Chapter 83 Montana Pack

Montana Pack

Nikolai

"Where does the cave open up?" Nat asked Max's friend— Symon.

"At the other end of this mountain. Then there is another mountain we have to cross, after which we will reach the pack." He replied.

"Are you a smuggler?" I asked. This is going to be my pack. I need to know.

Symon looked at me, his eyes judging. I held his eyes.

"After the death of Alpha Javier, Emmanuel took over. He shut down the import and export outside of the pack and kept relations with only Mystic Lupus Pack. We all know how that pack his." He said with venom. I nodded. Adrik was the worst Alpha in the history of all supernatural leaders. He treated his pack like shit and rationed everyone's food for some reason, all the while eating like a king every fucking day.

"The taxes increased and then came a time when people could not afford bread. Beer was cheaper than water. When Emilio took over, we all revolted so they eased a little on the rules but the pack is still a mess. We all do what we have to do to survive. You out of all must know that, Alpha Nikolai." Looks like I won't have to do much to worsen the condition of these fuckers.

"I do," I replied.

I saw Mary lower her eyes in shame.

"Who is she?" He jabbed his finger towards Mary.

"Mary," I replied. "Alpha Javier's mother-in-law."

Symon's jaw clenched but he did not say anything more than that.

We silently made our way through the dark cave. I would kick Vermin in the ass whenever his speed would decrease. We could not afford to be late. Symon was leading us, Vermin and I after him, then Nat, Mary, and Max were at the rear. The cave was narrow enough that we had to walk in a single line. The cave had many twists and turns and many more crossways leading to goddess knows where.

In a total of twenty minutes, we made it to the other side of the tunnel. Symon pulled a rock on one side and the wall in front of us shifted, revealing a beautiful set of mountain ranges. Three colors dominated the view. Green, brown, and white. None of the human bullshit. But since it was winter, most of it was covered with snow. And I knew that during the summer, a lot of snow would melt, a few rivers would for— I saw a few that were frozen and covered with snow. And I'm sure there was plenty of food— elks, yak, deer, and of course, along with snow leopards and mountain lions. The rivers would have a lot of fish because the water was pure so there would be lots of bears too.

I had to admit, that despite the ugliness Ava had to face here, Montana was a beautiful pack. I liked the land. I liked the mountains. I liked the pollution-free air. I liked the human-free vibe.

"We can travel in fur for the rest of the way," Symon told us.

"You try to escape and I will make you even more miserable than you are Vermin." I loosened his collar so it would stay on even when he would shift into his wolf and then handed the leash to Max.

"Shift," I ordered, and in an instant, Vermin shifted into his dirty blond wolf. His wolf was missing hair from the entirety of its back, showing pink skin and the fur on top of his head was missing too, but it showed ugly mangled skin, a lot like he now had when he was in human skin.

"Nice work," Symon commented kicking him in the ribs, making Vermin whimper, and then shifted into his light brown wolf.

"Thanks," I smirked before I shifted into my mid-night blue wolf. Natalia shifted too and Mary climbed on her back.

Symon took the lead and we followed after him, running through the slippery trails of the mountains without being caught. We were moving right under the noses of the parole without even anyone knowing. What a stupid ass pack. It was working out well for me though.

The mountain we had to cross was too dangerous to cross during this time of the year because of the extra slippery trails and the fear of landslides so we were going to go around it, which would add more time. Also, since we weren't used to running in the snow, it slowed us quite a bit.

But without a single complaint, we continued making our way through the pack, the only sounds we heard were our pants, heartbeats, and the occasional sound of the leather meeting skin— which was Max smacking Vermin with the leash whenever he would slow down.

We slowed down when we reached a river. We all paused to drink some water. I don't think I have ever drunk better tasting or fresher water than this. After the short break, we entered the cold river and swam our way to the opposite side. Nat with more difficultly because she had Mary on her back, but the strong wolf that she was, she did it without complaint and as quickly as she could.

We shook the cold ass water off our fur before continuing on our way. We took a turn around the mountain range and then Symon slowed down before coming to a stop.

I looked at the sight in front of me.

We were surrounded on all four sides by mountains. The mountains created a valley in the middle where the pack was situated. There was a lake in the middle, probably where the water from the Lycan river was collected before it went down the mountain again.

The pack was situated around the lake and along the foothills of the mountains as well. It sun was about to set and the yellow lights were turned on in every cottage, making the whole town look beautiful.

