the best of ideas. But he had already made many bad decisions today, so adding one more to the list would not hurt him anymore.

He placed one hand on the wound on the left side of his stomach, which had started painting his favourite white shirt in shades of bright red; and tried to walk on his two legs now.

'I know that the road is just a few metres away from there, and if I somehow made it, then someone will definitely help me...or someone probably might!'

But for that, he would have to walk. And in this state, taking even one step was making him feel like he was carrying the weight of the entire world on his shoulders, but he couldn't lose courage now.

'My pack needs me...I have to survive for them...have to be strong and have to return for them.'

These were the thoughts that kept him going until he saw the road and tried to make his pace faster. But he had managed to drag himself to the middle of the road, when a strong light flashed in front of his eyes and his ears heard a thud with a piercing pain throughout his body, before everything went black.

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