Annie Whipple
KYLE
Several hours earlier, the morning of Belle’s departure
I couldn’t sleep.
No matter how I tossed and turned through the night, the tension running through my b*dy kept me awake. I had come across some information last night that I wasn’t supposed to know about -information concerning my alpha.
It had all started when I couldn’t stop worrying about the luna, her odd behavior constantly on my mind. I never saw her anymore. In fact, I hadn’t seen her in weeks.
Even when I looked for her, she was nowhere to be found. At first, I just missed her; she was fun to have around and made the alpha’s ever–changing moods more bearable.
But then it turned into something else.
Something was going on between the alpha and luna that I didn’t know about.
My first clue was when the luna asked me to be the mediator between her and the alpha due to some fight they’d had during her second night with the pack. This wasn’t the oddest thing in and of itself. Mates fought, it’s the way it was–Goddess knew Elijah and I fought on a regular basis. But the alpha and luna just didn’t seem like the type.
The next clue was when she showed up in the kitchen sporting a black eye and bruised chin and said she hadn’t been eating! What the hell? She had looked worried and tired, maybe even depressed.
Thinking it could solve the problem and looking to take care of my luna, I had taken her straight to the alpha. I ignored the fact that she was screaming and crying as if she was scared of seeing him.
I ignored the look of terror in her eyes.
Now in hindsight, I regretted my actions.
I should have spoken to her first. I should have listened to her before deciding what was best for her.
I hadn’t seen her since that morning, several weeks ago. My worry grew with every day that I didn’t see her. She wasn’t even at the weekly pack dinners, the chair next to the alpha always empty.
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14:29 Mon, 19 Feb luna.
empty.
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The alpha never gave an explanation for her absence; he was quiet and focused on his work, more so than I had ever seen him.
Time passed until it was as if the luna hadn’t existed at all.
Yesterday, my worry had finally become too much and taken over my common sense.
The alpha might lash out at me for thinking I knew what was best for his mate instead of him.
But I convinced myself that I had no choice. I cared too much about the luna to let this go.
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After a long meeting that morning, I decided to ask the alpha about the luna, hoping for a logical explanation. I was shocked when he only seemed bothered that I had brought the subject up, not
angry.
He acted as though it was an inconvenience to talk about his mate.
He nonchalantly told me that she was having a hard time adjusting and needed space, and insisted I didn’t worry about her anymore.
Of course, these words that were meant to reassure me did the complete opposite.
Something wasn’t adding up. Alphas didn’t leave their mates alone, especially at a time like this, important not only for the pack but for the luna as she adjusted to life as a leader.
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If the luna was struggling even a little, the alpha wouldn’t even consider leaving her side–and if, for some odd reason, he did consider it, his wolf wouldn’t let him act on it.
Put off by his answer and not ready to let the subject drop, I joked about my surprise over the fact that he hadn’t mated. I hoped this would get a response out of him: alphas were known to become furious and overprotective when asked about their own mating processes.
To his credit, the alpha did react. Just not in the way I had expected.
He perked up and looked at me for the first time since the start of the conversation.
He didn’t speak for a moment, thinking. Then his l*ps curled up in an odd smile.
“Ah, yes… Mating,” he said, leaning back in his chair.
He looked up at the ceiling and licked his l*ps. Then he looked back at me with a new twinkle in his eye and clapped me on the back.
“Not to worry. Mating will be happening soon. Very soon.”
Without another word, he had strode out of the conference room, determination evident in every single step. I watched him go to his office with a sour taste in my mouth.
The way he spoke made it seem as though he had forgotten what mating was.
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So by this point I was in a panic. His strange behavior mixed with the missing luna equaled a need for answers.
I had to find the luna and figure out exactly what was going on. My first stop was the room she shared with the alpha. I knocked multiple times and, when no one answered, barged in.
I couldn’t bring myself to care that no one besides her and the alpha was allowed in here; I was too focused on my mission.
To my shock, the room was empty. The luna was nowhere to be found.
I had figured this was where she had been hiding out, and obviously I had figured wrong.
As I looked around the room, my eyes stopped at the alpha’s desk.
It was extremely messy–strange, as the alpha was one of the neatest people I knew.
He became upset when even a papercl*p was out of place. There were papers thrown across the entire surface of the desk, covered in red ink.
I approached, curiosity and concern overriding my usual dedication to rules.
What I found made my heart drop.
All of the papers were letters written to the alpha.
Sent by vampires.
No, that can’t be right. The alpha wouldn’t be in secret communication with our mortal enemies.
I reread the letter I was holding before moving on to the next, hoping to find some other explanation. But there was none. All the letters were written by a vampire clan to the alpha.
And that wasn’t even the scariest part.