It was foggy at the peak of the mountain but I could see the Soare-Luna mountain— which was the tallest mountain on Jivan. Soare-Luna meant Sun-Moon mountains because it was said to be the land of both Sun worshippers that is vampires and Moon worshippers, that is werewolves. It is said to be the home of God Sol and Goddess Luna. And the Lycan river originates at the top of the mountain. But for some reason, no one has ever reached the top. I imagined that it must be beautiful at the top too, one would be able to see the entire mountain.

I had always imagined Montana to be dark and gloomy and dirty. But my opinion was biased because I frankly hated this pack.

And it's not that this even this beauty will be able to change my views about the people here. I still hate the pack just as much.

I'm going to burn this place to the ground. And all the people who contributed to Ava's torture with it.

Consequences are damned.

We climbed down the mountain in thirty minutes and it took another ten minutes for us to make it to the pack.

Most of the town was empty and I suspected that it was because the wolves were at the packhouse to see the fight. Symon stopped in front of a cottage and shifted to his skin.

"We need to go there in the skin. Seeing rogues in wolf form will make it seem that you are here to attack us. If you are in human form, you can convince them that you are just here to talk." He said. All of us shifted to our skin and entered the cottage.

We took off the bag packs that we had worn all the way and wore our clothes. I decided to still leave Vermin naked. As a precaution, I hid loaded guns in my jeans along with daggers. We had injected enough wolfsbane into Vermin's system that his wolf would cut ties with everyone to save extra energy but still survive. Then we gagged him with a secure ball gag so he wouldn't open his trap when it wasn't needed.

Once we all were ready we left the cottage and Symon led us to the packhouse where the fight was going to take place. We walked through a trail that was less traveled so that people would be unaware of our presence till we reached the scene.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked him.

He seemed like a good wolf. Why would he help rogues enter his pack? Especially those who planned on taking over his pack.

"I owe Max one. And I trust him. We have suffered under shitty Alphas for over a decade. Max believes you are a good Alpha and that you would change things for the better. The pack needs a good, true-blooded Alpha. And from what I've seen, I like you too." He held my eyes.

I yanked Vermin's leash, causing the last remaining parts of his hand to lose balance and his face planted in the soil. We smirked.

From where we stood at the edge of the tree line, we could see the rear end of the packhouse. It opened up to the training ground. In the middle of which, two young wolves fought in a ring made out of chalk whilst the entire pack cheered. Around the ring, four wooden boards were put up where the heads of four other young wolves hung. Probably those who had died in this rat race to become an Alpha.

On the heightened podium, Emmanuel sat leisurely on his throne, enjoying the two young wolves fighting for their lives below him. His legs were propped up on the back of a naked, shivering slave who was on his fours. A young female was sitting in his lap. A female too young to be near the old fucker. She was crying as he kept touching her. She wasn't even a fucking human.

It was cold for even wolves to wear normal clothes. And he was keeping humans naked out in the cold.

They must have kept mom and Ava unclothed too. Red, searing anger spiked inside me at the thought. The sky seemed to agree with me because the clouds rumbled before lightning flashed.

"Lightning?" Symon murmured, sounding confused.

My anger grew the longer I saw him. I can't wait to torture him.

"Wait," Max gripped my shoulder. "Look." He whispered, pointing towards the windows on the second floor of the packhouse. I saw a shadow on every single window.

"Snipers," I said and Max nodded.

"Let me take care of them." He said before he disappeared. It made sense. Vampires had a very faint smell while we had a strong one. And it was easy to spot a wolf who wasn't from your pack.

"He was never going to fight, was he?" Symon gritted when he realized that Emmanuel had arranged those snipers to be there, to kill at his command.

"No." It does not look like he has any intentions to fight at all.

In the next five minutes, I saw the shadows from all the windows drop one by one.

The crows cheered loudly and I saw the dead body of the wolf being dragged to the side by four slaves. The one who won was making rounds around the ring, holding the head of the wolf between his teeth, riling up the pack to cheer for him further. There were a few cries and wails in the air— the family of the dead wolf.

The entire pack was enjoying the show. They were all rotten and vile down to their core. And they had the fucking audacity to call us rogues repulsive?

At the end of his little juvenile show, he, shifted into his skin, picked up the head of the wolf and walked up to the board and grabbed nail and hammer from a slave, and hammered the head to the board before he whirled around and glared an Emmanuel.

In response, Emmanuel only raised the glass of wine that he was drinking and smirked before downing it.

"He encourages it?" I hissed.

