Chapter 33: The object of your obsession

Dorian stood at the crest of the stone bridge connecting the Northern and Western borders. The harsh morning sunlight made his eyes gleam eerily, his features hardened into an unyielding scowl.

Below the bridge lay a bloody massacre. Bodies were torn apart, ripped and shredded beyond recognition.

Severed limbs, decapitated heads, and scattered entrails strewed the gorge, the ground completely soaked in a thick, dark carpet of blood.

Flies buzzed heavily in the humid air. The overwhelming stench of rotting carcasses was enough to make a lesser man gag, yet Dorian stood entirely unfazed, his arms crossed tightly over his chest as his gaze locked onto the center of the slaughter.

Alpha Gaten stood beside him, looking pale and muttering under his breath. His face twisted in deep disgust until, unable to bear the sight any longer, he turned on his heel and walked away.

Dorian finally moved, averting his eyes from the gore to scan the small crowd that had gathered. The twelve council members stood a short distance away, murmuring alongside a few perimeter guards from the Western pack.

"Jake," Dorian’s voice rang out coldly, slicing through the heavy silence.

Jake instantly detached himself from Alec and Anthony, hurrying to the King’s side.

"Alpha," he murmured, bowing his head.

"What happened here?"

Jake shifted uncomfortably, forcing his gaze away from the carnage beneath the stone bridge. "A group of campers got attacked. Ten of them in total."

"Where are the perimeter guards?" Dorian snapped, his jaw tightening. "Bring them to me."

Jake nodded and hurried off. Left alone, Dorian clenched his fists, his chest rising and falling with suppressed rage.

Over the past few years, he had done everything in his power to suppress the soulless rogues. Because they possessed no minds and felt no pain, the only solution was airtight security around the four territories.

For a long time, it worked. But now they were back, and they had left a slaughterhouse in their wake.

Minutes later, Jake returned with four heavy-set guards trailing behind him. They instantly dropped to one knee, bowing deeply.

"Which one of you is in charge?" Dorian demanded, completely ignoring their formal greetings.

"It is me, Alpha." The guard at the front lifted his head and slowly rose to his feet. He had a sharp buzz cut and dark brown eyes that bordered on black.

"Your name?"

"Axel Austin."

"Axel," Dorian stepped closer, his voice dropping into a dangerous register. "Explain to me how a pack of soulless rogues bypassed you and a hundred heavily trained guards to breach my border."

"Alpha, it is still entirely confusing to us," Axel explained, his voice tight. "The night shift guards were stationed at their exact coordinates. There was no visible breach, and we received absolutely no distress call from the mind link. It was as if..."

When Axel abruptly trailed off, Dorian’s eyes narrowed into lethal slits. "As if what?"

"It sounds insane, Alpha," Axel continued, swallowing hard. "But it was as if they were shielded by some invisible force we couldn’t detect. By the time the campers’ screams reached us, it was already too late."

Dorian ground his teeth, the Lycan fire roaring in his veins. He dismissed Axel and the guards, turning his sharp gaze toward Anthony.

"I need you and Alec to take charge here," he commanded. "Clean up this mess and ensure what remains of the bodies are buried before word spreads. I will not have a pack-wide panic."

Anthony nodded grimly. "Consider it done."

"Jake, you’re with me," Dorian continued, turning toward the path. "Did the trackers manage to identify the bodies?"

"Yes, Alpha," Jake reported, keeping pace. "Eight of them are from our side, newly mated. Their families are completely distraught."

"Institute an immediate curfew across the entire North," Dorian said. "Until the Moon Ceremony passes. Afterwards, I need to pay the families of the deceased a visit."

"Will do, Alpha," Jake said, quickening his stride to open the car door.

As Dorian walked toward the main road leading away from the border, Gaten rushed to catch up, matching his long strides.

"Alpha Dorian, you must take action regarding this," he complained loudly. "You gave your word that the rogues were entirely eradicated. After what happened today, the territories will be plunged into unrest."

Dorian stopped dead in his tracks. He turned slowly, his eyes flickering with a dangerous, golden intent as a deadly scowl twisted his face. He stood several inches taller than Gaten.

"Are you blaming me for this attack, Gaten?" he asked, his voice strangely calm.

Intimidated by the sudden pressure of Dorian’s flaring aura, Gaten took a cautious step back, raising his hands in a defensive gesture to hide his trembling.

"I am not blaming you, Alpha Dorian. I am simply stating the facts. As the Alpha King with the largest army, the rogues should have been eliminated by now."

Dorian ignored him, turning his back to continue toward the vehicle, but Gaten pressed on, desperate to keep up.

"We haven’t suffered a single breach in over a year," he muttered, shooting Dorian a calculating, sidelong glance. "How convenient is it that they chose to strike just days after you discovered that strange girl in the forest?"

Dorian froze a second time. Before Gaten could even blink, his hand shot out like lightning, grabbing the Western Alpha by the collar of his shirt and lifting his heavy, thickset frame completely off the ground.

Gaten’s eyes widened in sheer terror. He hadn’t anticipated Dorian reacting with such terrifying, instantaneous violence.

"Do you want to remain the Alpha of the West?" Dorian growled savagely. When Gaten choked, unable to form words, Dorian roared into his face, "DO YOU?"

Terrified into submission, Gaten nodded frantically.

"Then I highly advise you to keep your fucking mouth shut!" Dorian hissed. Inside his mind, Shadow roared in pure fury, demanding to be let out to rip Gaten apart.

"I will only say this once, Gaten," he snarled. "If you value this pathetic excuse of an existence you call a life, you will never speak of my guest again."

He violently shoved Gaten away and stormed toward the car, every muscle in his body taut with tension.

As Jake pulled away from the curb and accelerated down the highway, Dorian closed his eyes and tried to calm his beast. Sometimes, the crown of the Alpha King felt crushing.

He pulled out his phone, intending to call Pandora and check on Alyssa. Knowing his sister’s love for spontaneous shopping sprees, they were likely already at the mall.

But before he could dial, an incoming call from a restricted number intercepted the screen.

Dorian frowned, staring at the flashing display before swiping to answer.

"I didn’t think you’d actually pick up, little cousin," Joffrey’s smug, arrogant voice drawled through the speaker.

Dorian’s grip on the phone suddenly tightened, a vicious scowl instantly marring his face.

"Joffrey!" he spat out the name like it was venom. "Why the fuck are you calling me?"

"I heard you’ve been keeping a secret from me," Joffrey continued, his tone dripping with absolute amusement. "I always knew you as a man with exquisite taste in women, but a wolfless stray from the Southern pack? That is so unlike you."

Dorian sat bolt upright in the leather seat, his fingers crushing the edges of his phone until the plastic casing groaned under the pressure.

"What are you talking about?" he growled.

"I’m talking about the little thing you’ve made the object of your obsession," Joffrey said, his voice dropping into a low, venomous glee that made Dorian’s blood turn to ice. "She really is stunning, Dorian. Much more beautiful than Elvira was... and younger, too. Makes me almost want to repeat history–"

"If you touch her, Joffrey, I will kill you!" Dorian growled, his voice vibrating with pure Lycan fury.

Joffrey merely laughed, unbothered by the threat. "Come and get her, cousin, before I do."

A vicious, explosive crack echoed through the car as Dorian’s grip entirely pulverized the phone, sending shattered glass and plastic raining onto the floorboards.

Jake glanced worriedly into the rearview mirror, his breath catching when he saw Dorian’s eyes. They had bled completely into soulless, pitch-black coals.

"Drive to the mall," Dorian commanded, his voice a deadly, low vibration. "Now!"