Feral Fury

Getting to Belvedere, California was not a problem, the real issue was what’s to come after her arrival at the destination. Solana gripped the steering wheel till her knuckles became as white as her pearl necklace. She needed the pain that the tight grip caused to numb her anxiety. It was an emergency meeting, and the Nightingale pack only used the Oriental Bay Owl when they wanted to deliver notice of meetings during major meetings involving the Great Families. What’s this about? Though Solana had an intuition about what was to come, she still tried to ignore the dreadful feeling, clawing into the depth of her heart, driving her into the abyss. She pressed hard on the gas pedal as she almost hit a pick up truck in front of her. She wiped her sweaty hands on her dress and glanced at the letter once more. The letter was signed by Alfred Benet, Alpha of Nightingale Pack. She wondered how many members of their wolf pack already got the invitation. Alfred did not discuss any details of the meeting with her, and that even set her into more gruesome panic. Just then, her phone rang. It was Nashville, her twin sister. “You think it’s about the territory fight with Blood Of The Knight pack?” Nashville asked, a twinge of excitement mixed with concern. “I don’t know, I already told you that he didn’t discuss the details of this meeting with me. I was in Paris organizing my next fashion show when I saw one of those owls on the window of my castle. That freaking bird startled me so much while I was drinking wine, I almost threw my Bordeaux glass at it. Thank the gods I didn’t kill it,” Solana said and Nashville laughed. “I’m about to board the plane, my flight was delayed because of signs of an earthquake here. Remind me not to travel to South Korea for my next emergency vacation,” Nashville said. She also got an invitation from the owl too. “I will, but I doubt you would heed my advice,” Solana responded and Nashville snorted while laughing. “I was also thinking it’s about that territory fight with that bloody pack. Remember how Alfred scared the s**t out of us when he was badly injured in one of those fights? This thing can be settled diplomatically, why do we have delegates if they can’t be useful during crises like this? And for Alfred to have not discussed this with me, it means he knows I won’t agree to any of his hasty, nasty decisions on how to curb the growing wings of that maniac pack. I’m so anxious, my stomach hurt so bad from anxiety,” Solana said and she took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry, don’t worry my plane will soon be on its way and I will be right there in your arms,” Nashville said and Solana imagined the playful grin that would be on Nashville’s face at that moment. She missed her sister. They discussed further and then ended the call. Solana drove to Alfred's home, at the edge of Belvedere. She prepared herself for the fuzziness of the ousehold staff. She loved them and their commitment to make things easier for her at home is quite adorable but sometimes she just gets exhausted. Some days, she wished for a very quiet home, a place with no one, but as the mate of a famous, powerful Alpha she had no choice but to succumb to the royal treatment. After about 15 minutes of speaking with her staff and trying to catch up on everything that had happened in her absence, Solana entered her private section of the house. She locked the door and headed to her bedroom. She removed her clothes, placed her necklace in her gigantic jewelry show glass and she walked to the bathroom. She stared at the bathtub, bent and ran her hands over the coral marble plastered over the bathtub. Alfred had picked the expensive marble during one of their gateways. She got into the tub and ran the water to fill it up. She slid into the tub and took a long shower. After bathing, Solana went to bed and slept off. She woke up in the middle of the night and she could hear her sister’s voice, laughing over the phone and saying just about everything with whoever was on the line. Solana chuckled and came out, Nashville screamed and rushed to her while still on the phone. “I miss your life!” She said and continued to hug Solana tightly. After three minutes of wrestling with each other, they eventually collapsed on the rug. “How are you really?” Nashville asked. Solana became quiet, she sighed, stood and went to the kitchen. Since that section of the house was off limits to her staff, she took her time in decorating the whole space to her taste. That part of the mansion was painted in Solana’s favorite colors, which was peach and gold. The section was built in a way that it contains everything a house should need; kitchen, bathroom, two bedrooms, library, a bar, and a pool room. “He still hasn’t returned my calls. Even if he wants to be adamant about this, he should at least pick