Chapter 731 – Hidden Desires of the Werewolf King Novel

Filed To Story: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel

‘I told you, Keith…’ Lulu’s voice sounded in Keith’s mind through their mind-link. Why did she sound so weak?

‘What’s going on, Lulu?’ Keith asked.

‘I told you that I don’t need the oath to prove my loyalty,’ Lulu said, ignoring Keith’s question. ‘I always proved my loyalty with actions. Like now…’

‘Lulu?’ Keith called. ‘Lulu!?’

Another silvery flash was seen, this one even stronger than the previous one, and Keith wondered if it was because they were closer or because Talia had increased her power output.

Dayson and Keith nearly tripped on a rogue sprawled on the ground. Maya, Jaeden, and Caleb were right behind them.

“Waaah!” A scream reached them, and they all dashed toward the sound.

Dayson’s heart tightened at the sight of crying Talia. She was enveloped in silvery light that extended to Lulu’s body. Talia was holding Lulu’s head in her lap, there was a lot of blood, and he couldn’t pick up Lulu’s heartbeat.

Dayson’s urge was to comfort Talia, but his reason told him to first ensure there were no dangers.

Several rogues were unmoving on the ground, most of them were in their wolf forms. Dayson guessed that Talia knocked them out somehow, and he frowned when he realized that they were dead.

Dayson killed many, and he wouldn’t think much about it, but he knew that was not Talia’s style, and he was concerned about her mental state.

The pulsating silvery light from Talia’s body was dimming, and she sobbed, unaware that Dayson hugged her from behind or that Maya, Jaeden, Keith, and Caleb were also there, on their knees, looking at Lulu’s lifeless body. Maya cried silently in Jaeden’s arms, and Keith and Caleb stared at Lulu, having difficulty accepting that she was gone.

Dayson held Talia and rocked her gently, letting her hold Lulu and cry it out.

He stared at the tree canopies above them that released some of the early morning light to illuminate the world that was darker compared to yesterday.

After an unknown measure of time, Talia became aware of her surroundings.

Somehow, she was wearing a t-shirt. There was no memory of her putting clothes on, but she was in Dayson’s embrace, and he was wearing a similar t-shirt also, and she guessed that Dayson dressed her up while she was out of it.

Talia didn’t register when Jaeden fetched t-shirts and sweatpants for everyone from the nearby stash of clothes.

Dayson’s presence enveloped Talia, and she knew he was there, yet she couldn’t calm down. Lulu’s mutilated body was covered with a dark green t-shirt, and her hands were resting on her chest.

Talia looked at her bloodied hands.

“I tried to save her,” Talia said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I couldn’t.”

“Shhh,” Dayson shushed her. “It’s OK. You did what you could.”

“It’s not OK,” Talia said. How can this be OK? “Lulu died because she protected me. Rogues attacked me, and she jumped to save me and… ah… waaaah!” Talia was crying again. Gory images of rogues tearing into Lulu’s body replayed in Talia’s mind.

“Lulu’s name will be etched in the wall of warriors who made sacrifices for their pack,” Dayson said, his voice solemn.

“Lulu died with honor,” Keith said while struggling to keep his voice from breaking. “She had no regrets.” He hoped this was the truth.

Keith knew that Lulu was aware everyone doubted her, yet she still came here and performed her duty like things were fine.

‘You did it, Lulu,’ Keith spoke into the mind-link, even though he knew Lulu couldn’t hear him anymore. ‘You proved your loyalty. Luna and Alpha acknowledged you and are mourning your loss. Did you hear you’ve got a spot on the wall of fallen warriors? That’s the highest honor a warrior could have. Your father will be proud.’

Dayson’s heart was breaking for Talia. It was her first time seeing something like that, and not just seeing but being in the middle of it. He knew that Talia was drowning in guilt that will plague her for years to come.

He was there about a decade ago when people died around him, for him, and there was nothing he could do about it. People told him it was not his fault, and it was their duty, and that didn’t lessen the burden he felt. Actually, it made it worse because he thought of himself as a weak link that was causing everyone near him to die. Those were dark times in Dayson’s life, and he didn’t have time to mourn one death before the next one came, and he wondered if people would be better off without him.

But then he had Jaeden and Stephanie, and they convinced him that pack without him will suffer, and the only way to prevent unnecessary carnage was for Dayson to get stronger. And he did.

Over the years, he trained in much more than fighting. Dayson hardened his heart and steeled his mind and managed to push through crisis after crisis… but this was Talia, his delicate kitten. She was breaking apart in his arms, and he hated it.

If he had one wish, that would be the power to erase this evening from her memory.

Dayson got an idea. What if he uses the memory-erasing potion?

‘You shouldn’t think that way,’ Sapa said. ‘Mate is strong. She is kind, which is wonderful, but in our world, that could lead to her death.’

Dayson knew all that. Of course, he did. How many times did he tell Talia that people are malicious and that she should be cautious? But he loved that about her. Her nurturing nature allowed her to see the best in people.

Dayson wished to be stronger, strong enough for both of them so that he could protect Talia from all the bad in this world. He would face the ugly stuff and let her stay pure and innocent with her untainted heart that was always ready to forgive.

Suddenly, Talia stopped crying, and her head whipped to the right. She narrowed her silvery eyes in that direction as if she could see through the trees and dense foliage.

