**guess what? Double update!! Read 37 first gang! ***

The next day, a pack meeting was called. I did not know, not being a wolf, so it surprised me when Eve burst into my room and dragged me away. She pulled me to the second row of the crowd filling the cafeteria style kitchen. Luckily, I was dressed, having not been long since coming back from the lake and showering.

"Listen up!" Asra bellowed.

The murmuring of the crowd fell to a dead silence as everyone waited for their Alpha to speak.

"Alpha Blake is coming tomorrow to go over our treaty alliance." He announced. "Be aware of him and his men and try not to get in their way."

I frowned, wondering who this Alpha was. Asra stepped down and dismissed everyone and, as the buzzing murmurs of the crowd disappeared, I turned to Eve with questioning eyes. Her arm wrapped around my bicep and she shook her head before pulling me away. We walked back to my room, and I fell onto my bed, waiting for her to sit before asking my questions.

"Who is Alpha Blake? Why was it so important to have a meeting?" I rushed.

She groaned lightly, shaking her head. "He is the seventh Alpha. Remember how Alpha Asra is the sixth, well this guy is the seventh. He is the worst."

"The worst, as in grinds your bones to dust?" I squeaked.

"No." She snorted. "He is overly confident, despite being low down on the Continental Alpha list. He is arrogant and loud, but there are rumours that..."

She trailed off, frowning.

"Rumours?" I urged.

"That he was part of the attack that killed the luna." She murmured.

My eyes widened, and I shook my head in disbelief. "How? Didn't she die during battle?"

She sighed, her head gazing out of the window. "It's not a story that is told often."

"Please... I'd like to know more about the pack." I gave her my best puppy eyes.

Eve grunted, giving into my wishes. "It was about seventeen years ago... In human years, Alpha Asra was around sixteen and his father, Alpha Nikolai, was in charge."

"Wait, he's... he's thirty-three?" I gasped.

She laughed lightly. "Wolves don't age like humans. They age about five times as slowly."

"That's... Wow. Okay, slow aging. Got it." I shook my head in disbelief.

"Anyway, it was a normal afternoon. The pack was going by as normal, but then, just as the sun was about to go down, there was an ambush. Rogues broke the border and the patrol wolves were shot dead." She explained, her lips drooping into a frown. "We were unprepared for battle. In usual circumstances of war, women and children rush to the bunker beneath the pack house. But somehow, they knew. Someone who knew the land had led the rogues there, or at least tipped them off. The Luna fought all fifteen of them off with the help of a few other female wolves. She died from her injuries once she got the women to safety."

"That's awful." I mumbled, fiddling with my comforter.

She nodded, sighing softly. "I was one child that she got to safety, but I barely remember it. The Alpha wasn't the same since. For a wolf to lose a mate, it usually kills them. It crushes their soul, breaks their heart. A mate is a wolf's other half, the other part of their soul, so to lose that half... You lose yourself."

My heart raced with sympathy as I breathed in sharply. I couldn't imagine losing someone so dear to you. I have had no one like that, my father the only genuine person I really loved so intensely. Arabella may come a close second, but I barely knew her once they sent me to live with Darius.

"That's awful." I repeated.

"That's when he went hard with training. Alpha Asra took over about five years later once he was ready." Her eyes narrowed.

"Where is his father now?" I wondered.

"Alpha Nikolai lives around here. He lost himself to his wolf after his mate died, and he took it out on Alpha Asra..." She frowned. "He lives in the forest, in a small lodge. Most of the time, he is in wolf form, unemotional and just running the perimeter. Quite a good guard wolf, really."

I snorted at her attempted joke, but I felt sorry for the man who seems to have lost it all. Pushing Asra to take over with everything he had, cramming all the education into five years to make Asra the leader he was today.

"And this seventh Alpha? He is not to be trusted?"

She shrugged. "The border breach was on his side. There is about a mile of no-man's-land between us before our borders meet on the east side. The breech was about half a mile from where we join. It was too close to his land that the pack has been suspicious ever since."

