35

We were in a bind and had no idea how this could happen. As our warriors were separated from us, behind each of the wolves seated in front stood a man in red clothing, armed with two pistols, a whip and a long knife that could almost pass for a dagger.

There was also a person behind me, and Helena had joined them. The girl seemed to be getting the most enjoyment out of all this, which made me think she was even more stupid than I had at first.

Damian looked around anxiously and waited for the others to wake up. I assumed Damian had been awakened by my feelings, which calmed me down a lot because seeing him fall suddenly and not knowing what was going on was quite a scary experience. I had only registered a changed smell, which was apparently also responsible for the fact that we had gotten into this situation.

Tied up and waiting to see what Gregor, the representative of his cause, would tell us. Probably some sick stuff again, but maybe we could get her to talk now. Because in the end we had come to the same result as was intended. But we should hold the reins in our hands and not lie defenseless on the ground.

I looked around, trying to see who seemed to be the most important. I saw Damian, Jack, Sam and a black-haired guy I didn't recognize, Egbert with Karl, Eriens, Jones, Zabrina, Sophie and another woman with silver curls. I wondered how the organization knew who the key people were for each alpha.

Meanwhile, Gregor talked to the other people. They kept taking turns looking at us before they seemed to make up their minds and beckoned more of their soldiers over to give them instructions and then sent them away again.

Eternities had already passed since I received the liquid I already knew and Damian woke up at the same time. We didn't dare to talk. We also couldn't talk about our connections because it was blocked from my side. I wondered if people were aware of that.

Then the mood in the room changed as attention shifted to the werewolves. I followed the looks and looked over at them as well to find out what had happened. I understood when the first blinked and tried to get up, but failed due to their lack of strength. So they either sat cross-legged or crouched down and slowly took in what was happening.

"Now that everyone is conscious, I'm happy to finally be able to get rid of a few things," said Gregor, beaming with joy, and strutted towards us. "First of all, I want to get one thing straight: for always thinking yourselves so smart, you're pretty easy to fool." Laughter then broke out between the people.

"Although I have to give you one thing: you had the right instinct, but preferred to trust in your strength. And that is exactly the reason why your time is over. Now it is not the strength of the individual that decides, but the cunning of an entire group ."

"I've already heard a lot from you," Sam said with a grin. He kept the mask of the unapproachable alpha and presented himself in his full defiance and arrogance. "But somehow I expected more. What I see is a bunch of revolutionary little people who think they are capable of defeating us."

"We don't just think it, we know it. Or how else do you explain this setback?" Gregor spoke of our current situation. He smirked. "Setbacks happen, you just have to know how to carry on after that." "And of course you know that. I know." Gregory sighed. "I'm all the more sorry to have to convince you otherwise."

I frowned. What did that mean? I felt a movement behind my back and turned as far as I could to see Helena hopping from one leg to the other in delight. She knew well what awaited us, and if she was so happy about it, it could certainly not bode well for us.

The soldier behind Sophie shoved her forward abruptly, and as the girl could not hold herself, she fell sprawled onto the ground. He grabbed her arm and pulled her directly in front of Gregor. His mouth twisted as if he were sorry for something. He ran his finger down her cheek.

Tears ran down Sophie's face and she kept whispering, "Please don't." At first I didn't understand why she said that, but the realization hit me when Gregor pulled a hand out from behind Sophie's back and a long dagger appeared.

He wrapped her hair around his fist and pulled her head back. My eyes fell on Zabrina, who was struggling angrily against her bonds and the hand of the soldier pinning her to the ground. Gregor looked at each of us individually and then looked back at the kneeling girl in front of him. Without another word, he lunged and knocked Sophie's head off with a clean swipe.

I gasped and watched wide-eyed as Sophie's head hit the floor, rolled a little more, and then lay still. Zabrina's scream ripped through my bones as the alpha fell forward and stared at her friend's head in horror.

Unaffected, Gregor cleaned his blade and said, without looking at us: "Let this be a lesson for you! From now on I'll talk, let's talk", he pointed with one hand to the people next to and behind him, who proudly pushed their shoulders back, "and you will listen like the dogs you are."

Gregor was visibly happy about his comparison, meanwhile several things became clear to me. First, we wouldn't all get out of here unscathed, if we did at all. Second, these people were not interested in negotiation or agreement. They just wanted to show that they were right. Third, we immediately had to listen to Gregor's words as he enlightened us on everything we were wrong about. Simply because he wanted to see our faces, our reactions when he revealed his information to us.

