THE ALPHA KING could sense nothing but sincerity in her voice. The Elder Eta wasn't just saying all these to chase him away, she was actually telling the truth.

"My biggest desire since I turned a two-hundred and fifty has always been to find my mate. For her, I can do anything.

"Please, Elder Eta, give me the instructions and I will do it to the best of my ability," Darius pleaded, bowing his head once again.

The Elder Eta stared at the Alpha King for a few seconds without saying a word, but when she finally blinked, she spoke up again.

"Even if it meant that you might lose your Wolf in the process, will the Alpha King still do it?"

"What do you mean our King would lose his Wolf?" Samuel quickly asked.

"I mean what I said, Earl Delta. Werewolves have lost touch with their nature and have thus weakened the human-to-animal connection.

"No wolf would willingly make that sacrifice for something that might not even work," She concluded then stood, waiting expectantly for his response.

Contrary to what the Elder Eta probably expected, the Alpha King let out a humoured laugh, obviously stunning her.

"I have searched the world for her. Name it, I have gone everywhere you can think. Do you think anything is too much for me to handle?"

Still, Romina shook her head. "I will only say this once more. Go home, and enjoy the time you have left with your family. This journey you have embarked on, Alpha, has no way forward."

The Alpha King thought for a minute. He had come all this way without coming up with a well-thought plan to convince her.

A poor judgement on his part, but he honestly believed he didn't need one. Darius had hoped that things would somehow work in his favour.

After all, it was usually other people trying to convince him of something. So, having this happen to him for the first time in his life was a whole new experience for Darius.

He needed a good approach, but his mind kept drawing blanks. Though, one thing was certain.

The more the Elder Eta resisted, the more the Alpha King became interested in what made her dislike werewolves so much.

Nothing was heard about what happened to her other than the fact that she just up and left just like that, without any notice.

"I might not be aware of the exact reason of what made you completely lose faith in wolves but give me a chance to let you know that not all wolves are as power-hungry as you think.

"I am willing to give everything up as long as I can find the other half of my soul," Darius said as sincerely as he could.

Before Romina could say anything else, Darius added, "I am not asking you to believe in me or trust me, I only ask that you give me a chance to prove myself and to prove to you that not all wolves are as bad as you think."

With that said, Darius stepped back. Without a doubt, finding his mate was the most important thing for him at the moment.

No matter what it was, the Alpha King was willing to give it all up for his mate, just as long as it would not hurt someone else.

He had done all he could and if it still wasn't enough to convince the Elder Eta, then he would return to Montana that very night.

Somehow, Darius had already accepted his imminent death because it didn't feel as frightening as it used to be. Perhaps dying might not be as bad as he thought.

~•~°×°~•~

The white lake forest was miles away from civilization. Darius wanted to avoid being seen by humans as much as possible. This was the reason why he spent a lot of money to reserve the forest for a day.

Even with his money, it took calling the President to keep the forest off limits for a day. Darius could have gone back to Montana to perform the linking but the sooner the better.

He had twelve days before his thousandth birthday and every second was precious.

Stripping out of his clothes and undergarments, Darius began the shift. The Earl Deltas flanked him, covering him from the outside view.

His wolf roused from behind his eyes, sensing that a shift was coming. Darius' eyes turned black as his wolf began to take over.

He felt himself hand over the reins to his feral side. The animal side eagerly took over as it read the actions of the human side. Darius now occupied the passenger seat while mentally instructing his other half on what to do.

This was the trickiest part of the process. The wolf had to be the one to do it and with the help of the human side.

"Shift," Darius instructed, and his body fell on all fours.

He felt his jaws lengthen, his gums bled as his fangs emerged, and he spat out all the blood. The skin beneath his fingers broke when his fingers turned into claws.

He clawed at the ground, gathering dirt under his fingernails as his bones rearranged themselves to fit his animal's anatomy.

A crack sounded abruptly as his spine bent to realign. Being ten times weaker than a pup, Darius' body was in no condition to go through the process of shifting, but he did it anyway. It was the only way to find his mate.

Darius let out a low whine when his snout formed alongside his wolfy ears.

Finally, jet black fur covered his entire body, and his wolf let out a powerful howl. The Earl Deltas howled in response to his call, baring their necks to their King.

The wolf lay on the ground, unable to move as exhaustion hit him in full force.

"Link," Darius instructed.

The next phase was the most delicate. If done wrongly, it could permanently break the link between the human and wolf sides.

This was what the Elder Eta warned him about. It was the part that werewolves feared the most. Losing control of their wolves and turning feral. They saw it as losing control but Darius saw it as trusting your animal side.

"Link," Darius urged again, and the wolf whined.

The wolf was hesitant.

"Mate. Link," Darius urged in broken English as his wolf was too primitive to form or understand full English sentences.

On hearing the word 'mate', the wolf perked up. The wolf located the bond that held it and its human side together.

When it found the link, the wolf carefully took a little bit of both sides of the bond to form a full bond consisting of the wolf and human DNA.

But as soon as the bond was formed, the Alpha King felt the bond between him and his wolf suddenly disappear.

Darius knew it was a possibility, but he didn't expect it to happen to him, and neither did he expect to feel this empty.

{•}

Thank you for reading.