"So, it's just a rumour? Was it ever investigated?" I wondered.

"No, they actually came to our aid. Some think it was a coverup, some think the rumours are just reaching for drama because they are sad about the loss of the luna."

"Must've been a hard day."

"Hard five years." She frowned. "Alpha Nikolai and Alpha Asra disappeared for most of the time. When they came back from training, he looked withered. He pushed his son to the brink of insanity. So much training in such a short time, we all saw how brutal it was. But once he was ready, we had the alpha ceremony, and it was like it never happened."

I grimaced, wanting to change the topic. "Didn't you say that was the day everyone went into the lake?"

She nodded. "We went in to clear the blood and death away. It was apparently magical, like the Moon Goddess herself washed every problem away. It made the loss of the luna go down easier, and soothed the guilt most of all, but not the sorrow."

Falling into a comfortable silence, I held the peace a little longer to think about how awful that must've been for Asra. I knew firsthand what it's like to lose a parent in cold blood. My heart ached for him, my opinion shifting a little to why he was perhaps the way he was. My father always taught me to speak my mind and not to take shit from anyone, something I tried my hardest to do once he passed. I wonder if Asra had a similar opinion. Block it all away and hope it stays away.

As the sun went down, we made our way down to dinner. Most of the wolves had already left to turn in for the night since it was nearing eight o'clock. Grabbing a plate of leftovers, I almost bumped into one maid as she hurried about cleaning up discarded plates. Sitting at the table beside Eve, I watched her with a scowl.

How Asra could employ someone to tidy up after wolves? They should do it themselves. They already get all their meals cooked for them, the least they can do it put their dishes away.

"Why are you staring at her like that?"

I snapped out of my attentive focus at the intruding voice. It surprised me to see Rio sat before Eve, his large form hunched over a half-eaten plate of food. He glanced over his shoulder to eye the person serving, his lips pursed in a frown as he tried to see what my problem was.

"They work too hard." I stated, waving my fork as the maid disappeared.

He turned back to me, a scoffing laugh escaping him. "They are meant to work. They are hu-

He suddenly cut off his sentence, swallowing loudly as he eyed Eve. I noticed her shift her weight, her hand itching her temple as she no doubt sent him a look.

"They're humans?" I finished curiously. "Asra employs humans?"

Rio frowned, but nodded. "He does."

"How much does he pay them?"

"Two coins a day."

My eyes bugged out of my head. "Is that it?"

He flinched, and I had the slightest remorse for taking it out on him. It was Asra I should demand things from.

"That is plenty for them to get a meal-

"Do you supply board and lodge? A roof over their heads?"

His silent frown was my answer, and I groaned in exasperation.

"So, two coins a day, enough for a meal, as you said, but not enough to keep warm and dry. That is awful. You are awful for letting that happen. Do they ever get a pay rise? Things are getting more and more expensive as the months go by! Wolves upping costs of everything all the time!"

Eve nudged me, shaking her head. "Ailia..."

I grunted at her lack of enthusiasm. "Where is Asra?"

Her lip twitched with annoyance at the title drop, as always.

Rio interrupted, saving her neck. "He is out of office."

"When is he back?" I scoffed.

He shrugged, and I groaned, sliding my chair back. "I'm going to bed."

Not giving them another thought, I stomped my way out of the dining room. Taking my dish into the kitchen, a sweet maid took it without looking up. It only enraged me further, the fact they taught her to not look at anyone.

I would get them the justice they deserve.

Perhaps that was my purpose. If Asra was my so-called mate, then surely I had some... power in this? Maybe I could persuade him. I could make the world, the districts and villages better!

This was it.

I know what I had to do.

I went to bed with a determination last night and woke up even more so. I got washed and dressed, ready for a day of ass kicking.

