Forged in the Flames by Karima Sa'ad Usman

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I hurried out of the palace to see what was going on outside. I looked around and did not know what direction to go.
“Where is the attack?” I linked Gabriel.
“East border,” he replied, and he seemed occupied, which meant he was fighting.
“Do you have help?” I asked him.
“Israel and some other werewolves are here. I do not think they are here to catch slaves, Alpha, even though it seemed like it.
They are killing my people,” he added, and I decided to move.
I linked my men at once and ordered them to move to the eastern border. I knew it was only a matter of time before they killed off
the Werewolves defending the territory.
I moved quickly, knowing Aliana’s father was there. I was scared that he might get killed. I know he killed my father, but I knew
his death would break Aliana’s heart. I loved her too much to allow that to happen.
I moved quickly and hoped they would hang on.
I shifted into Bane mid-way and pushed myself. I ran fast.
I needed to get there on time. I advanced and linked my men to hurry. I felt them coming, but I was far ahead.
When I got to the woods, I met a massacre. Werewolves were on the ground. Most of them had no business fighting but had to.
I saw Gabriel’s grey wolf.
I could tell he was the one because he was the only Alpha in the clearing.
I lunged at a Lycan, and it stood on its hind legs to face me, but instead of aiming to attack with my jaws, I reached with my claws
and cut his throat.
He fell immediately, and I used my hands to pull off his head. I always discorporate my enemy’s body parts to stop them from
healing and surviving.
I looked around and aimed for the next one. My men finally arrived in wolf form, and I was more confident.

“Fall back!” I linked the werewolves. They were wounded and bound to be tired. I did not want to lose anyone. I also did not plan
on letting any hunter survive. I watched the werewolves fall back while my men advanced.
Most of my trusted warriors were there, including Ingham.
“Wipe out the intruders,” I linked my men, and they went for the kill.
Gabriel did not fall back. I noticed he was still fighting, and that annoyed me.
“I said fall back,” I linked Gabriel with my command, and he froze.
One of my men hit the wolf coming at Gabriel, ripping out its arm, and Gabriel’s wolf moved back. The wolf was limping, and I
could see it was severely injured.
“We will handle it from here. Your kind should return and get the necessary medical care,” I ordered him, and he howled and fell
back. Most of the werewolves were injured, but they had done a number on the Lycan’s too. Gabriel was indeed a warrior.
I remained to fight the rest of the intruders.
My men did an excellent job, and we finished them off.
It wasn’t a fight since Gabriel and his team had already done a number on them, but I saw a few dead werewolves that made me
know the magnitude of the battle.
The intruders were up to twenty-five. It had never happened before. Usually, hunters hunted in a maximum of five, this was an
outright attack, and I did not need to guess where it came from.
“Search their corpses for clues. Bring whatever you find to me,” I instructed my men and began to head back.

While I walked, I wondered if that was the response from the Snow King. Sending men to come to Forest to kill my people was
an act of war. This was a matter to take before the council.
King Fredrik had broken the law.
I had not done anything to warrant this, and he had no right to attack.
I got to the palace, shifted to my human form, and then went to my office. I had clothes there, so I slipped into shorts and a T-
shirt.

“Alpha, are you right?” I heard Qusack in m y head. The connection was faint, so I knew he wasn’t close by.
“Where were the three of you?” I linked him back.
“Grant and I went to check the projects in Woodland. We just got back. What about Abraham?” he asked, and I wondered where
Abraham was.
“Abraham, where are you?” I asked my Delta.
“In the woods, Alpha, we are checking the men as you requested,” He said, and I realised he must have fought in the woods with
me. I was too occupied to notice.
He had never worked closely with me before, so he was bound to skip my mind. It used to be Qusack, Ingham and Grant, but
now it was Qusack, Grant and Abraham. I still needed to get used to the change. I knew Ingham fought in the woods, I saw his
wolf.
“How many casualties?” I asked Abraham. “Seven werewolves. Three women and four young men,” He said, and I felt terrible
because I knew they weren’t warriors.
I sat on my couch and did not know how to feel about the news. Werewolf or not, they were mine to protect, and I had failed
them.
“I do not think they came to hunt, Alpha. I think they came to attack us,” Abraham said, telling me what I already knew, and I
sighed.
“Very well, find out what you can and get back to me,” I instructed him, closing the mind link.
I decided to visit Gabriel to find out what happened before the attack. He could tell me something useful I could use when I lay
my allegations against Fedrick.
Whether the a*ss*hole liked it or not, Forest wasn’t Snow, and he had no power here, so his men coming to attack people in
Forest was a crime. It was against the Unity law, and his royal status did not give him immunity in that regard. I wondered what
he would say his reasons were.
I left my office and decided to go and see Gabriel. I knew he wouldn’t be home, so I walked out of the compound and onto the
road.

