Chapter 35

~Alistair~

I wasn’t quite a deep sleeper, and I heard even the tiniest bit of noise, but I slept well, at least. It was so late at night, and I knew everyone was sleeping or binge watching an addictive movie on Netflix. I could even hear their snores if I wanted to, but it was none of my business.

I just felt really uneasy and it was like something was out of place. I tossed and turned in my bed, rolling into the covers, and rolling outside them again, having the inability to just close my eyes and sleep. The next morning, I’ll have a throbbing headache because I couldn’t sleep all night. It was going to heal definitely, but that won’t take away the need to sleep, even in the office.

Slowly, I was finally begin to drift off to sleep, when I heard the unmistakable howl of a wolf. My eyes swiftly opened, and I turned on the lamp by my bedside table, looking all around.

Climbing out of bed in my pyjamas, I stepped into my bedroom slippers, walked out of the bedroom, shutting the door gently behind me, as I went into the kitchen to get myself a glass of milk, in order to clear my head, and stop hearing things that weren’t actually there.

I took a jar of milk from the refrigerator, and poured the right amount I needed inside a small glass cup, then I went back to the living room, gulping down the milk slowly, as I crossed my legs.

Back when I was younger, my mother would always have me drink a glass of milk if I ever complained of having insomnia. Then, it worked. After my parents died a year ago, my insomnia returned, and it did not matter how many glasses of milk I had, or the number of pills I swallowed, it was just so hard for me to sleep at night.

However, since Eliana came into my life about two months ago, I had been sleeping well, and I was already getting used to it, but today, things had decided to take a different turn.

A doctor once told my mother that one of the reasons a person couldn’t sleep was if they had a lot on their mind. Of course, that was just one of the many reasons he gave to my mother concerning the insomnia I battled back then, but it was ruled out as the likely cause of my predicament, since I was only a child, and they felt it was not possible for me to have anything to think about at such a young age, especially when I had all I could ever need.

I was beginning to think that I probably had a lot of mind, since I was all grown up, and that was the reason for my insomnia. I had to think about the company doing well at all times, trying to impress my family members, having to honour my late parents, wondering if it was right that I had decided to give up my revenge for the sake of a woman I truly loved, scared of our love not standing the test of time, and thinking about what my pack could possibly want from me.

I had just been denying it all along, but it was evident why I was feeling unsettled, and couldn’t sleep. It was because of Aunt Salome, who I was sure was the wolf I had seen this morning. I had tried to block the memory out, and even pretend like nothing had happened, but I couldn’t cheat my mind.

The howl I had heard earlier on came again. As for that, when I had heard it earlier, I had thought that I had probably been hearing things, but since I heard the howl again, I knew something was going on, and the wolf will keep on howling, till I came around.

A part of me wanted to stay at home, ignoring the wolf just as I had also been ignored many years ago, but still, another part of me was so eager to know what was going on. I finally convinced myself that I’d forever blame myself should anything happen to that wolf, especially if it turned out to be truly Aunt Salome.

Following the direction from which the howl had come from, I left my house and walked towards it, my curiosity getting the best of me. I moved past the guards swiftly, that they hadn’t even realise that someone had walked past them. I was in no mood to answer any question as to what I was doing outside in only pyjamas and slippers. They’d either think I was sleepwalking, or on the verge of losing my mind.

The sound had come from behind the trees, where I had seen the wolf in the morning. I walked with hasty steps, as I tried to locate where it was, and why it was howling. Behind these trees, there was a field, where children played soccer, unbeknownst to them that it could lead into the forest if only they’d just find the path in between one of the trees.

I used to go there a lot when I was younger and missing home, but with time, I didn’t care so much about it anymore. Although I hadn’t thought about it earlier on, it seemed as though the wolf had found its way here through that forest, but I couldn’t quite remember the path, which was not surprising, considering the fact that it had been almost twenty years since I last went through that path.

Closing my eyes tightly, I tried to remember which two trees had a path between them, leading to the forest. I was almost seeing it in my mind’s eye, when I heard footsteps approaching stealthily, and I could sense that the intentions of the people coming was evil. They wanted to catch me off guard, but unfortunately for them, they were no match for me, even with my eyes closed.

Grabbing the sticks they had pointed at me and were about to hit me with, I opened my eyes, cornering both of them, who were muscular men, and using the sticks as weapons to knock them to the ground. They winced in pain. Apparently, they hadn’t seen that coming.

“Is that all you’ve got?” I asked, mocking them.

“Actually, no,” I heard the familiar voice of Aunt Salome say, as she walked from behind the trees, majestically.

“You!” I yelled, angrily, knowing already that she was up to no good.

“Yes, darling. It’s me. It’s been a really long time since we last saw each other, or maybe not. We saw each other earlier in the day, remember? Have you missed your poor old aunt?” She asked, walking close to me, with a big evil smile plastered on her face, just like the day she had asked me to pack my things and get out of the pack’s territory for my own good.

There was something very annoying about Aunt Salome. She could be saying awful and annoying things that would make you want to strangle her, but the evil smile she always had on would never leave her face, even as she said wicked and mean things.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, clenching my fists.

“Seems you didn’t miss me after all. That’s sad actually, because I did miss you, so much so that I was beginning to despise myself for not keeping you as a slave like the others wanted or even cutting off your neck and taking your Alpha powers. I was too weak back then to do that, considering that irrespective of what you did, you’re still my sister’s son. I should have killed you back then, instead of letting you run off and become the billionaire you are today. I won’t even lie to you, I’m offended by the fact that you still get to live a good and normal life, when you should be suffering for your sins,” She said, eyeing me distastefully.

