Thirty Four
Guards took cover, shielding themselves from the bullets coming their way. It didn't take long before all of them were safe in the pack house and had sat trying to figure out where the sniper was located.
"Sir, our experts know where he is. And right now, as we are speaking, they are out there tracking him; they only said that he shouldn't know that he's tracked," the head of the guard said.
"So, what are we supposed to do until they come?" another guard asked.
"We should buy the experts time. If we lock ourselves in here, the sniper will suspect something and may run away. So we need to get out there and fight him; that way we will keep him busy and our men will find him with ease." Alpha Killan explained, and they both went out shooting at nothing. Lucky enough, their plan was working because the bullets never stopped. Alina, who was standing beside the window in their upstairs room, smirked, looking at the saga unfolding below her.
Of course, she was the mastermind behind all that. She didn't want to do any of that, but it was Beta Harris who made her come up with that plan.
When he was about to spill the beans on Alpha Killan, she had to fake passing out. It was a good thing that he never listened to anyone speak ill of her, or else he would have believed Harris when he told him that she was faking. What Harris never knew was that she was buying time in order to get rid of him. She knew that Alpha Killan wanted him locked up so that he could take care of her in case she passed out.
Once that was done, she asked Alpha Killan to stay with him, and when he went to take a bath, she called that sniper and sent him the map of the pack. Because she had highlighted where the cells were located, it didn't take long before the sniper located them, pulled them closer with his lenses, and killed Beta Harris just like she wanted. Eleven shots, right into his chest.
After that was done and the sniper told her, she had to take care of the other problem that was still unsolved: she was pregnant with Beta Harris, and she knew that there was no way she would tell Killan that was his baby given that she never got intimate with him since she suffered miscarriage six months ago, so she was left with no choice but to come up with another story and make him get intimate with her. His love for her blinded him, and he didn't see that all that nightmare was just a lie and nothing else.
She had asked the sniper one thing as well. She knew that the moment Alpha Killan heard about the beta's murder, he would rush over there and try to find out if what he was told was true. She stayed at the windows, waiting for him to rush towards the cell, and when he did, he asked the sniper to get ready since his other target was approaching.
She smirked when she heard the shot, which was followed by Alpha Killan's panicked growl. She had succeeded in robbing the pack's private bank, so that means the pack will go bankrupt. Alpha Killan will be of no use to her anymore, and that is why she knew if she does kill him, she will get to inherit the palace because, as she claimed, the baby she was carrying was Killan's.
"Guards, take cover. We are under attack." Alpha Killan's order brought her back to her senses. She was shocked to see that he was still alive despite the sniper shooting at him. She called him, asking if he had missed the shot, and she was shocked to hear that a guard took the shot for him. Because she had already paid that sniper, she asked him to do whatever it takes and make sure that he kills Killan too, or else she would tell him where he was located.
A loud, painful groan jarred Alina from her thoughts. She looked at the unending saga down there, and she sighed in relief when she saw Alpha Killan lying on the ground, his body motionless. She made another quick call and congratulated the sniper, asking him to get out of there as soon as possible, as the private jet she had arranged for him that would take him out of that country was at the top of the building of the hotel where he stays, waiting for him.
The sniper agreed and hung up. Alina rushed downstairs with fake tears coming out of her eyes. Her husband was shot dead, so she had to go and take a look at him, and of course, she had to cry to avoid raising suspicions. What Alina failed to notice in her happy mood when conversing with the sniper was the panic in his voice when he agreed to her last demand.
At the top of the mountains, miles away from the pack, ten guards, with green uniforms camouflaging the trees swinging on the silent helicopter above them, jumped on the trees and walked closer towards the figure in white clothes lying in a small clearing in between the trees, taking shots towards their pack. From where they were, the guards could hear him conversing with someone because a phone on a loudspeaker was lying beside him.
It was from their conversation that they knew the sniper wouldn't stop until he killed Alpha Killan, just like he was instructed by the female voice on the other end. "He is out of the room, heading towards the questioning room. He will learn that the beta is dead, and since he always says seeing is believing, he will go to confirm that. So just get ready; when he runs towards the cells, I'll tell you, and you'll prepare yourself to take the shot." They heard it clearly.
The guards wanted to jump at him at that moment, but then they heard the female's voice asking him to be ready since his target was heading towards the cells. They both stood there silently, praying that the sniper would miss the shot, but they were shocked when they heard him yelling.
"Bingo! I got him, Miss Alina." The sniper chuckled.
The guards froze on the steps when they heard the person on the other end asking the sniper with exasperation in her voice that he should get out of there before he gets traced. When they were about to finish the sniper off just like he had done to their alpha, they heard the person giving out orders telling the snipper that he had shot the wrong person.
The sniper, in a shocked state, watched over the pack with his lenses, and that was when he said that he didn't shoot the wrong person but that a guard had taken a bullet for him. They heard that person cursing and then threatening him that if he doesn't kill his other target, despite her paying him the money he demanded, she will reveal his hideout to the alpha's men.
They stood there, watching the sniper shoot aimlessly with trembling hands, and then a victorious voice came, asking him to leave since he had hit his target. "I'll leave immediately, Miss Alina," the sniper said in a panicked, trembling voice, which Alina failed to pick up from the other end. One of the guards hung up, picked up the scared man from the ground, and with all his things, they pushed him towards the silent helicopter, which landed on top of the trees.
