Fated to the war general

My heart pounds in my chest as I scamper through the woods. My bare feet hardly makes a sound as I run and stop in front of Silver Lake, panting heavily.

Looking behind, my eyes roam frantically through the darkness, passing among the tall trees and lonely paths, then back to the lake. I have about three minutes before I'm caught.

I need answers. I need to know if my wolf is really dead as the oracle said six months ago.

Taking two cautious steps, I dip my legs into the silver water which always harms wolves. It's a risky call, but I'm desperate and short of options. I wait for a reaction, a burn, a sting, even the slightest prick, but nothing happens. Damn it! I hiss, slapping the water. I almost hate myself for having my hopes high.

I will always be the lowliest member of the Silver Crest pack. With no wolf, no rank, no mate, what is my hope?

"Delilah! You slut!" Lucinda shouts from behind and I flinch. Turning around sharply I meet her fiery gaze.

"Get out of the water, what do you think you're doing?" She orders.

I pull myself to shore and she immediately grabs me by my collar.

"You've got the nerve to steal from the Alpha? You brat!"

She raises her hand to slap me and I quickly catch it before it lands on my face.

"I may have lost my wolf now but I was once a sentinel. A common Omega like you can't treat me like this."

She drags her hand out of my grip with a scoff. "You piece of trash. You don't seem to understand your situation, don't you? I have my wolf, I can grow up to a higher rank, and possibly become the Luna of this pack, but you? You have not even the slightest chance. Now get back to the pack house." She scolds and pushes me forward.

Tears form in my eyes as I walk in front of Lucinda who doesn't miss a chance to push or insult me. As a lead sentinel, I used to train the omegas, including Lucinda. Then I got sick.

Everyone thought I was going to die during those seven scary weeks I stayed sick in bed. Then the oracle came and healed me at the price of my wolf, Ashley. It was either I died or my wolf vanished forever. I wasn't the one who made that choice to sacrifice Ashley, Alpha Enzo did. And now he treats me like it's my fault.

What's the use of saving me if they never wanted me around? After the news came I saw the true intentions of my pack members towards me. People I once called friends and family turned on me, treating me like an outcast, a slave. And what pains me the most is how powerless I am before them. I was once a Sentinel but now even a common omega pushes me around.

On getting to the pack house, Lucinda drags me up the stairs to the banquet hall. The whole place is vibrating from the intense music and partying. Lucinda pushes me past the wide-open door of the banquet hall where the party is heated.

My eyes land on Alpha Enzo. He is seated on a red couch with two women at his sides romancing him. His beta and other sentinels lounge around, drinking and laughing. The women play with his blonde hair and runs their fingers down his muscular arms as he continues to sip on his drink.

When I was nineteen, Alpha Enzo asked me to be his Luna. He did not care if I was his destined mate or not. He wanted me. But I wanted to be a sentinel according to my fate foretold by the oracle.

He kept trying to seduce me, setting me up in tempting situations. He never relented until I fell sick and lost my wolf. Now there's no possibility of him fulfilling his desires with me. Hence, his frustration.

Knowing how I longed to meet my mate, he torments me night and day with the constant reminder that I would never be able to.

"Alpha Enzo, I've found Delilah," Lucinda says with a subtle purr in her voice.

The Alpha turns and looks down at us. Everyone immediately pauses what they're doing at the sound of my name. In the past few months, the name, Delilah, has become synonymous with trouble. And now everyone watches expectantly, waiting for my humiliation.

"Kneel before your Alpha, you idiot!" Lucinda says and pushes me to my knees. I fall and everyone laughs. A small smile plays on Alpha Enzo's lips.

"Be gentle with her, Lucinda, you know she's fragile," he says, causing more laughter from the crowd. "Delilah, dear," he calls in a voice that conceals the deep mischief in his heart. "Where were you all evening?"

"In-in the woods," I reply.

"Liar!" Lucinda calls out, "I saw her dipping her filthy legs in Silver Lake."

A gasp arises from the crowd and they start to murmur. It's a taboo to go near the silver lake.

"Quiet!" Enzo says and the place immediately goes still. "The laws of the pack don't apply to Delilah. She's an exception. Even the laws of nature don't apply to her."