Meanwhile, Zabrina's shock turned into something dangerous. Because the krecanos prevented her transformation, her body began to twitch strangely, causing the soldier to retreat. This is exactly what the proud and resourceful Alpha was hoping for. The man let go of her and she scrambled to her feet and fell with her hands on the throat of her friend's killer.

He wasn't interested in that at all, it seemed to bother him more. Before Zabrina could reach him, a bullet sizzled through her shoulder, throwing her back meters. She bit back her cry of pain, but I felt her body tremble as she was pulled back into place.

I caught Damian's eyes, whose concern immediately enveloped me. But it was not just concern for me, but for everyone present that we had brought here. I gave him the slightest nod. We would think of something. A new plan that got us back out of here.

"As you have now noticed, we mean business quite seriously." He wrinkled his nose and then smiled creepily. "So where do I start?" He thought for a moment, deliberately making us sit on the floor for a long time. "I think I'm starting relatively at the beginning." He turned his gaze to Damian and me.

"We didn't expect you to be able to react so quickly to the dead bodies. Just as we didn't expect to end the attack on your village with so many casualties. Luckily, it soon became clear why that was the case, right, Alina?" Gregor stretched out my name and let it melt in his mouth.

He kept his eyes on me while smiling and waving his hand at someone. Another door opened and another person was carried into the room. "Look who followed you here," said Gregor, giggling, and now he himself looked at the person who was hanging like a sack in the arms of a soldier, who laid them down in front of Gregor.

Gregor continued to look at me closely before raising the person's head and enjoying watching the horror spread across my face and the desperation outweighing the hope. Amelia wasn't even able to hold up her own head.

"We felt it appropriate to get information about the woman who could facilitate our plan so much. We've had our eyes on her for a while. There was something odd about the young student, who had no problem messing with an alpha. Except "It was quite difficult to get into a village full of werewolves. Luckily, said woman and a seemingly good friend of hers went to a coffee shop one day."

My breathing was ragged and Amelia slowly raised her head too, looking confused. "What a coincidence that a very good employee of ours works in this one. You may remember him. He is a waiter and quite likes to flirt."

Oh yes, I remembered him. And apparently so did Amelia, given how shocked she looked. The waiter who was a little too pushy for her. "He reported directly to us about the sensational information he was able to gather. Which was really lucky, otherwise we would have just shot you straight ahead and not bothered to stun you." Gregor looked like he was expecting a thank you for his generosity, but Amelia's expression only made him clench his teeth.

"So we were aware of what we had to look out for. We just needed someone who could tell us about the inner workings. Unfortunately, our ideal idea wasn't very enthusiastic about our project, right, Niklas?"

I spun around and could see Niklas already being dragged next to me. He was also awake and watched what was happening in front of us with narrowed eyes. "I'm not that into treason," was all he said. Again, a few things became clear to me. Firstly, that Amelia was looking at Niklas longer than ever before and, secondly, that Niklas had turned down the organization's offer even before he knew that his soulmate would be in this pack.

"While we could have done just fine without this information-gathering option, it was still tempting. Then it was easy to organize a kidnapping that not only provided us with a goddess, but also the death of an important chess piece."

My throat went dry and my breath caught. Benjamin. He spoke about Benjamin. "Why love can do anything... You kill someone and immediately a chain reaction ensues, culminating in a she-wolf who harbors an incredible hatred for the moon goddess, and a close friend of the alpha who has a weakness for the moon goddess she-wolf has."

I only saw Connor when he came to a halt right next to Gregor. He could walk alone and his hands were not tied. Gregor smiled at him. "And we already had someone who could provide us with direct information. Among other things, about your plan for the day."

DAMIAN’S VIEW

I stared blankly at Connor. He avoided my gaze, not even looking in my direction, as he stood next to Gregor and revealed why we had fallen so deeply into the trap. Beside me, Jack cursed. "No wonder the idiot wasn't at our men's night out yesterday. I didn't see him when it started this morning either."

That didn't matter to me. I was just stunned. I had never assumed such a betrayal, I had never expected it. And even if it did, it certainly wasn't that it was performed by my closest friends. Maybe from Egbert, but not from Connor.

