I Am the Alpha and the Omega

The Threat is on the Horizon

On the following day, the Alpha and the Luna were on a mission. After hearing Freya's woes, the Alpha prepared for his forthcoming meeting and asked Guy for reconnaissance. His objective was to gather everything he could from neighbouring packs about rogues and any other dangers. The Luna visited Esme the following morning shortly after Kiona's training finished and she asked Thea, Io and Calliope to join her. All sisters had spent some amount of time during their younger years at Esme's during their mother's frantic desire to have her daughters become as gifted as she was. Freya took every measure to prevent her younger sisters from being trapped into it.

"Slow down Freya! You look like you are marching to war!" chuckled Io.

"What an apt conclusion to draw," muttered Freya.

The blood drained from the younger sister's faces. They clearly didn't have the whole picture but were clearly worried now.

"Freya, what did you mean by that?" Thea asked nervously.

"Just come with me, you'll get your answers."

Esme ushered all four of them into the kitchen and as soon as they sat down, all at once, the three younger sisters started talking over each other firing questions here and there. It all became a little too much for Freya.

"SILENCE!" she growled in her commanding Luna voice, bringing peace and quiet to the room.

For a few moments all five of them took a moment to still their hearts and calm down; Esme spoke.

"I have meditated on the situation and the visions Luna and I'm afraid I have some bad news," Esme said. "The visions you and I have seen do indeed indicate an attack on the pack. The forces at work are more dangerous than witnessed before. I maintain that whatever events we are to expect, they will unfold between now and the next full moon which is almost three weeks away," Esme explained.

"Is there any further information you can give me on the forces to expect?" Freya asked.

"I am working on it Luna, I cannot make out faces or places but I would like us to see if we can get another vision between the two of us. I asked you to bring your sisters as with their powers we can be stronger and get a longer and clearer vision."

"Here I was thinking you asked me to join for my company," teased Calliope.

Freya lit the incense sticks while Esme brought the pot of tea to the table and poured out five cups of tea. She instructed Freya's sisters to slowly slip the tea but finish the whole cup, while she and Freya knocked back two cups to get the mental juices flowing. Once they finished their tea, they all held hands and closed their eyes. Slowly they all descended into darkness until a scene unfolded in front of them.

Freya woke up and found herself lying next to Esme in a field close to their pack house. As the two got to their feet, Freya saw what Esme had been trying to tell her all along, There were bodies, some were belonging to rogues, some belonging to warriors in another pack, some were their own warriors. There was blood everywhere, it looked like there had been a rogue attack and other packs had come in to help but there were casualties everywhere Freya thought. The whole scene brought pain and sorrow to her heart and her eyes began to glisten at the loss of life.

Esme led her through the pack house where there had been even more c*****e and chaos. She couldn't see her family anywhere. She wasn't sure whether to be worried or thankful yet. There was more blood, a few more bodies and as they came out to the front of the pack house on the main avenue she could see the pack members had been rounded up and were chained to each other in a line. Many were injured and many were struggling to free themselves. In the line she saw Azalea who was bruised but none too worse for wear and an injured Alex hobbling next to her holding her close. Esme saw herself and her husband in the line of prisoners which both horrified her and consoled her; she has never seen a vision with herself in it but at least she was alive. Turning back into the pack house Esme had an idea, she started walking towards the library.

-----------

On the far side of the drive there were some Alpha wolves bickering amongst themselves. It sounded like they were each laying claim to a little girl who was bound and gagged and sat at their feet. Freya couldn't see her face as one of the Alphas was blocking her view. Before she could move to see her face, an Alpha more powerful than the others stepped forward laid claim on the girl gruffly and heaved her up onto his shoulder like she was a sack of potatoes. He then barked some orders at the rest of the group and walked off with her. Freya was drawn to that little girl and needed to find out who she was. Freya crept towards the Alpha, following him across the drive and towards a car, dodging the rogues and jumping over the odd body. That was when she saw her. The little girl was crying and struggling to break free but the Alpha pushed her against the car and slapped her. Freya didn't recognise her.

"SHUT UP AND STOP MOVING!" the Alpha growled. "Do you have any final words to say to your parents?"

Freya thought he sounded familiar, but she wasn't sure. She couldn't see him as he had his back to her. She moved to side to take a look but then he also turned and held the girl in front of him pointing ahead. There on the avenue stood two people with silver blades held against their throats. They must have been her parents as the girl began to scream and protest wildly again; it was louder now, the gag must have been loosened.

