Chapter 12

ERIK'S POV

I saw my mother look toward the door nervously. It was obvious she was trying to think of something to do.

"Mum… do something." I mind-linked her. I didn't want to say my words out so whoever was at the door wouldn't hear us. I sniffed the air in order to know who was at the door but I couldn't smell anything.

My eyes widened in shock knowing what that meant. I looked toward my mother and Shannon and saw that they also couldn't smell at the door.

"Drag her behind the couch." My mum mind-linked me and I immediately followed her order.

The only people who could mask their scents in the entire pack were the Alpha and the Beta of the pack. But then we knew it wasn't my father, the beta. We are his family, so we could always detect his presence.

I concluded that it was the Alpha that was at the door and his Luna has just been hit in the head. After I dragged the Lunabehind the couch, it wasn't still enough to mask our deed.

There was a thick scent of blood in the air. I was worried because we couldn't clean a large pool of blood in just a minute. The Alpha would be suspicious of whatever was going on.

"What are we going to do, mum?" I mind-linked my mother again while Shannon just looked at us nervously. I bet she was too scared to move an inch.

However, my mother didn't respond to my question. I saw her unclip her earring and slashed her wrist. My eyes turned a deep shade of blue at the sight of her blood. It was an involuntary action that I didn't have any explanation for.

We could hear the conversation that was going on just outside the common hall between the Alpha and the guards who had disappeared earlier.

Looking back at my mother, I noticed she had started to mutter some incoherent words which I knew were from a spell book she had been reading recently.

"What are you doing, ma? You're hurting yourself." I mind-linked. Another loud knock sounded from the door and our heads whipped to look at the door.

The was about to be broken and there was still a large pool of blood on the floor. Immediately the door was broken open, I felt dread washing over me. My eyes were glued to the Alpha who walked in majestically.

"What's going on here?" I heard the Alpha ask with a frown on his face. He looked around the common hall, sniffing the air.

My head whipped back to look at my mother. At the same time, the gears in my head were turning to get a suitable reply to the Alpha's words.

But then I received the shock of my life, when I was faced with a spotless floor. I blinked my eyes twice. I thought I had transmigrated into another time frame because I never thought my mother was involved in magic or witchery.

"You look scared, is anything wrong, Erik?" The Alpha asked me and I turned to look at him. However, I couldn't look him in the eye, his aura was too intimidating. But then I wanted to be like him and more.

"It's nothing, Alpha." I replied simply while scolding myself inwardly due to the way I couldn't mask my expression. "I need to work on that." I said to myself.

The Alpha still had a deep frown on his face as he looked at us. We were standing in awkward positions and it was obvious he was trying to catch onto something. Luckily, he couldn't find anything suspicious.

"Alright…" He said simply. I saw him glance at Shannon briefly.

"Have any of you seen my Luna? Her scent is prominent in the air here." He asked and I noticed his voice turned soft at the mention of his Luna.

I realized that my mother was able to get the blood off the floor but then she couldn't mask the Luna's scent.

"No, Alpha. We came here to see the Luna but we didn't find her here. She is always here, so it isn't weird that you can smell her." This time it was my mother who answered while Shannon was still frozen in shock.

Also, the Alpha didn't care to talk to her.

We waited to see if the Alpha would believe her words and after a few minutes, he nodded his head slowly.

"Erik, come take a walk with me." I heard the Alpha say to me and I immediately nodded my head. Even though I didn't like him one bit, I knew I could learn a lot from him.

I stepped forward and stayed one step behind the Alpha. I didn't care to look at my mother and Shannon knowing they would take care of the Luna in my absence.

"Let's go." He said to me and started walking. I walked after him immediately.

When we were a few miles away from the common hall, he began to say, "Have you been speaking to Avery recently? She seems off about your relationship." He said and I was confused.

The Alpha noticed my confusion and then chuckled lightly. I was irritated by the sound of his laughter and wished I could just shut him up.

"I do not think anything is off about our relationship, Alpha." I answered simply, not knowing what he was driving at.

The Alpha nodded his head and said, "I'm sure you have been informed that she had canceled the mating ceremony. How do you feel about that?" He asked me.

I raised my brows in wonder. If there was a chance to change Avery's mind and get to actualize my dreams quickly, I would take it. If that meant convincing the Alpha against his daughter, I would.

"I don't feel good about it, Alpha." I said straightforwardly.

"Avery changed her mind all of a sudden after we had built our relationship to a point." I started to explain while the Alpha just nodded approvingly at my words.

I knew the Alpha liked bold men and people who could speak out on how they feel and that was what I was doing exactly.

"You have a point there, Erik. But she says she wants to develop her relationship with you. How do you see that?" He asked me and my brows scrunched into a deep frown.

"I do not think Avery has given a chance to develop our relationship after her abrupt decision. She hasn't even talked to me properly about it, Alpha." I said boldly, throwing Avery under the bus.

I knew her father wouldn't like that but he would like that I was bold with my feelings.

"Hmmm…" The Alpha said slowly and then I noticed that we were already in the garden. I always hated the gardens, considering it was where I used to play house alongside Avery and Shannon.

Every memory from the garden hunted me and I wished I could get them off my head.

I turned away from the colorful flowers and looked back at the Alpha. "I do not want to lose Avery and I'm sure she wouldn't want to lose me too." I concluded with a smirk on my face.

"I'll see to it that the mating ceremony gets done as soon as possible. However, it still depends on Avery, you should get closer to her. You alone have the potential to become the next Alpha of the pack." The Alpha praised me and I was pumped.

I was about to reply to his words when I noticed that his eyes had turned hazy. Someone was mind-linking the Alpha. I attempted to fish into their conversation but then it was a serious offense to do that.

I couldn't fool the Alpha. He was too vigilant.

I then started to notice that his face was scrunching into a deep frown. Immediately after, my mother mind linked me.

"We have left the common hall. We were able to drag the Luna'sbody to a nearby room. However, we couldn't confirm if she was dead or not. Also, I think something is going on in the pack." I heard those words from my mother in my head.

"Good job, mum. I think I'm making progress with the Alpha concerning the mating ceremony. He just looks a little bit distracted." I responded, totally ignoring the part about whether the Luna was dead or not.

Sooner or later, she would be found and I was sure she was going to be dead. My mother had hit her in the most ruthless way on the most delicate spot.

The mind link was cut off and I noticed that the Alpha was back to reality. His face was scrunched into a frown and I was starting to think he had caught onto something.

In a split second, two guards rushed into the garden and bowed before the Alpha.

"The Luna has been found!" They said simultaneously.