My Alpha Lycan

Chapter 2

Lycan’s POV:

I rested my head in my hands, closing my eyes and listening to the others leave the room. All but one, whose presence I could feel standing next to me. When I was sure everyone else had left, I lifted my head and sighed.

"A human, huh?" said Soren, pulling out the chair next to me and sitting on it. "That makes things more difficult."

"Yes," I said, giving him a monosyllabic answer. It was quite unfortunate that the usual norm had to deviate right when we were close to foiling his plans.

"What are you thinking, brother? How do we interfere? Or do we not?" asked Soren.

"We are not going to sit idle. Not after finally having some kind of information on the Invited," I said. "I'd originally planned to bring the Invited to our kingdom and hide them here."

"We can't do it with a human," said Soren, voicing out my thoughts.

"That is the whole problem, isn't it?" I said, shaking my head. Just when we were so close. "But what puzzles me is why the Invited is a human this time. It is such a blasphemy."

"Who knows what goes on in his head?" said Soren. "His whole goal is to take over everything. Maybe he'd like a human for inside information on the human king."

"That is a bit of a stretch," I refuted. "He must have some other reason. After all, his distaste for humans is not exactly a secret."

"Perhaps the Invited isn't a human after all," suggested Soren. "Perhaps your source was wrong."

"I can assure you that my source was right," I said. After all, he was a spy in the Luceri kingdom I'd planted many years ago. One that had given valuable information only recently (though his minor reports from the past had all turned out to be right), but which we couldn't use properly just because of the creature in concern being a human. It was as interesting as it was perplexing.

"I must think on this," I said, getting up. Soren followed suit immediately. "We will interfere, that is for sure. First, we need to know who this human is and why they're so special to have the Luceri Invite them. From what my source told me, the Invited is in one of the human villages south or east. Send Volter, Rove, Toruk, and Cade to search for the human. I want to know where they reside and who they are."

Soren tipped his head in a slight bow and was off at once. Soon after, I left the meeting room as well. This was such a burden. Even if the Invited had been a Wolf, the whole ordeal wouldn't have been easy. Perhaps simpler, but certainly not easier. We could just hide the Wolf among our subjects, or employ them in the castle itself. The only trouble we'd have to go through would be masking their scent in case they meet someone new.

But the Invited being a human had its long string of problems attached. First of all, humans couldn't be brought to a Wolf kingdom. For centuries there had been tension between Wolves and humans. Including a few wars that had caused the loss of lives of many Wolves and humans too. Many packs were openly hostile to humans, going to lengths to even kill them if the humans accidentally invaded their territory. Although our pack didn't despise humankind to that extent, we certainly weren't friendly with them. They lived in their place, and we lived in ours. No one disturbed the other. It helped that the humans living closest to our kingdom were quite far away and that a considerable amount of forest separated us from them. Also, I had the impression from other sources that those in villages were mostly afraid of us. As they rightly should be.

Second, even if the human was brought to the kingdom, we couldn't make them reside among the subjects. There would be too much commotion and our plan of going under the radar would be out the window. That would leave the option of letting them stay in the castle. But even here, the maids were bound to gossip. It would be terrible if the information that we were housing a human were to go out. Not only his wrath of snatching his Invited from right under his nose, but also the rebuke from our subjects. The idea of potentially earning the ire of the Luceri by risking our lives to hide a mere human was laughable in all its rights.

I pressed my fingers to my temple. An onset of headache was approaching from all this stress. If only the Invited were a Wolf. But it was no use wishing for something that I knew wasn't going to happen. I could, of course, always abduct the next Invited, but it was doubtful whether my source would get this much information on them. This was the only opportunity. Best to strike when we were relatively more prepared.

I entered the garden in the West Wing of the castle, a place for recluse and privacy. The cool wind soothed my headache as I walked through the garden. Since it was autumn, none of the trees had any flowers in them. The grass would soon be covered with snow in a few weeks. I selected a bench at the far end, where it was surrounded by bushes so it would shield me from the building on my right. Just a few moments of rest before my duties consumed me again.

As I sat down, I recollected her words, ringing clearly in my head as though she'd said them only recently. Her words, from such a long time, which I had carried with me. Her words, which I remembered every one of those rare times when I saw her, that flame burning in her eyes. Her words, whose weight carried not only her pain but also mine. Pain, along with a flaring passion to set it right.

"Avenge him, Lycan. Avenge them," she'd said, all those years ago. I still remembered her ashen face, drained of all the heartwarming smiles and replaced with a hardness. With a madness. I had taken it to my heart and kept it there. I had only nodded at that time, given her the promise at a young age. I still hadn't fulfilled it, but I was determined to. Whatever the cost.

Later that day, after lunch, Mother called me to the library to speak with me. The first thing I noticed after I entered was the presence of my sister, Zoella. She smiled at my mother after she saw me come in, and hopped off the couch she was sitting on.

