Chapter Eleven

It's been two weeks since Laura had been at Alpha Drew's pack and to say she was happy would be an understatement, she was glad to be here. Throughout her stay, she had been able to learn several things that would help her in her revenge mission against her step father and his son.

Alpha Drew on the other hand had just walked into his Mansion, ignoring the greetings from his pack member. He was naked since he transformed back to his normal self but the pack members dared not point this out to him since the expression on his face was grave. He barged into his room, slamming the door behind him.

"Moon goddess, I need you please", Drew said.

There was silence as he waited for her to appear. After several minutes, Drew grew impatient.

"So you're just going to ignore me? Is that it, I thought you were better than this", Dre shouted.

Just then, a blinding flash of light permeated the room. The Moon goddess appeared, looking resplendent as ever. She took a seat opposite Drew, staring at him. She knew he was going to summon her and the only reason she came was because she also had some things to tell him.

"You should learn to control your anger. That wouldn't take you far and would only lead you to your downfall quicker than you expected", the Moon goddess said.

Drew sighed, he didn't know how else to control his anger. The events of the last few hours had taken a toll on him. Deep down, he felt bad for summoning the Moon goddess in such a manner. It was rude and downright stupid. She was the Moon goddess, leader of the whole six kingdoms. She could easily kill him right there andthen and nobody would question that.

"I'm sorry, I was just so worried and... Scared", he choked on the last part.

He hated to feel scared. He was the Alpha, nothing scared him but the events of today had taken a toll on him. He couldn't imagine what would have happened if he hadn't called for backup. There was no doubt that those roguewolves would have finished them off.

"It's okay to be scared, that's what makes you a wolf. It'salso okay to be angry but it's how we manage that anger that matters. I also have some things to discuss with you that's the reason I honored your unceremonious call", the Moon goddess said.

"It was disastrous. So many of our men were killed, if not for the timely intervention of the back up, many lives would have been lost", Drew said.

"Hand me the necklace you saw", she said.

Drew wasn't surprised. She was the Moon goddess and she knew everything that happened. He fished the necklace from his side pocket, handing it over to her. The color seemed to brighten upon her touch. He had found the necklace on his daily morning run at the edge of the forest and upon seeing it, it intrigued him.

"Do you know what this is?", She asked.

Drew had no idea what it was. All he knew was that it was a blue coral necklace that seemed to glow intermittently. He had no idea where it came from or where it was going to.

"It's the truth necklace. It was passed down from generations to generations and the only reason you found it is because soon, you would face challenges that would be a true test of your strength as the Alpha of your pack", the Moon goddess said.

"Are we still on that? You haven't told me what thesechallenges are", Drew said, pacing.

"Laura is your mate which I have informed you about earlier but there's something else you need to know", the moon goddess said.

From the look on her face, Drew could tell that what she was about to say was grave. He didn't understand what could be more disastrous than what had just happened.

"You have great adversaries, enemies who don't want you to succeed and rule this pack. They are not far but around you and they are closer than you think, some are within your pack. You must be careful and weary of them because they would do everything possible to see you go down", the Moon goddess said.

Alpha Drew stood shocked still as he stared into space. In all of his twenty six years of existence, he had never heard anything as frightening as this. To think that he trusted all of his pack members just proved that he was too trusting and needed to check who was truly his friend.

"Wow! This is unbelievable, to think I trust all of them and this is how they choose to repay me?", Drew said.

He was downcast as he thought about the next line of action to take. He couldn't go about pointing accusing fingers at them when he didn't know who exactly were his enemies.

"The ways of humans are not mine. That is all I have to say. Like I said before, be wise. The entire pack rests on your shoulders", she said before vanishing into thin air.

Drew sighed, sinking into a seat. All of a sudden, the stress of the past few hours crashed down on him. Sometimes, he wondered how his late father was able to rule his pack with wisdom and patience when he clearly didn't have any of those.

That night, as Drew drifted off into a fitful sleep, Laura's words drifted into his ears.

"To be honest, I'm so comfortable around you".

As his mind drifted off into a far place, a memory of long ago washed into his mind. He couldn't quite place the memory but it was there, churning into his mind like a river about to burst its bank.

Suddenly, just before sleep carried him to an unknown destination, he knew just what he had to do.

The next morning, as Drew dressed up ready to have breakfast with his friend who had arrived at his home that morning, a loud crash was heard. His wolf tensed up as Drew moved towards the sound of the crash. When he got to the scene, he had a hard time deciding whether to laugh or stay quiet but the former won. His friend, Nikola was on the ground with a lot of cheese fillings on his body. The maids rushed to his aid, helping him to his feet.

