Chapter 30

[Greyson]

Remington shot out from the trees with his gun pointing directly at my head. His eyes pierced at me like a demon possessed; straining red and eager to see me buried six feet beneath the dirt.

"Such a feeble weakling. How can you be the next Alpha when you can't even lay a tiny finger on me?" He laughed, while jumping from tree to tree like a monkey on steroids. It was hard to believe this man was around Gran's age. His appearance looked nearly my dad's age, but more gray hairs on the side of his head.

I focused on quickly devising a plan that would catch him, but he moved way too fast for my liking and I couldn't keep track of his movements to calculate his next move. Judging by how well he maneuvered through the terrain,  Remington had clear knowledge of the layout of our land. It was obvious that he planned this operation for a long time, because he was literally running backwards.

He chuckled at my frustration. "You're out of my league, kid." He jumped once again, this time doing a backward somersault in midair and landing gracefully on another branch.

It was like he planted those trees himself.

From my left side, I could sense Leo trailing us in his wolf form. He remained shadowed in the trees, but I was sure Remington could sense him too.

Vincent flanked the other end of the lake where Remington was heading. Our plan was to corner Remington and attack him. The plan isn't foolproof but for now it's the best we could come up with only a three-man team.

Where is my dad when I need him?

My paws padded the dirt as my claws marked the surface. I was running on foot, but in order to avoid Remington's aim I had to run in zigzags and hide behind stumps.

"What is this...pinball?" He chuckled. "I feel like I'm playing with children!"

Just a few more yards and he will be within our trap. Ignoring all his comments to provoke me, I kept running and dodging any bullets he sends my way. Eventually his firing stopped; he had little ammo left, but he didn't show it.

"Why are we persisting with this stupid game of cat and mouse? Shouldn't you be looking for your precious mate? For all we know she could already be dead!" He snickered.

I desperately tried to ignore him, although my anger was in the brink of exploding. He was trying to cloud my focus.

"I thought it was pathetic that she kept screaming for your name and you never came."

The last thread of caution broke and I threw it to the wind, pouncing at him. Pleased with himself, Remington grinned before increasing his pace. He made a sharp right turn heading a different path from the direction Vincent was waiting.

From behind Leo barked informing me that he was lagging behind. Remington was running a pace that almost matched up to an Alpha's--almost.

I was running right next to him and my eyes never left his. We dodged trees like experts and jumped over bushes like hurdles.

Remington laughed as if enjoying himself. "You're a stubborn pup, aren't you? Just like my granddaughter. She fought until I tied her up and tossed her into the lake. She maybe blood, but I wasn't going to risk my bloodline mixing with vermin DNA like yours."

He was lying. This was just one of his attempts to piss me off.

My face must have reflected my thoughts because he smirked.

"Don't believe me? Why do you think you can't sense her when she is so very close?"

Something within me twisted like brands of iron and I could taste blood in my mouth. Remington grinned seeing my murderous reaction.

"That's it! Show me what you got!" He laughed.

"Grey--

Leo's voice was cut off, but I didn't turn around to find out why. I chased after the piece of dead meat. Losing all my inhibitions, I chased Remington without the concern of my own safety. He continued running and I didn't realize until it was too late that he had lead me to an isolated area.

When I paused I had to catch my breath. Usually, running doesn't tire me this much, but my body was still trying to heal and exerting myself was not helping.

Remington turned to face me. "Let's battle this man to man. Shift into your human form and fight me. I promise not to use cheap tricks, or fight dirty."

As if he could promise anything.

"This will give you some chance at defeating me." He pulls out the gun from the back of his pocket and shows me how he removes the last two bullets. I watch as the two silver pieces fall to the ground and roll different directions. Then he drops the gun to the ground and kicks it to my feet. "See?"

What was he up too?

"Greyson don't! I don't think we should trust him." Leo came up from right behind me.

Remington eyed Leo. "So you are that good-for-nothing's grandson?" His insane cheerfulness was gone and it was replaced by a malicious frown. "It was your family line that brought me down to the value of dirt." He spat.

