"We finally found one!"
"Shhhh." Zezi said as she laid down her six-year-old daughter on the bed. Mira was a beautiful chubby girl with brown curly hair. She stirred lightly in her sleep before smiling peacefully once again. A smile that wiped away the frown that had crossed her face when her father barged into the room.
Zezi smiled then too, before she turned to her husband who still stood at the door. He was quite muscular and his grey uniform fitted a little tightly against his skin as usual. He looked tired, his brown eyes that were usually filled with optimism now had frustration swindling in them.
He walked across the room and hugged her, relaxing into her arms.
"We finally found a body."
"We did?" She pulled away so that she could see his face.
That was great news!
For quite a while now, werewolves had been mysteriously disappearing from different packs in Teeland. When the packs' alphas discovered that it was getting out of hand, they came to their King, Alpha Gery who was the King of all werewolves in Teeland. He had responded by sending his warriors off to these different packs to find out the unknown enemy and kill them. But things hadn't gone as planned because soon the enemy attacked the Capital and so far, they were losing.
The enemy never left a body of their warriors behind but the werewolves knew that those that disappeared were dead. Their mates in the pack had either turned insane or depressed from lost. There were even occasions when the mates had died.
If they at least were able to find a body, then it meant that they could at least know what was killing them.
"You don't look happy. What is it? You know this is great news, right?"
"It is not, my Love. I don't know which is worse. Knowing or not knowing." He sighed, stepped back a little before pacing worriedly in front of her.
She took in a deep breath, ready for whatever it was.
"Tell me."
"Vampires, those bloody blood suckers!"
She gasped silently, her body stilled with shock before her voice came out in a defeated whisper.
"That is impossible." She muttered to herself, allowing her brain to process everything before she finally snapped.
"But they are gone! They got wiped out! There is no way they are the one. Something must be wrong, check the body again!"
He came to her immediately, held her hands so she could calm down. Then he spoke to her softly, watching her eyes flash with different shades of worry.
"I know, I know. That was what everyone thought too but I swear they are the one. The blood drained body, the marks, everything. It's them, my love."
"That is not possible." She shook her head slowly, her voice a little shaky.
"They will kill us, they will kill everyone. Don't you remember what they did to us?"
His jaw clenched and he wrapped his hands tightly around her, she was the one to find peace in his arms this time around.
"I will never let anything happen to you or Mira. I'd rather die than let anything happen to you."
"I'd rather too." She nodded and immediately put a control over her emotions, just like she had done for many years. It had been a long time since she cracked like that.
"What did the Alpha say?"
George let her go then. He walked to the window, glanced quickly at the star-filled sky then at the room, while he avoided her gaze.
"What are you not telling me?"
"Nothing." He shrugged dismissively.
That didn't convince her one bit. She had known George for years and she knew that he could be a good liar to everyone else but when it came to her, he was terrible at it. She didn't waste her time to try and listen to his heartbeat to confirm it, it would be of no use anyway. He was a Beta, a highly trained and powerful one. He knew how to control those things.
"Just tell me." She sighed, feeling exhausted already.
He clenched his fists before he started talking, "He wants to send you to the First Borderline. Since we know what we are up against, he wants..."
"Me as a war general to be there." She completed his statement.
The First Borderline had the worse hits, werewolves disappeared there every minute. It was like the war front.
"He gave you my pass?"
He sighed again, pushed his hair backwards and nodded. The room was not so bright but she could see his face. When last did he get a good sleep? When last did any of them?
He suddenly heard a bag being unzipped and his eyes flew opened. There Zezi was, her slightly curvy self, packing clothes into a bag.
"What are you doing?"
"My duty."
Before she could say any further, he was right by her side.
"You can't leave," he said tightly.
"I am the Zeta of this pack. It is my duty, let me do it."
His eyes widened with fear.
"You will die!"
She looked at him calmly, she knew he was right.
"Then let me."
His nose flared in anger, he clenched his fists yet again. At this point, it was starting to feel like blood wasn't passing through his veins at how tightly he clenched them.
"It wasn't an order, it was a favour. He knows we have a child that needs your care, he is only asking."
"There is no difference."
She didn't stop packing, she couldn't make herself look up at him nor her sleeping daughter. It would hurt too much.
"There is!" His voice raised from the hushed tone that they spoke in. Zezi's eyes flew to their daughter but she was still sleeping soundly. She let out a breath of relief before turning to her husband.
"The men we send out there have families too. If everyone had stayed back just because of the fear of dying then we would have been dead. Those people at all the Borderlines are out there giving their lives for us."
"And it is all the Alpha's fault! He should be the one to face the consequences. Sending off warriors to attack the enemy when we didn't even know what it was. It doesn't make sense."
Zezi furrowed her eyebrows. "You aren't making sense right now."
"Alpha Gery isn't sending the warriors to protect the borders. He is sending them out there to fight, tossing them into some forest. I have advised him countless times to cease our attacks but he won't listen to me and now he wants to send you off?! He knows you will be so determined to perform your duty. This is manipulation!"
