Chapter 139 The Truth Of Sorenâs Past **Sorenâs POV âDonât you think itâs time we went back home?â Thomas asked me as the two of us stood in my tent late one evening. âThe war is practically over now, Soren. Your uncle needs you back home to help him regroup.â
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, not feeling the need to explain myself to my subordinate. âNot now,â I told him. It was short and to the point, and thatâs all he needed.
âBut you have to understand, Soren, no one expected Ethan to act that way! After he was banishedâ¦
he actually attacked your uncle! He went right into that camp and bit his f*cking arm off! The man has clearly lost his mind.â
I shook my head. âI donât want to hear anything else about my d*mn brother, all right?â I told him. âHe doesnât matter anymore.â
âWait, what?â Thomas asked me. âI thought⦠if Ethan doesnât matter anymore, then why the h*ll are we looking for Rosalie? Youâre not trying to get her back to hurt him?â
I dropped my gaze to the floor. Thomas didnât need to know my motivation. âItâs more complicated than that,â I muttered.
âMore complicated? Soren⦠the queen is pregnant with the heir, so Ethanâs baby is nothing now. If youâre not trying to get back at him, then what is it?â
I shook my head. âLeave all of that to me,â I told him.
âOh, I see,â he said, his lips pursed together as he gave me a disapproving look.
Glowering at him, I said, âThomas, Iâll remind you that youâre not in charge here.â
âYes, sir,â he said, his eyes narrowed. âItâs just⦠with Kalâs forces being pushed back after he was injured, I think itâs best if we leave the north and go back home. Theyâre in a full retreat now! The East has had all the time in the world to move in and drive them back since heâs been injured. Having the queen carrying a child didnât get rid of Ethan, instead, it backfired on us, and indirectly caused our kingâs suffering.â
Finally, I agreed with something he said. âI warned my uncle to never underestimate Ethan. I personally told him I thought it was better if he didnât get so close to Mirage in person. But the b*stard didnât listen.
He wanted to feel the glory of winning the war himself.â
I shook my head in disgust. âHe said he wanted to see his enemies fall with his own eyes. Now, Uncle Kal is eating the consequences of his own arrogance.â I rested my hand on the table, thinking about how foolish the king had been to go about things the way he had.
He never listened to me, and now he was the one suffering for âAnd Romero?â Thomas said with a chuckle. âIt serves his *ss right to be locked up by King James for what he did, trying to play both sides. I never did trust that guy.â
âNo, I knew better than to trust him, too,â I told him. âHeâs no longer useful to James, so he had no trouble locking him up for his betrayal.â An image of Romero suffering in a dungeon cell filled my mind, making me want to laugh.
âSo⦠youâre not at all interested in going back to the islands?â Thomas asked me again, a look of disbelief on his face. âYou donât care that Damianâs claiming to be the new Alpha of the islands? Donât you want to go back and force his *ss out of your land?â
I sneered, âRomero let me use the island as part of the deal he had with my uncle. It wasnât mine to begin with. Anyway, at the moment, I have more important things to worry about than that asshole. Iâll take care of him later.â
âBecause now youâre here, trying to find Rosalie and her baby, becauseâ¦.â
Anger flared up in me as I understood exactly what he was getting at. âMaybe if you had done a better job of preventing Rosalie and her baby from fleeing the island to begin with we wouldnât be in this predicament, now would we?â
âHey! Itâs not all my fault!â Thomas argued, âHow was anyone supposed to know Seraphine would be so conniving and betray us the way that she did?â
He had a point there. I never wouldâve expected Seraphine to tell Rosalie the truth and stab me in the back like that. I had been under the impression that the midwife was loyal to me.
It just went to show that you couldnât ever really trust anyone.
âI guess that means weâre not leaving the north until we find Ro~â
âShh!â I said, holding up a finger. âDo you hear that?â I asked him, stepping over to the door of the tent.
Something wasnât right. I had an odd feeling inside of my stomach, and I thought I smelled something different in the air.
âWhat?â Thomas asked, huffing.
âI donât hear anything,â I told him. âNothing at all. Do you?â
âNo, but so what?â Thomas asked.
Weâd brought quite a few men with us. It made no sense that it would be completely silent in the camp.
I stepped out of the tent to see that everyone was gone. Thomas followed me, and we took a few steps around, staying together, knowing something wasnât right. The thith Or Setarie net A flurry in the woods around us had us both panicked as a fon of troops poured out from every direction, surrounding us. Thomas and I stood there, back to back, trying to assess the situation âWho are these bastards?â Thomas asked me.
âNot sure,â I told him.
Then, a large frame emerged from between the others as a muscular middleâaged man stepped into the light.
A shudder went down my spine as I recognized the haggard face. An unforgettable jagged scar marred the left side of his face, running from his ear to his jaw.
I frozeâ¦it was him! The one that hunted me when I was young, the one who haunted me in my nightmares for years!
Why did he suddenly show up again? Did Ethan send him after me again? How did Ethan know I was here?!
He was coming right at me, and I had no place to hide.
I needed to swallow my fear and try to make them forget that they had me completely surrounded.
âWhere are my men?â | asked, tipping my chin up and squaring my shoulders.
