The alarm blared overheard but he could no longer hear it as the adrenaline rushed to his head, his mind set on one thing and one thing only.

He had destroyed any human that came across his way with a newfound determination that he had never come across before. The only exception was a small child whom he had grabbed and ushered out of the building where he would be taken to safety

Other than children, every other human in that base was going to die.

They had wanted to wipe out all werewolves, and had kidnapped their pups, subjecting them a life of torture, isolation and morbidity. There would be no mercy today no matter how hard they begged.

Harry the human had been able to roughly describe what path Solomon should take to reach the commander's office. After him would be the Alpha but for now, Sol was very eager to meet the human that was behind the whole masterplan; the one that was determined to wipe them all out as if they didn't matter, the one that had stripped him of both his pack and his parents. The one that had ripped his life away from under him, leaving him vulnerable and abandoned.

He had spent so long blaming himself for something that he now learnt couldn't do anything about. He was just lucky to have survived. The humans probably hadn't expected that.

A slow, dangerous smirk slipped onto his face as he eyed his destination, the door finally in sight.

It didn't take him more than a few measly seconds which he savoured greatly to eliminate the distance between him and the office door. A sadistic smirk took charge of his face as his hand clenched down on the door handle. He didn't need to press his ear up against the door to hear the human heart beating ferociously from inside the room. For every breath that he spent outside of the room, that was another breath that the human inside got to take.

Unfortunately for the commander, Sol wasn't in a particularly in a giving mood that day.

A small cry followed by a louder whimper sounded aloud as Sol threw the door open, not caring that he had been so rough as to have damaged the door frame. But worrying about damages seemed to be the last thing on his mind as he stalked over to the human whom was cowering in the corner of his room, lying on the ground, his eyes trained on the werewolf that stalked towards its prey. Tears streamed down his face as Sol finally reached him, his left foot about an inch away from his head.

Death.

It was a strange thing really, coming at you when you least expected it in most cases.

Except this human knew that it was coming and cried like a coward the whole time Sol stood over his foetus positioned body on the ground.

Sol didn't blame him though. He was sure that to him, he looked like the angel of death coming to retrieve his soul. However, he couldn't bring himself to care that the human was crying or that he had even started to beg for his life, even going as far to wrap his arms around one of his legs, weeping openly on his shoes.

It was a shame really.

If he hadn't had done what he did, if he had even experienced an inkling of remorse or even humanity, Sol wouldn't have been compelled to end his life.

The human was wicked and sick in the head even if he seemed to feel remorse for his actions. Sol refused to be fooled into thinking that this human wouldn't just go back to killing innocent people, both werewolf and human as soon as he got the chance to escape. He was definitely that if he offered the human the ultimatum to either die and let all his people live, or be the only one to survive then he would surely choose himself.

"You want to live?"

"Yes. Yes, please!" The human begged. It was honestly embarrassing that he had a commander wrapped around his left leg. He was sure that if he shook him off then the human would surely go flying, but it was more fun this way. "I'll do anything!" The man om the ground shrieked. He must have noticed the ominous look that had overcome the wolf's face.

If it were the other way around, Sol was sure that the human commander would have put a silver bullet through his forehead, not caring if he was two or twenty-two. That was exactly what he had done to the pups, the ones whom he had kidnapped but later on deemed as unworthy, and so had ended their lives as if they didn't matter, as if they were no one; as if they were worthless.

Sol wondered how he felt now; worthless.

But it was too late now to repent.

Feeling horrible for something that you had done previously but had realised to then go on in attempt to right a wrong is one thing and very worthy of forgiveness if asked for. But to offer hollow apologies as soon as death came knocking on the door -quite literally in this case- was something else.

There were a lot of innocent lives hanging over the human's head and Sol was determined to bring that number to a standpoint.

"Anything?"

"Yes, anything." The human blubbered, some drool slipping out of his mouth and onto Sol's shoes.

His lip curled in disgust, but he didn't kick off the human. Yet. Though he would have to throw away those shoes which was a shame since he was pretty fond of them.

