The Alpha King's Nemesis-Chapter 19: Dawn Fang Pack ()

Zariah’s nose twitched slightly, scrunching up as she picked up a rancid odour that wafted her way from somewhere up ahead.

Zariah was not surprised she had picked up the scent before the rest of the company,

Zariah had always had more heightened senses than the rest of the crimson wolves, as the sole heir to the bloodline of the Crimson Alpha, her supernatural abilities were much more advanced than the rest of her pack.

Zariah immediately recognized just what that rancid odour meant and her gaze narrowed in rage as she conveyed a single word to her company through their shared mind link.

"Rogues." Zariah thought to the rest of the company.

"How far out?" Darren’s voice sounded through the pack link.

"Another day’s run." Zariah thought back.

"Do rogues just hang about anywhere out here? I thought we were close to the border of Dawn Fang Pack." Kaileen said in a distasteful tone.

"We are four days run from the Crimson barrier, up till this point can still be considered Crimson Moon territory, rogues never venture this far out due to the effect of the barrier."

"However up ahead are the unclaimed lands, two days through it before we arrive the borders of Dawn Fang. I reckon the patrol team of Dawn Fang is rather lax, to have rogues trailing around a day’s run from their border." Darren explained.

"We should keep moving and get across the unclaimed lands as soon as possible, we will need to seek consent to cross through Dawn Fang territory." Allen added.

"Or we could just conceal our scent and pass through without them ever knowing we were there." Dionne suggested.

Zariah shook her head slightly as Darren picked up his pace, his paws thumping soundlessly against the forest ground as he raced through the forest.

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"How do they look this horrible?! And by the elements, that odour!" Kaileen exclaimed with an unnecessarily loud yell.

Zariah winced at Kaileen screaming through the pack link.

"We can hear you just fine without you screaming, and they are rogues Kai, rabid werewolves who have lost their humanity to savagery, what do you expect?" Darren snapped,

"Don’t yell at her." Dionne’s warning voice interjected.

"She’s the only one who yelled, are mates really so unreasonable?" Darren thought in bafflement.

"I think they’ve noticed our presence." Nile chipped in, causing all eyes to turn back to the group of four rogues fighting over a half eaten game.

"About time, We’ve been here for almost an hour, I don’t know how they survive with such dim senses." Dionne thought with disgust.

Zariah and the company had stopped for a brief rest before this group of rogues stumbled into the clearing some distance from them.

They had been fighting over some left over game and had not even taken notice of Zariah and the others.

The four turned to Zariah and the company, their bloody maws opened, emitting low growls as a mix of blood and saliva dribbled down their chin.

They approached slowly, their paws snapping twigs as they spread out, drawing closer to Zariah and the company from four directions.

All four were mangy looking and smelled terribly, their coat missing patches of fur at random places with some festering wounds here or there that added to their horrid stench.

Their eyes glowed red with hunger and blood thirst, Zariah could see the madness reflected in their eyes and it was clear they did not have the slightest shred of humanity left in them.

These were the worst kind of rogues, the kind that had no hopes of salvation, the kind that had completely lost themselves to madness and savagery.

There were tons of reasons a Wereshifter could go rogue, however a rogue could only get this far into madness when it had done the most horrible... consumed the flesh of a fellow Wereshifter.

For rogues like this, there was to be no consideration of mercy, granting them the relief of death would free them from the madness that had consumed their soul.

"Dee, the floor is yours." Zariah thought as she turned around and headed away.

Zariah did not have to see to know the rogues had lunged the moment she moved,

Her ears picked up the sound of the muscles on their hind leg tightening and their heart beat accelerating as their hind paws dug deeper into the earth for leverage, right before they lunged.

Zariah heard their ferocious growls and the tearing of flesh as Dionne’s wolf lunged also, meeting the attack of the rogues and ripping through them.

Zariah heard the sound of blood droplets flying through the air and a quiet thud as a body hit the ground, she heard the last thumps of fading heartbeats before they completely went still.

She heard the pain filled howls and the terrified whines as the remaining rogues probably realized they had met their end.