"You called for me, Mother?" I asked. I was ignoring the smirks my sister was throwing me from my mother's side.

"Yes, son. Did you consider my suggestion of visiting the Fontaine kingdom?" she said.

"I've had other things on my mind, Mother," I replied, looking away. It was the truth. Besides, it wasn't like I would lie to her anyway. I noticed my sister raising her eyebrow, a small smirk playing on her lips. She had no business listening to this conversation, and yet, here she was. And it must be for a reason, I smiled internally.

"Lycan, your father and I are not getting any younger. I want you to find your mate before your coronation," she said. In most instances, it was the male Wolf who had to leave his birthplace to search for his mate and then bring her home or live someplace else. Although there were instances of the female Wolf to set off in search of her mate, it was rare. My parents, my mother, in particular, wanted me to find my mate before I took over from them. It was also common for mates to be paired between Wolves of similar birth. So, there was a high chance that my mate would be a royal, making my job of searching for her easier.

I had begun the search for my mate around the age everyone else did. But since my becoming the Alpha soon after that, I had reduced the time I spent searching and focused more on training. Added to that was the training I had to have as a crown prince, learning about politics, administration, and other vital subjects, which left me very little time to pursue my mate. Even then, I used my time wisely whenever I was invited to other kingdoms for diplomatic reasons. But lately, the prospect of stepping one step closer to getting my revenge, fulfilling my promise to her and myself as well, had overshadowed other things.

"I'll find her, Mother," I assured her. "Don't worry."

"When you're leaving for Fontaine, don't forget to take me with you," said Zoe, after Mother had left.

"Why do you want to come?" I asked.

"To find my mate and live happily ever after," she said, cupping her face with her hands and smiling widely. "No, actually, I want to tag along for the chocolate. Do you remember when the messenger brought Fontainian chocolates as a gift from their king? They were simply the best thing I've ever tasted. So I want to know where the holy chocolate comes from."

"You do realize you sound like a five-year-old pup, do you?" I asked, smiling. There was something else she wanted in Fontaine, I knew it. Something Fontaine was famous for. Her sweet tooth equaled her sweet love for all things mischievous. Which meant she would only deny it if I confronted her about her interest in Fontaine's black markets.

"You have to take this pup with you," she said, tilting her head to resemble one.

"All right," I said, laughing. "But I don't know when I'll go. There is something else I have to take care of first."

Budget analysis and checking up with the treasurer took up my afternoon and the better part of my evening. Since winter was around the corner, the usual activities that funded the taxes would be on the low, so we lowered the taxes on sectors that we knew would face losses.

By the time we were done, the moon had risen and night had taken over. After a quick dinner, I retired to my chamber. I sat in the balcony, looking at the vast expanse of stars over the canopy of thick trees. I had a view of the forest from my chamber.

The castle was surrounded by forest on three sides, and the fourth was connected to the kingdom itself. In fact, the castle was built on a higher platform such that it was separated from the forest by deep ravines. There were three bridges across in three sides, to the forest, which were guarded by soldier Wolves at all times. The rest of the kingdom, excluding pastures and fields, were fortified to increase safety. It was, however, easy for the subject to leave and enter easily, in case they wanted to hunt or visit some other place. It wasn't easy for foreign Wolves to do the same, as they had to first register in the various checkposts along the fortified walls.

I wondered how it would be to bring the human here. I could easily hide them in one of the many rooms of the castle. But then what? Yes, I could kidnap the human, and hide them here. But I couldn't do anything else. Killing the human off wouldn't help. If anything, the human may have some idea why the Luceri were deviating from their usual victims to humans now. That information would be crucial. Perhaps after getting the information, I could get rid of the human. Letting them out.

Besides, no one other than the pack must know of this. Of hiding the human. One of us must personally deliver the food and other requirements to them. It was a revolting thought, that of serving a human, but it needed to be done. For the greater cause of defeating the Luceri. It occurred to me, not for the first time though, that I was only pushing off the inevitable. A war would ensue for sure. Because interfering with the Luceri would certainly stir one so great that I knew our kingdom couldn't manage on its own, even with its strength.

I had to gather support. My visit to Fontaine could be clubbed with that purpose. The Fontaine Alpha and I were on good terms, so he could easily put in a word with the king. Yes, so I would have one ally. I had to gain more, though, as I knew the Luceri already had their sway on some of the smaller yet militarily useful Wolf kingdoms around theirs.

As I lay down in bed, I pushed out these thoughts from my head, and found myself wondering, would all this be easier if I had my mate by my side? I wondered what she would look like, how her personality was. Would she be strong enough to be a Luna, the future queen of my kingdom? And most importantly, I wondered if we would love each other, like how I had seen other mates do. With these thoughts, I fell into a deep slumber.