The Moon Goddess' Chosen

497 [Bonus chapter]A Familiar Face

Not just that, but all the rogues around were reacting to him now, acting as though they were his subordinates. The group had lost all manner of order when he downed the previous leader, but now something was off once again.

When he looked up, he noticed this rogue’s eyes had changed colour to crimson… just like the one before him.

‘Again?!’

Seeing it once, twice…

Caden felt he could ignore the fact that this was an anomaly. After all, he’d dealt with it both times… but now, he had the impending suspicion that this would keep happening.

And he couldn’t deal with an infinite number of Rogue-King-infested rogues.

Caden pulled at the wolves holding him, easily overpowering them with the immense difference in their strength. They were weak amber-eyed werewolves who he could easily dispatch.

As he got up, a gasp escaped his lips and he was forced back to the ground. The sound of ripping fabric rippled through the air as something got buried deep into the flesh of his lower back.

The beta alpha froze and gritted his teeth, red fury staining his vision, “Will you keep struggling? You could hear me out at least. I’m not that unreasonable, am I? Someone as strong as you would be more useful to me alive.”

.....

The rogues he’d thrown off him quickly grabbed his hands and forced him to the ground again. Caden could almost feel the mischievous grin on the face of the rogue that had stabbed him.

Gritting his teeth in pain, he heard the hoarse voice from his assailant, “These beta alphas are something else. I can already feel the flesh trying to mend itself against the knife. Haha! This is insane, even for a werewolf.”

Caden ignored the rogue’s words and turned his head to the last delta and noticed the man had also been knocked unconscious.

After watching him for a short while, he noticed the man’s chest rising steadily. For some reason, the rogues weren’t killing them… which was completely the opposite of what rogues were fond of doing.

“You’re leaving them alive… why?” Caden barked.

“Oh, I think you know the reason for that,” the rogue grinned, flashing an abnormal set of canines. The body that this abomination of a royal was inhabiting wasn’t meant to hold that much power.

There hadn’t been time for the natural transformation from a normal wolf to an alpha… or whatever rank the presence of the Rogue King’s mind elevated the werewolf to.

As a result, the extra growth of canines had ruptured the gums and stained the teeth with blood.

Staring at this grotesque grin, Caden’s mind made the connection he’d been trying to avoid. The reason people were suddenly shifting and acquiring the power of werewolves. It was starting to make a little bit of sense… and bringing even more questions at the same time.

For starters, shifting one’s mind completely from one body to another, along with a large pool of power should have been impossible and that were only a few of the questions that plagued his mind.

“YOU…” Caden growled.

“Yes… me!!!”

“Why would… Never mind! It’s pointless.”

This was the rogue king after all. How he was able to inhabit someone else’s mind and boost their power was a mystery all on its own but he had to be stopped.

“I’m glad we’re finally on the same page. Now then, as I was say…” a loud screech cut the Rogue King short.

Under normal circumstances, anyone would have ignored a loud screech but the rogue king didn’t.

The rogue turned around completely and gazed skyward, focusing on a creature soaring high in the sky with a look of frustration… “Not again!”

Caden looked up as well and noticed a solitary eagle soaring high in the sky. The alpha scrunched his brows in confusion. Eagles were powerful creatures capable of lifting even adult humans but they rarely interacted with humans.

Why would the Rogue King be bothered by an eagle soaring in the sky?

But that was just it…

There wasn’t supposed to be an eagle in this part of the empire. Eagles kept to places closer to waterbodies like the reserve they’d visited in Sirius two years ago…

‘Luna?’ the beta alpha wondered.

It was a misplaced bird but did this eagle have to get on the Rogue King’s nerves that much?

Caden was a beta alpha and the Rogue King had looked much more confident in front of him. He was so confident in his ability to dispatch the beta alpha that he had his whole concentration focused on the eagle in the sky… as though the eagle was a much more dangerous threat.

“My Lord, what seems to be the problem?”

“She’s here… and that’s not a good thing,” the Rogue King replied.

“I don’t follow,” the rogue asked, confused.

The rogue king didn’t get a chance to explain himself once more as another loud screech tore through the sky. The eagle suddenly tucked its wings and banked into a nosedive.

One eagle was a problem that could… if dealt with well, be solved with minimum injuries and the rogues hadn’t found reason to worry… until a large symphony of feathers and winged began to hum loudly from the forest surrounding the Bunker.

The rogues shuddered with worry and started shifting their attention to their surroundings. The civilians had long since been pushed into a group aside, closer to the edge of the forest and protected by a formation of pack warriors.

The Rogue King growled at the eagle before turning to the beta alpha and baring his teeth. There was a glint of desperation in the rogue’s eyes as he launched into a dash heading for the beta alpha.

Caden’s eyes widened in shock. His instincts jumped to one conclusion. Caden was a hunter and knew what the face of a hunter looked like… be it a werewolf or animal.

‘He wants to bite me?!?’ he mentally screamed.

The rogue let out a bloodcurdling roar and leapt high into the air in a smooth arc aimed at the restrained beta alpha. His jump was well calculated and when Caden struggled against the rogues holding him, their grips got tighter and the knife in his back dug deeper.

‘Screw it…’

Against his pain, Caden pulled his right hand with all his might. To his surprise, two rogues stumbled forward, overpowered… ‘Two of them!’

Caden was being held down by five wolves but the beta alpha wasn’t waiting to be bitten.

He would fight his way out. The knife in his back was pulled out only to strike his shoulder and force him back to the ground.

Caden grunted and looked up in time to see the airborne rogue collide mid-air with a plummeting eagle.

That moment of distraction was enough for the scene to get completely overwhelmed by a myriad of birds of all colours and sizes.

Pigeons, weaver birds, parrots, doves, eagles, owls, robins, sparrows… It didn’t matter what creature it was… the birds descended on the humans and werewolves, leaving no one untouched… and just like in a scene two years ago, they sorted out the rogues and attacked them in a flurry of feathers, claws, talons and beaks.

Amidst the commotion, the clear sound of whizzing steel whistled through the air, followed by several more as a myriad of arrows flew out of the forest aimed at the outnumbered rogues. Caden felt instantly lighter as five arrows whistled past him and a myriad of birds flew past him and covered the rogues that had been restraining in.

From the dark cover of the woods, a black hooded figure walked out, bow in hand, effortlessly letting another arrow loose.

‘Where have I seen this man before?’

“I’m glad I could make it in time, Alpha Caden. Long time no see…” the hood fell to reveal a face Caden never thought he would see again. The beta alpha’s eyes widened in shock, relief and excitement.