A Devotion to Purity (The True Luna Series Book 2)

Chapter 3

Seth

I don’t have a pack. My family has always been part of the Northernland kingdom. It has been like that for hundreds of years. We’re the conglomerates, the ones with the green, and therefore behind the scene help decide the kingdom’s policies. Because, let’s be honest here, money talks. It’s always been like that since the beginning of time, no point of fooling ourselves, right? Our family never has Alpha’s blood; therefore, we do not possess power that Alphas are blessed with.

Yet, we’ve always been prominent because we’re fluid, just like our money. We don’t make a habit of taking sides in civil war inside the Northernland Kingdom, which over the hundreds of years of our existence have been known to happen. That would just be unwise for us to take side since we wouldn’t know which side would come victorious. Our family has always worn many hats, the ultimate Jack of all trades. For hundreds of years my great, great, great grandparents have been politicians, lawyers, judges, merchants, financiers, Betas, and also Gammas. In other words, we, the Rodericks are rich and important.

And versatile. We’re good to have. The Rodericks has been a huge clan within the Northernland Kingdom. Goddess knows how many uncles and aunts, cousins, nephews, and nieces that I have. We’re talking about second, third, fourth, and on. And on. Yep, we’re that big. However, when it comes to real sibling, I only have one sister, Corrine, who is five years older than me. She found her fated mate, Mark, when she was twenty-one and produced four children of her own, making me the proud uncle of two nieces and two nephews.

My mom is a daughter of a Beta whose pack was located not too far from the kingdom. She was visiting the kingdom when fate introduced her to my father. They wedded two months after and have been together ever since. Their story was just any other story of two werewolves being in love with their fated mates, nothing new there. My mom was nineteen and my dad was twenty-one when they met. The fact that I was twenty-seven and still without a mate worries her a great deal.

I think my mom blames that on the fact that since I was young, I was assigned to guard and accompany Alpha Prince Steele North. The prince, Larry, and I lived together in the human world and received our education just like regular humans. We’ve been best friends ever since, like three musketeers. We’ve assimilated with the human’s lifestyle well–too well if you asked my mom. We’d forgotten the way werewolves were supposed to live.

On the surface, she may be right. We loved living in the Upstate New York until high school, before moving to Manhattan for Columbia, where we have been staying ever since. The Prince and I live in midtown, him in the Upper East Side while I live right across the Central Park from him in the Upper West Side. Larry, on the other hand, being the giant that he is, chose to live in a more eclectic area: the village, Greenwich, to be precise.

Manhattan provides us with anything a man can possibly want although not necessarily need, assuming that you have the money to indulge on them. And we do. Don’t give me wrong, as werewolves, we’re warriors first and foremost. We still know how to fight and Manhattan hasn’t weakened us. We still go to the Upstate New York to let our wolves free on the weekends. It’s necessary for the wolves to stay feral. We’ve still submitted to our characteristic as predators that do not understand the concept of losing. We’re savage by nature, that part we’ll keep with us forever.

Women, this is the part where my mother is right, I’m sorry to say. We don’t hang out too much with female werewolves to enable us to find our fated mates. We rarely encounter shifters in the human world, when we do, they’re men seventy-five percent of the time. Or if they are women, well, they are not our mates. That hasn’t stopped us from bedding them since when it comes to s*x, we don’t discriminate. Discrimination is wrong. We like women: human, shifters, young (as long as not under age), not too young (never bedded any woman over fifty, though), black, white, Latina, Asian. We just love women. End of story.

As a financier, however, my preference has developed over time. I don’t go to clubs anymore and only frequent a handful of bars around the financial district where we work, the Upper East Side, and a few other rich neighborhoods. I’m also not looking for a serious relationship. Painful as it is, I’m still waiting for my fated mate. I choose my companion with careful consideration since I’m not ruled by my c**k. I have a reputation to uphold.

I’m into one-night stand only. However, if the woman carries a certain trait about her that I like, I keep her number and give her a call from time to time. Even for a one-night stand my standard is high. I like my woman with a career and somewhat accomplished, so I go for lawyers, bankers, executives, literary agents, you know what I mean.

I’m also not into women who look and act trashy. Women who are loud with too much makeup will not get a second glance from me. However, I don’t like women who do not wear any makeup either. Women who don’t take care of themselves don’t interest me. I like women who put a careful thought on how they wear their makeup, dress, and shoes. I like elegant and sophisticated women who are soft spoken but at the same time assertive. I like all the good Bs: beauty, brain, and behavior.

If one is lacking, yeah, you’re not good enough to spend even an hour of spectacular s*x with me. But if you possess those three Bs, we can go all night, my darling. I’m that good. I’m a werewolf after all.

