Kenneth’s POV
I stood before the men, looking at them with pride swelling my head. I had already won the battle. I smiled as I looked at the seven hundred men with me, decked in their uniforms and looking as fierce as I felt.
I didn’t see any way that the men who were not up to twenty could escape alive after the battle.
They had already eaten and freshened up and now we were about to have our first meeting. I was glad that they were all here when I had thought that I wouldn’t get to see them.
“What took you so long?” I asked, trying not to groan and show them how much affected I was by their tardiness.
“We had to wait for the others so we could all come together.” Vian, the leader of group five answered.
I didn’t even know that they had also communicated with one another. It was nice that they had unity and had still kept on to it even though they were apart on duty.
I scanned the troops standing before me and scowled when I noticed the absence of group three and group seven. Those was the groups that the blood moon pack wolves had eradicated. I was going to avenge their deaths.
“Soldiers of the dark,” I called out to them.
“Yes, my lord.” They answered, the echo vibrating through the cave we were gathered in.
I was glad that we were down in the underground cave or the whole clan would have found out where we were and what we were up to. I was relieved that sounds couldn’t escape from here no matter how loud it was. I could talk comfortably where we were.
“Rogue soldiers of honour.” I called out again.
“Yes, my lord.” They echoed again.
I nodded, loving their enthusiasm. “It’s time for war.” I began. “The blood moon pack alpha is still alive despite my attempts to get rid of him all these years. He is doing fine and has even rescued his mate that I sold to the rulers of the utopia town almost ruining my business relationship with them. He killed our men in group three and seven. Can you see them here with us?” I asked, spreading my hands over the group to show them what I meant.
I waited for the men to look around and continued when I saw that their faces had become fiercer and the atmosphere in the cave had changed and gotten darker.
“Will you not take action against those who had brought dishonor to your alpha? Will you not avenge those who had killed your fellow soldiers, those who murdered them in cold blood and left them in a strange land for the vultures to feast on?”
I intentionally picked my words and for each of the words that I said, the men growled more in anger, their chests going up and down with vigor and I knew they were fueled up with the desire to kill.
The wolves weren’t ready for the beasts that were coming for them.
“Will you kill off those who had made ridicule of your pack?” I roared.
“Yesss!” The men roared, raising their fists in the air, the signal that they were ready to charge for war.
I smiled, loving their energy. I loved this sight and could etch it in my memory forever. I was king for a reason. I had chosen these men for a day like this.
I nodded and waved a hand in the air to silence them.
“This is the plan. We’ve found out where they are. They are hiding with the blue river pack.”
“The blue river pack?” The leader of group one asked. He seemed surprised. “I thought they were enemies.”
I shrugged. “I was surprised when I found out. I don’t know the relationship between those they are staying with but I’m sure that we will find out soon. They are not really staying with the blue river pack but only two of them so their number isn’t a bother to us. We can still conquer them.”
“It seems like those hiding them are doing it without the knowledge of their pack. Should we notify them so they can fight the blood moon pack wolves near their land?” The leader of group fourteen asked.
I shook my head and smiled, knowing what he was thinking of. “We don’t need to rat them out to the blue river pack to get rid of them. We are more than enough in numbers to kill them off without batting an eye. Moreover, the blue river wolves hate us as much as the blood moon wolves. They wouldn’t fight with us. They would fight against us and when they were done getting rid of us, they would then deal with the blood moon wolves hiding in their territory on their own terms.”
The men nodded. “They wouldn’t fight with us. You are right, my lord.”
I nodded without saying a word. I was always right. I didn’t want to remind them. “You should rest as much as you can tonight, soldiers. We are setting out immediately after the curfew is lifted tomorrow morning. You should move silently in groups of four outside to the border so the elders and the people wouldn’t know what we plan to do. You should pretend as if you are on a patrol as you move across the streets to the border so no one will suspect you. The group five soldiers should come first to my palace tomorrow morning before they leave. I have told the kitchen maids to pack as much food as possible that would last us throughout the war so you have to come get them as you will be in charge of cooking. I will move after the group three soldiers when I’m done with my early morning meetings with the elders so they would suspect nothing till we are all out of the town.”
