The Lycan Prince's Guardian Mate

Sapphire’s POV: ~ “SAPPHIE!” My twin elder brother Alex’s voice sounded hoarse and terrified, which made me wince as I quickly responded, “Alex, what’s taking you so long—” ~ “SAPPHIE…DANGER…LYCAN…” What? It has been over a few hours since Alex left home to pay his regards to the elders of the pack before setting out on his new journey. I was wondering why he wasn’t coming back already. But when his intermittent signal trailed off just after he uttered those few words, my heart pounded erratically fast inside my chest. My instincts immediately warned me that something had terribly gone wrong! His terrified voice seemed like a haunting echo in my head, and no matter how many times I tried to connect with him frantically through the mind-link, Alex never responded once! As the daughter of the Alpha of RedWood pack, my brother Alex had recently won the prestigious hard-earned title of the “Pack’s Strongest Warrior” at only 18 years old. His ardent dedication and countless sleepless nights spent to upskill his combat ability had finally paid off, as after winning the precious title, he was automatically qualified to take part in the “Royal Guard Election.” Several centuries ago, when severe internal clashes broke out between all the werewolf packs, making the strongest packs forcibly oppress the weaker and smaller ones, the supremely powerful Lycan King of the Caspian Kingdom took the werewolf packs under his protection and control by proposing a crucial negotiation. Every five years, the werewolf packs would elect the strongest warriors from their own pack who would compete in the “Royal Guard Election” tournament, which was solely organized by the Caspian kingdom. The combat among all the warriors participating in the tournament will be extremely fierce, and those who ultimately achieve victory will be directly appointed as the Royal Guard for the Lycan family residing inside the palace. The main purpose of this tournament was to pick those victorious warriors who would be appointed as royal guards. In return, not only will their packs receive supreme protection from the Lycan king directly, but also it will forbid other oppressor werewolf packs to attack that particular pack from which a Royal Guard was elected. The violation of this rule would be considered an act of war, and none of the packs in their sane minds would ever dare to infuriate the powerful lycans. Our small and remote Redwood pack was located at the periphery of the werewolf world, and while growing up, I was habituated to seeing frequent oppression from the neighbouring packs around us who had cornered us with limited resources. The biased disregard towards our pack had fueled both mine and Alex’s determination to bring back glory to our pack, and it would have been only possible if either of us succeeded in becoming a royal guard. Unfortunately, this world was too cruel to the female unmarried werewolves, strictly restricting us to the ‘omega’ class, without any freedom to hold an important position in society, but only considered as breeders for the pack. So, as the future Alpha of our pack, Alex took it as his sole responsibility to become the strongest warrior of the pack, so he could protect the pack from any invasion. I was his sparring partner since we were kids, and due to his strict training sessions, he had secretly developed my combat abilities and fighting techniques quite close to perfection at his level. But now, his intermittent last signal shuddered me with apprehension, as countless terrible assumptions started to overwhelm me from inside. ~ “Sapphie, I can’t sense Alex’s presence anywhere around us! I believe he must be in danger! Hurry, you should immediately let the others know…” While I stood frozen with dread and panic momentarily, hearing my wolf Alina’s loud grunt in my head retrieved my fogged senses as I immediately rushed downstairs. “Mom! Dad!” My loud panicking voice quickly gathered my Alpha father Klaus and Luna omega mother Genelia, who seemed baffled to watch me suddenly get anxious. “Dad!” I rushed towards him and tugged his sleeve with my trembling fingers, before sharing the alarming news, “Alex tried mind-linking with me a few minutes ago and his last words were Danger, and Lycan! After that the signal was completely lost and now, I can’t trace his presence anywhere around us! M-My wolf believes…h-he is in danger, Dad!” “What!?” Flabbergasted at my words, Dad stood frozen for a second before he howled for his warriors over there. His childhood friend and beta, Uncle Adolf almost came running over there after getting his command and without wasting a second, Dad immediately ordered him to send a few of his trustworthy warriors in the pack territory to search for Alex everywhere. By that moment, Mom had started sobbing bitterly, while I stood numb, biting my nails off. I desperately prayed to the Moon Goddesses to have Alex returned safely to us, and didn’t even realize when an anticipatory hour of our waiting had passed by. Those warriors, accompanied by Uncle Adolf, returned to our place, making grim faces which made me fretful. Before my Dad was about to utter a word, Uncle Adolf marched towards us as he conveyed in a somber voice, “Alpha…we searched for Alex everywhere in the pack territory…but…there was no trace of him. We have only found his horse, which was tied to an oak tree on the uphill, otherwise…we couldn’t get a hold of him anywhere…” “What…What are you talking about!? Did my child disappear in thin air that none of you could find him!?” Dad threw a fit at him, his voice mixed with despair, and his orbs were narrowed in rage. “Did you guys even look for him properly?!” “No…my poor boy…wh-what happened to my child?” Even though my mom was the Luna of our pack, I could clearly see her disheveled emotions as a mother got the best of her as she rushed up to my dad and grabbed him by the collar, before screaming ardently, “Why are you still standing here!? Do something! Look for my child…bring him back to me!!” “Luna…please calm down a little…I know this is a difficult time for you both, but please…control your emotions.” Holding a forlorn expression, Uncle Adolf tried to convince my grieving mother, while my Dad was desperately trying to hold back his tears. Just a while ago, our family looked so cheerful and happy with Alex, who was about to set out on his new journey today, aiming to bring glory to our small pack. But now…looking at them helplessly, groveling for their child who just suddenly disappeared out of the blue, formed a twisted knot inside my chest. As a useless omega daughter who was coming of age but still hadn’t found her mate yet, my whole existence felt like a painful burden to me as I could only stand there and watch my family falling apart. I could never imagine a future where there would come a day when I might lose my beloved brother. He was my pride and pillar of support. Alex was undoubtedly the best brother and the blessing I could ever have in this unfair world. But…if nothing could be done now, how am I supposed to carry on with my meaningless life? ~ “Sapphie! Snap out of it! By standing here and twiddling your fingers, you’ll never be able to find your brother! Right now, this is the time to put everything to use that Alex has taught you since childhood. Don’t forget, before the signal was lost, Alex did give you the crucial hints that add to his disappearance! Danger and lycan…do you understand what it means!?” At that moment when my inner strength was on the verge of crumbling out of despair, my wolf Alina’s desperate voice indeed snapped me back to reality! How could I forget about the most crucial hints Alex left to me? Alina’s words forced me to think…Alex still believed in me that I would be able to find him once again by tracking down that clue, even when he was in danger. As his sister, I was determined not to let everything Alex had worked hard to achieve until now go in vain! I must fullfil the duty to protect our pack, which he was forced to leave behind now… “Uncle Adolf…” I wiped my teary, ocean eyes, and lifted my gaze up, meeting his confused eyes before I urged him, “Could you please arrange a leather chest corset, a big linen cloth, a bearskin ha,t and a face veil for me right now?” “Huh?” Confused by my murmur, he gulped and anxiously asked me, “Yes, I can…but what will you do with those things?” I inhaled a deep, heavy breath, and muttered the biggest resolution to which I will solely dedicate my life from today onwards. “I will go and take part in the Royal Guard Election, disguising myself as a man in Alex’s place. This is the only way left by which…I will find Alex and bring him back to us.”