With that, all hope was killed. Not only that Amelia was here too and these people didn't have the slightest scruple about slaughtering us without mercy. We had also been betrayed. Our carefully devised plan had fallen into the hands of those who were not supposed to get it.

Now it was definitely not a question of how the organization could lock us up here. How she had known who would be where. We didn't have a chance from the start, they just played with us. Like a chess piece, to use the word the obnoxiously grinning man who still had one hand on Amelia's shoulder had used just a few minutes ago.

They had planned this for so long. The murders, the bodies. It had been a means of turning us against each other. We should be in turmoil and people's dislike of us should only grow.

Nothing was accidental. Benjamin's death had been planned. Perhaps even Egbert's absence was intentional from the start. But I thought the worst thing about Connor's betrayal was the fact that I kind of understood him.

Celine had been completely devastated after Benjamin's death and her initial hatred towards Alina had only increased. Connor had liked Celine before and probably didn't want to see how much this event destroyed her. He wanted to protect her and make her feel better.

I looked at Alina, who kept her eyes on Amelia. It wasn't important to pretend she didn't care about the girl to mislead the organization, Alina knew that. These people here had been watching us for months and knew our plans as well as we did. It would bring nothing.

"The good Connor has helped us a lot and has now truly earned his reward," Gregor said and smiled happily at the man next to him. Connor didn't look very convinced. "I keep my word. You may go."

Connor gave him a short nod, turned around and left. He didn't even bother looking back, but I suspected that if he did, he'd be confronted with guilt and didn't do it. Because despite his betrayal, I knew my friend.

So I gathered all my strength to give him one more message. I hope it was worth it.

Connor stopped in the middle of turning. His shoulders rose noticeably and then sagged a little too far before he moved on and disappeared through the same door he'd come out of. "A good boy. I can understand why you kept him with you."

"That boy you're talking about is a lot older than any of you," I managed to choke out, trying not to sound too angry, not wanting to offend the organization representative too much. "But in the end it all comes down to being able to subordinate yourself, and he could. We recognize something like that straight away and of course we take advantage of that."

"Apparently you're still not the best at it, if you really think we would submit to your will," Samiel contradicted. He, too, had taken on a calmer tone, as if he knew all too well what these deranged people were capable of. I looked over at Zabrina, who was almost touching the floor with her forehead and was doing nothing but staring at it. She'd seen what our opponents were capable of and it broke something inside her.

Gregor waved his hand impassively and brushed aside Samuel's comment. "So, where was I just now? Oh right, I was just listing all the traps you fell into on your honorable way here."

Gregor rubbed his hands enthusiastically and began: "Your spectacular act of burning our Krecanos. Really one of my favorite moments in life. And how Damian knew that something was wrong, but didn't listen to his feelings."

He sighed happily. "A dream. So we could analyze exactly how you proceed. And what a coincidence it was to find the map with this building. And how useful that Connor was informed in detail. And how easy it was, all of you fool. I could go on and on, but that would take up too much time."

Gregor grinned maliciously. We had never been in control of anything. Like faithful dogs, we had followed directions. A terrifying notion. "We still have a long way to go, but first I'd like to make it clear how serious we are when we say we want to live in a world without werewolves."

A soldier walked up to him and put a walkie-talkie in his hand. "We can certainly agree otherwise. There are other ways and means for everyone to achieve what they want." Alina raised her hands reassuringly and continued. "We can talk about it."

"We're not interested in talking, in case you're still not aware of that. Also, I don't understand how you, Alina, after all the time you've lived among humans and everything you've witnessed the werewolves. They brought too much pain into this world."

"Because you let her," Alina countered. "In addition, things are changing. The conditions and requirements are different now than they were several years ago. We can negotiate and save and spare so many lives."

"You will see, moon goddess, that it is not my desire to spare werewolves." With these words, Gregor pressed a button and spoke into the walkie-talkie: "Do it." At the push of a button, dozens of shots and howls erupted, followed by an eerie silence.

"We decided to kill some of your people." Gregor said that so casually, as if it really wasn't big or even important information. "Don't worry, you will all die today, but it is only fair that you also suffer the suffering of our people and spend your last hours expecting to be killed soon while seeing your dead friends around you."

Gregor handed the device back and relaxed his arms. If you just saw him like that, you'd think he'd just completed something extremely strenuous and was rightly asking for a break. Too bad that wasn't the case.