Leo flinched back. "That was all in the past. Move on old man. If the previous alpha had stripped you of your position than that was because he didn't deem you fit to have it!"

A rough growl came out of Remington. "You wouldn't understand what I went through, so shut up!"

He shook all over with anger.

I quickly looked over my shoulder to yip at Leo. He had to be careful about what to tell this crazy man. He could twist our words and interoperate it wrong. We didn't need him to become even more mad.

My body started to morph back into my human form. It hurt more than usual considering parts of my shoulder was still healing. The area there felt rather numb, but at least I was able to move it the way I wanted. I took the shorts I had wrapped around the back of my leg earlier and put them on to at least have some decency.

"Let's fight to the death." Remington said. "at the end of this battle winner takes all."

"Greyson!" Leo yelled in concern. "You're not equally matched! You're not in the condition to fight!"

He moved a couple steps towards me but I lifted my arm up to stop him. "I can do this."

"But your--

"He's mine to deal with." I said firmly.

Remington's grin returned and he rolled his shoulders back to warm-up. "Tell me when you're ready."

"If I win..."

"You sure you'll win?" He laughed.

"When I win." I said again with more confidence. "I want you to tell me where Celeste is before I kill you."

"Fine by me." He shrugged. "But if I win...your whole family dies with you!"

My fists coiled into balls. "I won't allow that to happen, therefore you're going to have to disappear today!"

He made the first move, much to my pleasure. In a battle, always allow the enemy to move first. That way, you have a high probability of reading his further intentions.

Remington ran with his hands ready. As soon as we were merely inches away from each other, the claws on his hands elongated and aimed to engorge into my eyes. I moved away before he could hit me, but

"I forgot to mention. My fingertips are coated with a poison. In fact..." He removed the peach of fabric that was tied around the area of his neck. "I am the poison!"

The sight I saw had me stunned. There were purple blotches sprouting from the corner of his neck.

"What have you done to yourself?" I asked dumbfounded.

"I made myself a living weapon!" He snickered as if it was a good thing. "For years, as I watched my plan hatch up. I experimented with poisons to make the perfect alpha killing concoction. I had blended my DNA into the serum so that I wouldn't be affected. However, in order to prove my science correct, I had to insert it into me myself!'

"Are you mad? You could have unintentionally killed yourself!" I told him.

"As you can see, I didn't!" He looked happy with himself.

"What are you trying to prove by killing me and my family?"

"Revenge. To prove everyone that I was not weak. I shouldn't have been stripped of the position as this pack's Beta!"

"You're wrong! You weren't weak at all!" My response surprised him. "I can see now why they did take that title from you."

"Why?" He asked.

"You are not mentally suited for such an honorable ranking. A Beta is someone a Alpha can trust. He has to also be kind, placing others importance before his own, he has to be flexible to changes and accept all moral decisions by the pack. It wasn't just my grandfather who decided to take your title. The whole pack made that choice together as a united community."

"That's why all of you should be removed from this existence!" Remington roared.

He jumped up and hovered over me, using the sunlight to blind my eyes.

Using my other senses, I moved away from his vision and came up behind him hitting the base of his back with the sharp tip of my elbow sending him sprawling to the dirt.

He groaned when his body hit and he quickly got up using his hands and knees. "luck shot twerp, but that won't kill me!"

Vincent finally made an appearance, stepping into my line of perspective.

"No, this battle is mine. Stand down." I growled.

Hesitant, Vincent nodded and stood next to his brother.

"Once I destroy you, I'm going to make sure my grandson becomes Alpha! I will train him myself."

"Do you think he will listen to you? He doesn't even know you! He isn't stupid enough to trust a complete stranger--a crazy one at that!"

He snorted. "I'm going to tell him that you killed his entire family when actually I am the one who will execute the deed. As a newly turned wolf he will have little control over his anger and i will have full advantage to manipulate him to my will. His anger will drive his need for revenge."

"You are going to mold him into another you!"

