Bound by love with a Rogue Alpha;Mated to 7 Alpha kings

Chapter 1: A Storm Is Coming

Vincent Soft yet strong, a voice pierced my reverie. Markus, my lieutenant, entered the room. His keen eyes darted to the documents before fixing on me. An attack has occurred on the eastern front. Rogue wolves.

I didn't have to request specifics. I understood what that signified. Our borders were crossed. My group was in peril.

I will handle it. Though my voice was quiet, even I could tell the tension in it. I was no stranger to battle, but this, this was unique. It seemed personal. Overly personal.

Markus stepped back and nodded, but I noticed the tightness in his shoulders before he could leave. He was unsure.

Vincent The council has been ringing. They are growing impatient. The Alpha Kings,

I will handle them. I cut him off, my words tinged with annoyance. The council's temper tantrums were less important to me than more urgent concerns.

Certainly. He nodded, but his eyes remained doubtful.

Anything more? I said, my voice more cutting than I meant.

A note. Kailyn Moonstone's

I made myself concentrate to silence the tornado of ideas endangering to overwhelm me. But I was concerned not only about the rogue wolves. It was he. Vince

Every day since I had walked away from him felt like an eternity. With the conflict on our doorstep, the last thing I wanted was to consider the guy who still tormented my every thought.

Prepare yourself. From the door, my second-in-command Gabrielle spoke quietly and steadily. She knew better than to urge me when I was like this. The rogues will arrive shortly.

I shook my head in an effort to control my breathing. Gabrielle was correct. This has nothing to do with me. This was about living. Still, Vincent's name haunted me like an unrelenting drumbeat.

Kailyn, pull yourself together. This is no longer about you.

Turning away from the window where I had been gazing into the storm, the dark sky lit by lightning. Though it would be a mistake, part of me wished to close my eyes and act as though this was not occurring. I could no longer afford errors.

I checked the weight and placement of my weapons one last time to see if I could change their grip. Everything had to be just right. My folks relied on me. Even after Vincent had abandoned me, even when all had fallen apart around us, they had always relied on me.

Gabrielle, go east perimeter. I told Gabrielle, my voice firm, to take the east perimeter.

"Yes, Alpha," she said, and with that she vanished into the darkness, back to my solitude with my thoughts.

Drawing in a long breath, I suppressed the wave of memories trying to surface. Vince Our shared times. The suffering. The treachery.

But that was not possible. I had no time.

Stepping into the hallway, I heightened my awareness to every change in the air. Something was wrong, and I knew it wasn't only the wild wolves.

All of a sudden, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

I stood still.

The air changed; something or someone was approaching. I could sense the danger, the weight of it. Then it struck me. This was not only an assault. It was an attack on our entire being.

"Gabrielle," I muttered under my breath, but it was too late.

Hands clutching the arms of my chair like a lifeline, I reclined back. What was coming felt heavier than anything I had ever carried. The battle was no longer simply on the horizon; it was here.

Markus, his voice harsh, added, "Vincent, we can't wait any longer." His eyes were wide with the same fear I had been battling off for days. The Alpha Kings had acted and the rogues were closing in quicker than anticipated. Action was due. No more waiting around.

The writing of our regions was barely visible on the map on my desk, smeared by the continual pressure we had been under. The conflict exceeded my expectations. Larger than I had expected.

You are correct. My voice sounded odd to me, strained. It's not only about land anymore, though. They're after all. The pack, the city... us.

Markus moved in front of me, pacing back and forth. What if they have more sinister intentions? This is unlike any attack we have ever witnessed.

"We haven't seen anything yet," I grumbled, thinking of Kailyn. Like a thread in the tempest, her name kept drawing me back into ideas I didn't want to consider. I had to forget about her. I was no longer concentrating on her. It was survival.

Markus's eyes narrowed as he stopped pacing. You are concerned about her, right?

I said nothing. I was unable to do it. The truth lay between us, dense and oppressive.

Just then, another soldier entered the door, breathing heavily and looking pale. His hand shaking, he gave me a phone.

It's urgent, sir. From the field.

My stomach turning, I picked up the phone. Frantic and hardly under control, the voice on the other end was

Vincent, it's your pack. They have suffered assaults. They are, Static replaced the line.

My heart raced in my chest and I cursed.

Rising fast, my chair fell behind me. Markus was already beside me.

We have to go right now.

Practically panting as he walked across the gleaming floor, paper in hand, my right-hand guy Markus His face was white and I could see a little tremor in his step.

"Vincent," he rasped, his voice strained. Kailyn sent it.

Kailyn The very mention of her name caused my body to clench. Years had passed, but the simple idea of her flooded feelings I was unprepared to face back. The air was heavy with expectation as Markus opened the message with unsteady hands; I fought to stay still.

He gave it to me; my fingers brushed his, a quick yet startling touch that caused my heart to race. My gaze darted to the message; with every sentence, I read her words and my pulse thudded faster.

We must come together. Time is running short as the rogue wolves are closing in. We cannot accomplish this by ourselves. Come see me.

Her penmanship was exact, quick. Every letter seemed like a command, yet there was a deeper need in it. Her request's gravity struck me, and my thoughts began to run.

Reading it again, I attempted to understand the urgency in those straightforward statements. Always a powerful, unshakeable force, Kailyn could guide her pack through any situation. Her reaching out indicated that the event had gone far beyond anything either of us had expected.

Markus's voice broke me from my reverie. Vincent, we have to go. Our opportunity is now. We cannot afford to wait.

My thoughts were racing as I gripped the note in my palm. Her pack, my pack, both in danger. Every muscle in my body shouted at me to act, but a part of me, the one that recalled the rage, the betrayal, held me back.

At last, I let the choice rest in my chest after taking a big breath. Get the troops ready. I am heading to Kailyn.

At this time? Markus enquired, taken aback by the hasty choice.

"At this time."

I did not wait for him to answer. A peculiar sensation came over me as I turned to go, a gut-wrenching one I couldn't get rid of.

Then, just as I got to the door, a voice emerged from behind me.

Markus called once more, his voice more frantic, "Vincent".

I hesitated. "What?"

"There's something else," he murmured, his voice so heavy I turned slowly. "Our territory has been breached. Wolves gone rogue. A full-scale assault.

Kailyn A flood of memories hit me: her fiery personality, her power, her eyes that always seemed to know me better than I knew myself. Though here we were going directly for the storm neither of us could avoid, it felt like a lifetime ago when we last spoke.

With every passing block, the tension in my chest grew denser and I clutched the wheel more forcefully. I thought of her folks, her pack. Like my own, they were on the front lines.

A flash of lightning sliced the sky suddenly as I turned onto the main route out of the city. For a second, everything went quiet. The city, the storm, my breath even. A deep and disturbing shiver rushed through me.

Trying to lose the sensation, I tightened my jacket against the unexpected cold. Still clouded with recollections of Kailyn, my mind replayed her written words over and over.

The time I had feared for so long has arrived.

A violent tyre screech cut across the night just as I was going to phone Kailyn, jolting my focus back to the now. The road ahead was now closed, the source of the sound sliding to a stop in front of me.

Heart racing, I hit the brakes hard. From the corner of my eye, a shadow leaped out of the gloom. A wayward werewolf. Their snarls reverberated in the darkness, the air quivering with threat.