Chapter 66

Kaelan's POV

I was busy with a lot of stuff at the moment. All the various duties of the Alpha and also the various worries that plagued me were a constant source of work for me, and I didn't notice when my Luna suddenly disappeared. However, when I was finally free, I found out that she was nowhere to be found, and I felt a little apprehensive.

"Where did she go?" I asked Alex, but he gave me the cold shoulder.

"I have no idea," he responded to me, shrugging. "She's your Luna, aren't you supposed to be the one that knows?"

I didn't have any idea that he was lying at that moment. I never even got to find out within the next couple of days. All I knew was that she was not here at the moment, and although it was strange, I knew that she would be back. Somehow, I didn't feel any sort of danger at the prospect of her absence, and it was what kept me going normally. Usually, if something was wrong, if there was danger, then I would be aware. The mating bond between us was enough reason for me to have knowledge of when things were going south for them all, and especially for my Luna. If she suddenly started facing serious danger, I would be able to tell even from a thousand miles away.

"She's back," I said to myself, rising up from my seat while playing a mental game with the elders. The elder looked at me in surprise, but I couldn't be bothered to talk with him anymore. I wasn't supposed to play a game with him in the first place because, well, I had other things to do as the Alpha. So right now, I really felt like I needed to be gone as soon as possible.

They didn't hold me back - well, they couldn't even if they wanted to. Before long, I found myself walking alongside the dock and waiting for her to show up because I knew that any time from now she would appear. And she did. She was smiling at me, but she didn't come alone. There were a lot of wolves behind her - humans at the moment - but even from my distance, I could sense the power within them, the turbulence that somehow she had managed to tame.

They were all powerful wolves, powerful in the sense that they had a lot of things to do and a will of steel, will such that I knew very well that my own people didn't have. I frowned, wondering how they had gotten here, wondering what was going on at the moment, because it was now clear to me that these weren't nobles - no, these were rogues, rogue werewolves, and that was already something very surprising in itself.

I looked at my Luna, wondering how she had gotten them here, especially how she had gotten them here willingly. She had somehow captured them, but it was inconceivable to me at the moment. I frowned, wondering how it had taken place, wondering if this was a dream or something. But she simply smiled at me.

"What's all this?" I questioned finally.

She laughed a little, the sound making me smile already because somehow I just trusted that it was good news. "I went to figure out what the rogues were up to," she told me simply.

I found myself frowning. It sounded strange for her to suddenly try something like that. But she was still speaking, not yet done.

"You see, Valeria was spotted, and I decided that I should go over to apprehend her just in case she was up to no good as she usually is. And I found out that they had a plan in mind, something that they wanted to do in order to cause trouble for your pack."

"So you figured out what the plan is," I said, nodding in approval. "I didn't think you'd pull off such a tedious mission, but I have to hand it to you," I told her. "You are actually quite good."

"I learned from the best," she told me, smiling. The way she beamed at me, well, I simply felt like I was supposed to be very proud at the moment.

"What exactly made you capture all these?" I questioned, looking at the rogues.

She said, "The spies and soldiers I took with me were actually ambushed. I had the option of running back here all by myself with just one of them or trying to save them all. From what is visible right now, you can tell what I chose."

"You chose to save them all," I noticed, frowning. So why did that sound a little weird to me? I knew what I would have chosen had I been in her shoes. The option was clear as day. Yes, she had done something unconventional.

"You could have died," I stated once again.

"Please don't be such a—" she started, but she stopped herself before she spoke. I had no idea what she wanted to say, but in the end, I decided that I should be a little nicer to her. After all, she had brought about this great deal, and it took a huge risk on her part that had paid off. It was one thing if it hadn't paid off, but it had. So why was I still blaming her as if it hadn't?

"I'm sorry," I told her simply, changing my stance immediately and very quickly. "You've done well," I said.

She smiled at me as if she knew that I would come through, and she was very glad that I had finally started to see reason with her. "Good," she stated. "Now there is a condition though," she said.

"Condition?" I questioned, hardly able to believe my ears. What was she talking about this time around?

She nodded grimly at me. "Yes, there's a condition," she said.

I thought about it for a while before sighing. "Well, I guess I don't have any choice but to hear it then," I said, and she nodded.

"Indeed, you have to hear it, and I really hope you can fulfill them," she stated.

I nodded, waiting for her to speak. I didn't really expect her to have something for me at the moment to do in order to keep the soldiers, to bind them in chains, but I couldn't refuse her until I heard what she said.

"They aren't to be bound in chains," she started all of a sudden.

I blinked. What on earth was she talking about?

"And they aren't to be slaves either," she stated once again.

I wondered if she was out of her mind, but I kept silent.

"But we can use them in battle, and we can also have them fight against other rogues with us. Dying in battle for us is quite allowed," she stated.

"Where is all this coming from?" I questioned, but she looked at me seriously.

"It doesn't matter. You have to agree," she said.

I wanted to ask her exactly what would happen if I didn't agree, but I felt like I shouldn't. She had done well bringing them here, and if this was the reward she wanted, then I should really indulge her.

"Fine," I told her simply.

She beamed at me, looking as though she would hug me at any moment, but suddenly someone spoke in the background.

"Not so," he said. His voice was cold, and he sounded angry as if something terrible was happening at the moment. I frowned as I turned to look at an elder behind me. Not just him, but a couple of other elders were here with him also. And they all had perpetual frowns on their faces.

I was suggested that they were here to oppose this decision that I had made. They were here to make me not agree with her anymore. I found myself glaring at them.

"No one called you here," I said, my voice cold as ice.

They looked like they couldn't care less as they responded. "We have gotten so many rogues with us at the moment, and you simply think that they should be allowed to go around roaming free?" he questioned.

I growled at him, my eyes flashing in fury. "Stop this, this instant," I said. "I've already decided, and I'm the Alpha. Unless you are the Alpha, I don't want you to stand against the decision at all because my Luna is with me on this one," I said. "She's the one who even wants it. Anyway, it doesn't even take anything from us to agree to her terms."

The elders looked like they still weren't convinced, but I was glaring so hard at them at the moment that they finally relented.

"Fine," one of them said to me simply, and another one nodded in agreement.

I watched as they made their way away from here, slowly went back to where they had come from. However they had suddenly appeared out of the blue to challenge this decision, I could never tell, but I was glad that they were gone at the moment because it meant that I had successfully agreed to her terms, which for some reason I was very happy about.

She nodded at all of them and glanced at a couple of guards around. Somehow they seemed to catch her message and quickly went over to loosen them.

"Take them to the barracks," she said, but someone was here at the moment - Alex, who seemed to have disappeared previously, was smiling as he looked at all the captives.

"This way," he said, and they all started going away.

Somehow I felt like there was a conspiracy somewhere, but I shrugged, deciding to instead talk with her for a while and have a good time.