"Exactly!" He smiled. "With no one he loves, he will be driven mad with loneliness and he can only turn to power for sanity!"

"I will not let you destroy that boy."

Taking the next move, I run to his left side seeking his weaker side. If he made a move, his reaction time would be slower because he was right handed. Earlier, I noticed that most of his movements were solely on his right side, therefore if I disabled that side, I would have an advantage.

Every strike I made injured him by a small margin. Besides trying to weaken him, I also made sure he didn't lay as much as a scratch on me. There was no way knowing the extent to which his so-called poison could literally harm me, but I didn't want to find out. As much as possible, I wanted to put him down without causing much harm on myself.

"Where did you hide Celeste?" I asked him.

"I told you she's dead!"

With all the rage I held inside, I punched him hard on the side of his face. The sight of his jaw move by the force of my strength gave my wolf a thrill. Remington screamed as he clutched his jaw and tested his mandibular bone to make sure it was still working. the side of his lip was bleeding.

"Finish him Greyson!" Leo cheered.

I nodded. While Remington was distracted, I made another swing at him and it connected to the side of his rib. He dabbled to the ground in his hands and knees.

"You don't look so good, rogue." I mused.

From the corner of his eye, Remington glared at me. "Don't get to cocky kid. I'm still getting started." He spat off to the side and weakly got back on his two feet. "I was just boosting your ego a bit to pump you up. You think you have defeated me? Not even close."

Next thing I knew he zipped past me and kicked behind my knees before I could turn around. He then shoved be from behind with enough force to make me fly a few feet forward.

I fell ungracefully; my my arms roughly rubbed against the dirt. My skin started to sting and I could feel the inside surface of arms starting to swell as blood slowly emerged from the open wounds.

Shit, if he touches me there with his poison I'll be done for!

I saw his shadow looming over me and I rolled my body to the side just in time before his fist would have connected with the back of my head.

"Greyson!" That was when Leo stepped into the fight.

In a blink of an eye, I saw Leo tackle Remington to the ground. Few minutes later, Vincent in his wolf form lunged at Remington too and scratched across Remington's face with his claws.

Remington over powered by both guys crashed to the ground shielding his face.

"Three against one, this isn't a fair fight anymore young Alpha!"

To my utter horror, he pulls out a small gun from his inside pocket.

"Leo...Vincent!" I struggled to move.

The gun fired and I watched as both my friends jolted in shock. Neither had realized that Remington had pulled something from under his sleeve.

The seconds felt like hours as I waited for the result of that gun fire. Who was hit?

"You deserve it." Remington said staring at...Leo.

Leo's mouth fell open. Standing stunned, I watched as my best friend looked down at Remington's pointed gun then at the wound on his stomach that was now pooling with blood.

"Leo!" Vincent cried. He was no longer in his wolf form and swiftly moved around Remington to catch Leo before his body went slack, falling to the ground. "Oh god...no, no, no, this can't be happening!" A growl escaped his lips and he snapped. "I'm going to kill you!"

Slowly resting his older brother to the ground, he got up and positioned his body in an attack stance before shifting back into his wolf.

Remington pointed his gun again directly between Vincent's eyes. "Attack me and I'll shoot again."

"Vincent, stop!" I yelled before anymore damage could be done.

If this were some other pack member, Leo would be the one to quickly asses the wounded.

Unfortunately, the first aid response personal was the one who was hurt. We both received the same training, but at this given moment I didn't have the medical supplies to perform the proper procedures.

"Hey man, stay awake you hear me!" I patted Leo's shoulder. His eyes started to flicker as if he was starting to lose orientation. "Leonardo, you stay awake! I order you to stay awake!" I use my authority a little. I grab his hand and press his hand firmly on the wound.

Leo howled in pain. "No!"

"We have to stop the bleeding!" I told him. "Press down on it." I tightened my grip on his hand.

"No matter what you do he's going to die." Remington chuckled, his eyes twinkling at the sight of Leo in agony.

"Shut up!" Vincent exploded and swung his fist at Remington, but the old man dodged it.