Everyone bursts out laughing again and I bow my head in shame. Losing one's wolf is like losing a close family member. But these people are horrible, they ridicule me in my pain.

"Where is my gold?" Alpha Enzo asks and my heart skips. "I won't repeat myself," he adds when I hesitate to reply. His voice has suddenly turned cold.

"Did you not hear him?" Lucinda scolds and hits me on my head.

"Ahh!" I shout as the pain shoots through my skull. "I did not take it!"

"So you have a voice!" She sneers.

"Search her," Alpha Enzo commands and two Omegas, including Lucinda, roughly search me. Everyone watches in expectation as their hands run all over my red, worn-out, short-sleeved gown. A gold hairpin falls from the pocket of my undergarment.

"No!" I shout as Lucinda quickly picks it up. I try to pry it out of her hands, but the other two Omegas pull me to the ground and I fall flat on my face.

"Please, Alpha Enzo, that's the hairpin my mother wore on her dying bed. That's the last thing I have from her. Please, I beg you, don't take it away from me," I cry out loud.

"You have the guts to speak to the Alpha after what you've done?" Beta Fidelis accuses me from his seat. "Take care of the thief," he orders the other sentinels.

The people I once trained with, ate with and trusted with my heart, gathered around me. They rain blows and slaps and kicks on my body.

"Please stop, you're hurting me. Yuri, Damien, I can't believe you're doing this. We were friends!" I cry, but they only increase their blows.

Alpha Enzo remains expressionless as he watches me suffer. Someone kicks me in the rib and I choke. They don't mind my coughing as they continue treating me like a thief.

Suddenly, a hunter runs into the banquet hall and shouts, "The war general is coming!"

Immediately Enzo springs up from his seat as a gasp arises from the crowd. His eyes grow wide in alarm. The sentinels stop beating me and look at Enzo. A sudden fright sweeps over the room. The war general is the dread of all wolves living and dead. Due to his ruthless acts, he was nicknamed the executioner.

"How long before they get here?" Enzo asks, trying not to sound panicked.

Before the hunter can reply, a group of men adorned in black attire and masks storm into the room. They are all above six feet tall and have weapons with them.

I crawl to a corner and hide. My body trembles with fear.

The armed men clear a path in their middle, and the war general emerges from their midst. At his appearance, the room becomes pin-drop silent. His jet black hair falls down his shoulders in loose strands. His well-toned muscles press against the material of his black clothes.

"General Kane, we agreed you won't near Silver Crest territory. Why are you here?" Enzo confronts the general.

Tension hangs in the air as the war general makes his way through the crowd, ignoring the Alpha. Everyone clears from his path as he walks and his men follow.

His green eyes hold a stern expression, like one searching for something.

"There!" he says, pointing to a pack member standing at the back of the crowd.

Immediately, the man tries to run. Two of the armed men follow him up and quickly catch up with him.

"Stop this at once! You can't come in here and harass my pack," Enzo defends as they bring the man in front of General Kane and pull up his sleeves.

One of his arms is in wolf form. A murmur arises from the crowd.

"A rogue, right under your nose," General Kane says with a hint of accusation in his tone.

"Sir, he's turning," one of the armed men points out. The rogue has started to shake vigorously.

"Discard him."

This one order from General Kane scares the rogue and everyone who heard it. He begins to fight with all his might until he breaks free from their grip. He jumps at General Kane.

In one swing of his hand, General Kane sends the rogue flying to the adjacent wall which cracks due to the impact. A shout escapes from the rogue and he goes limp on the floor.

Enzo stares helplessly as the armed men take the rogue away.

My heart beats skyrockets from watching the scene. I close my eyes and place my hand on my chest as I try to calm my heavy breathing.

Steady footsteps approach me and I snap my eyes open to see General Kane standing right in front of me. No, no, no...

His green eyes pierce into my soul as he looks down at me.

"Leave that one, she's not a rogue!" Alpha Enzo shouts from behind him.

General Kane replies firmly. "She's worse. Take her away."

Delilah's POV

"No! Please don't take me away! I beg you. Please! I'm not a criminal. I'm not a rogue! Alpha Enzo please tell them!" I cry out as I'm dragged away by General Kane's men. Despite how hard I kick and fight, their grip remains tight on me.

