Chapter 0003

ALPHA HAROLD'S POV

"What an honor to have you here!"

Ryder sounded nervous as he welcomed me into his territory. My Gamma and I were here to grace his wedding.

Ryder was exuding fear as he trembled before me. These weren't the qualities of a ruler, not before their adversaries.

But it was hard for Ryder to gain composure, not with the animalistic power emanating from me and my Gamma.

It affected the Commanders of DarkenVille a great deal for we possessed more evolved and higher wolves. I possessed a strong wolf and unmatchable Lycan humanoid abilities.

"The pleasure's all mine!" I shook hands briskly with him and I walked on the stretched out red carpet leading inside his mansion.

DarkenVille and my territory, the Blackburn Pack were like night and day, the difference was clear for all to see. There were no disputes between our territories; it was why I chose to honor his invitation.

"How long until the wedding ceremony?" I asked, fighting the urge to glance at my wristwatch.

"Two hours," he responded nervously.

"Congratulations!" My tone was detached and clinical.

They looked flattered to have me around but it wasn't why I was here.

I glanced over to see Norman, my Gamma staring right at me. We couldn't let them in on our true motive of coming here. We couldn't risk having words out.

I shook hands with a few more people and afterwards, I was led to a more private area of the mansion where I had my peace of mind and time to think.

"Did you memorize the map?" I asked Norman when we were left alone in the private wing of the mansion.

"It should be easy to locate." He nodded.

We were here for the old temple. The ancient witch coven. I needed to find this sacred amulet for a ritual to break this curse a witch placed on me a few years ago.

A soft knock on the door disrupted my thoughts, and an attendant in an immaculately tailored black suit came in with a tray of wine.

My gaze was on the tablet on the small coffee table which held the map. I tapped on the home screen icon when the attendant came closer to serve us the drink.

My mind was on the map and how to find my way around this pack to the old temple as the attendant poured us the wine.

"Rich!" I complimented the wine and a smile curled on the attendant's face, "What is your name?"

"Neil." His tone faltered as he answered bowing stiffly.

"I need you back here in exactly two hours." I informed him.

He nodded stiffly.

"It's not a perfect time for the celebration." Neil spoke quietly as though feeding me an information I failed to know, "It's a new moon tonight."

I peered at him to catch a glimpse of humor on his face but there was none. Neil stood ramrod straight before me with his eyes on the void above my shoulder.

The glint in his eyes suggested he was concerned enough to enlighten me on what tonight was.

"This is a joke!" Norman was on his feet. "Ryder has to be fucking kidding us!"

The annoyance on Norman's face had Neil shaken to his core with beads of perspiration trickling down his face.

I found the forecast on the iPad before me and it was there and then did we realize the earth actually was spherical.

"We run different time zones with this hell of a pack!" I muttered. How could we miss that?

I went over it in my head about the possibility of such a slip and found it. I was more concerned about getting here to the old temple than checking the forecast. I was cursed by a witch with Vilxir, I turned bloodthirsty on a new moon.

"So that means..." Norman started and went instantly silent.

"Ryder puts his wedding on fast-forward and gets it done in less than an hour or he pushes it back another time." My tone was inscrutable as I took another sip of my wine.

Like I cared about his wedding. My interest was in getting to the old temple to see what I could gather.

"I'll go inform Alpha Ryder." Neil gave a bow and bolted towards and out the door.

"If the Amulet of Dinv is in this temple, I must be there before the new moon in two hours.” I had to get this amulet before the new moon.

"I need to speak with Ryder." Norman got to his feet.

"You will attend the wedding, and have the entire Pack members indoors before the new moon is out."

I got to my feet, this should be easy to find.

My best bet was on Ryder pushing back the wedding another day but I wasn't expecting him to risk the lives of his Pack members by choosing to get wedded in the span of an hour.

It was a risk but he had made a choice, he had risked the welfare of his pack members again, a proof that he was not a worthy ruler.

"I don't want my darling Heather to be heartbroken. She has looked forward to today for quite a long time now." Ryder chuckled briskly when he met me in the hallway.

"So be it. Make it quick." I responded and headed on to my major business.

I was cursed with Vilxir. The witch cursed me to grow bloodthirsty on a new moon. Every new moon, more than a handful of my pack members were slaughtered until we found a way of having them indoors during the new moon.

Staying motionless indoors on a new moon was the only way my bloodthirsty wolf couldn't detect these wolves.

The lives of these Pack members were at risk if I didn't get to this temple in exactly one hour to find this amulet that can subdue my wolf until we found a way to break this curse.

I returned to the private chamber, changed into a black hooded sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants, I found a face mask and with that I was ready to leave the mansion y detected.

When Ryder saw me leave his mansion he didn't make a sound, as long as his pack members weren't aware of this then I was good.

It was a few minutes drive from the mansion to the temple but I had driven for almost an hour without getting anywhere. It wasn't until I pulled over, confirmed my maps did I realize I had typed in the wrong location.

Cayed Hills was a different destination from Caeyed Hills. I had clicked on the wrong location and I had to get back on track. So much for a man who loathed mistakes.

Now the mistake was on me and I was lucky to be alone not to embarrass myself, so I turned the car around. I was running out of time.

I didn't drive any farther, I felt my wolf begin to push inside of me threatening to take control of my mind and body.

It wasn't safe to drive.

I got down from the car and plunged straight into the woods giving my wolf the chance to completely take over my body. The bloodthirsty beast dominated my being. I was now on all four, my blazing wolf smoldering the path as he went forth.

But something strange grazed my nostrils. The foul smell of dark magic. I looked up at the antiquated building before my eyes. The repulsive foul smell was coming right out of the old temple.

A witch.

I knew without a trace of doubt in my heart this witch was going to be my first victim tonight.