The Alpha’s Fated Destiny

3

Invitations are always sent to the leaders of the three alliances for the Winter Banquet.. The attendees from each alliance include the leader of the alliance, along with the alphas of the packs within that alliance. However, the Central Alliance has never sent any of their Alphas, nor has the King of the Central Alliance ever made an appearance. He sends representatives instead. Karina always considered this an insult, since it is always the leader of the North Alliance who hosts the Winter Banquet. However, there wasn't anything she could do but accept this slight.

Dorian's words have me blinking in surprise. “Someone from the Central Alliance wants to speak to me?”

“He’s waiting outside.”

I look over my shoulder once again before replying. "I'll speak to him outside. Sophia is resting right now. I don’t want her to be disturbed.”

I follow Dorian outside. The man standing near the entrance looks a little familiar. He’s the one who spoke up in favor of Sophia during the showdown at the banquet. In fact, he had also been standing quite close to Sophia when I had arrived.

“How can I help you?”

A long time ago, the continent we live on was divided into three alliances. They were created to prevent the kind of territorial wars which had caused too much damage to our kind over the generations. Our numbers were beginning to decline. The North Alliance, the South Alliance, and the Central Alliance were all headed by three different individuals and had multiple packs under their rule.

Over time though, I don't know when, the members of each alliance began to display defining features. The North alliance, where I originate from, usually has shifters with dark black hair and fair skin. The fur of our wolves is also black in color. Those from the South have predominantly brown hair with tan skin. Their fur mirrors the brown of their hair.

The wolves from the Central Alliance have white fur and in their human form, their hair is grayish. Sophia’s hair is gray and her fur is silver. Her mother’s hair is silver. While it is not indicative of their identities as the Silver Wolves, it is a mark of the Central Alliance.

At first, I hadn't understood why Sophia never considered that fact. But when I discovered that the alpha of the Red Rock Wolf Pack that she had been raised in, had limited her education, it made sense. Even now, I’m not entirely sure if Sophia realizes that she has the distinctive features of a wolf from the Central Alliance.

The man before me is tall with gray hair and icy blue eyes. “I would appreciate it if you do not mention my visit to anyone.”

There's no formal greeting, just a nosedive into the conversation.

“I'm assuming my mate does not count in those people?"

He shakes his head. “This message is for her. She will have questions for me—questions I am not in a position to answer right now. Therefore, I thought it would be best to simply meet you, her consort.”

There’s a difference between Sophia calling me her consort and somebody else referring to me as such.

It angers me.

From the age of ten, my identity has been that of an Alpha. I've struggled through everything and finally dragged my people out of the darkest of times. And now, I'm no longer the Alpha. Or am I?

I still don't know where I stand. Where my people stand.

I could always discuss it with Sophia but right now, but I don't want to add to her worries, and knowing her, she will worry about something like this.

Forcing my unpleasant thoughts back to the present, I ask the man, “May I have your name?”

He shakes his head. “It will do you no good. What I came to tell you is that Grace, your mate's mother, will not survive here.”

My body stiffens at the mention of Sophia’s mother, who is in a critical condition right now. She risked her life to save Sophia. Her life hangs in the balance, and my mate is already very upset over this fact. Sophia was ripped from her mother's arms as a child, and her mother was imprisoned while Sophia was raised in the pack orphanage. She was told that her mother died during childbirth. It took her more than twenty years to finally find her mother, who had become a shell of herself due to years of torture and abuse at the hands of Robert Black, the now-deceased Alpha of the Red Rock Wolf Pack.

I stare at the man before me. "My mate's mother is from the Central Alliance, isn't she?"

An uncomfortable expression crosses his face. "Well, yes."

"So why haven't you offered her any assistance? Why have you only shown up now?"

The man looks tense. "I'm already crossing a line by talking to you about this situation."

I want to say more, but I turn my focus back to the critical point. "You said she won’t survive here. Then what are we supposed to do?"

"The Central Alliance knows how to treat the Silver Wolves if they push themselves beyond their breaking point,” he tells me. "That’s all I can say. Bringing Grace will be pointless because she will not survive the journey. But your mate should petition our leader for the medicine needed to save her life."

He turns around but I stop him. "Why can’t you give us the medicine now?"

The man hesitates. "I’m not in a position to do anything. Only the leader of the Central Alliance has the ability to distribute that medicine."

My questions are not over yet. "You called her Grace. How do you know her name?”

The man covers his head with the hood of the cloak, his hands clenching around the fabric. I can’t see his expression anymore, but I can sense the pain in his voice. "I used to know her. A long time ago. Before…she was a good person. All this time, I thought she was…"

He begins walking away mid-sentence, as if unable to finish what he was saying.

“Petition the leader of the Central Alliance?" Dorian sounds pensive. “He’s never even attended a banquet. I heard he retreated to somewhere deep within his territory a long time ago. Nobody has been able to request an audience with him.”

My lips purse into a thin line. "I have a feeling my mate might be the first person to do just that."