The Dark Alpha

"So, what's the plan now?" I asked him, trying to keep my own emotions in check.

Jackson looked at me with a steely gaze. "We prepare for battle. This witch has no idea who she's dealing with. We will protect our pack at all costs."

I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at Jackson's words. He was a true Alpha, a leader who would stop at nothing to protect his own.

But, as we began to prepare for the upcoming battle, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. There was still so much that I didn't know, and the witch's motive for targeting me specifically was still unclear.

The days stretched on and the witch's deadline loomed closer, I began to feel a growing sense of dread. What if this was all just a game to her? What if she had another motive that we hadn't yet uncovered?

My fears were soon confirmed when one of our scouts reported back with an alarming piece of information, the witch had hired a group of mercenaries to aid her in the upcoming battle. They were ruthless and deadly, and they would stop at nothing to fulfill the witch's orders.

I knew then that this battle would be like nothing we had ever faced before. The witch's game had only just begun, and I couldn't help but wonder if we were ready for what was to come.

The smoke cleared and the last of the mercenaries fled the battlefield, we werewolves were left to pick up the pieces. The cost of victory had been high- many of our packmates were injured or dead. But there was a new sense of unity amongst us, born from the trials we had faced together.

We tended to our wounded and surveyed the aftermath of the battle, I found myself thinking about Liam. The last time I had seen him, he had been fighting on the side of the mercenaries, determined to carry out the witch's orders. But now, he was nowhere to be found.

"Selena, come help me bandage up Dallas," one of our pack's healers called to me.

I moved over to help her, taking in Dallas's injuries with a sympathetic eye. She was one of our strongest fighters, but even she had been hurt in the vicious battle.

I heard a commotion behind me. I turned and saw Jackson and a few others surrounded by some of the mercenaries who had stayed behind.

"Give us Liam," one of them demanded, his knuckles white from gripping his weapon.

My stomach turned as I realized why they were there. Liam had betrayed them too, it seemed.

Jackson looked at the mercenaries with a fierce glare. "He's not here. Now go."

The mercenaries hesitated for a moment, then backed away. But the fact that they had been looking for Liam didn't bode well. It seemed that his betrayal had gone even deeper than I had thought.

Later that night, as I tried to get some rest after the long day of battle, there was a knock at my door. I opened it to see Liam standing on the other side, his appearance haggard and weary.

"I need to talk to you," he said, his voice full of urgency.

I hesitated, unsure of whether I wanted to hear what he had to say. But something in his expression made me follow him out into the night.

"Liam, what's going on?" I asked my voice low.

"I never wanted to betray you, Selena. I was only trying to protect my pack, to keep them safe," he said, his eyes full of pain.

"But why did you go along with the witch's plan? Why did you try to sacrifice me?"

Liam took a deep breath. "The truth is, I'm not just a werewolf. I'm a hybrid, part werewolf, part witch. The witch who came to me was my mother. She had threatened my pack, and I didn't know what else to do. I thought that if I went along with her plan, she would leave us alone."

I felt like the ground had fallen out from under me. Liam was a hybrid? How had he kept that a secret for so long?

"And what about us? What were we?" I asked, my voice trembling.

Liam looked at me with pain in his eyes. "I loved you, Selena. But I knew that you would never be safe with me. Not with my mother out there, using me as a pawn."

I could feel tears pricking at the corners of my eyes. Everything that I thought I knew about Liam, about our love, had been torn apart.

"Do you know where your mother is now?" I asked, my voice flat.

Liam nodded, "She's still out there. And I need your help to take her down."

Liam's revelation left me reeling. The man I had loved, who I thought I knew, was living a double life as a hybrid werewolf-witch. And now, he was asking for my help in taking down his mother.

I didn't know what to do, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I had to help Liam. There was something in his voice, in the way he looked at me, that made me believe that he was telling the truth.

So, with a heavy heart, I agreed to help him.

But the alliance between our packs was still shaky, and the idea of working together with a hybrid, let alone Liam himself, was met with hostility from some of our packmates.

"You can't trust him," one of our enforcers, a fierce and powerful wolf named Damien, growled. "He's been playing you this whole time."

I felt a pang of frustration. Why did everyone assume the worst about Liam? Yes, he had betrayed our trust, but he had come back to make things right. Wasn't that worth something?

I turned to Damien, my voice firm. "We don't have a choice, Damien. Our enemies are growing stronger every day, and we need all the help we can get if we want to survive."

Liam had given us the location of his mother's hideout, in the heart of a dense and foreboding forest. It was a dangerous mission, and we knew that the witch would be prepared for our arrival.