The Alpha King's Nemesis-Chapter 41: Collateral Damage ()

Zariah kept her gaze focused straight ahead of her as she could feel King Askel staring straight at her.

Zariah had been relieved when he relented and returned to his throne and Zariah knew that had only happened because of the sudden report on the demon wraith.

The report had distracted his wolf’s attention from the need of having his new found mate firmly attached to his hip, to protecting his mate and his pack.

Zariah sensed his distraction and concluded he was directing the situation through the pack mind link from where he was seated.

Even so, his gaze had not shifted from Zariah for even a second since he returned to his throne, as though if he looked away for even a moment, Zariah would disappear.

Of course, his assumption would have been right in any other situation, had there been anyways to escape this situation, Zariah would not have hesitated to grab it.

However Zariah was not the kind to run from her troubles, she guessed that night when she ran from King Askel in the forest was the first time across two lifetimes that she had run from anything.

Running was now no longer possible, King Askel already knew her identity, that she was Zariah of Crimson Moon.

Even if Zariah were to run back to the safety of the Crimson barrier or to the other end of the earth, the one thing Zariah knew for sure was that he would follow... she would never be able to escape him.

The level of possessiveness of a normal wolf shifter was doubled when that wolf was a ranked wolf and tripled for an Alpha wolf, however when it came to an Alpha King,

Both wolf and man would die a thousand times before they let anything they considered to be theirs to escape their sight.

Zariah loathed the reality of this, but her only choice at this moment was to face the situation. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

After the banquet, Zariah decided she would put a reasonable distance between herself and King Askel and find some quiet place to contemplate her options.

Zariah let her gaze wander around the banquet, despite the report of a demon wraith and danger at the borders, the guests all seemed perfectly calm.

They even chatted amicably and ate with delighted gusto, the celebratory mood of the banquet not dampened in the slightest.

Zariah was not certain if this was owed to the fact that this was a gathering of some of the most powerful people of the supernatural realm, hence they had no reason to be bothered by a mere demon wraith.

Or the fact that they completely trusted in King Askel’s ability to ensure their safety within his borders and their relaxed states was merely a prove of their believe.

"The Alpha King seems rather capable Zari, what are your thoughts?" Darren’s voice sounded in Zariah’s mind.

Zariah’s face scrunched up into a frown at the impressed tone with which Darren spoke but she quickly smoothed out her features knowing there was a pair of golden orbs still fixed on her, studying her every move.

Zariah swallowed down the sharp retort she had intended for Darren, he after all was not wrong in his observation.

Zariah could not deny the fact that she was impressed by how effectively King Askel had handled the situation.

It seemed he had already anticipated there would be external disturbances on the day of his enthronement.

Zariah had also noticed upon arrival at the Royal Lycan Pack that the security was particularly tight, the Royal Lycan territory was on complete lockdown.

The Royal Lycan warriors were well prepared for any unforeseen events and the only reason a demon wraith was able to slip through was the simple fact that they could travel in an intangible form.

And with the Ethereal palace overflowing with guests from various species including demons, their presence would be even more difficult to sense.

The basic demon wraiths did not have a particular form, they were malicious masses of demonic energy that had accumulated together and grew more powerful by absorbing life essence from supernatural creatures,

They had always been feared enemies because they were naturally difficult to guard against, one could only fight and subdue them.

Demon wraiths had always existed even before the time of the forsaken because there was always a natural abundance of demonic energy in the supernatural realm.

Due to their unending supply of demonic energy, demon wraiths were powerful, fierce and vengeful, extremely difficult to sense and even more difficult to subdue.

However the Royal Lycan warriors had still been able to sense the demon wraith so easily and had even been able to trace it’s intended destination and convey a warning ahead of time.

It only went to show just how formidable the Royal Lycan warriors were and Zariah felt it was a great misfortune that the Royal Lycan Pack had fallen in the hands of a power hungry monster like Alpha King Askel.

Zariah did not want to imagine just what the future would hold for the Royal Lycans, as members of the pack, their will was subject to that of their Alpha and so Zariah knew they could only be tagged his accomplices.

If they were not already, they eventually would be and with how despicable Zariah knew Alpha King Askel to be, whoever did not side with him, even down to his own pack members would end up as collateral damage.

This was precisely the category Crimson Moon had fallen into,

Zariah was certain the Alpha King knew clearly in the previous lifetime that the Crimson Moon would never interfere in his affairs or method of governance unless absolutely necessary.

This was the vow the Crimson Moon had made to the Royal Lycan Pack centuries ago, as long as the people were safe and the darkness kept at bay, whoever the Alpha King chose to ally with or declare war against was not a concern to Crimson Moon.

To the Alpha King who clearly knew the Crimson Moon would always maintain a neutral stance of neither supporting nor deterring,

The Crimson Moon was neither friend nor foe, just a group of radicals or more accurately variables that could ruin his plans if they ever chose to,

And even though it was unlikely they would ever interfere, they still had to be gotten rid off, because it was always better to get rid of possible danger for the future.

In short, the Crimson Moon had also been collateral damage, because they could not be controlled or forced to submission...death was their ultimate fate.

This had always been Zariah’s greatest heartache, no matter what the Alpha King’s intentions were, the Crimson Moon had never hindered him in anyway,

They could only have ever crossed paths when the Crimson Moon came to realize the Alpha King was colluding with the forsaken in some way.

The Crimson Moon would certainly have never let the Alpha King go if they had realized this connection early on, the one thing the Crimson Moon could not maintain neutrality on was the existence of the forsaken or anything related to them in the supernatural realm.

Their purpose had always been to vanquish this darkness from the supernatural realm and ensure it never returned to being again, to protect the people from this great foe.

However the Crimson Moon had been completely clueless to the Alpha King’s connection to the forsaken and if the information network of the Crimson Moon had been tampered like Zariah suspected,

Then there were certainly ways the Alpha King could have ensured this truth never reached the Crimson Moon, as much as Zariah loathed to admit it,

The Crimson Moon had buried themselves so deeply in their desire for peace and tranquility that this would have been easily achievable for the Alpha King as well as the best course of action.

Yet the Alpha King had not even considered any other options and had just massacred thousands of Crimson Wolves in cold blood, simply because he could not bear the thought that a wolf pack existed that was out of his control.

He had murdered her family, her wolves all because his ego was bigger than his sense of reasoning...he had annihilated so many people over the fleeting pleasures of life in the supernatural world.

Zariah’s hands tightened into fists at the thoughts that ran across her mind and she mentally lectured herself to maintain composure.

As surely as King Askel’s gaze was fixed on her, Zariah knew all other eyes were also fixed on her.

Zariah could not decide if they were awed at the sight of the Crimson wolves or more intrigued by the fact that she was supposedly Alpha King Askel’s mate.

However Zariah knew she had to maintain composure, she already had the Alpha King to handle, she did not have the leisure to bother with the guests at this banquet at all.

A group of dancers stepped out to the center of the banquet, dressed in furred clothing with their faces painted in a unique manner.

Zariah loosened her fist and picked up her filled goblet of wine, lifting it to her lips slowly but her hands froze mid way as a strong, dark and deadly scent invaded her sensitive nostrils.

’What strong demonic presence!’ Zariah thought as her eyes narrowed, snapping to the source of the demonic scent.