A smirk played around my lips. “Well, I’m sorry that your plans failed,” I told her.

“I am sorry, too, because I may have gone easy on you last time since you were still a young boy and I thought of you as my family, but not this time around. I’m here to take your Alpha powers,” She said, touching my chest.

“You have no right...”

“I have every damn right to take it from you. You are not a member of our pack, and didn’t you steal the powers from our Alpha, your father, when you took his life twenty five years ago?” She asked, infuriating me the more with her calm tone and annoying smile.

“He was going to die anyway. I only did what he asked me to, because he didn’t want his death to be in vain, leaving our pack without an Alpha,” I yelled, in defence.

She scoffed. “Al, that’s your own side of the story. Should we consult a witch to summon your father’s spirit, so, we can all hear what truly happened?” She asked.

“You’ll do no such thing. Allow that man rest in peace,” I said.

“If you were truly innocent, you’d give me the go-ahead to get a witch to end this matter once and for all. Also, I strongly doubt that your father is resting in peace, knowing his only son, whom he adored so much, used his claws to end his life,” She said.

“Salome!” I screamed, as anger became the only emotion I could feel.

“Calm down now, will you? You don’t want to wake your human friends, because if any human sees what’s going on in this field, I’ll put an end to their miserable lives. You don’t want that to happen, do you?” She asked, removing her leather gloves.

“I’ll kill you if you lay a finger on anyone I care about,” I swore.

Aunt Salome grimaced. “Well, well, Al, isn’t that what you’re good at?”

“Just shut the hell up, because I get angry with each passing second, the more I hear you speak,” I said, enraged.

“You’ll accord me some respect. I’m still your aunt after all,” She said.

I laughed, mockingly. “I have several aunts. Sorry to burst your bubble, but you are not one of them,” I told her.

She rolled her eyes. “It’s fine if you have chosen to disown me. No one wants a murderer for a nephew anyways,” She said, pushing back a strand of hair that was in her face.

I heaved a sigh, regretting why I had left my house to find out what was going on. “Surely, you didn’t come here to trade words with me. Why are you here?” I demanded.

“Why the rush? Shouldn’t we catch up on old times before I tell you the reason I’m here?” She retorted.

“There’s nothing to catch up on. Unlike you who spends time getting herbs and making stupid decisions, I have companies to run, and if I don’t sleep right now, I won’t be able to go to work early in the morning. Tell me the reason you’re here, or I’ll walk out of here right this minute, without looking back,” I said, with a look of determination in my eyes.

“Fine then, tough guy. I already told you why I’m here. I want to take away your Alpha powers. The Mystic moon pack have declared war on us over a very trivial matter, and we need an Alpha to defend ourselves. Of course, we don’t need you to step in and be the hero of the day, because I doubt you can fight like the rest of us, and again, you are an outcast. All we do need is your powers,” Aunt Salome explained.

“So, you want to kill me to claim my powers?” I asked.

She smirked. “That’s up to you, Al. You can either surrender your powers to us willingly, or we could take it by force, which would lead to your death,” She replied.

I laughed out loud, boisterously. “Do you really think that I’d give you something you banished me for?” I asked, when my laughter quieted down.

She rolled her eyes, picking up two knives from her leather shoes. “I was hoping you would, so that I wouldn’t have to do this,” She said, lunging forward at me, and attempting to slit my throat.

I bent, dodging the harm her knives would have caused, and moved swiftly behind her, holding her two hands, as she struggled to wriggle free from my hold.

Her two minions had gotten up from the grass where they had been lying and trying to regain their strength, and tried to attack me. Still holding her hands in the air, I used them for support, kicking them both at the same time with my legs. They fell to the ground once again, with a thud, wincing in pain, and writhing in distress on the ground.

She broke free from my hold, catching me unawares, and one of her knives struck deep into my chest, making me groan in pain.

She scoffed. “I thought you how to fight, how could you have forgotten that?” She boasted.

Giving her a deadly stare, I lunged at her with all my might, powered by the anger of sustaining a wound, and dodged all her attempts at striking me with one of her knives again.

I kicked one of the knives out of her hand, and spinning her around, I clasped my hand tightly around the hand holding the other knife, and held it to her neck, causing her to tremble in fear, with a pleading look in her eyes.

“Yes, you taught me how to fight, and I remember that clearly, but don’t students end up becoming better than their teachers?” I asked, wearing a smirk. It was my turn to jeer at her.

“You’ve...made...your...point,” She managed to say.

“I could kill you here and now, but sadly, I’m not the murderer you say I am. Besides, I need someone to deliver a message on my behalf, and I don’t trust your miserable subordinates to do that for you,” I said, eyeing the men still lying on the floor, in pain.

“Tell the members of your pack that I’d kill them all and hang their heads on a stake, before the Mystic moon pack does, if they ever try to pull off a stunt such as this again,” I threatened.

Knowing she had fully understood what I was trying to tell her, I hit my head against hers, knocking her out, and sending her crashing to the ground. It didn’t matter that she was a fifty-year old woman, with grey heir. She deserved even worse than what I had just done to her.

I left the field, finally feeling sleepy, having conquered my enemies, and made my way home. Only a fool would believe that they weren’t going to show up again. All these years, I had lived in peace, far away from them, but I knew that now that they had found me and needed something from me, they weren’t going to rest until they got it. That meant that I was never going to be free from them, because I wasn’t going to give up the last thing my father had given to me, for as long as I lived.