I look around frantically at my pack members. Tears flow down my cheeks and my heart beats fast.

"Help! Please help me!" I cry out. My pack members only stare quietly as they take me away. They show no disapproval, no resistance. As if they're happy to get rid of me. The reality of their abandonment breaks my heart.

Ahead, the war general walks on like he can't be any less bothered by my protest. My skin gets cold at the thought of what he will do to me. One of the masked men binds me in chains and drags me along with him through the woods.

On getting to the clearing outside Silver Crest Pack, three cars are lined up. One is a van. They put me at the back of one of the cars and put the rogue at the back of the van.

"Where are you taking me to? I've done nothing to deserve this..." I cry.

I'm still complaining when one of the masked men injects me on the neck, and I become half-conscious.

Everything turns hazy for the rest of the drive. We finally stop and they bring me out of the car. Next thing I'm on a bed and someone is pulling a blanket over my body.

The next morning, I wake up with a sharp headache. I immediately notice someone else in the room, a tall man dressed in black with his hair hanging loose. Before I can make out his face, he walks away and a lady comes into the room. She has long, dark brown hair, a thin and tall figure, and is wearing black, too.

"How are you feeling?" She asks.

"I have a headache," I tell her.

"Sorry about that. Let me get your food and medications. I'll be right back."

I watch her with my eyes as she leaves the room. Did she just apologize to me? And why is she offering me food and medication? Am I not supposed to be a prisoner? Was I not taken by the war General? I begin to replay the events of the previous night in my head. I'm sure the war general captured me.

It's when I try to move out of bed that I finally see the chains strapped to my legs. I'm held prisoner.

The lady comes back some minutes later with a tray having food and water. She keeps it on the bed in front of me and I examine the healthy plate of vegetables and fruits. What exactly do these people want from me? Am I a prisoner or not? Even my own pack did not treat me this well.

"Please have some food and take your medication, Delilah, you'd be fine."

At the mention of my name, I look up at her. "How did you know my name? And where is this place?"

"We have your personal, family and pack details. Your name is just the tip of the iceberg. You're currently in the army quarters. I'm Sentinel Nora, and I'll be taking care of you in the meantime."

Sentinel Nora... Her name reminds me of my friends back home. A tear drop slips from my eyes and more follow until I'm a sobbing mess.

"You should worry about your present and leave your past behind. Alpha Enzo, your former pack, that's all gone. You're with General Kane now." She speaks as if I'm meant to sing for joy when I'm being held prisoner.

"I'll be back," she says and leaves, shutting the door behind her. I notice a CCTV camera in the room, and it immediately makes me uncomfortable.

Looking around, I search for any other monitoring device. The room is painted a bright shade of blue with a white ceiling and a brown wooden polished floor. It has only the bed I'm sitting on, a table and a chair. A ceiling fan hangs above.

After finishing my food, Nora comes back and takes away the tray. When she returns again, a man is with her. He has grey hair, a slightly chubby frame and is a bit taller than Nora.

"This is Doctor Rogers. He will be seeing you frequently," Nora introduces the man.

"Why do I need a doctor? I'm not sick."

Nora smiles and walks closer to my bed. "You have fainted up to three times in eight hours. I doubt you remember any of that."

Suddenly I sit up, becoming defensive. "I never fainted back at my pack. Someone drugged me on my way here. I'm not sick! You did this to me!"

"Calm down, Delilah, we're trying to help you."

"No, I won't calm down. You can't forcefully take me from my pack and put all manner of drugs in me, claiming I'm sick. What do you take me for? Some kind of lab rat? If there's any experiment you want to carry out on werewolves, find someone else cause I'm not one!" I immediately realise my slip and pause. "Just let me out of here please..."

She lets out a sigh and shakes her head. "Doctor Rogers, please start the procedure."

"Is it safe to start? She doesn't seem to consent." The doctor says.

Nora shoots me a glare like I'm being too difficult. "One of her legs is chained. She won't be able to run."

The doctor takes out a syringe and comes close to me. "This would only prick you a little. We need just a small amount of your blood okay?"

"No! Don't come close!" I shout, but he doesn't listen. I begin fighting against his hold.