"Nikolas, what on Earth?", Drew chuckled.

"I wanted to get my own food. I'm tired of sitting down in the same damn place every time, guess I didn't succeed in this'', he laughed.

When the maids had successfully gotten off all the debris on Nikolas's body, they left quietly. Drew helped him sit on a high kitchen chair. He prepared a breakfast of eggs, jam and bread. He didn't want to disturb the maids since he was here. He decided to fix up something quickly after all, he wasn't a bad cook.

"Here you go Nick", Drew said, sliding a plate towards him.

For some time now, his friend's eyesight had greatly improved. He could make out certain things that he couldn't before.

Technically, in the wolves age counting, Nikolas was older than him and so, his sight became worse over the years which made it hard for him to move around on his own.

"Just like how your mother taught you. This is really lovely my boy", Nikolas said.

At the mention of his mother, all what the Moon goddess had informed him came flooding back. He needed to ask him some questions and it's best he began now.

"Nikolas, I need to ask you something", Drew said.

"What is it son?", Nikolas said, munching on his breakfast.

"I spoke with the Moon goddess yesterday and she told me some things. Things I never imagined. She said I'm going to be faced with great difficulties and challenges in my ruling. Please, do you know of anyone within our pack or outside that would be detrimental to our success? I know for sure that Laura's step father and his son would be top on our list", Drew said, finally.

Nikolas sighed, pushing his plate some distance away. Deep down, he knew this day would come. It's true what they say, you can't hide the truth forever. It would surely come out one day.

"I've tried so many times to forget the memory but it keeps coming back. Yes my boy, we have some adversaries, in fact a whole lot", he said.

Brian gave a huge sigh of relief. If there was something he couldn't stand, it was lies and he was glad that his father told him the truth.

"Do you have any idea who these people are, what they look like?", Brian said.

"I don't know. During my early years of reigning, these people mostly attacked with magic. They used magic so great one would think they were from the dark world and I had reasons to think so too because their art of magic is one that isn't known in our parts.

Alpha Drew mulled over his friend's words, he was desperate, desperate for anything that would lead him to these people so he could destroy them once and for all. He couldn't explain it but there was a deep yearning in him to meet these people he had never met before.

"As you know, there's a wolf tattoo on your left arm covered with black ink. That tattoo isn't just there because I designed it there. It's there because whenever you see one of these enemies, it glows brightly and it has a sharp sting to it which hurts. This is just to warn you that you're within the enemy's line.", Nikolas said.

Drew listened to all that his friend said. He was secretly glad that he had a bit of forewarning before he dashed into the enemy line. This would only help him prepare better for the battle that was sure to come.

"Thank you Nikolas, I'll heed to everything you've said", Drew said.

Nikola smiled, his eyes crinkling as he marveled at how grown his friend was. He remembered the day his father and his Luna had delivered him twenty six years ago, he was just a little pup who blinked his bright eyes at the world.

"Thank you. That reminds me, any success with finding your mate?",he asked.

Drew remained quiet, he didn't want to inform his friend that he had a mate, he didn't want to raise his hope only to have it dashed again.

"I'll bring her soon," he smiled.

Nikolas snorted as he walked away. Drew was left all alone in the monstrous kitchen now, he stayed quiet as he thought about all that he was going to do. The safety of his pack and those around him were paramount on his mind. This was one of the hardest quests he had ever undertaken but Alpha Drew was determined not to fail.

***********************

"You're here again. Seems like you never get tired", Laura said.

"Why would I? I'm here to see my favorite human is that a problem", Drew laughed.

Laura smiled as she ushered Drew into the room he had given her on the first day she arrived

"What would you like to eat?", Laura asked.

For the few days he had been coming to her room, she had grown to like him. Gone were all the thoughts about him being a monster and a bull. As a matter of fact, Drew was one of the most down to earth people she knew. Asides this, he was funny and always loved to put a smile on her face. Now, it was safe to say that she was falling in love with him.

"Nothing, I'm good. Had breakfast with Nikolas before coming here. Laura, I came to talk to you about something", Drew said.

From his tone, Laura could tell that he was serious about whatever he wanted to talk about. She took a seat beside him, placing a plate of chips at the center of the table.

"What is the matter?", Laura asked.

"You remember what you said about you not being sure that you'll ever find your mat?",he said.

He was going to be careful, extra careful on how he would present the issue. It was a delicate one, one that required patience.

"It's been confirmed that you're my mate.'' he said, finally.