Chapter 18 - When Alphas Meet
CELESTINA VILLARAMA’s POV
Piles of wood were blocking my vision from seeing my dearest friend. My heart was throbbing, though it wasn’t due to amusement. “I’m scared,” I uttered to myself as I crouched to the ground. Both of my hands were holding tight onto my hair as I pulled it as hard as I could with my tiny fingers. “Where are you, Snow?” I asked in between my sobs. I had to close my eyes to sincerely hope for a miracle that he would show in front of me out of the blue.
“Tina? I told you not to wander off on your own,” Snow uttered as he grasped on my wrists to gently remove my grip on my hair.
“S-Snow…” My tears burst out when I saw his concerned face, then I stepped forward to embrace him. I didn’t care if his shirt would get soaked with my overflowing tears.
The only one that matters to me as of this moment was Snow.
I’d never want to be separated from him until we grow older.
***
“Celestina!” Ice shouted and before he could have landed a blow on me, I immediately stepped sideways to avoid his fists.
Due to Ice’s interference, I couldn’t proceed with what was supposed to happen right after that kid named Snow came to save me from that forest. I couldn’t see his face clearly, but one thing is for sure, he’s as white as snow and even his body temperature was literally cold. I feel like there’s some sort of connection between the two of us back then, but my memories just won’t cooperate with me.
“H-hmm?” I tilted my head slightly to the left to pretend that I wasn’t thinking of anything.
“What’re you spacing out for? Ace left us a little while ago and he told us that he’ll be back together with the alpha himself,” Ice said with a brow raised. “Speaking of the devil, they’re here…”
I glanced through the staircase where Ace was assisting Siege by holding onto the alpha’s elbow. "Is he sick?” I mumbled to myself.
From the moment that the alpha halted his movements just to give me a straight look, I kind of anticipated that our conversation would be getting nowhere. His eyes were ocean-like. They really have the same eye color whenever they are not delighted.
Ice bowed down before he decided to kneel one of his knees on the carpet. “All honor is yours, Alpha Siege Wong. I’m the delta of Silver Moon Pack, Ice. I believe that this is our first encounter despite being a member of your pack before,” Ice introduced himself.
Siege didn’t bother to glance at him even for a second. “Get to the ground, Celestina Villarama.” He demanded. “Even after being casted away, you’re still acting high and mighty inside my premises,” he added, which forced me to just follow him for the sake of saving his brother’s life. “State the reason why you’re here before I change my mind and leave.”
“Master Kristoffer’s in trouble…” I immediately gave him an answer, but my voice seemed to be kind of soft. “Your brother is in danger, Alpha Siege! He’s having a duel with the alpha from the other pack, and he’s currently being dominated by none other than Alpha Lucas,” I explained the entire scenario clearly and made sure that I wouldn’t stutter.
“M-Master Kristoffer is what?!” Ace exclaimed with a hint of angst,
Siege’s eyes twitched when he heard what I said. He most probably didn’t have an idea about his brother’s situation. “You do know that I still loathe you to the bones, right? If what you’ve told me turned out to be unreal, you better start hiding,” he warned me. “Ace, check the situation outside and report to me within a minute.” He gestured to his pack warrior to move out of the castle.
Both Ice and I were told to stand back up which we did. Ice quickly leaned closer to me. “There’s something odd about that alpha of yours, Celestina,” he whispered.
“What do you mean?”
“Didn’t you see how he was accompanied by Ace a while ago? I haven’t even done that with Lucas before. It’s like, he’s hiding the fact that his strength is reduced as of now," Ice uttered, which made me recall the scenario as I saw the crimson moon.
I couldn’t give him a proper response until Ace was back inside the mansion. He was tremendously sweating and that alone was proof that he had to hurry his way back here.
"What's the ma—"
“Master Kristoffer is down!” Ace cried out.
Just as I anticipated, the alpha swiftly moved out of the mansion, which the three of us followed. Even though we didn’t inform him of the current location of Kristoffer, he instantly knew where his brother was.
“Kris!” Siege yelled out his name.
Crows suddenly came rushing out of the forest all of a sudden when the alpha shouted.
“Well, well… Look who do we have here?” Lucas clapped his hands repetitively as he gazed upon us with those eyes that gave no emotion. “The alpha who only thought about himself for several years… The same alpha who doesn’t give a sh*t about the lives of his pack and was willing to sacrifice anyone just for the sake of his own survival.”
Siege’s shoulders dropped as he was getting provoked by Lucas. “As if you have the authority to bother with the way I handle things. You’re nothing compared to me, you mustn't forget that if you want to live,” he muttered, then stepped forth to retrieve his brother. “You okay?” he asked in the gentlest way possible.
Instead of giving a response, Kristoffer preferred to give him a soft chuckle.
“Master Kristoffer…” I mumbled, which instantly gained his attention. “Your injuries aren’t healing at all…”
Ace held one of my shoulders as he gave me a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Miss Celestina Villarama. Master Kristoffer will surely recover within the day. If it wasn’t for you, he would’ve been placed in a situation wherein he would no longer be able to talk.”
“You’re all talk.”
I definitely heard Lucas’ voice, but he was nowhere to be seen.
“Siege!” Kristoffer screamed despite being disabled on the ground.
My eyes widened when I saw Lucas captivating Siege within his broad arms. “Witness the death of your beloved alpha, Celestina,” Lucas uttered with a devilish grin on his lips.
A bolt of lightning spreaded all throughout the forest, which illuminated the surroundings. Even if it was only for a split second, I caught a glimpse of several werewolves who were simply waiting for an opportunity… or rather, the signal from Siege himself. All of them were obviously displeased with how Lucas was taking their alpha as a hostage.
Fear instilled on Lucas’ facial expression as he felt the numerous wolves that wanted him to be their feast for tonight. His fingers slowly removed its grip from the alpha’s arm. “You… I should’ve known that you didn’t come here empty handed,” Lucas said with a hint of anxiousness. “Our next encounter would surely turn out to be different than what you would expect from me. It’s been decades since I prepared for the downfall of Crimson Moon Pack, I won’t let you down at all…”
I was finally able to breathe freely when Lucas decided to forfeit in the meantime. “M-master Siege!” I attempted to get close to him, but with a single, cold gaze of his eyes, I was already taken aback. “Are you —”
“Ace, get Kris away from the forest and tell all of our subordinates to get inside the pack house. We would be conducting an emergency meeting. Gather everyone at the assembly hall as I don’t want a single member missing. Understood?” Siege cut me off as he ordered Ace around.
There was a bit of hesitation with Ace as he noticed how Siege ignored me, but he managed to give the alpha a proper reply. "As you wish, Master Siege," he said, then hurried over to carry Kristoffer from his arm which he wrapped around his shoulders. I thought that he would leave after doing so. "Ice, I don't know what you plan to do with Miss Celestina Villarama, but..."
"What?" Ice raised a brow.
"But if you're thinking of abandoning her in the end, you'll pay the price. Mark my words," Ace threatened his brother before he left the two of us as Siege disappeared as well.
I let out a sigh of frustration while the atmosphere around us began to soften up a bit. "The tension between you and Ace was kinda... expected. Though, I still hope that the two of you can still bond like how siblings are supposed to. I'm sure that it's not too late for that," I mumbled, in an attempt to cheer him up.
"Don't bother hoping for the impossible, Celestina. Ace is a complete stranger to me now, and that's how it'll end. There's no room for petty sibling's care anymore within this realm," Ice replied before he turned the other way to head back to their turf.
