I Will Go

"I refuse." For a second a stiff silence fell in the hall, the tension so thick that even a knife could cut through it. Then it was broken by the dark chuckle of the Beta.

"You refuse?" Beta Quinn was a handsome man, unlike other male werewolves who tended to look bulky, he was tall and thin, his white hair always dazzling to the eyes, but nothing captivated people like his Violet eyes. But now his lips were twisted scornfully and Cmaren saw nothing handsome about this man.

"It's funny you think you have a choice Roknagher." He spat angrily.

"My name is Camren." Anger burns like molten lava in Camren's tone. "Do not call me like that."

Roknagher- The Rejected One.

A name that had followed Camren all his life.

"And If I do? What would you do Roknagher?" Beta Quinn taunts.

"Enough Beta." The Luna's voice is loud and powerful. "We aren't here for childish squabbling." Her Lilac eyes narrowed at Camren.

"Camren Moon I command you as your Alpha, you have no right to refuse." A powerful growl has every werewolf in the room shaking, but not Camren, he stood tall and poised glaring the Alpha in the eye.

"Alpha please." Alicia's whimpers drew no attention, except from the worried gazes of her children. "Spare my son, take me instead." Desperation claws in her chest. Why them? Why do all the bad things in life have to locate them?

Alicia paid visits to the Moon Temple every day, she prayed to the Goddess and gave donations to orphans from the little she had. Why had Selene chosen to turn her back on her family? Had she not been faithful enough? Loyal enough?

"You are not my Alpha. You do not command me Xavier Alexander." At once the First Circle snarled ferociously at Camren, seconds away from ripping him apart from disrespecting their Alpha.

"Speak to your Alpha with respect boy." The Gamma's temper burns fiercely like his red locks.

"My Alpha?" Camren arches a brow. "You are sending me to my death and yet you expect me to accept it with arms wide open." Camren snarls. "You can kill me, rip me apart for all I care, but I will be no slave to your bidding."

"You speak so selfishly." The Zeta's Silver eyes glow fiercely. "Do you realize what is at stake? What we stand to lose if we don't follow this treaty?" She stands now, her tall figure looming over Camren despite them being feets apart.

"Without this there would be no peace, the war would still rage. Thousands would die, what life would we live? Innocent werewolves like," her eyes drop to Grace and Hope who still lay on the floor, something cruel twisting in her smile, "your lovely little sisters would be caught in the midst of it. Do you know what fate would await them? They would be breed and bled dry to their last breath."

Rage bubbles beneath Camren's skin, he can hear her unsaid threat, it's them or him. He wants nothing more than to tear this She-wolf alive, watch every member of the First Circle burn to death.

"There are three hundred and eighty six Werewolf Packs in the world, every year you choose five Werewolves to become blood slaves. You send one thousand, nine hundred and three Werewolves to die, how is this different from war?" Something akin to a wince flickers minutely on the Zeta's face before it is replied by her usual cold look.

"A necessary sacrifice. A small price to pay for the entire Werewolf race." The Luna says calmly. "In order for you to live this life of leisure that you have now, other's have died and now that it's your turn why must you be selfish."

"Necessary sacrifice? Is that what you tell yourself to be able to sleep at night, Luna?" Are these the leaders that they have believed in blindly for years? How laughable.

"I guess it's a small price when it's not you or your children being thrown to their deaths Luna." Camren grits the words out. "It is easy to turn a blind eye, when you are able to enjoy a posh life at the expanse of other lives. It's easy to ignore that your legacy has been built in the blood and bones of your kind, when you get to keep your false royalty."

Something akin to shame and guilt flickers on their faces, but maybe it's just Camren's delusional brain imagining it, because the Alpha fixes him a hard stare immediately.

"We don't have all day Camren, it's either you or them?" Grace and Hope whimper at the harsh alpha pheromones that envelope the room, while Alicia's thin figure shakes from the force of her sobs.

