CHAPTER 27

"Look who we have here," Collins crooned mockingly as the seer made his way towards him shakily, followed closely by Ethan.
"Alpha," the seer said slowly, trying to bow but his aged back failing him and refusing to bend.
"Oh please. No need for all of that between us," he said with a boyish grin. He studied the old wrinkly face, not attempting to veil the contempt in his eyes. Merely looking at the man made him want to twist his old neck and put a end to his sorry life.
But a quick death was no fun. He wanted to make him suffer and beg for his life before he took it. He could almost see the fear in his eyes before he would snuff out his life.
The seer had been talking to the pack about the mercy of the Moon goddess and Cole coming back to overthrow him.
The ridiculousness of that made him snicker. He had driven the silver through his brother's heart himself and had watched his eyes roll back in his head. If Cole was alive, then he had resurrected from the dead. Since he had never heard of such happening in the past, the old man's claim were just as a result of a mental derangement and there was no cause for alarm. The only problem there was that the pack members believed the man as much as they believed in the Moon goddess. And according to his mistress, all his claims in the past years had always come to fulfillment. That meant that the pack members were holding out, not giving up hope in anticipation of a dead saviour and that was making it difficult for him because it was a matter of time before their hope got bigger if the seer continued to spew nonsense and they were going to stop fearing him.
Collins did not want that. He thrived on their fears and whatever stood in his way of them fearing him, he was going to end. Hence he had summoned the old man.
"How may I be of help to you Alpha?," the seer asked quietly. Collins noticed he was not saying 'my Alpha' like the rest of the pack, just like the way Ethan never personalized it too. He became angrier.
"Help me?," his voice dripped with sarcasm. He was going to be the one helping the old thing put an end to his sorry life.
"Yes Alpha," he replied in the same quiet tone.
"Now that I thought about it, I could actually use your help. You could start by telling me what you've been saying to members of the pack," he said with a smile plastered on his handsome face. The old man shuffled uncomfortably where he stood. "Common on old man, I want to be let in on the joke too," he added evilly.
That got the old man. "It is no joke Alpha," he said with his eyes sparkling eerily. "It is a prophecy of hope from the Moon goddess."
"Prey tell, what is this prophecy about?," Collins asked excitedly.
"It says the Chosen ones of the pack shall rise to restore the lost glory and there shall be budding of new growths," the seer stated with so much conviction that Collins almost feel for it.
Collins laughed mockingly, pointing at the old man. "You mean that's it? That's all your Moon goddess told you?"
"Yes Alpha," he replied, avoiding his questioning gaze.
In a flash of movement, Collins had the seer pinned to the wall by his neck. The old man dangled in the air, shaking and wiggling furiously as he tried to dislodge the hand blocking his air supply. "Look here old man, I'm not here for laughs. Did you think I was going to fall for that? Chosen ones? Not one? That was not what my source told me," he glowered furiously, his eyes turning dark and stormy.
"Your source got the message wrong Alpha. I only say what I'm sent to by the Moon goddess," he managed to say while choking.
"That's not true. Who are the Chosen ones? Are you trying to protect my dead brother with that?"
The seer continued to struggle for air, knowing Collins was never going to believe him and he knew he was as good as dead. That was good for him. He would rather die than continue to watch the people suffer and wait for a prophecy that did not seem feasible. He had had difficulty believing it himself when he had gotten the message. Who were the Chosen ones that would rise for the pack? As far as he knew, there was no one gifted within the pack. The only one had been Cole and he was dead, or so everyone believed but the goddess was hinting otherwise. He was not ready to wait for any saviour and besides, his time was almost upon him.
He watched through blurry eyes as the Beta shuffled on his legs, helpless and restless, the rage evident in his eyes as he stared hard at Collins back but that was all he could do. The man had once been a promising warrior, brother and son but all that had been taken away from him in the blink of an eye and he had been reduced to nothing but a waitress for Collins. Could he be one of the chosen ones meant to lead the pack to glory?
That was unlikely. Although he looked like he still had a little fight in him, the seer knew Ethan was a gone wolf, he was nothing but a shell of the man he used to be. Then who were the Chosen ones? He was not going to be around long enough to find out.
"That was all that the goddess revealed to me?," he choked.
Collins released the old man, making him drop to the floor loudly. He continued to cough and choke loudly. That felt good. "Tell me, how does the goddess plan to resurrect the dead?"
"Nothing was said about the dead," he managed to say after a long moment.
Collins turned to Ethan and grabbed his shoulder roughly, his eyes glowing furiously. "Ethan, I watched the life leave his body, I watched the wolf wolf fade away and you felt it happen. Tell me, how come this old nitwit claims the Chosen one of the pack is alive?"
Ethan avoided his eyes and the question entirely. He was not going to fall into the obvious trap. Truth be told, he had seriously doubted the old man's prophecy when he got wind of it. He had always been certain that Cole was dead but not anymore. A part wanted so much for the prophecy to be true and he was not going to let Collins see that.
"Answer me. Or do you believe him too?," Collins said ominously, squeezing his shoulder painfully.
"I do not believe a word the seer says," he said quietly. All he needed was to believe in his heart while saying what Collins wanted to hear.
"Exactly, someone who thinks like me," he said slapping him on the shoulder and then turning to the man still on the floor. "I want you to go back and retract whatever you said. I do not care for what you are going to say to the pack, but make them understand you've been feeding them a load of crap," he said with a smile.
"I'm sorry but I can't do that Alpha. It was the words of the goddess, not mine," he said boldly, knowing the end was near for him and not fearing to face it.
"Agreed. Your goddess is a nitwit like you. I just want you to say a few words from your Alpha, that's all. What harm could that do?," he asked turning towards Ethan and laughing. The former Beta tried to compose his look into a smile but Collins had seen the anger and fear for the old man in his eyes. Just what he wanted.
"I refuse still."
The man was making him angrier and what more, he was not even scared. Instead, their exchange seemed to be making him bolder by the second. It was a pity the man had no relative. If he had anyone remotely dear to him, he would have left him alive to mourn and feel the pain of loss of a loved one and put enough fear in his heart instead of killing him. What a pity he had gone through life alone, now he was going to die alone.
"Then I'll have to take matters into my own hands. With you gone, the prophecy is gone. Ethan here is going to help me tell the pack you came here and refuted every claim because you knew you were going to die and he's going to tell them you said I'm the Chosen one. How does that sound?," he asked with a sick smile, bringing a silver dagger out of his pocket.
"Nooooo...you wouldn't dare," the old seer said looking wildly between Collins and Ethan, fear and foreboding entering his eyes and making Collins smile. Finally, he was going to draw his last breath with that look, the look everyone of his victim ever had.
"My Beta, if you do that, it's sacrilege and the goddess would never forgive you for aiding his lies," he said in a rush as Collins moved towards him with his dagger drawn. "You've to stop this," he managed to shout to Ethan before Collins charged towards him and pierced his heart.
"There is no goddess," Collins said smiling at the fading man. One more foe down, and many more to go. "Say hello to the Chosen one."
Ethan watched a life he had grown up knowing fade away. Although he had not been very close to the seer, he had always been an integral part of the pack, had always been there but in the space of minutes, his life had ended before him like an ordinary chicken for dinner and he felt ashamed that he had stood and watched helplessly. The seer said he had to put a stop to Collins but how?
Then there was silence once again in the great mansion, like nothing had happened.