THE KING'S PROCESSION left the kingdom at dawn, with the entire kingdom gathering at the arena to see their king for what might be the last time.

The Duke Beta stood at the Alpha King's platform, staring at his best friend leaving without him. Darius looked for his mother to find her at the window, tears streaming down her face, weeping silently.

Clenching his jaws, he looked away from her. The further Darius moved away from his kingdom, the more his dread increased.

He looked up at the goddess, with one question in his mind; would he find her?

He recalled when his mother and family suggested that he should pick another mate. Darius couldn't stomach being with another person other than his destined mate.

The thought alone was unnerving. And not once did he ever regret deciding to not settle for another she-wolf.

Darius sighed, looking forward as they approached the rocky mountains. As his procession neared the border of the next kingdom, the kingdom of the witches, his dread gave way to anger.

The Alpha King quickly gave orders to Samuel, captain of the Earl Deltas, to tell the others to travel as further around the kingdom as possible.

His mate couldn't be in that kingdom. The goddess wouldn't do that to him. She wouldn't be that cruel to him, especially after what they did.

Around twenty minutes later, they reached the airport. The previous day, Noriel had already prepared Darius' private plane so as soon as they arrived at the airport, they immediately boarded the plane.

~•~°×°~•~

Four hours and two minutes later, they landed in an airport in New York City. The Earl Delta Captain led the Alpha King to another car, where they both sat at the back.

"Where was Elder Eta Romina last sighted?" Darius asked.

"She lives in a small house nearby," Samuel responded.

Compared to the busy city of New York, Darius's Pack was quieter. Montana was given to the wolves by the government of the United States after the first peace treaty was drafted.

The council of supernatural creatures had an agreement with the human leaders; the humans kept to themselves and the creatures would too.

No one bothered each other. And besides the leaders, the humans had no idea of the existence of the creatures. It was safer that way as humans feared what they did not understand.

Due to fear, the earliest humans tried to wage war against the creatures but were quickly defeated and the survivors agreed to keep the creatures' existence a secret from their offspring.

When he was a lot younger, his mother told him stories of wars, terrors and monsters in the form of people.

Growing up, he came to realise that everyone had a dark part of them and that by will, it could be cultivated in order to become a monster.

Kids grow up thinking a monster might be under their beds but in his case, his monster was the darkness he faced every day.

It was around three in the afternoon when they reached the edge of the city.

Darius found it funny that the cold weather made people wrap themselves up like burritos. Although his Pack was cold at the moment, his wolves had their fur to keep them warm.

Suddenly, he wondered how his mate was at the moment. Was she working in the cold or was she snuggling in a warm bed? He hoped it was the latter.

"Alpha, are we going to a hotel first or do we go straight to the Elder Eta?" the Captain asked, bringing the Alpha King out of his thoughts about his mate.

"No, you, along with the other Earl Deltas should check into the hotel. I, on the other hand, will be going to meet her alone," Darius responded, staring out of the window into the snow.

"At least let me come with you, Alpha. I won't rest easy, knowing that you are out there alone," Samuel protested.

Not in the mood to argue, the Alpha King nodded and soon after, he and the Earl Delta Captain were off to meet Elder Eta Romina, once the orders were relayed through a mind link to the other Earl Deltas.

A mind link was a form of communication through the mind used by werewolves to send messages to a person or people afar or to have a conversation with someone in secret.

The link or connection is between mates, immediate family members, and close friends. Only the Alphas have a connection to ranks below them.

It didn't take long for them to sniff out the exact location of the Elder Eta. She was staying in a small house in the suburbs.

On reaching the entrance of the house, they found an old woman, who was not frail by any means, knitting what looked like a scarf. As soon as she looked up, Samuel bowed.

"Elder Eta," he greeted.

When Darius bowed his greetings, the woman raised an interested brow.

"What has brought the Alpha King all the way from the capital to my humble home?" The Elder Eta asked in a hoarse voice which sounded like she did not use it often.

"Something tells me you are already aware of why I am here today," Darius casually replied.

She chuckled at his remark. "Of course, I do but I am afraid you have come all this way in vain. It has been centuries since I washed my hands off werewolf matters."

"I do not mean to pry but can you tell me what made you leave?" Darius asked curiously.

The Elder Eta sighed with her eyes set in front of her as she stared off into space. When she looked back at the Alpha King and the Earl Delta Captain, her eyes were blank and distant.

"Being a Wolf became no longer about nature but power and dominance," that was her simple response.

Romina then stood up and packed up her things. "Go home, Alpha King Darius, I cannot help you."

"Wait!" Darius rushed out as she turned to move back into the house. "What about the contents of the book? Can you at least translate it?"

"Can I translate it?" She asked, sounding like it was outrageous for him to ask that of her. However, her next words stunned him.

"Are you insulting me or are you trying to be funny? Who do you think wrote that book you hold?" the Elder Eta's voice was sarcastic.

"You did," Darius voiced, after a moment of realisation.

"Which is why I am telling you now to go back home. Even if I were to help you in translating, it still would not help you.

"Werewolves have lost touch with their nature, hence, the possibility of you successfully performing the mate binding is zero to nothing," she said with finality in her tone.

{•}

Thank you for reading.