The phone rang, forcing the carefully cultivated silence to disappear. I sighed staring at the phone with disdain. I knew who was calling and had been dreading this moment all day. I had rehashed our previous conversation in my mind and still found no solution. I took a moment to collect myself before picking up the phone.
"They've agreed to let two people inside" I spoke directly. I knew he would want to get straight to the point. Formalities weren't needed unless there were witnesses.
"Two! Just two," an angry voice rang out from the other side "they are lucky we are giving them a choice. We should just send the army, I don't trust them."
"They agreed to support the crown," I said slowly. "We don't want to start a war, no matter how small. Others could join for a shot to overthrow you."
A huff and pause, "if you catch the smallest scent of treason..."
"I know, I know," I rolled my eyes "take over the pack."
"Cyrus..." the voice chided "if things go well, it'll be a mark on your ability to lead." Then with a dramatic pause, "I'd be more likely to consider retirement." I rolled my eyes at the statement. Hell would freeze over before that would happen. The King held onto his power tightly, he would never willingly give it up. It was the same conversation every time. He was just manipulating me to get me to agree. "as next in line I need to know you can handle the packs."
"I've been doing that for years now" I reminded him firmly.
"All that time in other packs and still no mate." This King spoke, expertly flipping the conversation "How are you supposed to rule without creating an heir?" I rolled my eyes. My uncle never seemed to forget that I was mateless, reminding me at every opportunity. At this point, I almost didn't want a mate just to spite him. I did want a mate though, more than anything in the world. How was it that a well-travelled, 28-year-old, male werewolf had not managed to find, their mate?
"You didn't produce an heir" I lashed out at him for touching a nerve.
"All the more reason, you need a mate," he spoke sternly "You don't any other family to create an heir. It's solely on you," He was right, my parents had passed away before they could have another child. My mother died in childbirth, causing the baby to be stillborn. My father, the King's brother, passed shortly after due to the pain of losing his mate and a child The king had taken on the task to raise me, as his mate was infertile. A cruel curse of the moon goddess he would say. The king hated to be reminded he couldn't sire children and had to rely on his nephew to rule the kingdom when he was done. One of the reasons why he would never retire. The King continued to speak. "when you get back, we will organise a competition."
"I don't want she-wolves competing over me," I said, the whole idea left me feeling dirty. I hated the idea of being forced to take a random stranger as a mate over my goddess chosen mate. The goddess made mates perfect for us in every way, so why should I settle. The King saw it differently. Since learning his mate couldn't have children he'd grown hard and resentful. Why the King of all people should have an infertile mate was a secret the goddess held onto tightly.
"Nonsense," he exclaimed. "You've had 7 years to find your goddess-chosen mate. Besides this way, we'll find someone who's proven worthy to rule the wolves. Someone who the doctors say is fertile"
"Uncle..." I said slowly, trying to express my discomfort in his statement.
"I don't want to hear it." He with finality. "Go check out the Crescent Moon pack and get back here so we can get you mated up." With that, he hung up the phone. I slammed my phone onto my desk a little too hard nearly breaking it in two.
"Everything alright" sang Dante, my beta, through the mind-link. While the mind-link was useful for getting in touch with pack members quickly, it left for little time for my thoughts or privacy. I could block out my pack when I wanted, but being an Alpha I need to be informed of emergencies at any time. While I trusted Dante with my life and deepest secrets, he had a back habit of poking the bear. He enjoyed pushing my buttons. I always pictured him as my brother, as I never had one growing up. I always imagined that brothers would try to annoy each other, but ultimately still want the best for each other.
"You don't need to know everything, just because you're second in command," I shot back through the link. His head popped through my office door and he gave a dramatic frown before coming to sit in front of my desk, leg slung over the arm of the chair.
"But I'm so much cheaper than therapy," Dante teased "Come and tell me, what ails my troubled Alpha today."
"He wants to move forward with the competition," I said with a sigh.
"There is something weirdly animalistic about making she-wolves fight to be your mate, even by werewolf standards." He commented, offering no real solution.
"We'll have to come up with a way to stop it" I sighed, adding "while we visit the Crescent Moon pack."
"Why are WE going?" Dante asked whining. Typically I passed pack audits down to other important pack members, only visiting packs that raised red flags. Dante being my number two and good fighter would naturally come with me.
"They will only allow two wolves in and the king has taken personal offence." I rolled my eyes "He wants the works. The king has been itching for a battle to prove his power for a while."
"Will it come to that?" Dante asked, sitting up properly and looking concerned. The Kingdom had not known battle for a long time, other than a few rouge fights here and there. The rouges refused to be under anyone's rule and were largely disorganised, making for short and easy battles. The official werewolf packs had all fallen into line under the King decades ago. Getting to a battle with a proper pack meant war. Everyone would pick a side, many wolves would die for no reason.
"I don't know" I admitted "The King becomes more..." I tried to find the right word "uneasy as he ages. He swears the Cresent Moon pack isolated to avoid his rule. They cut off contact from the world for the last three years, ever since the new Alpha took over. Rumours says there was a bloody internal coup before they closed their borders."
"So a power-hungry Alpha, who led a coup" Dante spoke sarcastically "joy"
"If he wanted power, why'd he isolate the pack from the rest of the world for so long. You'd think they would try to expand, taking over other packs." I speculated.
