FOR A WHILE, the room was left in silence as Noriel thought. Having drawn a blank, Noriel immediately shook his head, as Darius held himself back from palming his face.

"Nothing... nothing at all. He achieved nothing but decreased revenue, increased taxes and an increased rate of emigrated wolves.

"He even managed to do what no Alpha has ever done; how does someone even lose in a category which never even existed?" Darius asked in obvious disbelief.

Noriel looked confused but amused. "What do you mean, Alpha?"

"He was rated the worst Alpha for thirty years. Thirty years!" Darius exclaimed in awe.

"No one informed me that there was a category like that in the yearly pack leaders awards," Noriel thought aloud.

"That's because there wasn't one. It was recently made up by wolves on the Wolfnet.

"He is the only nominee and the only winner. Even his own pack wolves voted for him," Darius stated before putting down the file.

The Duke Beta was unable to help himself any longer and burst into laughter.

The Alpha King eyed him with twitching eyes. "It's not a thing to laugh about, Noriel. How in the world did we not see this?"

Quickly, Noriel swallowed up his laughter, then responded, "Well, the Council of Elders are responsible for assigning Alphas and not us."

The Elders Council were the Elder Etas. They were the High Priests of the werewolf community.

Blessed by the Moon Goddess, they were the wisest werewolves, and besides being given the job of assigning pack Alphas during dire times, they also served as the Head Keepers of the sacred books of the werewolves.

They were much more respected than the other rankings and loved by all werewolves. An Eta, the priest from each pack, would ensure that the laws in the books were followed, and would regularly help the Council.

"They must have seen something in him or perhaps Alpha Zhou must have been one of those special cases which were assigned without elections."

Darius glared down at his desk with annoyance he didn't bother to hide. The reason he assigned people in charge of things was to avoid mistakes like this.

"Viscount Epsilon Austin was supposed to return last night, yes?" Darius asked after taking a deep breath.

"It was around midnight when his plane landed," Noriel responded.

"And his mate?" Darius asked again.

"The delivery was successful, Alpha. It's a beautiful little she-wolf."

Darius nodded with a barely noticeable sigh.

Viscount Epsilons served as the Head Commanders. One Viscount Epsilon would be assigned to a certain pack in a country where they would plan war schemes, strategies and tactics for that pack.

While the Viscount Epsilon had the plans, the Epsilon of the pack would bring the plans into motion by leading and commanding the army of warriors and soldiers known as Thetas.

The Viscount Epsilons also trained recruits for the Theta position.

While subbing in for a sick Viscount Epsilon in Russia a year ago, Austin met his mate, Irena. A few months later they were expecting their first child.

"Darius, are you okay?" Noriel questioned suddenly, bringing Darius out of his emotions of jealousy he would never say aloud.

"Mmmm." Darius nodded. "Send some flowers and a gift on my behalf."

For a few minutes, Noriel said nothing but stared at Darius who stared back, knowing that his Beta was trying to figure him out.

The Alpha King gave nothing away and kept a blank face on. As always, the Duke Beta gave up soon after. He sat down, watching Darius with worried eyes.

"Aunt Alice says you haven't been sleeping. And I also spoke to Baron Zeta Julien. You haven't visited him in three weeks. What is going on, Darius?"

"You know how dramatic my mother can get, and I've been too busy to visit the clinic," Darius replied, his blank stare not wavering.

Noriel scoffed. "You should know better than to lie to me, Darius. I am your best friend before I became your Duke Beta. Others may believe you but I don't buy it. Not one bit."

"Then that's your issue," Darius simply said.

"I know about the scrolls, and this so-called last book about mating," the Duke Beta blurted out, causing the Alpha King to stare at him, not the least shocked. The Queen Mother was not exactly the discrete type.

"Who else knows about it? The whole Pack?"

Noriel shrugged. "That isn't the problem here. The problem here is that you found another way of possibly finding your mate and you are still sitting on it."

"Like you said, "possibly". Tell me Noriel, how many possibilities have led me to dead ends?" Darius asked with raised brows then sighed when Noriel didn't respond.

"I have been to every continent, country and state I can think of since I turned two-hundred and fifty. Every time I think I might actually find her, I hit a dead end.

"At some point, I began to entertain the thought that my mate probably doesn't want to be found. Or..."

"Or she might be searching for you at the moment," Noriel cut in.

Darius scoffed. "What are the odds of that happening? If she was also looking for me, don't you think we should have found each other by now?"

"Perhaps she's in the same situation as you now," Noriel responded with a slight shrug.

"Darius, if you don't consider your family who is constantly worried about you, then please think of the she-wolf who at the moment might be tirelessly searching for her mate and wondering why he hasn't come for her yet."

Darius leaned back into his chair and folded his hands behind his head.

"Sometimes I wonder if she even exists and all this time, maybe I have been searching for someone who isn't in existence," Darius mused.

"You and I both know that's impossible!" the Duke Beta quickly responded. "Every Wolf has the other half of its soul. The goddess wouldn't create a wolf without their soulmate."

"Then why hasn't she showed me mine? Is she playing favourites here or does she get some kind of pleasure from my agony?"

The Alpha King's voice dripped with anger and desperation. He watched his Beta's face become appalled by what he said but he couldn't be bothered by it.

"Only the goddess has the answers to your questions but please, Darius, can you try one last time?" Noriel implored.

The Alpha King shook his head. "No, Noriel. I might not be able to handle another disappointment.

"If I am destined to die in fourteen days then I prefer to die in the hands of the goddess. Since she was the one who created me, then she should be the one to end me herself."

{•}

Thank you for reading.