Chapter 11

ACHILLES. Come back. Those two words keep playing in my mind as I watch more and more of my people getting up from their seats to follow Alpha Tristan and the others. Neither Carlos nor I can move or speak. I don’t think I can even breathe properly. All I know is that every person that takes off feels like a direct stab in the heart. Eventually, the people stop leaving. However, the ones that remain look like they’re just too scared to follow. They don’t look like they want to stay. A part of me wants to yell at them and tell them to leave if that’s what they want. But a bigger part of me wants to beg them to remain here so they could see what I could do for them, what I would do for everyone. But what do I even do in this situation? Everything is falling apart. “Alpha,” Carlos says, and I feel the vibrations of his voice very close behind me. I turn around to face him, and I can tell that he’s waiting for me to tell him what to say, but I can’t find the words. Still, it seems that he knows exactly what I feel. He turns to the people left in the throne room. “We thank you for staying here. We promise, we are willing to listen to what all of you have to say, and we are making sure that all of you and your families are safe. You may all now take the day off.” One footman stands up. I read his lips. “But the other Alpha said you didn’t fight.” I raise my hands to sign my answer, but then Maia gets up. I didn’t even know she was here because Kiernan told her to take a break, but she’s facing the footman. “He was lying. Claudia told me that the Alpha King did join the battle. It just so happened that Beta Carlos got hurt. They stood up for the people of that pack.” My heart swells with gratitude when I see her say that, but it’s coupled with the feeling of deep shame that comes from knowing that despite how I treated her, Claudia is still saving me even now. Slowly, my staff begin to leave, but they’re all heading to their quarters. And now, Carlos and I are alone in the throne room. The absence of the people sucked out my last remaining energy. I collapse on the steps of the dais, staring at the open door. Was Alpha Tristan right? Was I really doing a horrible job at protecting my own people? I know I have my faults. I know that there hasn’t been a day with zero casualty since the Rogues took over. I know that the villages have lived in utter fear every moment of their lives and that is on me. But I did my best. I fought shoulder to shoulder with my warriors and the villagers when it came down to it. I have given them every resource I could give without rendering my own pack defenseless. Hell, I’m certain that more could be done, but I do have limits. For one, I can’t speak or hear. I can’t go out on my own and track down where these Rogues are really coming from. All my advisors are against it, all claiming that it’s not wise to just kill them all, as it disrupts the natural order. All the Alphas agreed that it was too dangerous. The system that is currently in place was agreed on by everybody. I didn’t build this alone. My hands are tied. But then again, I could have done better. There’s not a single day when I didn’t think about that. I always go back to that night, where I was told I lost it all. That night in the forest with Claudia, when we were both young…. I start to drown in those thoughts when suddenly, Carlos clamps a hand on my shoulder. I look up to read his lips. “Alpha, Kiernan is at the gate.” I leap to my feet, and together we rush toward the gates. I thought that things would get slightly better from there but then I see that not only do they not have Claudia with them, Kiernan and the guards are also wounded. ‘Take all of them to the infirmary!’ I order Carlos, and together with some guards, we rush all of them inside. The nurses are quick to act. It’s quite chilling to think that it’s because they had to do this a lot. Still, they take the guards under their care and get to work, while Kiernan refuses the nurse who comes to him. I want to scold him, but he just beckons us to sit while he grabs a kit and starts to draw the curtains closed around him. ‘What happened to you?’ I ask. ‘Did Rogues attack you?’ “No,” he says simply, ripping the top part of his shirt to show a bullet lodged in his skin, very close to his heart. His cut is already healing. “The villagers of Nightshade Springs attacked us. That’s where we tracked Claudia.” ‘Her hometown, yes,’ I agree, then my throat closes up when I realize that I know her hometown. ‘Why did they attack you?’ “Apparently, they hate palace men like me. Like us.” Kiernan scoffs as he slaps a bandage over his cut. “They don’t trust us to make this Rogue problem right anymore. They evacuated their entire population and made themselves soldiers. They claimed that Claudia is not there. I tracked her scent there, but given the Rogue attacks, I don’t know if the scent I tracked is… accurate.” I know what he’s trying to imply, but I simply refuse to believe that. To me, it seems that her people are hiding her. And for very good reasons. ‘I understand,’ I sign to him. ‘Things did not go well here either.’ “Alpha Tristan came and challenged us,” Carlos explains. “He and the other Alphas want to make new rules, a new government. They said that they would take care of this problem and they would welcome anyone who joins them.” Somehow, it feels worse to hear it getting repeated like that. Still, it’s giving me the perspective that I need. ‘We have to act fast,’ I sign to them, watching them focus with determination. ‘The monarchy is over now. I’m no longer the Alpha King as we speak, even with the title legally mine. We have no idea what Tristan’s motives are, but we need to be proactive. I need to be proactive. I need to be out there, finding out where these Rogues really are coming from.” Carlos’s eyes go wide. “But Alpha, you can’t seriously consider being in danger like that. It’s not even your fault—” ‘I know, but our people need me more.’ I shake my head. ‘If they want to break away from the rules, then so can we. And we will do it better.’ I look over at Kiernan and see that he’s lost in thought. Only when I turn does he face me. “What about your quest to find Claudia?” Even though it’s almost a physical pain to even think about it, I end up telling them, ‘I will put the search on hold. For now, we fight back.’