Women love me. I’m blessed. Of all the three of us, women choose me. Don’t give me wrong, Larry is handsome with a killer body. No, literally, his body can kill you, ha-ha. But he’s too tall and he looks too scary. Most women are too afraid. They would imagine his c**k and give up without even trying. I mean, we werewolves in general are blessed with monstrous c***s, but Larry takes the cake, like by a mile. Unless, they are paid, which makes them obligated to take his c**k anyways, most women do not volunteer to sleep with him.

The Prince, however, is another story. He’s about 6’4, an inch or two taller than me. He has everything that I have, the look and the brains. Yet, he is more intimidating than Larry. I suppose it’s the Alpha’s aura that he possesses. He can have any woman he wants without having to pay them, unlike Larry. But women do not flock around him, unlike they are with me. So yeah, when it comes to women. I’m the lucky one.

Life for us has been changing and I’m not sure whether it’s for the better. I suppose it’s unavoidable with Alpha Prince Damon being dead. As he was older, he was expected to be the future king, not Prince Steele. However, Prince Damon has been dead for six years now inside the Wolferaine (our neighboring kingdom) during their civil war.

Now this is the part that I found interesting, because somehow, Alpha Prince Damon had gotten involved in that war. I didn’t understand that part, why was he involved in another kingdom’s civil war in the first place? Like how was he even there? And the King, did he even know this? Did Alpha Prince Damon act under the King’s order?

Larry and I have asked, and we believe that even Alpha Prince Steele does not know the answer to that question in all entirety. I think he had asked his father, Alpha King Harvey North, but received unsatisfactory answer. We only know that we should start preparing ourselves to leave New York City and move back into the kingdom to be coronated as the Alpha King, the Beta (me), and the Gamma (Larry).

You might wonder why I’m the Beta and not Larry. We both are intellectual with an MBA from Columbia, the school we went to since college along with Alpha Prince Steele North. While the answer is superficial, it is somewhat valid. It all comes down to appearance. Larry is intimidating and fearsome, he will make a great warlord one day. He will be perfect leading the kingdom’s warriors.

I, however, am much more refined. I’m excellent with diplomacy and I’m thoughtful by nature. I take everything into consideration and am somewhat able to read people’s mind. I know how to bullshit but I don’t get bullshitted. I take time to learn people’s body language and what make them tick. I win a lot of arguments that way. In all honesty, I am a fan of Beta Bradley Berkshire of the Wolferaine Kingdom. That man is dope. He’s well known for being intuitive and wise. I’ve been learning his track record and hope that one day I can be as good as he is. Better, even. In time, I will be as famous as he is. If not more.

Since Alpha King Harvey North is quite young and still powerful, he is not expected to abdicate soon. He’s forty-seven and only expected to retire sometimes in his fifties. That will give us somewhere between three to eight years to prepare ourselves for the positions. One can hope that by that time, all the three of us will have met our own beautiful fated mates and had a couple of pups. Now that would be just perfect.

Somehow, though, things are not looking pretty perfect. I’ve got the feeling that our ascend to the throne will not be as easy as a simple give away. So many questions have been left unanswered. Like why after these many years the Alpha King hasn’t announced the death of Alpha Prince Damon yet? Is it because he was ashamed with the fact that the Alpha Prince was getting involved with a business that was not his inside another kingdom?

Also, why hasn’t the Wolferaine Kingdom declared a war against us after what Alpha Prince Damon did to them? Have they not had enough proofs of his entanglement? Will there be a war between the Wolferaine and the Northernland? How bad is it between us? Should we prepare ourselves for the inevitable?

We still don’t know all that and this is upsetting. I hate not knowing, it makes diplomacy hard and the table unpredictable. But will that be something that we want, though? Diplomacy, I meant. Or do we want to just have a full-blown altercation which leads to war. If we go to war, will we win? Both Northernland and Wolferaine are immense in terms of territory and population. We are huge and powerful. Two of the best werewolves’ kingdoms in the United States, probably even the world. Not just the werewolves’ kingdoms, other shifters’ as well.

However, in all honesty, Wolferaine is a bit superior than us in everything. The difference is not quite tangible, with careful planning and a lot of luck we might still win. It’s not like we are David to their Goliath. However, I can say that going to war against them may not be the most prudent decision that the Alpha King could make, whomever the Alpha King would be, (Alpha King Harvey or the future Alpha King Steele).

At the moment, the Wolferaine Kingdom is led by Alpha King Boone Wolfe, the best king there is in the whole shifters’ kingdoms everywhere. He’s feared and for good reason. His war strategy is unmatched and unparalleled. He is also not known to be merciful to his enemy. At war, he kills and takes no prisoners. That’s it. His Gamma, the warlord, is famous for being superstitious, yet formidable. He’s won every war. As the Northernland Kingdom’s future warlord, Larry can learn a thing or two from him.

However, The Alpha King Boone Wolfe himself is also known for being fair and kind to his friends and allies. He has everything going for him. Oh, did I mention about his incredible Beta? Yep, they’re solid like that. Which means, going to war against them might just be suicidal.

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