"Nora, please hold her down," the doctor says and Nora approaches me on the bed. She uses her two hands and pins me down to the bed so the doctor can insert the syringe. I try to push out of her grip, and the needle injures me.

"Ahh!" I groan in pain. Blood leaks out of the small cut. The doctor gives me cotton wool to hold it off.

He pours the blood into a vase containing a crystal clear liquid and the blood starts to bubble.

His expression hardens and he looks back at me. "She's concentrated. We need to infuse her now."

"What do you mean? I'm fine. Stop making things up. Let me go, you're the ones making me sick!" I cry out, not wanting to relive my experience from six months ago.

The doctor opens his bag and brings out a sack containing a red liquid.

"This is cure blood, it will reduce the effect of the Silver in your system, Delilah. You need to allow us to do this now, if not, you might faint and not wake up for a long time."

"Silver doesn't affect me. I've dipped myself a lot in Silver Lake. It doesn't harm me. Just let me go, please."

Nora steps forward, her figure imposing. "So what? Even if you're not sick, do you really want to return to Silver Crest?"

"Never! But I don't want to be here either. The general takes only rogues and criminals, what business does he have with me?"

Nora scoffs. "You don't know how endangered you are outside the walls of this place, do you? Why do you think Alpha Enzo did not discard you from his pack? People are looking for you Delilah, people worse than..."

"Enough!"

The room shakes as General Kane bangs the door open and steps in. He shoots Nora a glare so she bows her head and walks away from me.

His presence alone gives an air of discomfort in the room. I shift in my bed as he walks up to me.

He examines the cut on my elbow as a crease forms on his forehead. He looks into my face so his gaze burns into mine. My breath almost catches in my throat and I swallow uncomfortably.

"Now you will calm down and accept treatment. After that, you will fall asleep and..."

"No..." Despite my heart drumming in my chest and the knot forming in my stomach, I muster the courage to say my mind. "I will not calm down. I want to leave this place. Let me go, General Kane, please," I beg him.

His gaze immediately softens with surprise.

"What did you just say?"

"I want to leave," I repeat, not minding if he strangles me for my boldness..

He turns to the other two in the room and speaks in a tone dripping with anger. "Nora, doctor Rogers, no other ear should hear of what just happened now or you two would pay dearly for it. Look into this and find me reasonable answers before midnight."

My heart drops in my chest as he turns back to me. Now his eyes are filled with with hatred.

"I'll be back for you," he says and storms out of the room, banging the door behind him.

It's after he leaves that the realisation hits me. I'm immune to his powers. For a war general, this is considered a weakness.

Kane's POV

There's something strange about Delilah. She's not like the other wolves I've met. Why did my Alpha command not work on her? Is she under some sort of protection?

I continue to pace about the monitor room, wondering at the new occurrence. No one except the Ultima and my stepbrother can withstand my Alpha commands.

Something is definitely not right with Delilah. And the way she defied my orders - direct, and with so much audacity - it fuels my rage even more.

I look down at the CCTV camera footage. There wasn't even the faintest glow in her eyes when I tried to compel her.

"Xavier! Xavier!" I call out to one of the omegas working for me and he runs in. I want to test my powers on him but an omega is an easy target. "Call me Nora and my beta, Ezekiel."

A few moments later, Nora and Ezekiel are standing in the room with me. I face Ezekiel who is unaware of what I'm about to do. I speak to him.

"Leave the army quarters and stay in the pack house for tonight. Uh... Stamp your right foot three times, spin twice, and leave."

Immediately, there's a golden glow in his eyes and he starts doing exactly as I have commanded.

When he leaves, I turn to Nora. "My powers can work on Ezekiel but not Delilah? It's already past midnight. I need answers. Now."

"We aren't sure yet why she resists your commands but we know for certain that it has nothing to do with you. She's the different one."

"Of course, I know she's different. What makes her so? That's what I'm asking."

"Okay, Sir. We are yet to conclude with our findings. If you would give us extra time..."

"Nonsense!" I cut in on her excuses. "I have gone on over ten missions today. Do you know how many rogues I've had to capture? Did I give excuses to the Ultima? You had since the morning hours to do this. What have you discovered so far?"