-----------

Unsurprisingly, the library was untouched, educated mongrels don't usually resort to this sort of behaviour Esme concluded. She saw a few pack omegas that worked in the library cowering behind the shelves. It was good to see some familiar faces were still alive. As Esme was making her way to the newspaper stand, she suddenly felt a great surge of pain in her chest as though she lost someone important to her. Clutching her chest, she staggered over to the desk where the newspapers were kept and she saw the most recent edition. It was dated 15 days from now.

Freya felt so guilty, she didn't know the girl nor the parents; she had to spend more time in the community she thought. She had been so preoccupied of late, her attention to Luna duties had slacked.

"Once last chance girl, anything you want to say to them?" the Alpha barked.

"I-I-I, I love you Mama and Papa. I love you both so much."

"We love you too little one," the mother replied.

She had barely finished speaking when the girl saw both her parents fall to the ground and bleed out. The little girl screamed causing Freya to wake up with a jolt from her trance breaking the link between the others. They pushed their chairs away from the table and took a few moments to recover, their chests rising and falling rapidly from what they had just witnessed. The incense fumes had all gone and soft summer breeze was wafting in through the kitchen window and the birds could be heard chirping outside. They sat in silence for a few more minutes

"What the hell was that?" explained Thea jumping to her feet.

Freya and Esme looked at each other and then at Thea. Freya mind-linked Esme to explain; her younger sister would less likely to lash out at her.

"Thea take a seat and I'll explain," Esme replied. After Thea complied Esme continued. "As I mentioned before that we have been sensing a negative aura and believe the pack is under an imminent threat of attack. What you just witnessed is what Freya and I saw in our visions and what may happen. I was fortunate enough to check one of the newspapers in the library after seeing the all violence outside. The latest paper I could find was dated 15 days from today."

All of them gasped at this revelation.

"We have no time to lose, we must alert the Alpha immediately," Freya replied.

"I have already mind-linked him saying that we need to talk, we must return to the pack house."

With the exception of Esme, all the ladies shifted into their wolves and ran towards the pack house. Freya turned to Esme, motioning her to climb on top. Although Esme declined at first thinking this inappropriate for a Luna, Freya refused to listen. Esme reluctantly climbed into Freya's back and clutching her fur they scarpered after the others.

Felix was patiently waiting in his study pacing up and down, he knew that for Esme to mind-link him directly, the matter must be of great importance. Guy and Hans joined him shortly after.

"What's the matter Alpha?" Guy asked in wonder, still catching his breath.

Before Felix could answer, Esme and Freya marched into the room followed by Kalliope, Io and Thea most of whom, gave a bow.

"The pack is in danger. We have reason to believe there will be an attack happening in the 15 days from now. We need to prepare," Freya replied bluntly.

Felix looked at Freya and then at Esme who nodded solemnly.

"Alpha, the Luna and I have seen visions of rogues planning and attacking the territory and decimating our pack. We have foreseen a fair amount of bloodshed and in the vision, we don't recover."

"What do you mean we don't recover?" Felix demanded.

"I mean Alpha, that we are taken captive. We do see warriors from other packs dead too. The Luna and I will try to study the visions more closely and share any information as we find it."

Felix understood there was a degree of subjectivity in these visions which is why Esme couldn't speculate on the details too much, but he felt her message was clear.

"How can you be sure the attack is 15 days from now?" Felix questioned, as that was the only precise thing Esme provided him with.

"I was able to check the newspapers in the library while I was in the trance and could see newspapers up to the 21st of this month. Today is the 6th so 15 days would likely to be the soonest the attack would happen."

"Can you tell me more about who is attacking us?"

"Not precisely Alpha, only that I saw a lot of rogues."

"What were Calli, Io and Thea doing with you?"

"They also have powers like Freya albeit weaker but their energies helped Freya and I to split up and see more and for longer."

"We can corroborate everything that Esme has said," Calli replied. "We saw it all."

Silence fell upon the room. Felix thought about the situation, he wondered whether this rogue problem he would be meeting the visiting Alphas about was in any way connected.

"Guy were you able to find any more information about the situation in the neighbouring packs?"

"The file will be with you today Alpha,"

"Is there any news from the Alphas who are visiting?"

"I believe they are still coming this evening Alpha but I'll check again after this meeting."

With all these exchanges the Gamma felt he should speak up. He was in charge of the pack warriors, their training and scheduling the patrols across both sets of pack areas. He would need time to implement or mobilise any changes.

"Alpha what should I do?" asked Hans.

"Prepare for battle."