This wasn’t just any clan—it was the most famous clan in the world other than the royal family. It
was also the most evil.
This was the Clan of Azazel, receiving the title after supporting the rule of Azazel Mortar, the former king of the vampires.
They had helped him in the War of the Vampires years ago, becoming an army of the most
wicked beings ever known.
Unlike other vampires who seemed to have at least some morals, this clan was notorious for murdering without cause and performing despicable acts. Their vile conduct was the reason werewolves and vampires had been at war for so long.
As king, Azazel Mortar moved to allow rogue vampires into the royal clan, ignoring how dangerous that could be, only thinking of gaining more power. Rogues couldn’t control their
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The letters spoke of an ambush on our pack that would take place in three days‘ time.
The alpha had shared with them all the weak spots in our borders, given them information on the best attack strategies. Together, they had formed a plan to take down our pack.
And after the defeat, they would give us the choice to join them in conquering the next one. And
the next one.
Or die.
My hands shook as I read through each letter, taking in the details and committing them to memory. Their ultimate goal was to woo enough wolves to their side to defeat the Mortars, the royal vampires.
And they would. If our pack was defeated and fought against other packs with the help of vampires, we would win. There was no doubt.
The army of vampires and werewolves would grow until it was the most powerful in the world. Azazel Mortar would have the throne once again.
I dropped the letters back onto the desk after I had finished reading.
I wasn’t supposed to know any of this. The alpha was hiding the evidence, and with good reason. My mind drifted to when he had proposed us letting a group of much less dangerous vampires into our lands.
He had thought it would be nice to have them on our side during battles in case we were ever attacked. His idea was shot down immediately by the elders and me.
Vampires and werewolves had never gotten along. Both our species were too proud to work in harmony. If the alpha had proposed us teaming up with the Clan of Azazel during a meeting with the elders, he would have been deemed insane, possibly unfit for his role.
He could have lost all his authority and credibility.
So he had gone behind our backs and communicated with the clan in secret.
Alpha Grayson took great pride in having the most powerful pack in the world, and he had worked hard to earn that title. But I had never thought he was power–hungry enough to willingly endanger the entire pack.
Didn’t he know that most, if not all, of our members would die before they agreed to take orders from vampires and help them kill other werewolves?
If he imagines this will somehow help us rise to the top or make history, then he’s badly misjudged. It will mean the end of our pack as we know it.
I had very little time to take action.
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I thought about going to Beta Adalee, but her name had been mentioned in the letters multiple times. In fact, now that I thought about it, she and the alpha had been awfully friendly ever since we had come home from France.
Was it possible they were in on this together?
There was no one else I could trust with the information who wouldn’t be put in danger by knowing. I had to do this myself.
In a flash, I was out of the alpha’s room and down the hall.
Although I was still worried about the luna, she was now the last thing on my mind. It was better for her to stay away anyway. She would be safer if she had no contact with the alpha.
And the alpha would be weaker without his mate.
Once I was in my office, I hurriedly wrote a letter explaining the stakes and handed it off to our strongest pack warrior, Ben. I sent him out with orders to deliver the letter to the nearest pack, about a day’s run away.
Ben had amazing endurance and would be able to run all the way there while just barely breaking a sweat. He wasn’t to stop for any reason or let anyone except the alpha of the other pack see the letter. Once he had his instructions, Ben sprinted off without any questions, sensing the urgency.
It was clear to me that a war was coming in three days, a war we would not survive if we didn’t get help. Hopefully, the pack next door would be willing to help us.
We had a good relationship and a record of fighting battles together. Although this battle would be more dangerous than any of the other ones, I had little doubt that they would step up, especially since it concerned their wellbeing too. But that wasn’t enough. I was going to need more than that.
After ensuring that the alpha was still in his office, I called. a pack meeting in the forest.
I ordered everyone to start training and getting ready for an intense battle, emphasizing that these was the alpha’s orders instead of my own. At first they were confused and worried and wanted to know what was going on, which was more than fair.
I assured them that I knew just as little as they did, that I was just the messenger.
They got to work right after that. I thought about contacting other packs but stopped myself.
It would take too long to get letters to them, and I couldn’t call them without arousing the alpha’s suspicion. If all went well with the neighboring pack, I would have an army of about six thousand on my hands.
However, the Clan of Azazel was over ten thousand rogues strong and counting, constantly biting humans and turning them, adding to their numbers.
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However, the Clan of Azazel was over ten thousand rogues strong and counting, constantly humans and turning them, adding to their numbers.
I needed more assistance if I was going to save my pack.
And there was only one way to do that, only one person who would have just much to lose i Clan of Azazel were to gain power.
I would have to negotiate and partner with the king of the vampires, the brother of Azazel.
Zagan Mortar.