Chapter 3

SELENA’S POV

I passed through the gates into the Silver Claw pack in my tattered robes.

It had been ten years.

Ten hard and bloody years.

The Silver Claw pack was different than I remembered it. The pack looked like a man who had fallen sick.

Where the lush garden and streets were tended to before, they were now left dirty, dusty and dying. I saw many more half starving wolves on the streets and I knew that my precious pack had also been through hard times these past ten years.

As I walked through the pack, every head turned in my direction.

I was like a ghost as I passed through. My face was covered with a hooded cloak.

Every wolf in my way, parted in a hurry as I passed through. They murmured around me, but none dared approach me.

I knew that it was what they saw in my silver blue eyes that made them wisely stay away.

They saw death in them.

It wasn’t their death, but it could easily be the death of whoever stood in my way.

One name resonated through my mind.

Darth.

I arrived at the Alpha’s manor.

I immediately noticed that unlike the rest of the pack, the manor seemed to have flourished.

The buildings were painted freshly and many more buildings had risen from the ground. The trees were fresh, green and full of life.

Unfortunately for them, it was death that I brought with me this day.

“Who are you!? Stop there!” The first warrior guard at the manor gate asked. His voice trembled slightly.

The second one stood away, his spear held tightly in his hands.

Their wolves were sensing me. And they warned the warriors. If only they were smart enough to listen.

The first guard charged me with his spear when I ignored them.

The movement was slow to me. I side stepped it easily and he fell to the ground.

“Stay down. I’m not here for you.” I warned.

The second warrior guard seemed to take his fallen comrade as a cue to attack me.

I was less lenient with him. I dodged his spear thrust and snapped it with a single blow from my open palm. Then I hit his stomach with my elbow. He coughed up a small amount of blood and fell to the ground.

“Stay down.” I warned, allowing them to feel the full force of my will. Their wolves trembled and whined within them. They obeyed.

I passed through the open gate and walked into the manor.

Alpha Darth met me outside before I entered into the building.

“Who dates to walk into my manor!?” He asked.

I saw that the years had been kind to him. His sunken cheeks had filled out and he carried a new pot belly. He stared down at me with visible disdain.

I dropped the hood from my face and looked up to him.

I held his gaze easily.

“Alpha Darth. I am here to take my rightful place as heir to the Silver Claw pack!” I declared.

By now many more warriors and Darth’s vassals had come out of the manor at the spectacle. They surrounded me.

The murmuring began as soon as they saw my face. ‘It’s a woman.’

“What nonsense!?” Alpha Darth shouted.

They could all clearly see my waist length black hair. My silver blue eyes. Sharp cheekbones, full lips and button nose.

It showed them that I was a woman.

“You are a woman!” Alpha Darth shouted as if that settled the matter.

“I am Selena! Daughter of Alpha Gideon! And I challenge you, Alpha Darth to a duel before the Moongoddess!” I declared.

The crowd around me murmured.

'What! Selena? Wasn’t she eaten by rogues in the forest?’

'She has been missing for ten years! How is she still alive!’

'Can a woman really challenge the Alpha like that?’

I ignored all the noise they made around me. My eyes were on one thing.

That was Lord Darth. Or the so called Alpha Darth.

He couldn’t reject the duel. It would make him look in front of all his vassals. The last thing he wanted was to look weak like how my father had looked weak in his last days. If not he would be dethroned quickly by the snakes he surrounded himself with.

“Fine! I will kill this ghost of the past before the entire pack!” He declared.

I smiled. He had just signed his death warrant.

He had no idea what I had gone through in the wilderness.

“We will sign a pact before the High Priestess. The winner of the duel is the next Alpha of the pack.” I said. I knew that he and the other council members were snakes.

“Fine.” He waved his hand. His belly jiggled as he turned back into his manor.

I followed and ignored all the murmurings around me.

Darth went to the throne and sat down on my father’s throne. My throne.

“Call for the High Priestess.” He said. Then be smiled. “Call for my first concubine too. I want to be fed.”

I stiffened. He wouldn’t dare.

My mother was so thin that she was almost bare bones. Chains dangled around her neck, arms and legs. She had been locked in the dungeons. Her hands shook as she fed Darth grapes.

My wolf surged in rage. I crushed the hand of my chair and it flew into splintered wood.

When she turned to see me, she fainted.

“What is wrong with this stupid bitch!?” Darth kicked her.

I stood up. “Enough! We sign the pact now and then I spill your blood!”

Darth smiled. He thought that he had ruffled me enough. He was confident that be would win.

We signed the pact.

…

The crowd cheered as Darth’s wolf circled mine. I stayed still and tracked his movement.

He tried to attack from behind me. But he was just as slow as the guards.

I hit him and pinned him to the ground. It was easy even though his wolf was larger.

He struggled but I glared at him and expressed my will.

He whimpered.

I let him go and he shifted back. He had a look of horror on his face.

“I’ll give you all the treasures you want. There’s need for…”

I pounced on him. Then I ripped off his head.

The crowed cheered for their new Alpha.