A shock wave ran across Zezi's veins. That wasn't what the Alpha told the pack.
"If we were just at the borderline, we wouldn't be taking so much hits, we wouldn't be losing so many lives."
"That doesn't change anything." Zezi turned back to her bag and resumed packing. "He definitely thought it was best that we go and meet the enemy instead of wait."
"And how well has that turned out?"
"Geo..."
"My love." He held her hands, his eyes locked with hers, his voice gentle, his resolve breaking. "Please, don't go. Stay for me, for Mira."
"George, I..."
"Mummy?" A little panicked voice interrupted their conversation.
They both turned towards their daughter but they weren't ready for what they saw.
There Mira was, shaking and crying.
"Baby...? What happened?" They both ran to her, sitting at either sides of her, while her small hands held theirs tightly.
"I had a dream." Tears rushed down her face.
"What is it? Don't worry, we are here. No one can hurt you." Zezi hugged her protectively while George hugged them both.
They spoke softly to her till she calmed down. When it was over, they sat by either sides of her again.
"What was the dream about?"
"Mummy, are you going somewhere?"
Zezi could immediately feel George's burning gaze on her. She refused to look at him and kept her eyes focused on their daughter instead.
"Why did you ask, Sweety?"
"I dreamt that you left and never came back."
The air in the room became tensed. She looked up then and just as she had thought, George was looking back at her. His chest raising and falling in a sort of fear while her eyes filled with shock. They shared an intense gaze for a while, she couldn't tell what exactly George was feeling. His eyes were filled with so many emotions.
"Are you going somewhere?" Mira's voice raised with panic and they both looked back quickly at their daughter. Mira was staring at the unpacked bag still opened loosely on the sofa.
"Are you leaving me? Are you leaving Daddy? Mommy, are you going somewhere?"
"Mira." George tried to calm her down but she bursted into tears.
"Daddy, tell mummy not to go." She ran to her father and wrapped her little hands around his neck, still weeping.
"It's okay, it's okay. Mummy is not going anywhere, I promise, she is not."
He patted her slowly, his eyes on his wife.
"She is going to leave me." Mira continued to cry.
"I said she is not." He smiled lightly to her, trying really hard to convince her. "Come on, my Love, tell her yourself."
The attention was back on her and her lips parted lightly, her mind fighting an internal battle. She could hear her daughter whimpering again.
"My love?"
She smiled reassuringly and hugged Mira. "I'm not going anywhere."
"You promise?"
She looked at her husband. She knew there was more than one person that wanted her answer and whatever she said now would be it.
"I promise."
He sighed in relief, nodded then left the room.
Her daughter stopped crying and soon fell asleep. After that, Zezi joined him in the living room. He handed her a glass of water then he flopped down to the chair.
"Thank you for staying."
"Anything for the family."
He stood up and hugged her, sniffing in her heavily scent. It did things to him...many things.
"I'm sorry if I sounded selfish a while ago, I just don't want to lose you."
"I understand." She hugged him tighter. "I really do."
"There has to be a way to stop this, a way that nobody else has to die and I promise that I am going to find out."
"You better do, because one more death and I disappear."
"You wouldn't!" He pulled her out of his embrace to watch her face, his horrified. "You promised!"
"You selfish man." She pressed her hands against his chest, feeling the rough uniform against her palms. A mischievous glint appeared in his eyes.
Oh, how she had missed that.
"Selfish isn't the word," he said against her neck and she closed her eyes briefly from pleasure.
"It...isn't?" Her voice came out in a hushed whisper. His lips were softly grazing his mark on her neck and it sent sparks down her veins.
"No." He held her face between his hands and watched her eyes flutter open. He leaned in a little then smiled.
"The word is protective."
