CHAPTER FIVE: THE ALPHA MEET BEGINS

Kayla’s POV

We had been travelling for an hour when I felt the sudden urge to turn back and go the other way. I felt as if ants were crawling up my body and the sensation was really unpleasant to say the least.

I turned towards my companions and found that they were looking disturbed too. It was then I realized that we were approaching the Neutral territory.

The Neutral territory was heavily shielded since important meetings of the Alphas took place there. Assassination attempts on the Alphas had occurred in the beginning, and since then, only those with invitations could pass through the shields.

Weapons were absolutely not allowed, and if anyone possessed them, even the invitations were not enough to let you through. Actually, we werewolves were lethal on our own; we didn’t need any weapons other than our teeth and claws, but rules were rules…

I watched as Harry opened the window and waved the invitation card. The next moment, the creepy feeling vanished and everything was back to normal. I discreetly heaved a sigh of relief before pasting a blank expression on my face once more.

After that, we continued travelling and in the next half an hour, passed through two more shields and at each of them, the level of repulsion due to the shields doubled. I was certain that if someone without the invitation somehow crossed the first shield, they would never be able to cross the second and third shield too. Tolerating it for a few moments until the card was magically scanned took a toll on me, an Alpha. I couldn’t imagine anyone being able to tolerate it for hours, let alone minutes… 

And then, the car slowed down again, and I saw that we were stopping in front of huge iron gates, which I deduced were the gates to the Lunar Castle. After the invitation was scanned, the gates creaked open slowly and strangely; the sound reminded me of a horror movie. 

And then we were moving again, and I felt my eyes widen slightly at the majestic sight in front of me. There in front of me stood a medieval castle that looked straight out of a fairy tale.

When I heard the name Lunar Castle, I had assumed that it would be a mansion which just had a Castle in its name. I never imagined that it was an actual castle. That meant the Alpha King lived the life of a real king then….

Once the car rolled to a stop, I took a moment to gather myself. I was going to face nine male Alphas and their entourage. I knew that all of them would size me as the weakest automatically because I was a woman. I had to remain strong for myself as well as my pack. I wouldn’t let anyone belittle me or my pack. 

I stepped out of the car with a blank expression and held my head high as Ethan and my guards joined me. Then, I walked towards the castle with confident strides.

Once I stepped inside the hall, a sudden hush fell over as every eye turned towards me. I didn’t feel intimidated by their gazes and just stood there examining everyone indifferently. I ignored the confused looks thrown my way and walked inside as if I owned the place.

Seats were assigned according to the name of the packs and when my eyes found the Crescent moon pack, I walked towards it boldly. Once I claimed my seat, I felt the gazes of everyone on me as they realized who I was; the only female Alpha of the continent…

After a few moments, the chattering resumed, and I checked the time to see it was five minutes to eleven. We were right on time…

I felt the presence of someone near me and looked up to see Jared, Uncle Xavier’s son.  He was actually two years older than me, but took over as Alpha only four years ago when he turned twenty-one. He was the closest thing I had to a brother after I lost Martin. I felt a genuine smile form on my face as I met his twinkling blue eyes.

“And who is this pretty girl? I don’t remember ever seeing her,” he teased me with a smirk.

I stared at him blankly until he raised his hands in surrender.

“Yes. Yes. You are the big bad Alpha. I got it,” he said.

“Jared.” I said in a warning. 

“Relax! Just trying to loosen you up a little. You are too wound up now. Just chill. No one is going to eat you alive,” he said.

I sighed and leaned back against my chair. He was right. I was too focused on being strong that I was acting so tense. I needed to keep my cool…

“You are better than all of them. And I am including me too. I know it and they know it too. You have proved yourself way back itself. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone now,” he said.

“I don’t care what others think of me. I know what I am capable of and despite what others may think, I know I am not weak just because I am a woman,” I replied confidently.

“That’s my girl!” he cheered. I felt my lips turn up slightly at his actions. He had taken up after his mother, Aunt Katherine, who was a lovely lady with a jovial personality. He didn’t have the serious attitude that his father possessed.

Right then, the clock struck eleven and the time for the meeting has begun. With a wave, Jared went back to his seat, and I looked to the centre of the hall where an elderly gentleman was standing.

I realized that he must be the caretaker of the Neutral territory who was in charge of the castle. He was the one who coordinated the Alpha Meets in the past four decades and he must be more than eighty-year-old now.

“Hello! I am Jonathan. Many of you have met me in the previous Alpha Meets and for those who haven’t seen me before today, I am the caretaker of the Lunar Castle and the Neutral territory. My duty is to keep peace in the territory. I will be overseeing today’s meeting as well as other activities. Everyone stay peaceful and enjoy,” he said in a kind voice.

He watched each of the Alphas while he spoke, and when his faded blue eyes that had seen a lot met my gaze, I felt as if he could read me like an open book; as if he knew all my secrets. I felt my heart skip a beat at the thought, and even if my first impulse was to avert my gaze, I forced myself not to show weakness and continued to meet his gaze until he looked at the Alpha next to me.

“Now, let’s start the meeting!” he called out merrily. 

And then the Alpha meet started officially. So far, everything was happening exactly as it was supposed to. Nothing out of the ordinary has happened yet, but I had a feeling that it was all going to change soon… drastically!