Alpha Darrell's Redemption: Fated to the Betrayed Alpha

ONE

Darrell's POV

"I'll hear nothing more of what you say, Kimberly." My deep voice is a low but firm rumble, almost bone-chilling, and I turn to Kimberly's maid, Amber. "Escort the Luna to her chambers." She bows her head at me, not daring to look me in the eyes.

"Alpha Darrell, you need to listen-" Kimberly begins to speak, determined to let me hear her pleas to remove Miguel from the forefront of the war matters, but I cut her off with a growl.

"Now!" Amber instantly flinches, holding Kimberly, who's already sniffing back tears, by the hand and guiding her out of my sight, but before they can succeed in leaving my chambers, Randall charges in without acknowledging Kimberly or even observing the protocols required of a Beta save for the part where he bows at me.

"Forgive my impertinence, Alpha Darrell, but there's a big problem!" He says in between ragged breaths and heavy pants, his fingers trembling on the cold marble floor as he bows his head, sweat trickling down his face from the scar up his forehead, and I cock my head, pulling my brows in a frown.

Randall isn't one to break a sweat easily, let alone become this unsettled over something trifling-one of the long list of reasons why I didn't hesitate to have him by my side as my Beta after I was crowned Alpha recently by the now late Alpha Quentin, my father.

The last time he was this agitated was when the alpha of one of our rival packs, the Grey Hound pack, hunted and held captive our primordial warlock, who went on a long trip out of the city to renew his abilities, which were weakened after one powerful ablution.

About a year ago, Randall had a very strange illness that almost ended his life, but thankfully, with the help of Elena, the pack healer, he survived it, except that his mind link was severed. It's during times like this that I wish I could hear his thoughts.

"Speak."

"Our kingdom has been attacked, Alpha Darrell. A pack in their thousands is heading here from the pack square. I'm afraid they will make it here and penetrate the heavy gates before we make it out of here to the pack square. They have very deadly ammunition and weapons. Ones I've not come in contact with in all my years as a wolf warrior."

Kimberly gasps from the front of the door, her fingers clasping her mouth at Randall's words.

I take a moment to put my hearing to good use, and it's then the roaring sounds from the far distance pierce in, and my eyes widen. They may even be closer than I think.

This is our third rival attack since I became the alpha of the Onyx Moon pack, with the last attack being just three days ago.

Whoever this is, they carefully planned this all too well and have a spy implanted in the walls of my kingdom because they're attacking when most of the pack warriors are still recovering from their injuries, including Miguel, my gamma-chief head of the warriors. Luckily, I didn't sustain fatal injuries, and my wounds healed easily.

Also, the new weapons we requested from the pack's sword-smith are yet to arrive. Besides, we lost several hundred wolf warriors in the last attack.

Also, the pack healer, Elena, is away for a two-day trip to recover after she became weakened from using her powers to heal the wolves fatally injured in the last attack. Although her daughter, Zoey, a teenager, is available, she's never had to perform the healing process alone. I'm not even sure I can entrust her with that task.

Sudden heat rises behind my eyelids, and my pulse must have quickened, but I keep my emotions in check, pressing my fingers tight on the handle of my chair so hard that I think it might break, but I hear only a cracking sound, which makes Randall swallow.

"Who is it?" I ask in the lowest menacing rumble I can muster, hanging on only a treadmill of patience, as I feel my anger skyrocketing.

"There are many hundreds of them. It's the Blackstone Pack. They formed alliances with other rival packs, and there are maybe thousands even. The pack is led by..." He swallows, his sweat dripping to the floor, forming beads, and his clothes are drenched at his back.

"Speak now!" I snarl, rising from my throne, my eyes burning aflame as I charge towards him, my insides boiling in rage, and from the corner of my eyes, I can see Kimberly hugging her maid, terror written all over her face.

Then the last thing I want to hear rolls out of Randall's lips, sending shockwaves through me. "R-Raul! It's Raul, alpha Darrell. Your half-brother. He's the alpha of the pack!"

Cold sweats break off my face, and I feel a sudden lump clogging my throat. It suddenly becomes hard to breathe, as I feel suffocated by this news.

What? Raul? Raul Carter? My half-brother? How? He's supposed to be in exile, serving the punishment the former Alpha, Alpha Quentin, our father, pronounced on him for breaking one of the greatest laws of the pack-mating with a dragon. I've always known he was greedy for the throne, but I never imagined that he'd ever retaliate this way.

Alpha Quentin had had enough of that miscreant before that last unforgivable straw, and although he would have been the alpha as against other biases of him being the son of a concubine since he's the oldest son of our father, a rogue could never mount the throne.

Alpha Quentin was very principled, abolishing all laws of impartiality-for instance, the one that forbids the illegitimate son of an alpha from being an alpha inheritor, and others like rejecting a mate bond as an alpha inheritor merely because your mate was an omega.

Kimberly, my mate, used to be a low-ranking wolf, an omega, with whom I felt the bond pull, and I didn't hesitate to mark her as my mate as the bond between us grew stronger.

