"Does that make sense?" Declan asked as we stepped off the bus into the town of Plymouth.

I nodded slowly. "I think so? Let me get this straight - so the Kings are ranked in order of how powerful they are. The first King has the most power, the second has the second most, and so forth." Declan nodded in encouragement. "And the first King controls Asia, and his pack is called the..." I hesitated biting my lip as I wracked my brain for an answer. "... Titania pack?"

Declan shook his head. "No, he's in charge of the Rhea pack. You were right when you said that he lived in Asia, but the Titania pack is controlled by the second King, who lives in...?" Declan trailed off, prodding me for an answer.

"Africa?" I asked uncertainly, and Declan grinned, nodding.

"Right!" he said. "I'm hoping you remember who the third King is -" Yup, the third King controls the Americas, and is in charge of the Triton Pack, I thought to myself. "- so who are the fourth and fifth Kings?"

I tried to remember the tips Declan had given me to help me remember which pack was under which king. Europa is for Europe. "The fourth King lives in Europe, and he controls the Europa pack."

We continued walking as he quizzed me, until we stopped at a building.

"You did great remembering how the Kings tried to destroy each other in the past - now you just have to be sure you remember the pack names and their rank," he said, holding the door open for me.

"Okay, I'll try to remember them," I told him as we approached a map.

"Great, just make sure you don't get them mixed up. Kings would take that as a sign of disrespect, and you never want to even think about disrespecting a King," Declan said as his eyes wandered up the map. "I think we have to head to Manchester." He pointed to a little dot on the map. "From there, it looks like we can take a train all the way down to Charlotte, North Carolina. Then we just have to get from Charlotte to Roanoke island, and we'll be all set," he said, tracing his finger along the map. I followed it, blinking in surprise when I learned that we'd be crossing seven states.

"How long is this going to take?" I asked, not to keen on spending too much time on a train.

"I don't know, twenty-ish hours?"

I held back a groan. Twenty hours stuck in a tiny space, nowhere to stretch my legs or let my wolf out. Instead, I sighed. "Alright, let's get this over with then. You said we had to take a bus from here to Man-something?"

"Yeah, Manchester," he said, walking towards a counter. "Excuse me," he called, and the man at the counter looked up from his computer.

"Can I help you?" Though his words were polite, his tone was monotone and his eyes looked at us boredly.

"Yeah, can you tell us when the next bus to Manchester is?" Declan asked, the guy pulled out a pamphlet.

"Here," he said, handing the paper to Declan. "All the bus schedules are in here - have fun." Then he went back to typing on his computer. I could feel Declan starting to bristle beside me, his green eyes flashing at the obvious rudeness.

"Hey," I said softly, touching his arm. "Now's not the time to defend your ego. He's a human, remember?" I whispered, gently trying to lead the Alpha-wolf away.

Declan hesitated, eyes still locked on the oblivious man behind the counter.

"Let's go, Declan," I hissed, pulling on his arm harder. Curse these Alphas and their need to assert their dominance. He still didn't budge. "Declan, now," I said, and I felt power surge through me. I felt his skin shudder beneath my hand, and soon his eyes were looking into mine. But instead of the typical defiant look his eyes normally carried, they looked just a bit duller - his expression somewhat blank.

Without saying anything, I led him out of the bus station, just like how a mother leads a child.

It was only after we had left the building that Declan said something. Ripping his arm from my grasp, he turned to me, eyes lit once again.

"What was that? Did you see the absolute insolence of that human? I could've ripped him to shreds! I would've ripped him to shreds!" Declan seethed, nostrils flaring as his fists balled by his sides. "Why did you stop me?"

I folded my arms, giving him an 'are you kidding me' look. "I'm not going to let you go around killing humans!" I narrowed my eyes at him, annoyed that the idea would even cross his mind. "Not only is that morally wrong, but we don't have time to clean up after your mess! And in case you forgot, we're kind of on a tight schedule - saving our species isn't exactly something we can put on the backburner while you go after every human that's rude to you. Now, when does that bus to Manchester arrive?"

Declan scowled, but didn't press the subject anymore. Instead, he opened the pamphlet with such force it nearly ripped in half. Lips slightly pursed, his green eyes skimmed through the paper. "It should be here in about ten minutes," he finally said, folding the leaflet back up before shoving it into the pocket of his backpack.

"Okay, now we just sit and wait for the bus. Maybe you can keep teaching me while we wait?" I suggested, in a softer tone than the firm one I was using before. In the back of my mind, I was vaguely aware that Declan actually listened to me and did what I said - something that shouldn't have been possible. I guess that surge of energy I felt earlier must've had something to do with it... maybe if I'm determined enough, I can conjure up my Moon Goddess powers?

Declan let out a sigh, and I could see his body visibly relax. His shoulders slumped slightly, and it was as if all the tension had gone from his body. "Yeah, sure," he said, audibly more calm than he was before. "Yeah, okay," he breathed out. "Let's continue. Do you know why I told you about the plagues the Kings created?" He was referring to the plague the first King released in France in an attempt to weaken the the fourth King and his kingdom.

"Because it showed how advanced we were, even back then?" I asked, trying to think of what he was getting at.

"No, well, yes, but that's not what I meant. How could we use this knowledge against the Lupids?" My gaze was pulled into the depths of his forest-colored irises, a stare so intense that it seemed like he was trying to use telepathy.

"Well," I started, trying to organize my thoughts. I could practically feel him telling me the answer, and I just had to tune my brain to be able to pick up what he was sending. "The Kings had created plagues to eliminate one another... so we should use a plague to wipe out the Lupids?" I said hesitantly, and Declan's face broke out into a grin as his eyes crinkled at the corners.

"Yes! That's exactly what I was thinking. If they were advanced enough back then to create plagues to wipe out each other, then how hard would it be to create a plague to wipe out these creatures?"

My upper teeth dug into my lower lip as I thought about this. Creating a disease? I don't know how they managed to do it without harming themselves or other species, but it seems risky... At the same time though, if we had a chance to wipe out the Lupids with minimal casualties on our side, then wouldn't that be better than allowing all of us to be slaughtered? Do it for the greater good?

"I guess," I murmured finally, though still a little uneasy about the idea.

Declan clearly didn't notice my discomfort for his smile grew wider as he took it as my approval of the idea. "Great! We'll suggest this to the King and maybe we can start working on it right away. With today's technologies, it shouldn't be too hard," he speculated, fingers combing through this brown locks. "In the meantime, I'll try and teach you the rest of Werewolf military history, and maybe we can come up with other backup strategies," he said, voiced laced with excitement.

I nodded, just as the bus rumbled up to the curb. 

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even though i have all the chapters uploaded, i never seem to remember to his "publish" in time