my calls and we could talk about any other thing. I just want to hear his voice and see his face,” Solana said. “You’re speaking as if you just met Alfred. Just try to get your mind away from it, tomorrow’s the meeting and before you know it, you’re back into his arms, purring away happily,” Nashville said and she laughed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even ask your about your trip. How was it?” Solana asked. “It was amazing till that earthquake warning. Never have I been so scared in my life,” Nashville responded. Solana grabbed a Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Grand Cru 1945. She took two wine glasses and they both walked back to the sitting room. “Who were you on the phone with?” Solana asked and unscrewed the wine bottle. “Oh, that was Zikora, I met her in Seoul. She ran into me on the street and almost tripped and we just clicked. She is such a loveable person,” Nashville explained. Nashville, being an extreme extrovert, had always had a knack for making friends easily. They spent the night keeping up on their lives. The following day, they got ready to attend the meeting. The driver drove them to the great hall, they got down and exchanged pleasantries with the other werewolves. Solana tried to meet with Alfred before the meeting started, but she couldn’t find him. After about 30 minutes of being miserable in her seat, the great hall became silent and Alfred walked in. “Thank you everyone for coming, I know how busy the Great Families that form the pillar of this pack is and I do not take it for granted,” Alfred began, and the other werewolves smiled gently, each feeling extremely important. That was the reaction Alfred was hoping to get. After the introductory speech, Alfred stood and the reason for the meeting was about to be revealed. “I invited everyone here today because of an important thing, something that will surely change the trajectory of this pack. After successfully leading this pack for six years after the death of my father, I feel like it’s high time I officially introduce my mate,” Alfred said and Solana's heart skipped. The official ring bearer of the Nightingale pack walked up with a glass box. He gently placed it in front of Alfred, bowed and left. The whole hall was now extremely silent, a pin dropping at that moment would have sounded like a rocket taking off. “My mate is the most patient woman I have ever known, beautiful, hardworking and courageous. She is gorgeous , and has the strength of a thousand men. Ladies and gentlemen, permit me to introduce my mate , Zikora Ankshi, the woman of my dream, the bearer of my unborn kids and would-soon- be mother of the heir of Nightingale pack,” Alfred said and opened the box, he brought out a ring case and raised it up, everyone in the hall shouted and a deafening round of applause shook the foundation of the building. Zikora stood and walked calmly towards Alfred. She got to where he stood and he held out his hands to grab her. He kissed her passionately before placing the ring on her perfectly manicured finger. It all seemed like a dream for a moment, it was Nashville's cry that brought Solana back to her senses. Nashville had changed to her wolf form and she was running towards Alfred and Zikora. The whole hall fell into commotion, some of the Great Families who knew Solana was with Alfred began showing their displeasure about the news. The Alpha’s guards had managed to get to Nashville before she reached them. They couldn’t bring her down, as she fought them ferociously. They had to tranquilize her during the fight, they transported her out of the hall. At that point, Solana was no longer interested in Alfred’s speech. All she was concerned about was making sure her sister was safe. She ran after the guards and took charge of handling Nashville. She got Nashville into a vehicle and drove to Alfred's house. At the gate, there were guards already waiting for them. They informed Solana that she couldn’t enter the mansion any longer. Her personal loads would be sent to her later in the week, all she needed to do was to send her new home or a storage facility address. Still dazed and baffled, Solana drove to Nashville’s home. She carried Nashville, who was still deeply asleep into her bedroom, then she crashed into one of the sitting room’s sofas and began to sob heavily. Her phone was blaring up with calls and messages. All her friends had heard the news, they were not part of the Great families but dreadful needs travels so fast. They didn’t need to attend the meeting, to know the full details of the meeting. Solana tried so hard to understand how that happened, she was in a very good place with Alfred before she went to Paris. What could have happened? “Is this Zikora girl the same girl Nashville was talking to on the phone?” Solana thought and watched her sister snoring,