She heard the thumping of paws hitting the forest ground as they attempted to make an escape, she heard Dionne’s growl as she gave chase.

Another dying whine after which a thud of a second body reached Zariah’s hearing and then a third followed soon after.

Zariah’s ears twitched as she heard the movement of the wind and knew what was coming,

As a last ditch effort, the fourth rogue had made a lunge for Zariah, being the only one amongst the party in human form,

They most likely believed she was the weakest link and in an attempt to take down at least one with him, he had set his bloodthirsty gaze on Zariah.

Zariah turned around just in time, her hand stretching out, she caught a brief glimpse of the airborne wolf, staring into the two pools of red madness that were it’s eyes.

"Kytérin Sistrì (The flame cleanses)." Zariah whispered in the ancient wolven tongue.

Zariah’s own crimson red orbs darkened as her element of fire surged within her, responding eagerly to her summons, she released a torrent of flames from her outstretched arm.

A howl of excruciating pain echoed across the forest as the rogue wolf was engulfed in Zariah’s flame, dropping to the ground thrashing and howling.

The flames licked away greedily at it’s fur, and then it’s flesh and bones and in the blink of an eye, all that was left behind were ashes...not a single sign that a large, rabid wolf had been there just a moment ago.

Zariah passed the other bodies an uninterested glance before she turned to Dionne and nodded.

Dionne shifted into her human form, not the slightest bit concerned for her nudity, she summoned her flames and reduced the other three dead rogues to ash, leaving behind no signs of the battle.

"Move out." Zariah said as she climbed astride Daerev’s back and they departed once again.

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"State your identity!" The broad, muscular and very naked warrior growled out as his subordinates who were still in their wolf form surrounded Zariah and her company.

"Would you mind getting decent first?" Kaileen asked in a tone of distaste.

"State your business!" The warrior spat out in disdain, completely ignoring Kaileen’s reasonable suggestion.

"What did I say about just sneaking past? We have come to seek permission but just look at this rude welcome." Dionne thought through the mind link.

Zariah and the company had finally arrived the borders of the Dawn Fang Pack, they had shifted into their human forms some distance away and walked the remaining distance after putting on some clothing.

Firstly because they did not want to appear intimidating, the wolf form of the crimson wolves were almost two times larger than an average wolf and so their human form was much less imposing.

However, the moment they had stepped out from the cover of the trees, the border guards of the Dawn Fang Pack had surrounded them, their leader shifting into his human form.

"We seek passage through your lands, we have the Alpha King’s summon." Allen explained in a calm tone.

The warrior fell quiet for a moment, his eyes becoming unfocused which showed he was having a mind conversation.

"My Alpha orders to bring you to him." The warrior said. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Zariah frowned slightly, her fierce gaze snapping over to the warrior who spoke in such a haughty tone that it triggered her dominance and Zariah had to consciously withhold her Alpha command from seeping out.

"We have no reasons to meet your Alpha, and our journey cannot be delayed, neither can we speak of our identity."

"All you must know is that we are set for the Royal Lycan Pack and we must cross through your territory to arrive in time for the Alpha King’s enthronement... now you will get out of my way or I will have your head." Zariah promised in a dark tone.

The wolves surrounding them growled in rage at what must have been taken as a disrespect to their Alpha.

"Fine...you can just die then." Zariah said as she felt her flames begin surging from within.

"Stand down." A voice ordered as a young man emerged from the woods, dressed in black leather pants and a white tunic.

Zariah restrained her element at the new presence, turning her gaze over to the young man.

His aura exuded sheer dominance and from his scent, Zariah could see he was an Alpha wolf.

He walked towards them and the lead warrior lowered himself in a bow as the young man passed by him.

"You are clearly not rogue wolves and from your audacious manner of speaking, I assume you are a high ranked wolf. Which esteemed pack do you come from?" The young man asked in a calm tone.

Zariah just stared ahead, she had no intentions to reply to the young man’s questions and the young man soon realized it

"May I see the royal summon then?" The young man asked instead.