I knew they would eventually find out that the king had disappeared before the middle of the day but I didn’t want to think of that. They could do whatever it was that they wanted to do then. All I cared about is leaving without anyone stopping me with unnecessary lecture or being saddled with administrative tasks that I didn’t want to deal with at the moment.
I looked at each of the men, pining them with my gaze as my eyes traveled across the cave. “Do you all understand the plan?”
“Yes, my lord.” They echoed again.
“You can all go to bed.” I dismissed them and watched as they filed out of the cave to their quarters, adrenaline pumping through my body.
I doubted that I was going to get any sleep at all tonight.
Ella’s POV
What?
My eyes widened as I got to the training ground and saw what I hadn’t been expecting to find. I suspected what was going on but I didn’t think it would be truth. My subconscious nagged at me, telling me that it was true whether I liked it or not.
What was this?
I hadn’t been expecting this sight.
I looked at the trainer who was supposed to be my father and scowled at him.
He smiled at the expression on my face and called out to me. “Come here, daughter. We don’t have all the time in the world.”
I snorted as I moved forward. It felt like I was going to be the one without time at all in the world when I was done with whatever he planned to do here.
“You already know what will happen, right?” He asked, flexing his arms.
“You should have told me that you wanted me dead, dad. I would have happily sliced my throat in the shower instead of having you go through all this stress.” I smirked.
He winced and then burst into laughter. “You of all people should know that I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you, my dear. Why don’t you believe in yourself like you’ve been all this while? I see Kevin has been rubbing off on you.”
“Don’t insult my mate, dad.” I pretended to be angry.
“I dare not.” Dad chuckled.
“Are we going to watch a fight or listen to a father and daughter banter with each other?”
“Both.” Dad replied, chuckling.
I turned behind me to see who had spoken and gasped as I realized that the men had all gathered around the training ground.
“What are you doing here?” I asked them.
Olsen winked at me. “We heard of how you defeated Damien and Loki and are curious of how you will win this training session. We want to see you live in action instead of having others tell us what happened.”
I was nervous suddenly about their presence. I was nervous already seeing those I had to fight and now the men were all here to watch. Gosh, I hoped they weren’t here to watch me embarrass myself.
“You didn’t have to be here.” I muttered under my breath, hoping the men would all turn and go back into the house.
“Are you ready, Ella?” Dad shouted, breaking through the walls of nerves that I felt.
I should be. “I am.” I nodded at him, staring at the men who were meant to my opponents.
“Good.” He smiled at me. “Let’s see how you will fight the three of us here.”
Wait, what?! The three of them? I wasn’t ready. Not at all. I couldn’t believe that I had heard him right. How did dad expect me to fight Liam, Caleb and him and expect me to win? How did he even expect me to come out alive? Those two were among the strongest in their respective packs. I had barely survived fighting with Damien and Loki and Liam was stronger than the two of them and Caleb wasn’t an easy force to reckon with as well.
I couldn’t use the trick that I had used to defeat Damien and Loki as everyone already knew of it and they would know well to avoid it if I wanted to try it. I would need another fighting technique to win these three but unfortunately, I was drawing a blank at the moment.
I knew dad had told me that I would be fighting with three men at the next training session but I couldn’t have known that he had counted himself as one of them. He had an odd sense of humor.
I sighed as I rolled my eyes at him, letting him know what was going on in my head. He should have just told me that he didn’t want me to fight. I knew I couldn’t protest because he would only tell me that he was doing this for me. I wasn’t about to give up now. I had come too far for this to not try my best at this stage. Even if my best wasn’t going to be enough, I wasn’t going to call it quits without trying at all.
“Are you ready, daughter?” Dad asked again.
I looked at Liam and Caleb. Their faces didn’t look like they were going to take it easy on me. Dad had already given them his instructions. I looked at dad and swallowed, nodding my head at him.
If fighting these three strong men was my ticket to be recognized as a warrior, then I was going to do it. Mother was a fierce and respected warrior, and I had her blood flowing through me.
“I am ready, coach.” I said to dad.
He smiled, his eyes lighting up with pride. “Good. Let the fight begin.”
“You can do this, Ella. You’ve been training hard for this.”
I smiled as I heard Kevin’s voice. His support at this moment meant a lot to me. I held on tightly to his words as I roared and charged at the men who were already charging at me.