"I will go." Camren ignores the stunned look from his mother and his sister's pleading eyes. "But know this, I am only willing to go so you can spare their lives, not so you can keep the 'peace'. If even a strand of their hair goes missing, I will crawl out if hell to find you." Alpha Xavier doesn't like the threat from the way he growls, but Camren doesn't waiver.

"Your mother and sisters will swear an Oath, if they breathe a word of what happened here to anybody else, they will die." Theta Adam all but spits the words out. It's only then that Camren notices the gleaming dagger and bowl placed beside the Luna.

"And if others ask about me?" Camren asks.

"Who will ask?" Beta Quinn chuckles. "The wolfless orphan disappeared. So? Who cares? And if anyone asks your mother could simply tell them you have moved to the human lands, you certainly mingle with them enough." He snorts disdainfully.

Camren feels sick at their familiarity with it all, the way they have so flawlessly weaved a story and picked nhim because they know nobody will question if he goes missing. How many Werewolves had gone missing over the years with no ones knowledge? Disappearing into the devouring jaw of the Vampires.

"Brother please, don't go." Be brave. Camren's eyes seems to tell Grace, even when she is breaking inside. Hope can't talk, but Camren can feel the emotions in her eyes.

"Alpha. Alpha I will go, spare my son." Camren wants to tell Alicia to stop crying, to not cower before these beats, but he's afraid he will break into tears if he opens his mouth.

"Gamma Deleon escort Camren out and Zeta Purple please proceed with the Oath." The Alpha pays no attention to Alicia's cries.

Camren can't see the procedure of the Oath because the Gamma is quick to grab him tightly and push him roughly towards the door.

Camren catches his mother's pained Amber eyes, and he forces a smile which only send fresh batch of tears cascading down her face and Camren forces himself to look away, because he can feel his own eyes reddening and he refuses to be vulnerable before these people.

********

Alpha Xavier is no kind Werewolf, and Camren knows this first hand when the news that he was leading his heir astray had leaked. All hell had broken loose when Vanessa had reported the news about him and Jason's secret affair to the Alpha.

Camren had never known torture until that day. He had not known another of his kind was capable of such cruelty.

Horror and dread pools in the pit of Camren's stomach as the Gamma leads him down familiar haunting steps.

"The Cellars huh." Camren manages a disdainful snort when they stop for the Sentinels to open the door, each turn of the key a countdown for Camren.

"You challenged the Alpha, what else do you expect? A fancy room with delicate designs?" Deleon chuckles sarcastically.

"I wouldn't dare imagine. Such luxury is only reserved for you royals." Their steps click on the cold dark hallways and Camren know he is not imagining the tortured screams that echo around him

"But you could have certainly been a lot more nice than this." 'This' is a small dingy cell with creaky gates, dirty black walls and something that looks suspiciously like bones piled in a corner.

"Well it's all you are getting princess." Deleon pushes him into the cell. "Have a nice night, cause it's the last one you are getting." The door is closed with a chilly click and soon the sound of footsteps disappear.

Camren curls into himself, hands wrapped around his legs and face tucked into his knees, he ignores the bellowing screams around him and rocks himself.

It's going to be okay. He assures himself, even when the future is bleak and uncertain.

Camren's thoughts drift to his mother, sisters, the kind Miss Moore and even the cold Emma. He will never see them again, they will become precious memories to him. His life is gone, all his hopes, dreams and goals disappearing liked the burnt pages o a book.

Who's going get Alicia's medicine from the Healer , she was always so forgetful. Who was going to play villain in Grace's play about being a Guard, and who would tickle Hope until she smiled when the bullies at school taunted her with her muteness.

The first tear rolls down his cheek too late before Camren realizes and that's all it takes for the gates he so tightly sealed to break, tears streaming down his face and he buried his face deeper into his knees choking on sobs.

Only this night would he allow himself to be vulnerable, to mourn, to grieve, for his family and for Camren, the one who would no longer be there tomorrow.