"It was his idea," Symon replied and Mary started crying silently. It was convenient for him. The wolves who had the interest to become the Alpha will reveal themselves, fight to the death until one remains. And then his snipers would kill him too. And then all the competition is dead. "He has an entire wall that he has specifically built for it. He beheads the wolves that upset him and nail their heads on the wall for the pack members to see. So they are reminded to not go against him. And his son followed the same tradition."

A controlled the growl that was building up. But the clouds growled for me in the form of another lightning and thunder.

"Upset him, how exactly?" Natalia asked.

"Not paying taxes on time. Or those who spoke up against his tyranny, things like those." Symon replied. "If you are lucky, he will make you his slave for a specific period, which is what he does when the wolf is too good of an asset to the pack or if it's a female." And then his voice turned angry, "the female on his lap is Lyra, the little sister of one of my friends. She's only fifteen. All she did was go out for a run, lost the track of time, and return at eleven pm. It's forbidden to leave the house after ten for women. She's supposed to be his slave for one year since she was one hour late."

What. The. Fuck.

I gritted my teeth. This is not how a pack should work. This is reminding of my childhood days back in Mystic Lupus Pack.

This made me question if all the members of the pack were truly evil or not.

"Is there anyone who dares to contend against me to become your Alpha?" The wolf in the ring growled.

No one said a word. They knew they would lose.

'It's done.' Max's voice rang in my head.

"It's done," I said before I stepped out of our hideout and sneaked past the people, and walked by the packhouse to the training ground. No one noticed us as we made our way to their Alpha.

Emmanuel was a couple of feet away from me, looking like he was having the time of his life.

Max joined us and nodded at me. All clear. I nodded back. Good.

Nat handed Vermin's leash to Symon and then opened the bag pack and took out the silver handcuffs with her gloved hands. And then nodded at me.

I looked at Max and pointed towards Emmanuel's right, motioning him to take out the guard at his right at which he nodded. I'll take the left. He was so sure of his plan, so sure of himself, he thought he was untouchable. He looked careless, he didn't even notice us creeping towards him. His guards were the same. And that was his downfall.

With a synchronized nod, we moved together. In a flash, Max and I sliced the throat of the guards on either side of Emmanuel, caught his arms, and twisted it behind his back where Nat cuffed him.

Emmanuel growled loudly, causing everyone's attention to turn towards us.

"Move," I growled, causing the girl and the slave to scram.

Max grabbed Emmanuel from the back of his neck and pulled him to the side, holding him captive.

"Rogues." The pack members started hissing.

"Kneel," I growled, making my blood hum louder. and against their wishes, everyone fell to their knees and glared at me. "Call everyone here. I want the entire pack here in ten minutes."

A real Alpha hadn't walked among them in a very long time which is why they bent to my Alpha command so easily. Especially when I wasn't technically their Alpha yet. But I knew I won't be able to hold it for long.

"Who the hell are you?" The wolf who was kneeling in the ring hissed.

"Alpha Nikolai Volkov," I growled.

Their eyes widened when they realized who I was. It was my pack that they had attacked and lost. I waited till more people started coming in. The entire ground in front of me was almost full. Even though we had killed two-fifty wolves, a lot was still alive. A hell of a lot more than two-fifty. We had thought that there were only five hundred wolves who could fight, because of which we had killed half of them. But these are a lot more than two-fifty. There were easily around seven to eight hundred wolves in front of me. I need to talk to the scout who gave me this information.

Suddenly, my plan of coming in without an army sounded foolish. But I wasn't going to show my apprehension. My face remained cold. As long as they were kneeling and were submitting, there was no problem.

"Bring him in." I snapped my finger and Symon brought Vermin in and handed me his leash.

"Kneel, Vermin," I ordered and he immediately kneeled. I tore his gag. It was of no use now.

"Who the hell is this? Why are you all here?" Emmanuel hissed.

"Forgot your son?" I smirked.

I heard gasps from the crowd.

"Emilio? Son?" Emmanuel's eyes widened.

Vermin did not move.

"The only name he responds to is Vermin." I heard a few snickers. "And the only voice he can hear is mine, his owner's. Say 'hello' to your father and pack members, Vermin." I kicked him in the back.

He flew forward, as much as the leash could allow, and face planted on the podium. I yanked his leash back, making him choke and let out a loud whimper.

"Hello, father." He cried. "Hello." He looked at the pack members who were looking at him in shock.

Emmanuel growled and tried to make a move but Max held him tight.

