The Unmated Love

CHAPTER 4

[Jonathan’s POV]

The meeting went on for, what felt like days, though it was actually just a few hours. Ben was struggling at my side. More than once, I had to use my elbow to snap him awake, when his eyes closed for a second too long.

After discussions of a few terms of the existing treaty, Alpha Zack took the torch.

“I’m afraid, we have a serious matter to discuss.”

The grave tone of his voice made the room fall silent. Even Ben seemed to wake up.

With a serious look on his face, he continued. “Our pack has recently been attacked. Some of our guards at our southern border was found dead. All flayed, but one. This guard’s arms and legs were ripped off, and a note was hammered into his torso. A note that said: “I’m coming for you all.” Signed by Caleb.”

The shock was plain on all the faces in the room. The atmosphere in the room changed, as the shock turned to fear and disbelief. The hair on my neck lifted, at the mention of Caleb’s name. Alpha Matthew was the first to break the silence.

“Caleb, as in the son of Lucifer?”

Alpha Zack nodded, “I’m afraid so.”

The silence stretched for several minutes.

Lucifer was the sole reason for a terrible war, which erupted close to 13 years earlier. The story of the horrors of the Great War was still told in school, to make sure that no one ever forgot about the people sacrificed in the fight to take down Lucifer and his pack.

The war had gone on for 5 years. Lucifer wanted to rule the entire country. His thirst for power consumed him, and he had used all means in his search for it. Ten packs were wiped off the face of the earth, always leaving the bodies of the pack members flayed or ripped to shreds. The only small mercy was given to the children, who at least was killed on the spot and left with their bodies intact. In the end, alphas began to give in to his demands, in hopes of saving their packs. Lucifer’s mood on the day of a pack’s surrender decided whether all the pack members survived. On his good days, all pack members survived. On his worst days, half the pack was still murdered, all though with mercy compared to the murdering of packs that did not surrender.

The ten alphas present at the meeting were alphas of the surviving packs. Some which lost half of their pack members, others which survived with close to no losses. My pack never surrendered. Neither did Caspar’s or Zack’s. Even though the packs felt a certain pride in their fight to the end, it cost us gravely. Losing at least a third of our packs. She-wolves were r***d and gave birth to new wolves as a result of it. Lucifer was taken down by the three alphas and lunas of our packs - the parents of Caspar, Zack and I - working together to take him down. In the end, they succeeded, but all of them were lost to the injuries caused by Lucifer himself.

The death of Lucifer crushed the other side, as all the surviving packs of the country fought back, as soon as they heard the news. Without a leader, they crumbled to the ground in a matter of a few weeks. When the dust settled, Caspar, Zack and I were anointed as the new alphas of our respective packs. We were far too young, but with the help and guidance of our fathers’ betas and gammas, we managed to do well for ourselves.

Ben lost his dad in the war. Leyla lost both of her parents, and she too was r***d at the age of only 14. It had marked her for life, which also made Alpha Kane’s assault the night before that much worse. She was raised by Ben’s mother, who took her under her wings. She and Ben were practically siblings, which sometimes made my work a pain in the ass, when they began bickering at each other like real siblings do. However, it also made the connection between them strong, and their teamwork was brilliant.

Now, it seemed Caleb, the son of Lucifer, who managed to escape and hide with the help of his psychopath of a mother, wanted to revenge his father’s death. Judging by his actions, he was even going to use the same means to reach it. It did not bode well for any of the packs.

I cleared my throat, breaking, the intense silence. “What do you know so far?”

Zack’s gaze turned to me. “We know close to nothing. I have sent scouts to track his whereabouts, but so far, they have found absolutely nothing. Not even their scent.” 

Well… s**t.

He continued. “However, based on the location of the murdered guards. They must be located to the south of our border. My scouts will, of course, continue their search, but we do ask for help in the fight against him.”

Without delay, I gave my support in the fight against Caleb. “Of course.”

Caspar nodded. “We will join the fight too.”

Alpha Kane, Matthew, William and Jack all offered their help in the fight against Caleb. Three packs with some of the older alphas, who remembered the horrors of the Great War better than any of the attendants, hesitated.