* * *
"Baby!" Alina screamed, shaking the silent Alpha Killan on the ground. It was at that moment that a deep voice from the black walkie-talkie lying beside Killan echoed, "Good job, Alpha. We've got the sniper."
"Great!" Alpha Killan praised him, rising from the ground with the help of the guards.
"Aren't you happy I am alive, baby?" Killan grinned at the panicked Alina kneeling beside him.
"I..I am. I just thought that I had lost you." She faked a smile, biting her lower lip.
"Well, you haven't." Alpha Kilan dusted his pants. "Has he said who sent him?" He then inquired using the walkie-talkie.
"Yes, sir. But we didn't need to ask. We overheard all his conversations with his sender. Someone named Alina was giving him orders. And alpha, that person is at the pack now because that red blink hasn't moved at all." One of the guards responded from the other end. Alina panicked, her eyes widening in shock.
"You overheard the conversation?" She whispered loud enough for even the guards to hear her at the other end.
Yes, Luna Alina." The guard answered.
"So, have you found out who this Alina is?" She asked, her heart thumping wildly.
"Baby, you don't need to panic." Because that traitor's name is similar to yours, it doesn't mean it's you. But don't worry, I'll have her caught because I am so sure it's the same Alina who lied to that girl in your name." Alpha Killan squeezed her trembling hands.
"So, does that mean the guards haven't found out the identity of this person yet?" She asked.
"Yes, we haven't found out yet, Luna Camila. I mean Luna Alina, but don't worry, we'll find out that soon." The guards promised her.
"Yes!" Alina had forgotten herself and had already begun to rejoice. She felt everyone gaze at her, and when she turned to look at them, they were all staring at her with confusion on their faces.
Clearing her throat, she dropped both her hands at her side and quickly changed her topic: The guards said they were tracking the phone, and it's still here at the palace, right? That means this Alina has no idea that you have caught her sniper, and he hasn't boarded the private jet that she had asked him to and gotten him out of this country. I am happy that she has no idea of any of this, and that will make our work easy. We will catch her even before she knows it. I can't really wait to see who this person is. Just look what she did to my husband. She has snatched his favorite guard, and she has put me in trauma because I nearly thought he was dead." She lied, faking a sniff and then using her handkerchief to blow out her nose.
"P…Private jet? Out of the country? But.." One of the guards surrounding Alpha Killan asked in shock. The others understood what he wanted to ask, and they all turned to look at Alina with suspicious looks.
"What? Don't tell me you all think that I am that Alina." She snapped while getting off the ground. She threw her now-used handkerchief on the nearby trash can, stomped her feet on the ground, and snapped, "Do you?"
"Absolutely no Luna Alina," said the guard from the other end of the walkie-talkie, who had now responded. At the other end, they had also gone silent, giving each other questioning gazes when Alina talked about the private jet and the sniper getting out of the country.
"Then what is it? You should see the way they are looking at me." She said this while her voice was rising a little. All she wanted was to grab all of them by their necks and strangle them to death. Puffing like a poisonous panther slithering speedily to its target, she growled agrily, "Do you also think that I am that Alina?" She asked the guard on the other end of the walkie-talkie. "Do you all know that it's wrong to suspect your Luna? Do you all want to be fired and sent behind bars?" She asked them, but the guards shrugged, still looking at him suspiciously.
"With all due respect, ma'am, we are not suspecting you, but you are acting suspicious right now." One of the guards, who had never liked her, smirked at her.
Ignoring him because she was aware of his dislike towards her, she questioned some other guard, General Kian?" She asked the one on the other end, "Is that what you all want?"
"That's not it, Luna Cam. I mean Alina." The guard cursed himself for getting used to Camila's name: "It's just that I didn't mention that this sniper was supposed to leave the country through a private jet hired for him by that Alina." He responded.
"What do you mean by you didn't mention?" She stammered.
General Kian went straight to the question without beating around the bush: "I don't mean to question you, Luna Alina, but how do you know?" He asked, and everyone present on the other end and on Alina's side went silent, all looking at her. Some guards were wearing smirks on their faces, and others were wearing boring expressions, maybe because they were all still sitting under the scorching sun. Alpha Killan was wearing an expressionless face as usual, and Alina couldn't tell whether he was also suspecting her or not.
Alina bit her lower lip, something she was fond of doing when caught up in her own lies. She looked back again at Alpha Killan for help, who was now also giving her the same questioning gaze. Cursing herself for saying that loudly, she kept chewing her bottom lip with nothing to say. "Oh, dear goddess, you have always helped me until now. Please don't let them catch me." She prayed silently, beads of sweat forming on her forehead and rolling down to her chest.
"I..I.." She stammered, playing with her fingers, the murderous gaze in her eyes turning to guilt, and the growl in her voice reducing to nothing but a whisper. "I..I was..I mean that..eh." She faked a cough while fanning her face with her hands. She looked at everyone, hoping that one of them would ask General Kian to let go of that, but they were all still looking at her the same way. She was left with no choice but to continue mumbling incoherent words.
"I was..You know general Kian when I heard..I mean..I.." She stammered, screaming internally.