"Release me, bloodsucker. Right now!" He growled.

Max slashed the side of his face, making him scream. "Silent, pup."

"Grandma. Come here." Max said and slowly and hesitantly, Mary walked to the stage.

"Luna Mary." The crowd let out louder gasps. Most of them were the older generation.

Mary covered her mouth and started crying. The entire crowd fell silent at that. I guess they respected Mary a lot.

"You witch." Emmanuel hissed. "You brought them here?" His eyes flashed. "Let me tell you—" Mary raised her hand and said a spell after which Emmanuel lost his voice.

"Shut up." She shrieked at Emmanuel. "When I made you Alpha, I did not expect that this is the condition you will leave my pack in. Remain silent when I am talking."

She wiped her tears before turning to the pack again, more sobs erupting out of her throat. "I'm sorry, for I have made the grave mistake of making him the Alpha of our pack when my dear son-in-law Javier died in an attack. It was a mistake."

"I r-recently found of that Av-Avalyn is still alive." She cried harder. "Nikolai Vol-Volkov is her mate." She covered her mouth to control her sobs. She squeezed my arm, motioning me to continue further.

I took a step forward and looked at the pack of made Ava's life living hell for the last decade. But judging from their faces, they were all in shock too. As if they truly didn't know Ava was alive all this while. I don't know what to make of it.

But I decided to go forward with my plan anyway. "It was not Rogues that attacked your pack and killed Alpha Javier Alvarez. Your Beta, Emmanuel planned this attack and strategically killed him and all the vampires living in your pack. Simply because he did not like vampires and hated the thought of his pack having a vampire Alpha. He was so blinded by his hatred that he failed to see that the entire pack was happy under his rule."

They looked at Emmanuel with so much anger and hatred that Emmanuel lowered his eyes.

"Avalyn did not die in this attack," I growled. "Emmanuel and Emilio kept her captive and tortured her for ten long years before I found her three months ago. And apparently, a lot of people knew about this."

"Those who knew Avalyn was alive, stand up," I growled, making my blood up louder again, and brought my wolf forward to exert more dominance.

Much to my surprise, only half a dozen stood people stood up. And they looked terrified. According to what Avalyn said, I thought a lot of people knew she was alive.

"Come to the front," I ordered them. On shaky legs and against their will, they made their way forward till they reached the bottom of the podium.

I nodded at Nat and she went ahead and she quickly and efficiently sliced their throats. No one spoke, no one dared to utter a word.

"From this moment forward, I am your Alpha," I growled out my proclamation.

"You can never be our Alpha." The wolf in the ring hissed as he broke my dominance and stood up. "Mary ran away a decade ago like a coward and I have never even seen this Avalyn. Why the hell would I follow you, rogue?"

The entire crowd started murmuring in agreement.

"Yes! You are a rogue!"

"Get out of our land, rogue!"

People started breaking away from my command and started standing up.

"You aren't our Alpha!"

"We will kill you!"

They started moving towards us.

I was good at fighting. So were Max and Nat. But we sure as hell couldn't take on eight hundred wolves.

"You dare to step on our land?"

"We have had enough of tyrannical Alphas!"

"Kol?" Max asked.

My eyes met my brother's. We will fight till we die. We will fight till we kill them all.

My eyes met Nat's. We are a team. We knew what we were walking into when we came here. And if we came in like a team, we will go out like a team.

"You will die today, rogue!"

"Today is the death of the Rogue King!"

Nat took out a rope from her bag and tied Emmanuel and Vermin together so they wouldn't be able to move and handed the end of the rope to Mary, "if we die, you need to kill them." She gave us a nod.

There was a very, very small chance that Dimitri, Mikhail, and Ava had put together that we are here, gathered our entire army, and were marching up the mountains. And if it was happening, it would still take them a good six hours. The chances of them making it here on time were slim.

Max and Nat shared a passionate kiss. Most probably their last kiss. And then took their position on either side of me.

All of us took our guns out and took off the safety.

"Attack!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" They began running towards us.

"Zaschitit' korolya. Sem'ya prezhde vsego." Both of them growled together and a warmth settled in my heart. Protect the King. Family above all. Even after all these years, my brother will fight for me. And we are a family. One for all and all for one.

I raised both my guns.

'I love you, Avalyn Volkov.' I whispered in her mind-link before I shut our link before she could scream more insults at me. Also, now she won't be able to feel anything if I get hurt.

And then all hell broke loose.