Chapter 3

Ares POV

Everyone heard of the ruthless Ares who lost his mate in a war between the Crescent Star Pack. Everyone knew what losing one's mate could do to a person. Ares became the most ruthless person in the Black Moon Pack. He was feared by all and got pleasure from hurting others. Recently, his wolf Ace had been taking over his body to do things he wouldn't do on a normal basis.

A while ago, Ace had gotten into a young girl's memory. I wondered who the girl was. He didn't say anything to her as he was in his wolf form but something within me tugged at my heart. A week ago, we had a run where he appeared to the girl again. I tried gaining control over my body but he wouldn't budge. The girl resembled the girl I had seen thirteen years ago when Ace entered her dream. She seemed hurt.

"Aria," a voice called out to her.

Ace got overprotective waiting to pounce on anyone that would try to hurt her. The voice called again and it made him realize that it was the Moon Goddess calling to her. Soon enough the voice faded and the girl lay on the ground whimpering. She felt eyes on her— Ace's eyes. It looked like she recognized him before her mind blacked out.

"Ace.... Let's go. She's not worth our time," I said trying to communicate with him.

"She is," he responded curtly before blocking me out again.

He changed to our human form before carrying her in his hands to our secret tree house. He placed her there and turned to take care of her wound but it had already healed. 

"She's fast to heal," I commented.

"Yeah... She is," he responded.

"Why are you taking care of her?" I asked.

"I'm not sure why. I'm just drawn to her," he replied.

He mind-linked one of the maids in our pack to bring food and blankets to the tree house for him. Within a few minutes, the food was made available for him. He placed the food in a place she could see when she regained consciousness then covered her up with a blanket before running back to our pack.

Immediately he let me take control once again, and I blocked him out from talking. I had a feeling that whatever he wanted to say I wouldn't be ready for it. My beta, James came into my room to talk to me.

"James," I called acknowledging his presence in my room.

"Yes Alpha," he responded.

He only called me Alpha when whatever was going at hand was very serious.

"What?" I questioned.

"I feel a war is about to start," he said.

James was not the normal beta werewolf. He could sense things that were about to happen before they took place. This was one of the reasons he was given his position in my pack.

"What do we do then?" He asked.

"We should start making alliances," he insisted.

"Hm... Any place in particular?" I asked.

"The fourth and fifth strongest packs in the wolf ratings," he replied.

"Where will the war be coming from?" He asked.

"Crescent Star Pack," he replied making me tighten my fists in annoyance.

The pack that led to the death of my mate. I was going to destroy everyone in that pack. It was a vow to my late mate. I was going to be fully prepared for this war.

"I'll meet up with one of the packs tomorrow," I responded before he left me to my thoughts.

I hated Crescent Star Pack with all my heart, a heart that I couldn't feel its beat again. My mind wandered back to the young girl Ace had taken care of. I shook my head getting rid of such thoughts. I lay on my bed and fell into a deep sleep, the stress of everything finally dawning on me. The following morning, James and I with a few guards went to visit the fifth strongest pack (Dove Pack). The journey to the place was quite long and silent. We were warmly welcomed into the pack as always. This wasn't my first visit here but each time I left it ended on a good note.

I was given a room to rest my head as we would have a conversation with the Alpha the following morning. That night I couldn't sleep, I wasn't thinking about anything but my body was not just in the mood to settle. The morning came quickly, a relief for me as I would sort things out and move on with my life.

Council members filled up the board room as I sat patiently waiting for the Alpha to speak.

"Good day everyone," the Alpha finally greeted acknowledging everyone's presence. "I'm sure everyone here knows their reason for being here."

Everyone around the table nodded to show their acknowledgment and respect.  A file was placed on my table by a random maid. I went through the contests before passing it over to James.

"We're good to go," he communicated to me through our mind link.

"That's good then," I responded.

I signed the documents in the file before passing them over to the Alpha through his maid. He rose up to his feet and shook hands with me. After which I left the board room. James decided we move back to our pack the following day, considering the long journey we would undertake. We got back to our packs safely, not encountering any form of problem on the road. We went over to the Red Moon Pack. Stepping foot into this pack, I caught a whiff of a vanilla scent. Ace tried by all means to take control but I wasn't going to let that happen.

The scent got stronger with each step I took into the mansion. James had stayed back in my own pack to take care of things. He was going to join me here the following day. The scent reminded me of a girl I didn't want to get attached to. I was served lunch as I had arrived in the afternoon. 

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

Aria's POV

There was news going around that an Omega had died. I wondered who it could be. Maybe my dad would know an answer to that, I wondered. Something tugged at my heart. I had a bad feeling when I thought about my father. Lara walked into the servant's ward. She seemed really excited.

"What's going on?" I asked her.

"Oh.... Nothing much," she said lying to my face.

"Start talking Lara," I stated probing her for more information.

"It's nothing much," she replied.

"Nothing much... Means something happened," I said.

"Well... I'll be fucking someone today," she replied making me choke on my spit.

"You'll be doing what?" I asked like I had not just heard what she said.

"You heard me right," she replied.

"But.... What about your mate?" I questioned.

"Look... Rosie. I'm an Omega. I accept my fate that my mate may probably never accept me when he realizes who I am," she responded. " So ... It's best I enjoy my life before I get old."

"But...." I paused not knowing what to say to her response.

"Keep hoping on what you believe. Your case might be different," she told me giving me a small smile.

I helped her prepare for her night out before going to my house. The doors were opened. Fear tugged at her heart.

"Dad," she called out.

No response

"Dad," she called again.

Still no response! She opened the door, its creaking sound echoing within the house.

"Dad," she called out not wanting to believe that the rumors she had been hearing about death were actually true.

She couldn't find his body in the house. 

"Maybe he's out working late," I thought wanting to clear off bad thoughts from my mind.

I walked into my room, and memories flashed into my head. I saw a woman who looked exactly like me play with a younger version of myself. I called her mother. She acted like one. My dad never said anything to me about my mother. I assumed she abandoned me since she never came up in my memories. But this, this was very different. I heard a loud bang upstairs. I quickly rushed back to my room first instinct to hide from whatever was coming to me. 

Another bang came. I grabbed a pen knife on my bedside table. I hid by my door. Paying attention to my surroundings, I heard no voice or movement. It should be in my mind. That's what I thought. I stepped out of my room still clutching onto my own knife to protect myself from danger if need be. That's when I smelt it. The scent of dried-up blood. It was coming from my dad's room. That's one of the rooms I didn't check for him. I rushed into the room, and that's when I saw his dead body lying on the ground. Bottles of beer sprawled around his body with a knife in his stomach. He drank a lot and killed himself.

But why?