Chapter 17 : Karenina's True Identity

Xavier

The sun has just appeared in the pre-dawn sky, chasing away the darkness of the night and getting ready to welcome a new day. Such natural events have been depicted in art and literature for thousands of years for their beauty and serenity. Many forest creatures wake up to greet the dawn, along with humans and supernatural beings who wake up in the early hours of the morning for various reasons.

One of them was him, who got out of the white and mauve silk sheets that covered his large and soft bed to put on his casual yet seemingly neat and elegant clothes, a navy blue shirt and his black cloth pants, because he had important business to take care of before his new guest woke up to start the day. He had many servants to help him with menial tasks such as dressing and putting clothes on his muscular body, but he was not one to allow others to be around him for mundane tasks that he could easily and willingly do himself.

However, he is not opposed to allowing a maid to enter his private room to clean and make his bed. He sometimes forgot the comforts of his living quarters as he had traveled excessively over the past two years, trying to learn Nathan's whereabouts and capture and destroy his black magic power.

He realized that he had a huge army to hunt down and kill the vile hybrid creature, but he thought it was unreasonable. Even if it took longer than expected to destroy his enemy, he would not become the laughing stock of the Alpha community by forcing his troops to hunt a hybrid with black witch blood.

After all, Xavier refused to believe that anyone, let alone a hybrid, could defeat him in battle. He was the strongest Alpha there ever was. Even Nathan's cunning and treachery were no match for his superior intelligence and strength. It was only a matter of time before his enemy was destroyed by his own hand. He was well aware that Nathan had other enemies willing to fight him to the death, such as his own half-brother Rylan and his pack, and other packs such as the Midnight Pack, led by an Alpha named Kayden Black. He scoffed at the thought of one of them taking the hunt that should have been his. Nathan had tried to use him in one of his pathetic plots against his half-brother. Being used, especially by trying to use him to kill his halfbrother, infuriated him. He disliked Rylan for one reason, that his father had chosen to protect the infant and cause the death of his father and mother rather than let him live to one day fight his powerful father to see once and for all who was stronger. Xavier had always felt a deep anger toward him, blaming him for their father's untimely death.

Conquering Pack territory had always been his greatest ambition. To prove that he was the strongest, for only strength could make a difference in this world. Others feared and respected those with such power, and he would ensure that he was unrivaled.

As he walked through the corridors of his packhouse, ignoring the staff who made respectful bows to him, his thoughts kept returning to the difficult situation he found himself in.

That girl, his stepbrother's girlfriend.

Karenina.

Xavier, being a strong Alpha, needed a strong mate who could stand firmly by his side and protect their future pups if they were attacked while he was away. His idea of a perfect mate didn't include his stepbrother's girlfriend, no matter how strong she was or how attractive he might find her with all her flaws.

Recently, he had discovered a much stronger her in his stepbrother's girlfriend than he had ever seen before. But she was still a hybrid. Though her spiritual strength rivaled all other wolves, her human body was unable to survive alongside her much stronger form. She would also heal very slowly, leaving scars instead of complete healing, and she would age in an instant compared to a fully human wolf, dying within decades. How she could possibly be his was a mystery to him, but she was the last surviving competitor at the barrier, which put them both in a tricky situation.

What steps should be taken to find the right mate when his last method had failed miserably? Surely a hybrid, human or otherwise, could be defeated by one of the more powerful she-wolves ever present? Not that he was going to let the girl die, but it seemed as if no other she-wolf would be able to defeat her. That made him curious. How could someone gain so much power in such a short time?

He was outside his estate now, walking quietly towards the large front gate. He was not worried about the wall being breached, as he had built a barrier around the outer wall. His guards walking on the high wall saw him coming and signaled to open the portal for him. He didn't give them a second glance as he walked past the gates and barriers that protected his estate and all those within it before picking up speed and running through the open fields.

He needed answers about the girl and what to do to find her. There was only one person he could trust to give him advice without a hidden agenda. This person is almost as old as time, who had given him good, if sometimes cryptic, advice in the past, who had also helped his honorable father, imparting wisdom and knowledge.

Luckily, Xavier didn't have to travel far, as the person he was looking for lived in a nearby forest, deep in his midst. He wanted to make sure that he would return to his mansion just in time when she decided to wake up for the day. He was sure that due to her fatigue and injuries, she would probably sleep for a few more hours.

His senses were still alive as he scanned the forest for enemies as he made his way to his destination. No one came out to challenge his journey - in fact, the creatures of the forest and the low-level rogues were creeping away from him, clearly sensing that he was a predator.

Finally, he was close enough to slow his pace and walk gracefully forward until he came to a large, centuries-old tree. As he walked a few meters away from the trunk of the large tree, he could see an old house, built of wood and quite sturdy. He approached the house at a moderate speed and knocked on the door, only to be greeted by a middle-aged face staring at him calmly.

"Ben," he called to the man.

"So you're back, pup. Looks a lot like your father," Benjamin, his father's former advisor and also a member of the Westwood Pack, greeted him.

Ignoring the call and the talk of his father, he just started the conversation with the man.

"I need your advice and counsel."

"What kind of advice is that?" Ben asked, unconcerned by the man's bluntness.

"I'm sure you know I'm looking for my mate?"

"Yes, my ears are very keen. It is through those ears that I have heard the news and the rumors of your competition and that an unexpected woman has come out as the winner."

He was aware of Benjamin's uncanny ability to read his surroundings, even those several meters away from where he stood. That made him a valuable informant. Even the small animals in the forest conveyed knowledge that only he could translate.

"I need to know how it is possible for my brother's girlfriend, who is a hybrid, to enter through my barrier without me knowing."

Benjamin was silent for a moment, his wise and deep eyes reflecting his deep knowledge of the supernatural world. "This girl is not who you think she is."

Xavier, with his sharp gaze and well-built body, waited, allowing Ben to gather his thoughts and speak.

"It's a long story. I'll try not to bore you with it," he chuckled a little at his attempt at humor, ignoring the fact that Xavier didn't laugh but stared at him intently.

"Karenina Mason is no ordinary hybrid. She was born with the power of the sacred moonstone and her spirituality as the descendant of a holy priest," Ben began with a significant and authoritative intonation in his voice, adding an emotional dimension to his story.

Xavier, deepening in his disbelief, could not hide the mixed feelings that flooded through him. "How is this possible?" the Alpha of Westwood asked.