MATED TO THE BEAST ALPHA BROTHERS
Chapter 55: How the mighty has fallen.

Chapter 55: How the mighty has fallen.

"Where is the child’s mother?"

The voice rang out, deep and commanding, as one of the Omnisciense wolves stepped forward, its glowing form casting an ethereal light over the battlefield.

Marlyil tightened her grip on the baby. Her breath came in short, panicked bursts.

"She’s not here..." she stuttered, her voice barely above a whisper.

The Omnisciense exchanged glances, unreadable expressions passing between them.

"We must move. The war has begun."

Marlyil swallowed hard, nodding. She knew they were right...staying here was a death sentence.

The first Omnisciense extended its hands. "May I hold him?"

Before she could respond, a powerful gust of wind swept through the clearing.

The ground shook.

The Wolf King had arrived.

King Vaelen.

Vaelen strode forward, his golden eyes surveying the scene. His gaze locked onto the celestial beings, then onto Marlyil...before finally settling on the child.

Silence stretched, thick with tension.

"Mighty Wolf King," one of the Omnisciense spoke, stepping forward. "How do you plan to solve the doom that is about to befall your people?"

Vaelen clenched his jaw.

He had no answer.

A second Omnisciense began weaving energy between their fingers, forming a swirling portal of shimmering blue and gold light.

"Follow us," she commanded.

The first Omnisciense, now holding the child, was the first to step through.

Marlyil hesitated...then followed.

Vaelen lingered for a moment, staring into the portal, then exhaled sharply and stepped inside.

The portal collapsed behind them.

Meanwhile, deep within the jagged peaks of the northern mountains, Haelyn trudged forward, the weight of uncertainty pressing down on her chest. Two days had passed since they left home, and a growing sense of unease clawed at her insides.

"I feel something terribly wrong," she murmured.

Archer walked beside her, his hand brushing against hers...intentional or not, she wasn’t sure.

"It’ll be okay," he assured her, his voice calm, steady. "We’ll get this over with soon."

His gaze lingered on her a little too long.

Watching.

Protecting.

Artemis noticed.

He noticed everything.

His fists clenched at his sides, but before he could speak, a low chuckle filled the air.

The creature leading them turned, its slitted eyes gleaming with amusement.

"Careful, Artemis," it purred. "You may become your brother’s biggest enemy for a destiny that was never yours."

A heavy silence fell over the group.

Artemis’s expression darkened.

He knew what the creature meant.

He had spent years suppressing it, pushing it down, burying it beneath duty and restraint. But every stolen glance, every fleeting moment with Haelyn, only made it harder.

And Archer? Archer had everything...their father’s approval, their people’s respect, and now, without even trying, Haelyn’s heart.

The weight of it threatened to crush him.

"Mind your tongue," Artemis bit out.

The creature simply chuckled again, turning back to the path.

"We’ll see."

A gust of wind howled through the mountains, a warning of something coming.

Something dark.

And for the first time in his life, Artemis wasn’t sure which war he was truly fighting..the one against their enemies, or the one raging inside him.

"No! Stop!" Arthur’s voice roared through the chaos, but it was useless.

Layla stood before him, her body trembling violently, her eyes rolling back until only the whites remained. Her screams twisted into something inhuman...a guttural, bloodcurdling wail.

Her body convulsed. Bones cracked. Her spine contorted unnaturally.

Arthur reached for her, but before he could touch her, a sickening snap echoed through the air.

Layla’s body jerked upright. Her head tilted to the side as if testing her new form. When she turned to face him, her once warm, familiar eyes were gone..replaced with black voids of nothingness.

Mindless.

Just like Tiago.

Keres laughed, floating above them like a dark deity.

"Oh, Arthur," she cooed mockingly. "How does it feel? To finally know loss in its truest form?"

Arthur’s hands curled into fists. His chest rose and fell with ragged breaths.

"You monster," he growled.

Keres sighed, bored. "That’s the best you’ve got?" She lifted a hand.

Out of nowhere, the air shifted. A dark ripple spread across the land.

Arthur heard it before he saw it...the sound of footsteps. Hundreds of them.

Then, they emerged.

Wolves.

Dozens. No...hundreds.

But they weren’t his wolves anymore. Their bodies twisted and convulsed just as Tiago’s and Layla’s had, their eyes soulless, their mouths curled in eerie, unnatural grins.

Arthur staggered back as realization hit him.

These were his warriors. His pack.

Turned into mindless puppets under Keres’ control.

"I told you I needed you to build an army." Keres’s voice was soft, almost amused.

Arthur’s stomach twisted.

He had trained these wolves. Fought alongside them. Led them. And now...

Now, they were nothing more than slaves to her.

Keres threw her head back and laughed as she ascended into the sky, her form radiating dark energy. The storm clouds above swirled, drawn to her presence, as the wind howled through the ruins of what had once been his stronghold.