“What is it?” Dayson asked.

Without answering, Talia stood up slowly and started walking in that direction. She stepped over bodies of dead rogues like they were nothing and then continued moving straight. Dayson was right behind her, and so were Maya and Jaeden.

Keith and Caleb stayed next to Lulu’s body, per Jaeden’s command.

Talia circled one bush and stopped in front of a body. His presence was so vague that one would think he was not there or was dead, but he was staring at Talia, Dayson, Maya, and Jaeden.

“A live one,” Maya said. “Good, we can interrogate him.”

“We can’t,” Talia said dryly. “The moment he tries to divulge anything about this operation, he will burst into flames.”

Maya, Jaeden, and Dayson frowned at Talia’s words. They had never heard of such a thing as people bursting into flames for snitching.

“Are you sure?” Maya asked.

Talia confirmed with a stiff nod and pointed at the guy who didn’t move a muscle. “My guess is that painted outfit on him has some enchantment to conceal their presence and to prevent him from talking. Even when I used my aura to force them into talking, they burst into flames.” It was close to the truth, as she couldn’t say in front of Maya and Jaeden that Liseli was forcing her way into their minds.

“So, what do we do?” Jaeden asked. “We can’t interrogate him, and we can’t let him go.”

“Kill him,” Talia said.

“No, wait!” Dayson shouted. “Don’t dirty your hands, kitten. Let me do it.”

Talia looked at Dayson, and her eyes stopped flickering in silvery light in a silent agreement. Right, her Dayson was here, with his power to make everything better.

The scene of Lulu dying left a gaping hole in Talia’s heart, and she wondered if Dayson will be able to mend it somehow, or at least make it less painful. Talia wondered if she was too greedy. Should she expect Dayson to fix all her problems?

“Let’s us take care of this guy,” Maya said, indicating that she and Jaeden will kill the rogue. “We need to take Lulu and get out of here.”

The daylight didn’t make this forest any less gloomy, and it fully revealed that they were all covered in cuts and bruises, but the biggest drain was on their mind. They all wanted to head back, wash off remnants of this night and maybe wake up to find that it was just a bad dream.

Jaeden gestured to Maya to step back. “I will do it.” He turned to look at the rogue. “You are lucky. I will make this quick.”

The rogue couldn’t believe this! Why were they casually talking about who will kill him? And what was that nonsense about luck for making it quick? Lucky was being alive, and that was what he wanted!

He cursed his non-existent luck.

He grew up in a human city with his mother, who was a she-wolf. His mother passed last year, and since then, he has been wandering, trying to find out more about his kind because his mother never spoke about werewolves.

Only two months ago, he joined Tristan’s group of rogues, and until now, he made a few trips to human town to collect some packages. He was a messenger. For tonight, they told him that he only needed to come here and act as a scout, to navigate people in various directions if anyone stumbles upon him and avoid fighting. It should be an easy thing as he was always a quick runner and good at hiding. After all, he spent his teenage years among humans and they didn’t discover that he was different.

After experiencing how werewolves live, he realized it was not so glorious as he hoped it would be. He was planning to head South after getting his reward money. He dreamed of sunny beaches and half-naked babes, and not this who-will-kill-him crap!

They all seemed eager to end him, and he didn’t dare cry for mercy. How can he get out of this?

Jaeden reached for the rogue, who was pushing himself away from Jaeden, using his arms and legs, and resembling an inverted spider.

“I didn’t do anything,” he said. “I was told…”

“Do I look like I care?” Jaeden interrupted him.

“Let him talk,” Talia said. “The more he talks, the higher is the probability he will burst into flames and save you the trouble.”

The rogue shut his mouth with so much force that his teeth clattered.

After two more attempts for Jaeden to grab the rogue’s neck, Jaeden lost his patience and grabbed the guy’s ankle. He would tackle the rogue, but the guy was naked, and Jaeden didn’t want to engage in more skinship than necessary.

“Stay still, will ya?” Jaeden said irritably.

The scene would be comical if not for everyone’s wretched states and for the fact that they were set on killing the guy.

Dayson rolled his eyes. Why was this taking so long? “Move to the side, Jaeden.”

The rogue thought they will spare him, but then Dayson released Talia from his hold and moved to stand above him.

“It will be your honor to experience death from Alpha Dayson, the Alpha of the Shadow Fang pack. Any last words? You have three seconds. Talia, look away.”

The rogue felt like crying. First luck, now honor? This was more like horror!

‘Will you let that rogue die just like that?’ Liseli’s voice sounded in Talia’s head.

Talia didn’t get it. ‘What?’

‘We can get into his mind and get some information before he self-combusts.’

Talia thought how that made sense.

“Dayson, wait! Let me do it.”

The rogue’s eyes were wide as saucers. Now she wanted to kill him? Were they tagging each other? At this rate, he will die from stress.

“No, kitten…”

“Please. I know what I’m doing.”

The rogue hoped they would bicker more, and he would use that chance to escape.

At the sight of Dayson yielding to Talia, the rogue swallowed hard. Even the big bad Alpha was listening to her, which told the rogue that Talia was probably the most dangerous out of the four.

An unfamiliar Alpha aura reached them, and they saw two figures approaching. Kalina and Varya.

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