But to my disappointment, Asra wasn't anywhere. I tried his office and even asked if he was in his room, but none of the commoner wolves seemed to know where he was. I truly envied the wolf's ability to speak to each other in their minds.

I went by breakfast on my own terms, having been up later than the normal crowd of wolves. By the time lunch came around, and still no sight of Asra, I decided I'd go back to the lake. I was jittery and wanted to burn off steam, so what better way to do that than swim in something that could easily kill me?

I snorted, eyeing the cloudy day. It was still warm though, so I pulled on a plain black tankini and an oversized shirt. Once again, I made it out of the pack house and into the forest with no one even noticing. I don't know whether it was good or bad, but it meant I didn't have to talk to anyone, so... bonus!

Finally, rounding the corner of the waterfall, I scanned my surroundings. The trees and clouds hid most of the sun, which left a cool, gentle breeze to run across my skin. I knew the water was warm, thanks to its magical abilities, so wasted no time in leaving my things and the side and scaling the waterfall rock formation. It was a little faster today, so I had to be extra careful as I made my way to the edge.

Deciding on a smooth dive to avoid the quickening of the stream, I broke through the surface with ease. Swimming down to the bottom, I ran my hand along the sandy bed, small rocks floating along beside me. Coming up for air, I exhaled loudly, pushing my hair behind my ear.

I spent quite a while just swimming before going to stand off to the side. The breeze had picked up, pushing my hair across my face and causing goosebumps to rise on my skin. I frowned, rubbing my arms in comfort. I had been out here long enough, my body tiring from the effort. One thing I loved about this lake is that it didn't turn your hands and feet into creepy wrinkly sausages thanks to its magic.

I climbed the waterfall one last time before going back to the pack house. Scaling the side, my feet slipped a few times. The side of the rock formation had got wet from how harsh the water was flowing. Once at the top, I frowned down at the speed of the stream. Something about its harshness reminded me of someone hurrying. It was rushing to get to the edge, and it caused the goosebumps to never leave my skin as a strange sensation came over to me.

Carefully walking to the edge, I adjusted my step to walk around the stream's edges. The middle, main part of the current I usually dived off was way too fast. It almost made me slip the moment I placed my foot in it. Curling my toes around the edge, I eyed the lake down below. The water was churning from the fall, disturbed by the strange weather change.

I took a few steps back to prepare my launch, stepping carefully as I ran to the edge. Once my feet left the rocks, I was flying, my hair whipping past me as the tall height rushed by me within seconds. The launch had meant I reached the bottom of sooner than before and the undercurrent pushed me further into the middle of the lake. I ran my hand along the lakebed again, stopping when something caught my attention. It was a small crystal-like rock unearthed by the current of the lake.

I was running out of breath, so keeping hold of the rock, I swam to the surface. Gasping for air, I pushed my hair down the back of my head and rose the rock above the water's surface. It was beyond pretty. A white silver in colour. Its foggy surface was smooth all around. I was sure with some polishing it would be clear.

I was too busy staring at the rock in amazement to pay attention to my surroundings. A gentle rumbling that caused my hair to stand on end, followed by a loud clearing of a throat. A sudden coolness rushed over my skin and with my heart racing in my chest, I spun around to see who the intruder was.

It was three men. All large and equally intimidating as they stared at me. One of the left was shorter in stature, a wider waist than the others. He had a rough stubble and brown hair, his hands securely behind his back. The one on the right was standing similarly, only he was a head taller with sandy blonde hair and a sharp bird-like nose.

Both of them were watching me with curious eyes, but otherwise remained emotionless. It was the man in the centre, equal in height to his blonde counterpart, that had my stomach churning with discomfort. He was eyeing me with a broad grin, his hand to his jaw as he licked the front of his canine teeth. Dark, black hair with dark eyes gazed at me in a way that had my skin crawl.

I sunk further down in the water, hiding my body as these three strange men approached the shoreline.

******

Cliffhanger ?

Did you expect any less from me?

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