The Glowing Tattoo

Williams’ POV

“You might want to hear this one. It might just change everything,” he teased, infuriating me further.

Then, with a final smirk, he turned his back to us and began walking away. What does he think? That whatever he would say will make a difference to me? The audacity.

I clenched my fists, trying to keep control of the rage burning inside. Every muscle in my body was screaming at me to strike, to shut him up for good. But that won't do us good, we are already outnumbered and surrounded.

I just stood still, watching, waiting. His arrogance would be his undoing, I'm just waiting for the perfect time.

Just as he turned to face us again, my eyes caught the tattoo on his arm. It was unmistakably familiar. Too familiar to the one registered on my mind, branded in my memory. The one I had burned into my consciousness the night I lost her.

Come to think of it, they all had the same tattoo. They wore it proudly on their arms like a badge of honor, a twisted display of allegiance. Their short-sleeved polo's flaunted it for all eyes to see as if it were a trophy. A mark of their loyalty.

I almost mistook Alex as one of them at first glance. Why did they have to brand him too? A ritual maybe? Or a sign of conquest? Either way I couldn't focus on that now or anything at all. Not when the bastard with the mark was standing in front of me.

The particular one on his arm was the one I've been searching for a long long time. It haunted my dreams, my nightmares…every waking moment consumed by it. It was the same one on the arm of the rogue that had taken everything from me. The rogue that had killed my mate.

Time slowed as rage overtook reason. There was no controlling it this time.

With deliberate, swift movement, I lunged at him before he could finish whatever nonsense he had to say about a secret.

I crashed into him with all the strength in me, knocking him to the ground. He didn't even have time to react, and that smug expression vanished from his face. My hand found his throat, claws digging in, cutting off any chance of him spitting out more of his taunts.

His men were already set to attack but he raised hand for them to halt.

“it's you,” I growled, pressing harder. “I've been searching for you, bastard.”

His eyes widened in shock, his lips curling into a grimace of pain. But then, just as quickly, that smirk returned. Even now, even as I held his throat, he thought he had the upper hand.

“Woah easy, Alpha. You really think this is going to get you answers?” he rasped, his voice choked but mocking.

I tightened my grip, my knuckles turning white. My heart pounded in my chest, the rage inside me growing by the second. His words meant nothing, not now. All I could see was that tattoo. That cursed mark that had haunted me for so long.

“Why?” I demanded, my voice a low snarl. “Why did you kill her?”

His laughter–hoarse and strained sent a wave of fury down my spine. “Kill her?” he wheezed, eyes gleaming with a twisted delight. “You think I had the power to decide that?”

Confusion cut through my anger, momentarily stilling my hand. What was he saying?

“You don't know anything,” he spat, struggling under my grip. “You're chasing ghosts, do you know that? She was just the beginning. It's much bigger than you think, dear Alpha.”

I wanted to crush him right there, to end his taunting and his games. But something about his words made me pause. My grip loosened just enough for him to suck in a breath.

“You want to know the truth?” he continued, his voice barely above a whisper. “You want revenge? You're going to have to dig deeper. The ones pulling the strings…they're closer than you think. I'm just a messenger of chaos.” And with that his eyes wandered towards Cleopatra's direction briefly then back at me.

Before I could react, he shoved me off, taking advantage of my hesitation. He scrambled to his feet, still wheezing from the pressure I'd applied to his throat.

I stood, fists clenched, ready to attack again, but something stopped me. Maybe it was the way he looked at me.

“Go ahead, Alpha,” he said, backing away, still holding his throat. “Keep chasing shadows. By the time you figure it out…it'll already be too late.” He turned and walked away but not for long. Someone flew past me and jumped right at him with a ferocious growl.

It was Renee.

And that was when the real fight broke out. His men attacked, obviously bigger in number than us but we fought harder. I raced to where Renee was latched onto his back like a parasite and yanked her off.

He's mine.

From the corner of my eye I saw Cleopatra, standing still. Her eyes were glazed over as though she was about to have an episode. As I fought the bastard who killed my mate, my attention was divided and that gave him the upper hand.

One of the men lunged at Cleopatra and my heart skipped but before I could move an inch towards her direction, she bit into his neck, snapping the neck afterwards.

The battlefield froze. For a moment, it was as if time had stopped. Everyone stopped and stared at Cleopatra.

The lifeless body of the man she'd just killed dropped to the ground, blood pooling beneath him. Cleopatra stood over him, her chest heaving, her eyes glazed over as though she wasn't entirely there.

I barely had time to process what just happened when the rogue took advantage of the distraction. His fist connected with my jaw, sending me staggering backwards. Pain flared but I forced myself to stay on my feet, wiping blood from the corner of my mouth.

I could barely feel the throbbing in my jaw as my mind was elsewhere.

The rogue circled me, sensing that I wasn't fully focused, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from Cleopatra. She just stood, waiting for someone to dare approach her.

What is going on with her? “Cleopatra!” I shouted, trying to get her attention but she wouldn't flinch.

The rogue in front of me snickered, catching the shift in my attention. “Looks like our dear Alpha is in love.”

I turned back to him, fury coursing through my veins. I lunged again, but he sidestepped me, too quick this time.

“You're in over your head, Alpha,” he taunted, his voice dropping with satisfaction. “This is bigger than your little revenge fantasy.”

His words echoed in my mind, but they didn't matter. Not now. My focus was torn…between the rogue I needed to kill and Cleopatra.

Suddenly he lunged at me again, catching me by surprise. But it was then I saw it–the tattoo on his arm was glowing an eerie red.

I looked up at him in confusion and his grin grew wider than ever.

“You finally understand now, don't you, Alpha,” he snarled.
The Alpha's Seductress
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