"I'll give you an ultimatum." He started, only pausing to send a disgusting look to the human at his feet as he sobbed hysterically, thinking that he had been given an out; that he would be able to live. "You have two options here. You can either die here, right now and I will let all the other humans live. Or you can let them all die and be the only one to remain alive. You'll never show your face here ever again."

Hope shined in the human's eyes which was pretty disgusting. But when he struggled to get the words out, Sol growled in warning, demanding him to be quick with his decision.

"I want to live!" He called out in fear that the offer would leave the table if he hesitated for too long. "I choose to live!"

"Please let me live," the human whispered, his vision now blurry as he looked up at the werewolf. "Please don't kill me."

Sol scoffed and shook his head, throwing the human trash off of him.

If this was a different situation and if he was a different man, perhaps he could have brought himself to feel some sympathy towards the human.

But that day was not today.

The human slid down the wall before dropping to the ground once again. His eyes trailed up until they landed on Sol's face. "You said I could choose!" He shrieked hysterically, growing increasingly desperate by the second. "I choose to live! You can't kill me now!"

Sol scoffed and stalked closer to him. "I can do anything I want." He snarled at the cowering mess on the floor. "Scum like you don't deserve to live."

The human's lip quivered and more tears streaked down his face but Sol couldn't bring himself to care.

Crouching down on the floor, he grabbed the collar of his shirt before standing up, lifting the human with him. Holding his arm out in front of him, Sol held the human up in the air as he struggled to escape, to get him to release his hold. But there would be no mercy today, just like there had been no mercy when he had obliterated everything that had ever meant something to him.

"Please don't kill me." The commander's voice was quiet and feeble, nothing like it had been when he would command his human troops to capture some more werewolf pups or even when he would demand that the dosage of drugs be increased.

When Sol transferred his hold from the collar of his shirt to around the human's neck, he watched as his life passed through his eyes. The human was going to die today and he knew it, but that didn't stop him from trying absolutely anything and everything to remain alive, even if it was for a few more seconds.

That happened when death came knocking.

"I can help you." The desperation was evident in his voice.

Sol was starting to reach the end of his tether -running out of patience- but he decided to entertain the human for a few more moments. A dying wish, as one would call it.

"And how can you help me?"

"I know you love Artemis."

"Don't speak her name!" He growled out loud, his voice thundering throughout the room and no doubt also the hallway outside. His veins throbbed and his gums ached as he wished to sink his teeth into his neck, ripping his head off for even speaking her name.

"The Alpha was the one to snatch her from the pack."

When Sol didn't verbally react, the human took this as a chance to continue hoping that he would be able to exchange his information for a few more gulps of breath. It seemed to be working as he felt the pressure around his neck loosen slightly. Not enough for him to escape and be able to fight, but just enough where he could stay live for a little while longer. "He had been visiting the Valour pack a decade and a half ago. He was working with us at the same time. It was his idea to snatch wolves from packs and use them to create an army."

"Artemis was one of the wolves in the first batch of pups that we took and she was the only one to live long enough to be deemed worthy as one of our warriors."

Sol had heard enough.

Tightening his grip around the human's neck, he watched as his face coloured. He stood back coolly and tapped his foot on the ground impatiently as he waited for the life to seep out of the human. It didn't take too long but Sol was already displeased. Any amount of time was too long to spend on a worthless human that was now lying unconscious on the ground at his feet. Where he belonged.

It didn't feel quite right, leaving him forever unconscious on the ground. If someone were to walk in, they would assume that the commander was just asleep or that he had fainted, they would not know that he was dead until they checked for a pulse.

But Sol was determined to change that.

Standing over the body with blood dripping down his face and neck, staining his shirt, his eyes looked over the body of the commander. His face was pale after all the blood loss and his chest was no longer moving up and down, no longer breathing. Sol didn't need to check his pulse to confirm that, the lack of heart beat was enough. His clothes were bloody and his limbs strewn everywhere. One leg was stretched out under him while the other was bent at an awkward angle, no doubt broken and possibly even torn out of its socket. They were no longer symmetrical nor a pair, but they still had one thing in comment. They both led up to the pelvic bone which was now soaked, and not with blood.