"I guess we'll have to go ask them," Dante said cheerily winking. I laughed at Dante's comment. Alpha's typically didn't like talking to us when we visited. At the best of times, it was like prying teeth.
"Alpha Fin seems like quite to open book," I responded jokingly to Dante. "Why else would he close his pack down."
Travel to the pack had been relatively uneventful. It wasn't until we were at the borders that we ran into delays. We expected the security to be intense from being isolated for so long and they delivered. There were at least three checkpoints with menacingly large guards who seemed to get bigger the closer to the centre of the pack we got. I couldn’t see them but could feel eyes from the woods following our car as we drove. Dante and I tried bantering with some of the guards, but their seriousness would put the Buckingham palace to shame. “Like talking to brick walls” I quipped to Dante, as we drove past the last checkpoint, making light of the situation. The Alpha wanted to show his power that much was clear. Alpha’s always made a big show when I visited. Male wolves always
"I am" She stated. I stood with my mouth open. She looked annoyed at my silence. "I am Alpha Fiona Kerian of the Crescent Moon pack".A female Alpha! I had never heard of a female Alpha. Alphas were meant to be males and Lunas were meant to be the female mate of an Alpha. Every pack I knew worked that way. Most male wolves I knew were stubborn and wouldn't accept a female as a leader. They would say that it was breaking tradition. Those with extreme views would say that even warriors should be male, arguing that a female's place was to sire and raise wolves. Those ideas were slowly changing across the country, but some packs with older Alpha's held firm to their sense of tradition, fearing being displaced as packs moved into the modern era. While I was tak
"Mate" Blaze screamed again. I could feel him pushing for control. It took all my strength to hold him back and maintain composure. It felt as though he was clawing up my insides in a frenzy, desperately trying to come forward and see his mate for himself. I gritted my teeth, making eye contact with Fiona. She was smiling, but it was a political sort of smile. She didn't seem to react to my touch the way I reacted to hers. If she felt the mate bond she hid it well. I managed to bite my tongue, not trusting myself to speak. Question after question ran through my head. She moved on to the next topic, casually dropping my hand and turning to walk up the steps while speaking. I stared tight-lipped as she did so. I couldn't help but watch how her body move as she walked up those stairs.&nb
"What?" Dante asked sitting down on a large plush couch in the room after I told him that Fiona was my mate. Dante had a concerned look on his face and fired question after question at me. "Why didn't you say anything? Why didn't she say anything?" His knee was bouncing up and down with enough force to drill a hole in the ground. It was one of his nervous ticks. I paced around the room and thought about why I hadn't said anything. It was a large room and looked like it came straight from a magazine. The room was mostly white with natural colours and dried flowers spotted through the room. There was a bay window overlooking a garden and several doors led to unknown places. I would have to explore the room later. "I don't know" I admitted finally. It shook me, I was always so confid
*Fiona*"Well, that went as well as I could hope," I said sitting on the couch in my office placing my legs across David. I was not happy that the King had managed to worm his way into the pack, but at least we were ready to take him on. This might also prove useful for me to gather information on the King. I was naturally distrustful, but even so, something about the King just seemed off to me. Not that would tell Alpha Astor or his Beta that. Skylah was pacing inside me, which made me nervous. She only got that way when big things were about to happen. She had a sixth sense about things, although they were always feelings and never anything concrete. I was left to guess why. This time I chalked it up to nervous excitement for David's birthday tomorrow. David spoke; his words kept me from wandering off with my thoughts.
*Cyrus*"She's late" I mind-linked Dante at the dinner table. Normally Dante and I would joke about our insatiable appetites. Werewolves had high metabolisms and could eat a lot, but Dante and I, well even for a werewolf, ate a lot. The Omega who stocked our kitchen in the Golden Moon packhouse learned that my idea of a snack was more of a meal for a small family. After months of pulling his hair over how much we ate, he finally gave us a separate fridge, which we'd still clear out daily. Today was different though. All the food in front of me look delicious, the pack had done their homework and had a lot of my favourites. Yet, I couldn't find my appetite. I pushed around a piece of brisket on my plate, not wanting to be rude. "Dinner has barely started" Dante replied via mind-link. 
*Cyrus*Everyone was quiet for a moment, looking at the ground. Fiona inhaled deeply, the anger clearing from her face. When she spoke it was in a neutral tone."This garden honours her legacy and reminds us what happens when a pack is run with greed." She said it with finality, shutting the book on the conversation. "Let me show you the inside of the community centre," quickly shifting focus back to the tour. "We offer classes for pack members who want to learn new skills. We teach everything from art courses, trades and courses to help pack members who wish to attend university. It is all run by volunteers from the pack who want to support growth and wellbeing. Normally it's older pack members looking to explore new horizons, but we will get some high schoolers who want to study something beyond what is offered at the school."
*Cyrus*"If she wasn't your mate," Dante mind-linked me when Fiona stepped out of her office the next morning for a break. "I would have a few choice words to call her." A growl from Blaze shut him up, but I knew Dante was right. Surely, it was just the stress of answering to the King. Fiona had been snippy all morning as we looked over her income reports. There were a few times she outright glared at me, not needing words to get her message across. To be fair, they were times when I would be trying to flirt or make 'unintentional' contact. In the most recent offence, she simple threw her hands up in the air and walked out, leaving Dante and me staring at each other, wondering what we had said to offend her. There was a knock on the door and an Omega girl came in with a platter of snacks and a pot of coffee."Alpha Fin asked me to bring yo