âShut the f*ck up, Soren!â the b*stard shouted. âYouâre just a useless *sshole like your father.â He wrinkled his nose up at me and glared down at me. âYou think youâre so f*cking smart, but youâre just a useless piece of sh*t. The only thing youâll ever be good at is ruining things!â
I wanted to lash out at him, to demand he tell me where my men were right then, but how could I say anything at all when we were surrounded, and he was towering over me.
Those nightmares from my childhood came flooding back through my mind.
With his nose only a fraction of an inch away from mine, he lowered his voice and growled out, âI told the king I shouldâve killed you ten years ago, but he told me that you might be useful long termâ¦â
What was he talking about?!
He licked his lips and smirked, âHad he listened to me, he wouldnât have to lose his arm and go through all the suffering thanks to you f*cking piece of sh*t!â
My eyes widened as I realized exactly what scarface was telling me.
Ten years ago, Iâd been hunted down and almost killed by a group of men. I had always assumed theyâd been sent by my half brother, that Ethan would be the one who wanted to kill me.
But that wasnât the case at all. It was Kal! My own uncle, the man who I thought saved me, and told me that it was all Ethanâs fault. He told me that one day, he would help me to get my revenge.
Over the years, he never announced to the public that I was his nephew because I thought he wanted to protect me. I didnât mind taking care of all of his dirty work for him with my hidden identityâ¦
I didnât agree with him on a lot of things, but that was fine. Iâd always thought that at least, I was his family no matter what.
However, it was all a lie! He just used me as a pawn against James and Ethan, and now he wanted me dead?! Because I couldnât help him win the war, and I wasnât useful to him any more, so he wanted my life?!
Rage mixed with a cold chill and splintered down my back as I asked again, âWhere the h*ll are my men?â
A snarl of a smile split his face. âThey were disrespectful to me, little man,â he told me. âSo we killed them.â
Horror washed over me as the faces of all of the men whoâd come with me to the north flashed before my eyes. They had trusted me and came here because I needed their help.
Now, they were dead, every single one of them!
Rage boiled up inside of me. Using the mindâlink, I told Thomas, âGet them!â
He didnât hesitate, as I was sure he was feeling the same outrage I was.
It mightâve been considered dirty fighting, but I needed to do what I could. With no warning, I raised my knee and shoved it right into the scarâfaced manâs balls. He doubled over in pain, and I grabbed his head and slammed it into my thigh, throwing him backward into the men standing behind him.
Thomas was fighting behind me, and the two of us managed to take them by surprise enough to break through their lines. As I cut between two of Kalâs warriors, one of them lashed out with a knife, catching me in the back, near my rib cage. Pain ripped through my center, but I couldnât slow down. I just grabbed his arm and yanked, pulling him up into the air and using his body as a club to hit the man on the other side of me. I released his arm and both of them tumbled to the ground.
Despite the pain, I knew we had to run so I took off into the woods, shifting into my wolf form, but grabbing my pants in my mouth to take them with me in case I needed them.
âSoren, where are you going?â Thomas mindlinked me.
âStop following me. You go back to the island and check on others!â I ordered.
âBoss, but âThis is an order. Iâll be fine. Just f*cking go. Now!âI reiterated.
He let out a long howl and finally changed his direction.
I ran as fast as I could, heading north. Knowing Thomas went south was a relief. Scarfaceâs target was me, and only me. The further I was away from Thomas, the safer it was for him.
It was night, and the woods were alive with the sounds of creatures, many of them predators.
How many of them were rogues? If I was lucky, I might be able to run into the few rogue groups I worked with before. But if I was unluckyâ¦
I continued to run through the night, hearing howls and growls in the distance as I wound my way further north. By dawn, I was exhausted and starving. I had found water but no food. My legs were beginning to cramp up from running for so long, but I had to keep going.
And then, I tore around a large bush to come face to face with three large wolves.
I froze, thinking perhaps I could backtrack and get away from them. But I was so tired, I couldnât even get my feet to move again.
All three of Kalâs men came rushing at me, their teeth gnashing me, their claws ripping into my fur. I cursed, but I knew then, I was a dead man.
The agony that rippled through my body from every direction was excruciating. I did my best to try to get away, to guard my neck to keep them from tearing out my throat, and to fight them off, but I was just too tired.
Then, in the distance, the sound of paws hitting the ground quickly sounded, and the wolves that had me in their clutches pulled their heads away.
Someone was coming, and whatever forces they were, there were a lot of them.
By the behavior of these three after me, I could tell that they werenât expecting friends. They took off into the woods, and I collapsed on the ground under a tree.
With the last amount of strength I had left, I shifted and pulled on my pants, thinking it would be easier for me to get help from humans who might have medicine if I was in my human form.
But I didnât have any more energy. I couldnât drag myself from beneath the tree where I had fallen to go look for help.
As darkness overcame me, Rosalieâs face flashed before my eyes, and I wished so badly that she was there so I could tell her how truly sorry I was for everything Iâd done to her.
I knew, though, Iâd never see her again.
The world faded away, and even though I thought I heard the sound of her voice carrying to me on the wind⦠I knew it had to be a figment of my imagination as I faded away into oblivion.
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