"IT'S BEEN OVER five decades, Alpha. Don't you think it's time to face it? No one said it will be easy but if you take it one step at a time, you will find it getting easier with each step.

"Still, you can only decide for yourself; do you wish to let go of the burden or will you let it continue to weigh you down?"

Shutting his eyes, the Alpha King took a deep breath before releasing it and opening his eyes. He then looked at the Royal Butler.

"What if I can't?"

Fear was not a strange word to Darius and neither was uncertainty. One thing Darius would never admit to, is the fact that he was scared. Not just unsure or worried.

He was afraid of the darkness he knew was inside him. The darkness that was slowly turning him feral.

Darius did not want to feed it even more and he knew that stepping into that library would be the tip that would push him over the edge.

He suddenly chuckled but it was without humour.

"You know, I used to see my father as the strongest Wolf in the land. I thought he was invincible and unable to get hurt.

"However, seeing him in that lifeless state made me realise that even the strongest of persons can feel fear," he said then paused and took another deep breath before continuing.

"I can never forget the scared look on his face. It seemed like he knew what was coming but could do nothing about it. Fear was the last expression on his face before he died and that fear is what I never want to feel."

A warm hand on his shoulder made him sigh.

"Most wolves try to suppress the human part of them, failing to understand that although we are animals, we are still part human too.

"And once the human part is suppressed for so long, it would cause a tremendous impact on our wolves when it gets triggered.

"Angry outbursts, recession, withdrawal from reality and worse, insanity or becoming feral as we may call it.

"You see, Alpha, fear is a huge aspect of that small part of our humanity. Being afraid does not make us weak or less than we are.

"It means we are still aware and conscious of the things that may harm us and our loved ones. It is a constant reminder that we are not invincible," The Royal Butler explained before coming back to stand in front of the King.

Darius hated how much sense Benjamin made at that moment. He badly wished to find faults in Benjamin's words but he couldn't.

Besides going back to the place where he found his father's body, his biggest fear was being seen as a weakling. So no matter how weak he felt, Darius never showed it to anyone, and he did his duties cautiously.

"Do you think the werewolf community would respect a weak King?" Darius asked suddenly.

"Your people respect you not because you are strong but because they believe in you and your ability to lead them.

"After the death of King Edward, you won their trust and love in just a matter of a few years.

"Perhaps you do not realise just how much they love you, but having bear witness and hearing for myself, I know this to be a true," the Royal Butler informed the Alpha King with a warm smile on his face.

Darius sighed again but did not respond and Benjamin took it as his cue to take his leave.

The crisp air blew into the room from the slightly opened window making the room even colder. Winter was coming and it was getting even harder for Darius to produce heat.

Even his fur coat could no longer keep him warm as he tried to shift as little as he possibly could.

Darius stood up and walked over to the window to shut it. His room was located at the highest point in the castle and he could see the entire pack from there.

For the past centuries, he began working on putting things together and placing capable people in charge of different sectors. He upgraded the hierarchy of packs, thereby making things easier for him and the pack Alphas.

In case anything were to happen to Darius, no part of the kingdom would suffer. It took him four centuries to make his entire kingdom what it was and the last thing he wanted was for anything bad to happen to it.

He had more plans for his kingdom but might not live to carry them out. Darius cursed his fate but could do nothing to make it better.

He wasn't even able to take another step forward, for fear of losing himself to darkness. He could only prepare his mind and his house for his inevitable demise. After all, two weeks were just fourteen days.

~•~×°×~•~

Two knocks sounded from behind his door and he looked up, his glasses resting comfortably on the bridge of his nose. The Alpha King perceived the scent of his second in command.

"Come in," Darius growled in a raspy, tired voice, looking up to see Noriel, his best friend and Duke Beta walking into the study.

"Alpha." Noriel bowed.

The Duke Beta of the Royal Wolf Pack was a tall brown-haired Wolf with a slender build. Noriel was the fastest Wolf Darius knew and his slender physique helped with his speed.

While Darius, being the King, was in the charge of all wolves in the world, Noriel served as his advisor.

"You may hand over the report," Darius ordered, taking his eyes from his best friend and bringing them back to the file in his hands. The word "URGENT" was boldly written in front of it.

"It's been a week since the backup team was sent to the Red Lotus Pack in China but things do not seem to be turning up anytime soon.

"The rogue attacks are progressing and we are losing more wolves. Wolves from the pack are emigrating to other packs in China.

"At this rate, the pack might become desolate soon. This case is the most pressing issue at hand," the Duke Beta announced, as he gave the file to the Alpha King to look over.

Darius sighed in frustration, unconsciously squeezing the file in hand, before responding, "I know. I'm staring at the report by Alpha Zhou Chen of the Red Lotus.

"However... What I don't understand is how he was made an Alpha in the first place. Due to the increasing rogue sightings in his pack, I looked into his history and accomplishments and guess what I found..."

{•}

Thank you for reading.