12

"There's a problem with this, though," Tyler continued his monologue: "About a month before I found you, the Alpha announced,so the alpha of these packs that the last free territory on the world for us to live in has been given away. Although there are still a few free areas that do not belong to any pack, these are rather unreal spots, for example areas in deserts or on islands, which would not provide a livelihood for a person, let alone a pack. So I'm one of the first alphas who can't get their own territory because there's just no more free territory. It may not sound so bad to you, but I've been prepared for my intended role of being an Alpha all my life. My whole being is geared towards being an alpha and when I found out I wasn't getting my own territory it almost drove me insane. When I found you a short time later I panicked that I would lose you too." ,Tyler tore his hair: "Surely that's not a sufficient reason for you that I locked you up... But it's still killing me at the moment, I don't know what we're supposed to do here. Aspiring alphas have never been summoned here." I clearly noticed how he was taking it all with him, even if this whole topic was always a bit incomprehensible for me, as it is for most people.

"Now you should keep eating the apple," Tyler remarked in a low voice. After I bit off the first piece of it, it rested in my hand without me paying any attention to it. I felt it too quite a bit inappropriate after Tyler had told me something so important to him to just keep eating.

"Please Lily, we did have a deal." There was something pleading in his voice as he said that.

I was sorry to see him like this, and though I still didn't think it was appropriate, I ate a few more bites of the apple. Anyway, when only the stalk and horseradish casing were left, Tyler's spirits seemed to have lifted quite a bit.

"Would you like to freshen up? The bathroom should be across from that room." Tyler smiled and gestured in that direction. I didn't really have to think about what I wanted. Almost immediately I got up to go to the restroom there and maybe take a shower.

I opened the door to the said bathroom and had to realize that everything was kept in light colors. This made the room appear larger than it actually was. The furnishings were relatively unobtrusive, almost minimalistic, but contained everything you needed. But just as I was about to close the door of the room, I realized I had forgotten something. I turned around abruptly. Tyler was not two meters behind me: "Here." He said simply and handed me a bundle of clothes. I smiled embarrassed. It was really almost scary how well he seemed to assess and know me.

"Just for info little one, should you really forget to take some clothes with you, I would have put them next to the door for you." He winked and went back into the room we were in before and I turned back to the bathroom. I used I used the toilet and then took a shower. Then I dried myself off with one of the towels provided. I got dressed quickly. Finally I was standing in the hallway with new clothes. "Oh, you're already

done." Tyler was standing in the doorway to the opposite one. He seemed really surprised and had probably expected that it would take me longer.

"Actually, that fits quite well," he stepped closer to me: "It probably won't be that long before someone comes to get us for dinner. We as guests are bound to the presence of the alpha . If he's there, we have to be there and we can't go ahead of him. So it's quite possible that we'll be sitting there for a long time." Tyler lightly caressed my cheek with one hand, but then held my jaw and made me look him in the eye, "I hope you remember what I told you about how it is to be with others werewolves expires. I'm sure there are some who don't take me that seriously, but you should pay attention to it, especially with the Alpha."

When Tyler mentioned these somewhat absurd rules, I quickly went over them in my head. Not looking at or talking to another werewolf and of course that I would sit on Tyler's lap since I wasn't entitled to a seat of my own. So absolutely absurd from my perspective. Presumably this was only intended to make me, as a human among werewolves, clear in what position I am in here.

A knock snapped me out of my thoughts and made Tyler let go to open the door.

"Future Alpha, I'm supposed to pick you up for dinner." Behind the door was a man who looked a lot older than Tyler.

Tyler turned to me and grabbed my hand. He gave me an encouraging smile and pulled me outside. The other man walked a few steps in front of us and didn't say another word to us the whole way.

The way seemed to take quite a while, because far and wide there was no possible destination to be seen towards which we were moving. The sky shone in various red and orange tones and thus announced the approaching sunset, even if this itself could not be seen due to some trees.

Minutes passed, but we still didn't reach our destination. I glanced up at Tyler. But he didn't seem to know how long it would take either, as he just shrugged his shoulders. We walked like this for quite a while and I thought about the fact that we have to go back this way one more time, and that probably in the dark too.

After we had passed through a group of trees, our destination finally appeared in front of us. Similar to Tyler's parents, it was a swanky build. Hundreds of windows reflected the last light of day. Somehow this building didn't seem to fit into this actually very natural environment.

Well-trodden paths could be seen on the ground, which make it clear that a great many people walked along here regularly, but no one seemed to have bothered to create a real path here.

Arrived at the house, the werewolf brought us into a large hall, but simply left us there at the entrance and went to his place. However, it didn't take long for a strange woman to approach us. "Future Alpha Tyler?" she asked. Tyler just nodded. "This way please, I'll take you to your seat." She led us to a table far more elegantly decorated than the others.

Tyler sat in his assigned seat and pulled me onto his lap. "Are you all right?" he asked quietly in my ear. I nodded, even though I didn't feel particularly well. The table had been set for another six seats.

Shortly after us, two more men arrived, each with a young woman in tow. One of the girls, with dark skin and black hair, appeared to be unconscious and had clearly been drugged. The other had light brown hair and fair skin, she was yelling and struggling against the man who was dragging her around and had some trouble holding her down. Also, both men seemed annoyed and looked around grimly.

It became quiet in the hall. Surely there were well over 100 people here and everyone was silent. I could easily imagine who entered the hall. Even the clamoring girl said nothing. I kept my head down and stared at the plate decorated with golden tendrils. I heard footsteps moving in our direction. The four remaining chairs at our table were occupied.

There was still an awkward silence at our table while the rest of the room came alive again.