Once again Remington pointed his gun, but this time at Vincent.

"Mind yourself boy, or next one dying is you."

Vincent growled but he didn't fight back.

"Vincent, look after Leo." I said. "Remington, You will pay for everything you have done."

He smirked. "Cash, or credit? Sadly, I have none of those at the moment-rogue remember?"

His twisted sense of humor made me want to pummel him to the ground and make sure he stayed there forever.

Vincent didn't take his eyes off Remington as he took my place next to Leo. "Leo, stay with me man. Mom will kill me if you die!"

"Rogue, you have committed numerous unlawful acts. Under pack law, you should be sentenced to death. Today will be your last day on this earth so you better take in this scenery because it will be the last time you see it!"

My bones twisted and within the next half minute, I was in my wolf form.

"That's more like it," Remington said before shifting into his own wolf.

His wolf was just like Trent's but he had patches of grey hair.

We collided chest to chest, paws on each other's backs. Remington leaped up to get a better reach for my neck area; he was attempting to bite my shoulder blade that was still healing from the earlier gun wound.

He knew my weakness and he was aiming for it.

Our snarls echoed across the forest as we continued battling. I was so busy trying to avid Remington's bites and poisonous paws, I didn't notice the familiar auras surrounding our perimeter.

"Dad!" I heard Vincent say.

"Leonardo, what hell happened to you!" Robert's concerned voice told me the cavalry had arrived-damn late.

"Greyson step down, I will take over this fight!" Dad's order filled my ears.

Every inch of my submissive side wanted me to obey. He was my alpha and father, but my wolf-my alpha wolf didn't want to listen. Our minds were synced in one mindset and that was to destroy the man who hurt my mate and nearly kill my best friend.

"Greyson!" Dad yelled again.

Of course my wolf and I didn't listen.

Remington tackled me and my back went flat against the ground. A roll of pain went across my body and for a few seconds I stopped breathing as I processed the pain.

"Greyson!" A soft feminine voice cried out and the familiarity of it made my lungs work again.

My leg muscles worked again and I catapulted Remington's body off mine. He fell side ways sliding across the dirt.

I got back on all four paws and frantically looked for the source of that voice.

There she was. Standing right behind my dad.

From this day on she will be tied to me for the rest of her life. I don't care if Holding her hand in the bathroom sounds absurd.

She is alive. That's all that mattered.

"Greyson," She cried, literally with tears in her eyes and I felt like my body was melting into a puddle of water. I just wanted to stroll over there and touch her face to make sure she was real.

"Greyson, I'll take over this fight." My attention flew to my dad standing right next to her. "You can't fight in your condition."

I sent him a stubborn growl, telling his this was my fight and I was finishing it.

Off to the side, I saw Robert hovering worriedly over his eldest sun as some men in our pack helped carry him out of the battle scene. Vincent, however stayed behind. He showed the dedication of an excellent pack wolf. Despite his concern over his brother's wellbeing, he stayed to make sure, I, his future alpha, would succeed in this task.

His brother and father would be proud.

"Greyson please don't fight." I heard Celeste say.

Her plea was so much more effective than my dad's order, but like all alphas, once we make up our mind we see our goal through.

Remington came to and got back up. His eyes widened when he saw Celeste in surprised. It was like he saw a ghost. He thought Celeste was actually dead.

I stood in front of his line of vision and growled, lowering my head down and arching my back in defense.

You are not getting past me.

He copied my stance and scratched the surface of the ground with one of his front paws as if stating, "Let's end this."

NOTE: Dec 24, 2016

HAPPY HOLIDAYS YOU FREAKISHLY AMAZING PEOPLE!!! I'M BACK!!! I've graduated and I'm ready to write again after a year of constant chaos. I have edited this book again so you will find some changes to the style of writing. This book has been closed off from the public but I have made it visible once more. SO YOU BETTER BE GRATEFUL, you marshmallows! Let's make one thing clear though IF YOU COPY MY BOOK...I WILL FIND YOU.

BE WARNED. xo