He will be taking his life.
Yes, that’s the best thing to do right now. Walden is tired. He is fed up. Life no longer seems as manageable as it used to be. No one wants to be around him anymore, and those that he used to keep around betrayed his trust like it meant nothing to them, now they’re gone.
So, he left the packhouse that same morning, he only put on a cloak to cover his night clothes, he didn’t take a bath, didn’t eat any food, there was no need to after all, for someone who was about to die. As he neared the border, he could already sense it; freedom, liberation, he could already feel it coming closer. Soon, all of this would be over, his sister will take over the pack once he’s gone. Those who hate him will no longer have any problems to deal with anymore. At the end of all this, everyone will get what they want.
After some time of running in his wolf form, he finally left the night shadow territory to the neutral grounds separating three mighty lands, the silver, the Turnal and the night shadow terrains. This would be a perfect place for him to die, as wolves hardly resided in neutral lands except for when passing through, no one would notice anything that went on here. No one would be able to stop him from what he was about to do.
He shifted back to his human state and took a few steps forward, pondering on the best and quickest way to end things for himself. He hadn’t thought of that before coming here; no, he’d been too busy dealing with horrible nightmares to do so.
Through his alpha senses, he suddenly began to hear the sound of running water in the distance, a river. Perfect, he would drown himself, he ran in the direction of the sounds, anticipating what freedom and liberation would be like once he’d tasted it. He was not happy to leave this world, but still, it seemed as if this would be what’s best for everyone.
He’d reached the river now, and not only was it big enough for his purpose, it also had a strong swishing current that descended into a big waterfall. It was obvious, no half human, no matter how strong, could survive from this.
“It’s time,” he told his wolf, who didn’t seem to agree with this sudden decision he’d made, but it was Walden’s final choice, not his animal counterpart.
“Ahhhhh!!!! Please, don’t hurt me! Please, if you kill me… my poor child! She will suffer! She has no one else but me, please! She’s all alone, don’t hurt me! I beg of you!!”
“That’s none of our business, miss. We were given instructions to end your life. We’ve been paid a hefty sum, and we never leave a job unfinished.”
“Please!!! I’ll do anything!!! Aahhhhhhh!!”
It was a she-wolf, a damsel in distress, and the voices were coming from a place not so far away. Why now? Why of all times did this distraction have to come? And why here? The answer wasn’t hard to figure out. The lady meant to be killed had been brought here for same reason he came. No one would notice a dead body in this environment so easily, and the noises of the river drowned any sounds one would have made out in the distance. If it weren’t for his alpha senses, he wouldn’t have heard them at all.
After the scream, he’d stopped hearing the lady’s voice, only the men. He then listened closely.
“Is she dead?” One of them asked the other.
“No. I just strangled her unconscious; she might not be dead yet. We can’t leave her like this. Boss said we must make sure to finish the job.”
“Are you not the blockhead that forgot to carry the weapons we’ll be needing? How do we kill her now with just our hands?”
“How about we throw her into the river? There’s no way she’ll survive that waterfall.”
“Hmmm… of course, we can do that. She’s already half dead anyway.”
The voices turned to footsteps approaching, the men were coming this way as they lifted the body of their victim. They were going to throw her into this river. They were going to end her life. Walden thought of what to do then. Should he interfere or not? He had some personal business that he himself had come here to do, whatever they did with her should not concern him. But something hit him then.
This lady, he might not know her or have even seen her before, but they shared a common similarity; they were both about to die. But then, there was also a difference, this lady wanted to live, not just for her, but for someone who needed her, someone who she feared that without her, the child would never find its steps in this world.
She didn’t sound like a criminal. What then did she do that got those men hired to kill her?
“Hey! You! What are you doing here?!”
The two assassins had arrived with the body, and of course, Walden knew they were coming before, but his mind was too occupied for him to realize that he should have hidden somewhere or at least gotten out of the way. Now, the men had seen him, and there is no way they would let him leave this place alive, not with what he’d witnessed.
“I should be asking you that question,” Walden replied them as he removed his leg from the mouth of the river where he formerly stood. He could take these men down, he could come back here another time to take his life, but for now, he decided to help the poor lady, at least for the sake of her child.
No more words were exchanged as Walden went head-on to fight with them. They both placed their victim down to battle the witness who challenged them, but none were successful, as not only for their lack of weapons, none of them were as skilled as Walden in combat, who had led many armies successfully in his time as alpha.
Soon after many punches, kicks, and blows, the two unconscious men were lying on the ground, and Walden then took his time to throw them into the flowing river, the same plans they’d had to end the life of their victim. Now, only Walden remained with the she-wolf who was still lying on the ground where the men had dropped her.
He walked over to her to see if she was still alive, she was still breathing, but Walden could tell that by the bruises on her neck and the possible beating she’d taken before that as she had a wound on her head were blood gushed slowly from, she might not survive being here without any help.
That should not be his problem, right? He’d already done enough by getting rid of those who’d planned to kill her, but why? Why does Walden feel reluctant to leave her like this? Is it because of the child she mentioned?
Fuck it. He crouched down to lift her into his arms. It was a long walk from the night shadow terrain, and it would take a lot of effort for him to carry her there without his wolf, but maybe, this was a chance. Maybe the goddess had given him a chance to right his wrongs before he finally joined the afterlife. He should not let such a chance pass him by.
Once he got to the night shadow border, he would get help from the guards in taking her to the pack house healer. He would do all he could to save her life, as he would not let such a chance pass him by.