"Some of you are missing for round one." Gregor turned his sleazy look on me. A bad foreboding overcame me. He had exposed me and made a fool of me in front of everyone, but none of my people had died.

"We've come up with an order for that, too." The people behind him looked back and forth restlessly, but had the same disgusting grin on their face as their leader. Gregor pulled out the dagger he had already used to kill Sophie and put it at Amelia's throat.

An unsettling silence spread, mainly from Alina and Niklas. Completely motionless, they registered every movement made by Gregor, every change in his hand and thus the angle of the dagger.

Amelia shrugged her shoulders and said to Alina in a calm voice: "I wanted to settle our argument. I apologize for my stubbornness and that we broke up like this." Now her lip was trembling. "I wanted to hug you one more time and wish you luck so you would come back."

Alina closed her eyes and when she opened them again, she wasn't fighting back the tears running down her cheeks. "I know," she replied, failing miserably at a reassuring smile. "It's all good. It's all settled. Everything will be fine."

"I'll see my grandma again," Amelia whispered and the entire room went silent. But Alina shivered, and I felt her determination as she said, "No, you won't. Not yet. You won't pay for my mistakes."

I feared bad things. If she said words like that, she must have a plan and I couldn't shake the feeling that I wasn't going to like it. Alina turned her gaze to Gregor. "Let her live. Her time has not yet come."

"And what does that mean, moon goddess?" Gregor asked. "You're going to kill everyone here. So I'll make you an offer. Let the girl go and I won't fight back if you kill me."

"No." The word came out of my mouth before I could even think about it. "My time is up, I understand that. But yours isn't. It's safe and you'll get what you want." Helena let out a little cry of joy behind Alina.

The madman still didn't understand what that meant for our race. But Alina had already finished with that. She firmly believed that most of us would die today. The memory of Benjamin and the death of the werewolves, who could only see the light of day because of her, gnawed at her.

So as she got up and walked forward, I realized something. It also gave us a chance to get out of here safely. We should seize the opportunity. Because if Alina were to die, there would be an opportunity for us to free ourselves through the distraction of others that was created.

But I certainly couldn't get used to it. I certainly wouldn't let my mate kill herself because she felt it was her destiny. "That's a terrible idea," hissed Egbert. "We will all die out."

"If she doesn't, we will all die, the organization will win and kill everyone anyway. It gives us the chance to live peacefully to the end as the last of our kind," Eriens defended Alina's plan, which apparently shared her thoughts and quite understanding. "That idea sucks," Jack growled.

Gregor roughly pushed Amelia away and lusted after Alina as she squatted on the floor in front of him. He also stroked her cheek. "What a smart, self-sacrificing woman you are." A growl made its way upstairs as I watched helplessly as Gregor placed the dagger at Alina's throat.

Never! It couldn't end like this. Not after everything we've done. But I couldn't resist the effects of the shackles or the krecanos in my body. I could not move. Couldn't save her.

“It must not end like this, Prince of Darkness. That's not the price to pay. save her save the queen Free her.”

And as my bonds loosened and my strength slowly increased, I registered the power in my head. I had felt it the first time I watched Alina make a soul connection. She belonged to the moon.

I gathered my strength just in time as Gregor, smiling wildly, raised the dagger to strike. I whirled and grabbed the soldier by the neck before snarling and throwing him against the wall and out of my way.

I would be late. I couldn't be late. Adrenaline flooded me and I ran faster than ever before. To the dagger. To Gregory. To a bare neck. To Alina. Always to Alina.

I threw myself on her and threw her to the ground. Not a second too soon. The dagger missed its original target and instead pierced another.

I didn't register the pain until Alina bent over me, screaming, clutching my chest with her hands. It hurt. It hurt incredibly as I felt the dagger in my chest. Then a burn. He was still covered in krecanos for Amelia. I smiled. I saved her. She lived.

Alina kept sobbing. "You can do this! Hold on! Stay with me!" I knew she was lying. But that didn't matter because I had kept my promises.

I thought back to my words from not so long ago.

“So that at least Alina survived if necessary. I would even give my life for it.”

As if I knew. I smiled slightly as her tears streaked me. Alina looked at me with trembling lips. I raised my hand and slowly stroked her cheek. "I love you," I managed to say slowly, "never forget that," before I allowed the darkness to take me and closed my eyes.