"We need to retreat, Alpha Gery." Zezi said again."We don't.""They are Vampires, Gery." The Luna, Sky, stated the obvious. Even as she tried hard to hide it, fear was clear as day in her voice."Doesn't mean they can't be defeated." He smiled weakly at Sky and she looked away, worried.It was midnight and they had all been forced to come down to the meeting room because of the terrible reports reaching them from the Borderlines. Everyone felt tensed as they all stood at the round table, discussing about the next course of action. They were desperate for a safe way out.Alpha Gery wanted to say something else but he caught the empty seat next to Zezi and he snarled. "Where is your mate?" Zezi bowed her head in respect. "He will be here soon, Alpha."Gery clenched his fists and Sky patted his back a little before giving him a smile. He relaxed immediately and Zezi looked away. They were real mates, blessed by the Moon Goddess. Looking at them reminded her of what she was...or wasn't
Fear ran even faster down his veins and he rushed towards her but before he could reached her, she stood up and side stepped him. This wasn't the first time something like this was happening. It was always boiling down to the fact that they weren't real mates.The Luna and Alpha Gery spoke in hushed tone at the far end of the room, while Zezi made sure to stay far away from George as much as the small room could allow. George leaned against the wall, tugging at his hair and sighing while he thought about the consequences of what he had done. He mostly definitely didn't want to turn rogue once again.When the Alpha and Luna were done arguing, they came back to the table."I will sign the deal."There was silence. "You will take a message to where we found the body to alert them that we are ready to submit." Zezi nodded. She would have to go to the border of the Capital of Teeland, the Capital being where they were."I will go with her." George started walking towards the table."Th
"I beg you to reconsider." She heard her Alpha say, frustrated. It looked like there was no head way in the argument. "I have already done that and I say 480." The uneasiness set in again in Zezi's veins. It was like there was something about his voice that made her feel strange, something that drove her to a certain edge that she couldn't explain."I will give you more territories." The Alpha said in defeat and the Luna looked at him sharply. Everyone did but he didn't look back at them. "All territories." The King started point blank and silence settled across the hall.The first deal had left only five small packs under the Gery's command. Unless he was willing to sacrifice the lives of 480 werewolves, then he would have to surrender totally to the King. He was caught in a tough place and he knew it.George looked up at the Alpha and he knew he was considering it. He swallowed a lump in his throat, he might have been wrong about Gery after all. Maybe he did deserved to be the Al
When she got to the First Borderline, the warriors had found it a little strange. Why would the Alpha send the Zeta here if they were meant to sign a deal to put an end to the bloodshed? Yet they had seen the stamped pass and they couldn't question any further. Besides, she was the Zeta, the war general, fourth in the rank of power. Too much questioning was a challenge to her authority. While Zezi settled in the tent that they had built up for her, different thoughts kept running across her mind.Maybe she had been wrong. Maybe he didn't know they were mates. Something about the way he looked at her made her feel like he hadn't known, like he had mistaken it to be some passing feeling.Yet a part of her told her that was just wishful thinking and she very well knew it. Or maybe he did know and he decided he didn't want her, an enemy just as she had decided that she didn't want him. Something told her that was impossible but she prayed with all her heart for it to be that. She drea
Zezi hid behind another tree, her senses alert. She was listening attentively for any movement. It had been two days or maybe even more she couldn't really tell. She was running out of supplies and she had left behind her weapons at the tent when she fled. Her eyes ached from lack of sleep and she was sure she must stink. It had been a while since she had a bath and she hadn't come across any river yet, neither had it rained. She couldn't waste the water she had with her on her body, she was reserving that for her thirst. She ran to the next tree and laid her back flatly against it. She bit her lips to stop herself from crying. She felt so cold and alone. She missed her daughter and her husband, yet she knew she couldn't go back. If she did, she wouldn't be able to stay. He would take her away, she would be forced to leave with the enemy. She was certain that with the Alpha, knowing everything now, would have drawn up another bargain that involved her. But could she blame him? It
"How is Mira?""She is fine. Aunt Alice is doing a great job.""I--I had no choice. I had to leave."It was quiet, like he wouldn't say anything in return. It got to a point that she was starting to doubt if he had even heard her."You should have told me.""I just...""I know we are not true mates but we love each other, don't we?"Zezi furrowed her eyebrows at that question, "Where is this coming from? This thing about not being true mates? We chose each other, George. Of course, we love each other."He stood up then, pacing in front of her before he stopped abruptly."Is it true? I have to hear it from you. I don't care how it must seem to everyone else, if you just say it isn't, then I will discard all the thoughts I have been coming up with. We will go back there right now and tell them that the Vampire King is nuts."His eyes looked like they carried weights of sadness. The way his shoulders slumped showed how hard it was for him to keep up with all of these. He pushed his hair
"He stopped Alice when she was about to leave the pack and seized your daughter."George didn't respond, he didn't know what to say."There is more.""More?!""Like I said, it isn't the pack against you anymore. He has sent the rest of his kind back to his Empire. He is giving us a day to give Zezi to him. If we don't, he will kill Mira and every single one of us."George heart raced at that thought. Fear wasn't always something he entertained but even his wolf that was full of ego and pride about his abilities knew when there was a challenge that they couldn't take down. His wolf was shouting at him for being stupid. Zezi wasn't even his mate. Why must he risk his life like this for her? He was shouting back in his mind that she was his, just like he was hers and being true mates didn't matter.When it came to Zezi, there were many things that he and his wolf never agreed on. Like what she truly meant to him.Alpha Gery's voice snapped him out of his internal battle."I know you co
The voice cut through the office.Dark, sharp, cold and absolutely daring. Just like that day in the hall. George gnashed his teeth, staying still while anger drummed in his head.She was his! His!No, she is not. His wolf snapped at him. He heard Zezi call him quickly, like she was afraid of what would happen if he didn't step away."George..."The King was there, still looking at them calmly but the tightness in his jaws showed just how hard he was trying to still have the reigns of control."Take your hands off her."George stood up abruptly. A sudden fear had crawled over him. He felt cold. He immediately grabbed Mira and carried her in his arms. Before Zezi could stand, she felt a cold hand tight around her wrist while she staggered to her feet. It happened so fast.She was just kneeling on the floor right there a moment ago and now, here she was by his side. He was fast, faster than they were. So fast that her sight had blurred for a moment. It was only then she noticed the