Nora lets out a faint sigh. "She lost her wolf months ago. It should explain why she isn't responsive to your commands. Her mother was banished for being a warlock, and there are no records of her father or siblings."

"She really has no one?"

"Yes sir, she's all alone."

My mind flashes back to the time we took her from her pack. No one tried to help her out or speak for her.

"Don't tell her anything about her identity, especially how she's wanted for a crime we're not sure she committed."

"Yes, sir, I'll report that she's held captive here in our prisons."

"No, don't say a word to the Ultima. No one else except me, you, Ezekiel and the doctor knows she's here."

"What about her pack members? They saw us take her."

"There was a deception that we drowned her in Silver Lake. They were looking for her body there after we left."

Nora nods in understanding.

"Set up CCTV cameras in the guest room and send her over."

Nora looks surprised. "Sir, here? To your quarters?"

"Yes, and do it tonight," I reply and start walking away to my personal room when she calls to me again.

"Sir, is it safe? The ultima declared her dangerous."

I let out a sigh and turn to her. "Are you saying I should be scared of my prisoner?"

She immediately shakes her head, "No, Sir."

With that, I leave for my room. The security camera is fixed and Delilah is brought to my quarters.

The doctor has already left to come back in the morning and Nora has retired for the day. I'm alone with the woman who is driving me insane.

If the Ultima is secretly looking for her and she is immune to my powers then she must really be something. I watch her from the CCTV camera as she roams about the room. She badly wants to escape, but the room is sealed all around.

She moves desperately into the bathroom and comes out frustrated. I made sure nothing that could be used as a weapon remained in there with her.

Throughout the night I continue watching her intermittently. Most of the time she stands at the window, looking outside through the glass. Sometimes she sits down and begins to cry. She doesn't sleep until four in the morning. That's when I slip into her room.

In the dimly lit room, I can see her body moving with the rhythm of her breathing. She seems to be deep asleep, so I assume it's safe to move closer to her. She doesn't sense my presence. I'm not supposed to be here when she's sleeping but I can't help my curiosity

She has refused to change the red gown we captured her with. I suspect there's something she's hiding within it. I carefully search one of the pockets of the dress and find nothing. Just when I'm about to check the second, she shoots her eyes open and looks at me.

Immediately she scrambles up the bed as her breathing flares up. "Why are you touching me?" She asks fearfully. "Is this why I'm here? You want me as your personal slut? Oh my goodness. I've never been brought so low. I can't be a sex slave."

My eyes widen in alarm as she holds the bedsheet over her chest.

I take two steps away from the bed. "I have no such interests in you, Delilah."

"Then why are you here in the middle of the night, sneaking into my room and touching me. Please I can't do this. I've never known a man in my life. I've not even met my mate."

I hate to think that she's right. I would've given this a second thought before sneaking up on her like this. But I desperately needed to search her in case she had a protective amulet or something.

I can't stand the thought that someone like her is immune to my compulsive power.

I want to turn around and leave. But I won't let my prisoner have the belief that I want her for personal gain, and a sexual one at that.

With a determined look, I take two steps closer to her bed. She tries to shrink herself as she looks downwards.

"You are way beneath my standards, Delilah. I would never conceive the thought of being intimate with you. Never."

For the first time, I study her face closely under the glow of the moonlight seeping through the windows. I hook a finger underneath her chin and her eyes meet mine. Immediately, a red colour shines through her iris, and a wave of energy flows through my body.

My lips part in surprise. I shouldn't be reacting to her this way. I want to speak but I've lost all force in my voice.

No, this can't be. I had given up on finding her. But here she is, my mate. Delilah is my mate.

My wolf, Alexander, stirs. I have never felt him this pleased with anyone.

"Come on, let's have her. No one would know," he urges within me.

"No!" I say outwardly.

A crease forms between Delilah's eyebrows, her full, well-carved eyebrows, bordering those beautiful dark eyes she has.I shouldn't be thinking of her like this.

But my eyes trail down to her lips and further down to her chest. For the first time in a long time, I'm aware of the fortitudes of a woman. Alexander fights to take over and fulfil his desires. The more we stay within close proximity, the more I lose my willpower.