"Bow to me," she commanded.

The turned wolves all dropped to one knee, their heads bowed in eerie synchronization.

Arthur clenched his jaw, his blood boiling with fury.

"I’ll rip you apart for this." His voice was barely above a whisper, but every syllable dripped with venom.

Keres smirked. "Then by all means..." she gestured towards the army before him. "Come try."

And with that, she vanished into the darkness, leaving Arthur standing alone, surrounded by the very people he once swore to protect..now his worst nightmare.

Layla took a step forward.

Tiago followed.

Then the rest.

Hundreds of them.

Closing in.

Arthur braced himself, every muscle in his body tensed.

He had no choice.

He had to fight.

"Arthur is a traitor!" Marius’s voice thundered through the hall, shaking the very walls of the Elders’ chamber.

The gathered Elders murmured amongst themselves, their expressions dark and conflicted. Some nodded in agreement, others shifted uneasily.

Marius took a step forward, his presence dominating the room. "He has turned against his own! His recklessness has doomed this pack, and now our people are being slaughtered!"

An elder with a silver beard, Elder Tobias, raised a hand. "Marius, do you have proof?"

Marius’s lips curled into a smirk. "Proof?!" He snapped his fingers.

Two warriors dragged in a mangled, barely breathing wolf...one of the few survivors from the latest massacre. His fur was scorched, his body twisted from the dark corruption spreading through the lands.

The Elders inhaled sharply.

Marius turned to them, his voice softer now but dripping with venom. "Look at him. This is what remains of our proud warriors. They were slaughtered...while Arthur failed to protect them."

Another elder, an older woman with piercing yellow eyes, narrowed her gaze. "And what of Nemesis? What of the rogue forces rising against us?"

Marius scoffed. "Nemesis wouldn’t have been able to spread her destruction if Arthur had done his duty as Alpha! While he was too busy chasing shadows, our packs were left vulnerable!"

"And you did nothing to stop it either," a voice cut through the room.

The air thickened.

Marius turned slowly, his jaw tightening.

Arthur stood at the entrance of the chamber, his body covered in blood ..some of it his, some of it not. His golden eyes glowed dangerously, his chest rising and falling as he fought to contain his fury.

The room fell deathly silent.

The warriors holding the injured wolf tensed, gripping their weapons.

Arthur took a slow step forward. "You call me a traitor," he said, his voice low but sharp as a blade. "Yet you, Marius, have done nothing but slither in the shadows, waiting for a chance to turn them against me."

Marius sneered. "I don’t need to turn them against you, Arthur. You did that yourself." He gestured to the ruined warrior at his feet. "Look at what has happened under your leadership."

Arthur’s jaw clenched. "I fought for them. I bled for them. And I was the only one trying to stop the real threat while you sat in your halls, whispering poison into the ears of the Elders!"

Marius took a step forward, lowering his voice just enough that only Arthur could hear. "You were never meant to lead, Arthur. You never had what it took."

Arthur’s fist tightened. "You don’t get to decide that."

Marius turned back to the Elders. "Arthur is unfit to be part of this pack any longer. I, Marius of the Ancient Bloodline, brand him a rogue..an outcast..a failure!"

Gasps rippled through the chamber.

Arthur’s breathing slowed.

His fingers twitched at his side.

Elder Tobias stepped forward. "Is this true?" He looked directly at Arthur. "Did you abandon your pack?"

Arthur didn’t answer immediately. His mind flickered back to the bodies left in Nemesis’s wake, to the destruction she had caused, to the warriors who had fought and died...not by his hand, but because of the forces they were up against.

I didn’t kill them. But I couldn’t save them either.

Marius smirked at his silence. "See? Even he cannot deny it."

Tobias exhaled heavily. "Then it is decided." He turned to the gathered Elders. "Arthur will be cast out from the pack. From this day forth, he is a rogue. He is no longer one of us."

Arthur’s heart pounded in his ears.

He had known this moment would come.

But it still burned.

The warriors around him drew their weapons, waiting for the order to attack.

Marius leaned in, his breath hot against Arthur’s ear. "Run, Arthur. Run like the dog you are."

Arthur’s lips curled into a snarl. "Be careful what you wish for, Marius."

And then...he moved.

With a speed too fast for the eye, Arthur grabbed the nearest warrior and slammed him into the ground, knocking the breath from his lungs. Another lunged, but Arthur dodged, his fist colliding with the man’s ribs with a sickening crack.

Chaos erupted.

Swords clashed. Shouts rang out.

Arthur twisted, grabbing a spear mid-air and using it to vault himself over the circle of warriors closing in on him.

He landed lightly on his feet at the entrance.

Marius didn’t flinch.

Arthur met his gaze, his chest heaving. "You think you’ve won."

Marius tilted his head. "Haven’t I?"

Arthur smirked, his teeth bloodied. "No. You’ve just started a war."

And with that...he vanished into the darkness.