One of them, alpha Bastian, talked on behalf of all three packs. “I am sorry, but that is not a decision that we are able to make on the spot. I will have to take this news back to my pack and return with an answer.”

Zack nodded with a stern look on his face. “That’s understandable. We will await your answer.”

The rest of the meeting went on with the discussion on, how to approach this news. We all decided to join forces immediately. All packs would send a group of warriors to join Zack’s, where they would engage in the search for Caleb. Furthermore, they would help with the guarding of the borders, so that Zack could afford to send more scouts, who knew the area better than anyone. For now, that was all we could do. As soon as any news regarding Caleb appeared, the respective packs would be informed immediately, and further actions would be taken according to the new information.

The meeting was adjourned a few hours later. Both Ben and I were silent on our way to the lunchroom. When we took our places with our lunch in front of us, Ben’s worried voice reached me.

“This is some seriously bad news.”

I nodded. “Yeah… This is going to change a lot.”

Ben nodded gravely. “Which one of us, is going to tell Leyla?” He said with a low voice.

I stiffened. s**t. For a short moment, I had forgotten that Leyla didn’t know about this.

At that exact moment, Leyla appeared at my side with a plate filled to the brim with delicious salads and a steak. “Tell me what?” She asked, before she filled her mouth with food.

Ben and I looked at each other nervously. Ben mind-linked me.

You’re the alpha. You have to tell her.

I sent Ben an annoyed look. He actually pulled rank on me to get out of this. I sighed deeply. I seemed to sigh a lot these days. Too many worries…

“I’m sorry Leyla, but Alpha Zack brought some worrying news today. Caleb has returned.”

[Leyla’s POV]

I panicked, when I woke up alone in Jon’s bed and saw the clock strike 1 PM. s**t! I was soooo late for the meeting. I flew up, leaving the bed a mess, and got dressed so fast, I almost tripped in my pants.

My confusion and panic quickly turned to annoyance. Why didn’t Jon wake me up?

Just as I was about to leave, I noticed a post-it on the table.

Sleep in. Ben and I will attend the meeting. Will fill you in, when it’s done.

I instantly relaxed, though if I thought about it, Jon wouldn’t have let me sleep this long under normal circumstances. He would literally have thrown me out of the bed. Not that he would ever get the chance. Usually, I would be up and about, long before he even opened his eyes.

Since I wasn’t late, I took my time, before joining the others. I took a shower and went back to my room to find a change of clothes.

When I entered the hallway, I remembered last night’s events. I tensed up but continued towards my room. It had been an unpleasant experience, but the worst part was that it had ripped up in memories, I had managed to successfully hide and lock away in the back of my mind. I had long decided that I wouldn’t let it define me, so I – as always – took a deep breath and locked it all back up, including the recent episode with Alpha Kane.

My stomach was beginning to voice its complaints, so I went for the lunchroom, where I figured, I would meet up with the boys.

I went straight to the buffet to fill up a plate with all the food, it could fit. I chose a steak and several salads, which made my plate look deliciously colorful.

I spotted Ben and Jon in the left corner of the lunchroom. They both looked serious and a little uncomfortable, which probably had to do with the meeting. They didn’t notice my arrival, so when I closed in on them, I heard Ben say my name.

 “Which one of us, is going to tell Leyla?”

I placed my plate on the table, next to Jon, and sat down. “Tell me what?” I asked, curious about their conversation. My stomach was killing me, so I stuffed my mouth, before I got an answer.

I looked between Ben and Jon. They were staring at each other. Ben, especially, looked nervous and uncomfortable. Jon just looked stiff, but he rarely showed too much emotion. He always seemed calm and collected, which could be both a blessing but also annoying as hell.

They obviously had a mind-link conversation going, and I just patiently waited for one of them to break the news, while I stuffed my face with this delicious food.

Finally, Jon sighed deeply, not exactly happy about the situation.

“I’m sorry Leyla, but Alpha Zack brought some worrying news today. Caleb has returned.”