Kenneth’s POV
I walked, growling like a caged animal with my fist in my other palm. I had never been so humiliated in my life. I couldn’t believe that Kevin had dared to play a trick on me.
“Coward.” I spat out, the word tasting bitter in my mouth.
He should have fought like a real wolf. He shouldn’t have devised other methods to win like a mortal. If he had fought like the alpha that he was, I would have won the fight by now.
“I told you to not send them.”
I turned as I watched my general walk in, brimming with anger. I remembered Kevin’s last words as I was forced to run like a coward that I wasn’t and hissed, feeling my anger rise up as well to the surface to match his. He had told me I should have listened to my general and now I hated that my general was here to gloat about that and rub it in my face.
“Are you here to lament about what has passed instead of focusing on how we can defeat them the next time?” I hissed at him.
He snorted at me, catching me by surprise. He had never done that. I didn’t know he was angry that much
“Did you just say next time?” He asked.
“Yes, next time. You don’t think I’m giving up, right?”
“I don’t think you are that eager to risk losing the men.” He snapped.
I snapped back at him. “Stop overreacting.”
“Overreacting?” He yelled. “I had to watch men that their deaths could have been prevented die. Do you still think I’m overreacting?”
I sighed. He was right. I regretted sending the men in a second time but I had my reasons for doing that. I had assumed that it was safe for the men to attack the blood moon wolves since they had run out of explosives and my men couldn’t be injured by that anymore. How could I have suspected that those bastards had other tricks up their sleeves and had gotten silver arrows to shoot at us? I couldn’t have imagined that werewolves would intentionally get closer to silver.
I shouldn’t have underestimated Kevin.
I noticed my general was still glaring at me and my anger boiled over. How could he dare to glare at me that way? I wouldn’t tolerate such disrespect.
“Lower your eyes and stop glaring at me.” I ordered him. “Stop acting as if you are the only one who cares about the men.”
“Do you?” He threw the question at me without obeying my order to stop glaring at me. “I don’t see you going to check the men since we’ve gotten back. I was the one making the rounds to check on them and listening to them groan in pain yet you think I am overreacting. Tell me how you being cooped up in here wallowing in self-hatred and ignoring the men who went to fight on your behalf show that you care about them.”
He was right. I listened to the sounds in the air around me and could hear the men groaning in pain. I sighed, not knowing that they were in that much pain. I had marched forward and quickly till I got to our camp and had shut myself in here, shutting out everything around me.
I looked at the soldier in front of me and sighed, understanding why he was angry
“I will think of how I can stop more men from getting killed. That is what I’ve been thinking of. Can you excuse me so I can get back to thinking and formulating different war strategies?” I asked him.
He snorted. “You still don’t get it. I don’t want us fighting again. How many men do we have to lose because of your obsession?”
“My obsession?” I echoed, looking at him strangely as if I hadn’t seen him before. I couldn’t believe he had said that to me. He knew why I was fighting and what I was fighting for. I had explained to them all why we had to come after the blood moon pack wolves.
“Yes, my lord. We don’t have to fight again and risk the men. How many more men have to give up before you let go? The blood moon wolves would have other tricks up their sleeves that we can’t find out. It’s too late to make arrows as they did or melt swords. We should give up.”
“I didn’t think that you would want us to give up.” I sighed.
“I didn’t think that I would lose four groups of soldiers in a day.”
What? I hissed, narrowing my eyes at him. They were my men and he didn’t have a right to lay any claim to them. “They are my men.” I hissed at him. “I’m the alpha of the pack.” I said, hating that I had to remind him.
“I’m the general of the pack.” He sighed. “I’m as in control of the soldiers as you are and wouldn’t let you risk their lives in such gruesome manner again.”
I sighed, angry that he dared to defy me. I looked into his eyes and searched deep. I scowled, hating what I found them. He was determined and meant what he said. He wouldn’t let me go out to war so soon or at all as I itched to go.
I couldn’t let him get out of this tent. If I let him leave here, he would turn the men against me and not let them fight. He had influence among the soldiers as well and would talk most of them into leaving me here and going back home.
I sighed, hating that things had come to this. How did it get here?
My general had defied my orders and had turned himself into a rebel. It wasn’t in my nature to let rebels go scot-free. Before he knew what was happening, I moved forward fast like lightning and slashed his neck open with my claws.
He held his throat with his hands and looked at me with shock written all over his face, unable to speak.
I watched without interest as he bled out on the ground. “I’m going to kill off the blood moon wolves and protect my men the way I deem fit. How dare you try to lecture me?”
I rolled my eyes as I watched him. The damn bastard. He didn’t even look like he was sorry for what he said to me and I stopped feeling guilty about killing him.
If I hadn’t taken care of him now, he wouldn’t hesitate to be a threat to me and my throne later on in the future and I couldn’t have that.
The men knew what they were getting themselves into before they came this far with me and I didn’t need someone with cold feet to distract them. I could see my victory over the blood moon wolves and wouldn’t stop until I got it.