Who could be the snitch within the walls of this palace? How could Raul have access to privileged information like this?

If he's able to show up at a time like this, it only means that there's a snitch within the walls of this palace. Also, Raul chose a time when our to-be wolf warriors were still in training. The wolf warriors in the palace are not even up to a thousand now, and even if I let the wolf warriors in training join in this battle, I'm afraid they can't do much, as their training only began about a week ago.

My jaw hardens at that thought, and I ball my fists, as I feel blood coursing through my veins, which I'm sure must be visible now.

A loud thud smothers through my thought process, followed by the squeals of Amber as she calls Kimberly, my mate, and my eyes dart to the doorway where I spot Kimberly's collapsed body, with Amber fanning her with the hem of her long dress.

My senses kick in, and in a heartbeat, I'm crouched by her side, checking her pulse with two of my fingers.

"She's still breathing. She collapsed," I mutter under my breath, relief washing through me like showers of rain. "Randall, take the Luna to the pack physician now and arrange for her to be escorted outside the palace through the secret door!" Randall, who's hovering behind me, instantly complies, propping Kimberly's limp body up and carrying her in his arms with Amber's help.

"Miguel!" Miguel Reyes, my gamma, who's always about thirty feet away from me at the door leading into the chamber, breezes in, bowing at me, with a few strands of his hair hanging loose in the air and his sword sheathed beside him as usual, maintaining his usual poise, even though I'm certain he heard the news by now.

Although he's still recovering from his wounds from the last attack, he insisted on keeping by my side.

Unlike Randall, Miguel never shows his emotions. It's like he's trained himself not to be controlled by his emotions-something I'm still learning.

"Get the pack warriors ready, including the ones in training. We don't have time to waste. We need to make it to the pack square before they make it to the palace gates."

Miguel expresses his comprehension with a slight nod before escaping out of the door.

I ponder on who gave me away to my half-brother as the sounds are coming closer, and I can already imagine Raul trying to penetrate the heavy gates. It takes Miguel no time to gather all the wolves, and by this time, Randall, my Beta, returns, informing me that he's been able to escort the Luna out of the palace in a carriage with the pack physician.

I replace my clothes with war clothes, stacking arrows with wolfsbane behind my back and grabbing my bow. We get ready with the horses, with me, Miguel, and Randall leading the wolf warriors, and I leave about thirty percent of them in the kingdom.

"Guard the gates heavily! Make sure it's impenetrable!" I command as we get out of the palace, and they all chorus their obedience.

"Alpha Darrell, don't you think one of us should stay within the city gates? We're not sure about how much your half-brother knows about the kingdom. A very strong warrior has to stay within the palace and guard it with his life," Miguel says before we leave, and I nod in understanding, glancing at my Beta.

"Randall, stay behind and guard the palace gates with the other wolves."

His brows pull in a frown. "Alpha Darrell, are you sure-" He proceeds to hesitate, concern edged in his voice, but I cut him short.

"It's an order!" He nods hesitantly, dismounting from his horse and bowing down to me, and in a heartbeat, both Miguel and I rein our horses, with the other wolf warriors following behind us.

Our horses gallop on the hard floor as we move out of the palace, but before we make it far, I spot Raul's army drawing nearer, and we keep moving till Raul and I are face-to-face, and he halts his horse, raising his hand in the air and gesturing for his wolf warriors, who are more than I imagined, to stop.

His long hair ripples down his shoulder, and his lips are pulled in a wicked smirk as he watches me, his blue eyes glinting. It's still evening, and I can pretty much make out his face.

I hold out my hand also, halting my men, and my nostrils flare. I grit my teeth as I feel sheer rage engulfing me just by his mere presence.

"Long time no see, dear brother. Forgive me for interrupting the peace and quiet of your perfect pack," Raul says, his voice heavy with sarcasm, and my lips curl in a firm slash, and I tighten my fist, which is still reining my brown horse in a ball. "You made a mistake trying to mess with me, Raul. You picked the wrong guy."

"I bet it must cause your heart to ache that your heavily guarded territory will soon be invaded, right? It's such a pity that I have to go the hard way to get what's rightfully mine," says Raul, caressing his horse before tucking a loose strand of his hair back in place.

"It's pathetic to think that you're gullible enough to believe that you'll smell the palace gates. Dream on, rogue, because you won't be able to make it past here."

He clicks his tongue. "Darrell. Darrell. Darrell," he drags out my name slowly. "You know the problem with you? You always think everything is either white or black, but the world doesn't work that way, you know. I guess you should have figured that out by now."

I scoff. "I imagine that by lecturing me about white and black colors, you're talking about the snitch you planted in my pack," I say, my lips curling into a rueful smile.

"Maybe you're not so gullible as I thought then if you were able to sniff out the rat. So tell me, brother, who do you think it is?" He drawls, narrowing his gaze at me till his eyes almost disappear.

Again, the corner of my lips twists in a smile, and I turn to Miguel, who's right beside me, the smile disappearing from my face. "I have him where I want him to be." Then, in a heartbeat, I pull out my sword, holding it to Miguel's neck.