Swiping his mouth on his arm in attempt to clean it, Sol left without a second glance back.

The halls were emptier now than they had been before and the alarm was no longer blaring loudly. He followed the same path he had taken but in reverse now as he headed out of the base and back to where Artemis and her group were supposed to assemble once they had freed all of the werewolf prisoners.

It had been long enough to free everyone and if not, then he would stick around to help out. But after that, he would go hunting for Alpha Eaton.

Now, if he just happened across the fellow Alpha then that would be a dream come true but for now, that was just wishful thinking.

It didn't take too long to head out the base.

The cold winter's wind was the first person to greet him as he stalked towards the group of werewolves whom were huddled together, standing as far away from the base as possible. They were stood near the fence, just waiting to be given the all clear to crawl under it. After that, they would truly be free and there would be no looking back. But the memories of their past would forever follow them.

His eyes raked over the group. He spotted one of the warriors whom had accompanied Artemis. He, along with the other warrior were both directing the wolves out of the base.

They nodded in recognition as he walked past them and into the

He noticed how the werewolves in the lab all flinched and cowered away from him as he entered but he didn't take offence. If he was in their position he was sure that he would have reacted the same.

After having experienced the transgressions and callousness of one Alpha, it was easy to assume that they were all the same.

Walking past them, Sol crouched down on the ground besides Apollo whom was helping pull the wolves from out of the tunnel. Peering down it momentarily, his eyes noted the lengthy queue that had formed of desperate, deprived wolves whom had probably not seen the sky for over a decade.

There was still no sight of Artemis though.

"Where's Artemis?" He asked, his eyes on the trap door and not on Apollo.

"She's still down there." He gestured towards the hole in the ground.

Sol furrowed his eyebrows, not too happy with what he was learning. They had both specifically promise that they would stay safe at all times, and her remaining in the dark, dingy basement that she had spent most of her life locked up in, without any warriors or her brother was not staying safe. "What's she still doing down there?"

"She went to rescue the wolves from the last batch."

"Alone?" A strange sense of fear washed over him as he whispered the word.

Apollo merely grunted in reply as he grabbed the hand of another wolf, pulling him out. Tears streamed down the wolf as he sat on the cold tiled floor of the lab. Just by looking at him Sol could tell that they were happy tears, tears of relief and sadness all mixed into one.

Patting the wolf on the back, he offered him a sympathetic smile before helping him to stand up and directing him towards the fire exit that would be his escape, his chance at a better life.

"Thank you," he whispered though the sound was barely audible, before he hobbled over towards the door and the others outside.

Sol watched him leave.

They boy couldn't be older than eighteen, and that was pushing it.

It was difficult to stomach the thought that every human had to die, but then he looked back at one of the victims and he was reminded of their cause all over again. Every human at that base shared one thing in common, a fundamental belief that all werewolves are evil and must be wiped out at all costs.

Mercy wouldn't be allowing them to live, but mercy would be to kill them, to prevent them from murdering anyone else.

Not all humans were bad, but the ones at the base all were.

"I'm going down there." He muttered lowly, waiting for another wolf to come through the hatch before he started climbing down the ladder. The wolf that was in the process of climbing it began climbing down, no protests, no words.

Sol nodded his head to him before he began towards the only open door that he could see. It also helped that the dim lights from it helped locate it.

All the doors along the corridor were open. All except one.

Dread pulsed through his blood as he walked down the long corridor, his steps hasty and quick, his heart beating faster the closer he got to it.

Chills ran down his spine as he opened the door and stepped into the room. What he saw broke his heart and scared the wits out of him all in one. He wouldn't be able to help any of these wolves for they were already dead, but he would be able to help Artemis.

But that was only if he could actually find her.

It was almost as if his worst fears were coming to life.

-

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Layla Knight

03.10.18