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“Where are you,” I linked Gabriel, and it took a while before he answered. I figured he was far. If I were a werewolf, I wouldn’t
have been able to reach him via the mind link.
“The clinic assigned to werewolves on the way to the market,” His response came very faintly, and I closed the mind link.
There was no point telling him I was coming. I liked surprising people like that to catch them if they were doing anything wrong.
“Do you think Gabriel staged this?” Bane asked, and I stopped a Cycle Rickshaw to get me there fast.
“I doubt it. His people died. It would only be a fool that would surrender to save the lives of his people, only to organise an attack
that would kill them. I think he is lucky to be alive,” I told my wolf, and he was silent.
I did not understand what the werewolves were doing in the woods after I had explicitly told them not to go there. I was also
grateful because if the attackers had entered the settlement, they would have been harder to kill, and more people would have
died.
I was glad about how the matter turned out, but now I needed to create more security to protect my people.

Border security and some fences were necessary to keep the hunters out.
I couldn’t underestimate the hunters’ desperation, especially now that the price of slaves had increased in the market due to the
scarcity of werewolves in other territories since they were still escaping to the Forest for safety. The hunters were bound to risk
their lives to enter Forest so they could catch slaves. But d*eep down, I believed this was Fredrik’s work.
We got to the hospital, and I alighted the Rickshaw. He asked me if he should wait, and I told him not to. I would prefer to walk
back home.
I saw the clinic. It was an old warehouse. They must have created it for themselves. I wondered where all the health funds went.
I planned to look into the matter.
I walked in and saw it was indeed a warehouse with beds. It wasn’t a clinic.
There were sick Werewolves coughing, and they were understaffed and underequipped.
I remember Aliana planned to volunteer with her friends. Was this where she would be working?

I searched for Gabriel and saw him sitting on a hospital bed. Beside him was his friend. Gabriel’s chest and head had been
wrapped in bandages.
When he saw me, he got off the bed to salute me. Everyone in the hospital copied him. His action had drawn their attention to
me.
“Please get back to work and rest. Ignore me,” I said, and they did as instructed.
I looked at Gabriel and moved close to him. “How did they come? What were you doing at the border?” I asked him, and he
looked at his friend before answering me.
“The eastern border has always been known for trouble, and some people live close to that border. The residents sensed the
unusual activities and alerted Israel and me.
We went to see what it was, only to find over twenty supposed hunters trying to get into the settlement. They had silver meshed
nets and other slave-capturing equipment with them.
The moment they saw Israel and me, they came at us.
Unfortunately, the residents joined to help to give us a fighting chance. We tried to run back to save the lives of the unqualified
fighters in our midst. But the hunters chased us, and that was how the residents got caught in the mess, forcing them to shift and
fight. That is all that happened, Alpha,” He said all the time, avoiding eye contact out of respect, and I nodded.
“You mean I will find hunting tools in the woods?” I asked Gabriel, and he nodded. He also seems confident.
“Very well, thank you,” I said, ready to leave when I remembered to ask him something. “Has this always been the hospital?” I
asked him, and he shook his head.
“The Lycans are the ones that use our hospital now. We just fixed this place in our free time. It serves its purpose,” He said, and I
realised it wasn’t a clinic.
I did not remember giving such an order, but I kept it to myself. I planned to fix the problem, there was no need to discuss it with
Gabriel.
From how he behaved, I doubted Aliana had told him who I was, but then again, they had not seen each other. She wouldn’t be
spending time with him until the next day. I decided to allow Aliana to tell him because even if I wanted to discuss that with him, it

would not be in public like this, just in case something embarrassing about my parents and the past that I wouldn’t want anyone
to know came up.
After all, with how my mother had behaved, I was sure she was hiding something from me.
“I have something to discuss with you soon. It will be after you have seen your daughter. Try and see me in my office on
Sunday,” I told Gabriel, and he said he would. He also looked very worried. I chose to leave him wondering.
I turned around to leave.
Once I stepped out and realised the distance I would have to walk, I began to regret telling the Rickshaw to go. I had thought
walking would be a good exercise, but it did not seem like it now that I wanted to get back to the palace quickly.
I began grumbling about my stupidity and hoped a rickshaw would pass by so I could stop it and use it to return to the palace. It
didn’t seem like it would happen because of how isolated the road was, but there was no harm in hoping.