The Alpha's Regret: Return Of The Betrayed Luna

Chapter 385: Chapter 385 Escaped

He wanted to say something, to offer comfort or reassurance, but he knew that a single word could endanger them all and expose his plan before it even began. So he bit down hard, gritting his teeth to keep himself silent.

Slowly, he lowered his head to hide his face, knowing full well that acting was never his strength.

Instead, he used their mindlink to speak with the other two. ”Stop crying. I have a plan. Just follow my lead...” the captain said through the link, his mental voice calm but firm.

”I know, Captain. I was just acting,” the warrior replied, still sniffling a little. The captain could almost feel him doing it, and could also sense his own body stiffen in surprise at the response.

”You knew? How? Did I give myself away? Did the enemy notice?” the captain asked quickly, a flicker of panic slipping in his voice through the mindlink.

”No, Captain. I don’t think they noticed. That’s why I started crying,” the warrior replied. ”I wanted to divert their attention to me, to make them drop their guard for a moment. I’m gambling my dignity as a man here...”

Even though the words came through the mindlink, the other two could almost hear him grinding his teeth in embarrassment. Men like them didn’t cry easily; tears were seen as a sign of weakness, something that made them look vulnerable, like women, as the old saying went. If anyone ever found out, he’d never hear the end of it.

Understanding what the warrior was doing, both the captain and the other warrior visibly relaxed. Their breathing steadied, and they sharpened their focus. Hooded by the night, the captain scanned their surroundings with cautious eyes, then quietly outlined his plan to the two men.

Relief and a flicker of excitement passed between them; they finally had a possible way out. But the plan left no room for mistakes. If the execution failed, Greg would simply overwhelm them with numbers, and they would all die; worse still, Levi would go with them.

It was all or nothing. And if Greg’s claim that no reinforcements were coming was true, they’d have to pull off a full self-rescue.

”Are you two ready? They’re about to move.” The captain asked after briefing them through the mindlink.

”Anytime, Captain.”

”Same here, just waiting for your signal.”

The captain drew a sharp breath, tightened his hold on Levi’s slumped form so he wouldn’t tumble, and then shouted through the link: ”Now!”

The two warriors lunged from the captain’s flanks, tackling the rogues on his left and right. Caught off guard, the rogues stumbled and fell. The pair hit the ground hard, gritting their teeth as their half-healed wounds tore open, but they endured it, anything to clear a path. The captain seized the brief opening and sprinted forward.

Everything happened so fast that Greg and his men froze for a moment, stunned. Then Greg’s lips curled into a malicious grin. He didn’t bother to stop their desperate last attempt; instead, he raised his hand and signaled coldly.

”After them. Bring them back, alive or dead. But Levi,” he added darkly, ”make sure he’s still breathing when you deliver him to me.”

The three bolted to the right, boots pounding against the dirt as the rogues immediately gave chase. The captain silently counted down, three... two... one, then suddenly dove to the ground. The two warriors followed his lead without hesitation.

Whack!

”Argh!”

”Ugh!”

”What the fuck is this...?” the rogue gasped, staring down in disbelief. Three of them had been skewered clean through as massive wooden stakes came hurtling from nowhere. Before he could even react, a tremendous force slammed into him, throwing his body against a tree trunk with a sickening crack.

He felt his bones snap, and when he looked down, there was a gaping hole torn through his chest and stomach.

The other two barely managed a groan before death claimed them, one’s neck twisted at an unnatural angle, while the other was flung so far that the impact shattered his bones and crushed his insides.

None of them had seen where the stakes, each as thick as a tree trunk and sharpened to a deadly point, had come from. There were dozens of them, raining down too fast to dodge.

Even with his wolf’s regeneration, the rogue knew he wouldn’t survive. He glared at the three men crawling on the ground as they fled in the distance, hatred blazing in his fading eyes. As his final breath escaped him, his body slid down the trunk, eyes still wide open, burning with fury even in death.

Because of the trap, Greg’s men couldn’t advance any farther. One of them tried to crawl through the obstacle, but the captain had already circled around and pulled another hidden string. In an instant, a barrage of poisoned arrows shot out from the darkness.

The rogue froze mid-crawl, confusion flashing across his eyes before pain flooded his body. Dozens of arrows pierced through him, turning him into something resembling a hedgehog. He didn’t even have time to scream.

The venom worked fast, spreading through his blood and reaching his heart within seconds, then, everything went still. His body collapsed lifelessly, eyes blank and unmoving.

Only Greg and one rogue were left standing. The captain glanced back, then turned and sprinted with his two subordinates. With only two enemies remaining, their priority was clear: get Levi urgent medical help. They could leave the cleanup to others; for now, they had to run.

They fled at top speed, one warrior trying to reach the nearest team as they went. What none of them knew was that Greg had already called for backup. With their original plan disrupted and the silent intrusion exposed, Greg no longer needed to hide; he had summoned reinforcements the moment things went wrong.

By the time the captain and his men vanished from sight, fresh enemy forces were arriving on the scene. If they’d stayed to wait for help, they would have been trapped and killed; they were lucky they ran when they did, never seeing the reinforcements closing in.

Their successful escape was actually thanks to Levi’s foresight. The traps on the eastern side were something he had supervised and set up at the last minute, believing they could serve as a final line of defense, a surprise for anyone reckless enough to pursue them.

Levi knew that Greg understood Zion too well; the two had grown up together and fought side by side in the past war, meaning Greg could easily predict many of Zion’s tactics. But Levi was different.

Greg might have known his name, but not how he thought. Fortunately, Levi had once worked closely with Addison, who was meticulous and always thought outside the box. Taking a page from her methods, he made sure to lay a series of traps along the eastern border, an area that seemed less likely to be attacked but was strategically close to a vulnerable flank.

He even marked the traps subtly so other patrol units could recognize and use them if needed. To Levi, whether his own team triggered them or another did, the important thing was that the traps would serve their purpose when the time came.

Since very few people knew about the traps laid in that area, Levi had forced himself to wake from the depths of unconsciousness. It felt as though he were being dragged down into the bottom of a dark ocean, cold, silent, and suffocating, yet he clawed his way back to awareness just long enough to tell his team to run east and escape their pursuers.

The moment those words left his lips, he slipped back into that endless abyss.

He could no longer hear their voices, only the muffled gurgle of unseen waters surrounding him. The chill seeped into his bones as he floated in the pitch-black depths, the pressure heavy and consuming.

Then, faintly, he sensed movement, something swimming nearby, but he couldn’t tell what it was. Everything was swallowed by darkness.

”Hurry, call the doctor!” the captain shouted as they burst out of the forest into a clearing near the community. Then he turned sharply to the side. ”Did you contact the other teams?”

”Yes, Captain. It just so happened that Alpha Maxwell managed to break through the border on his side and left the battle in our Alpha’s hands. He’s already heading this way,” the warrior reported quickly. ”I’ve informed the warriors with him about our situation, and they said to prioritize Beta Levi’s safety and send him to the medical team immediately. Alpha Maxwell will handle the remaining rogues himself—”

Before he could even finish, movement flickered from the edge of the forest. Several rogues in their wolf forms burst out from the shadows, their snarls echoing in the night. Others followed close behind, riding on top of the wolves with torches in hand, the flames cutting through the darkness as they emerged from the same direction the group had just escaped.