CHAPTER 2 - Rules To Obey

AT exactly eleven o'clock in the evening. Rain is still pouring heavily. The wind is blowing wildly. A group of people are gathered around the fireplace. They huddle around in circles to warm themselves.

"It's late and Alexis is still out. Has anyone contacted her yet?" Lestine murmured while shivering. Removing his soaking wet coat.

"I tried to call her, but she couldn't be reached. Probably her phone is dead again." Emily says while squeezing the water out of her drenched long blonde curly hair that matches the softness of her blue eyes.

"The guards will be here soon and do the final roll call. She'll be beaten with a whip for every minute she's late." He says with fright and horror in his eyes.

"It is not new to her if that happens. Maybe she ran away?"

"Don't be absurd, Magda. If she did, do you think they wouldn’t find her?" Jacob intervened.

"Everyone knows that if you apply to be part of this you need to finish the month whether you want to stay or not." He added.

"Her being late or running away is a better option than...." Ben swallowed his spit slowly, and then the idea in his mind frightened him. He did not finish his sentence, but everyone knew what he meant.

From murmuring to each other, everyone became silent.

Shortly after, two guards entered the room.

One is holding a whip while the other is a list.

They started the final roll call for the day and everyone voiced their presence except one.

“Alexis Mar'tine”

“Alexis!”

“Last call Alexis Mar'tine”

Dimitry repeats.

Dimitry is a Delta. He is in his late 30s. He has brown hair and dark eyes. His face is on a default —tired and bored.

At the end, he marks her name with a red pen with the time the last call was mentioned, at 11:10 P.M.

"Another one in the dungeon, Dimitry," Gamma Sevy jokingly said while nudging Delta Dimitry on the side.

"Yeah. Another Omega, Alpha Cain, could torture or something else..." he mumbles.

Gamma Sevy made a low chuckle, then faced the Omegas. Shortly, he cleared his throat to get their attention. Then he proceeded with his announcement, "Before we let you in, there are new Omegas that want to join the pack. Be nice to them."

He then opens a small door and five more people join the group.

"Listen, newcomers". He yells as he addresses the new Omegas.

"There are rules here."

"Rule number one: Every day you need to wake up at five in the morning and be here before the last roll call at eleven in the evening. Anyone tardy will be punished. That punishment will be five lashes in the back and additional lashes for every minute you are late using this." He wiggled the whip in front of everyone.

"Or maybe worse, that depends on Alpha Cain's mood. Rule number two: all of you will work as servants to everyone with a higher position than yours. Since all of you are Omegas, you are bottom of the food chain. You will know our position by the color of our aura. As you know, your fellow Omegas are pale weak oranges, almost human-like.

Gammas, like me, are bright yellow.

Deltas like Dimitry are green

Betas are shades of light blue.

Alphas are deep dark blue, sometimes almost black. If you are having difficulties with that, we also have a pin on our clothes that shows what we are."

Everyone nods and uses their wolf's sight to see each other's colors.

"Rule number three: you can't pick a fight with anyone higher than you. Don't worry, it is only a provision. After one month you can do that, but only with a proper duel. Lastly, welcome to Citadel, home of the strongest and bravest wolf packs."

He added with a proud tone.

Delta Dimitry, on the other hand, continued the roll call to verify the five newcomers.

"Sebastian Claud (23)"

"Evie Ballister (21)"

"Jolly Emberville (19)"

"Sander Anderson (24)"

"Vesper Miles (21)"

Soon another door opened, and the newcomers were guided to their rooms. "Rooms. More of a glorified cell." Jolly mumbles under her breath.

"What did you say, Miss Emberville?" Gamma Sevy shouted.

Jolly’s back stiffened.

"Nothing, Gamma!" She yelled back.

"That's your first offense," Delta Dimitry responds.

Jolly could only lower her head as she entered their chamber.

Inside the chamber lies two bunk beds that could cater to four people.

She was grouped with Evie, Vesper, and Emily. The latter has a two-week seniority with them.

Emily soon gave them the rundown of the organization only known to the outside world as Citadel Incorporated, a leading pharmaceutical company in the United States, with headquarters located at the heart of the city of Angels in California. But here inside it's a place for wolves like them. A haven for their kind where the Blood Hunters can't target them.

She sat on the bed then said enthusiastically, “This is the biggest clan with almost 1000 Alphas associated with it and the Manor where we are now is the center of research and the home of one of the elders of the clan who sits beside other council leaders. His name is Mauritius Carmichael, whom no Omega has seen.”

Emily clears her throat to catch her breath and begins giving them details about the Alphas they will soon encounter.

"Inside Citadel Manor, there are five stationed Alphas;

First is Cain Fury(39), Alpha of the Crescent Lunar Pack. Handles the newcomers. Strict with rules and regulations. He has a towering height of around 6 '4, a bit chubby with a beard, like a lumberjack.

Then we have Zane Carmichael(29), Alpha of the Dark Eclipse Pack. The strongest—they say. Mauritius only living relative. Light brown eyes, clean-cut dark brown hair. He will look at you as if you are dirt. He already has a wife. A strong she-wolf, there’s a rumor about her, but that’s a story for another time.

Next is… Mercimer Marx (25) Alpha of Eternal Blaze Pack. The youngest Alpha here. Always calm and collected, he is also the nicest. He has reddish brown hair, blue eyes, and a freckled face. A look that could melt anyone's heart.

Then, Hercule Perrimont (34), Alpha of the Penumbral Sturgeon Pack. He doesn't speak much and doesn't entertain anyone: a silent type as the term says. He handles the pharmaceutical side of the Manor. He has shoulder-length wavy black hair.

Lastly, Qillalon Van Kirk (31), Alpha of the Blood Moon Pack. He is always outside at night patrolling the premises with his pack. Aside from that, he has a scar on his upper left eye. He has dirty blonde hair, dark gloomy green eyes, and he smells like lilacs."

“Van Kirk,” Vesper mumbled under her breath with a hint of disdain. Her voice caught Evie's attention but was shortly brushed off as Emily continued speaking.

"You see the Manor is located at the foot of the mountain, the sun doesn't usually shine as bright here, and the climate is always dark and gloomy as if it's going to rain. Though, gated on every side. Still, a lot could happen, between one group of trees and the other. We don’t know what lies there. But that’s a story for another day. Every Alpha has one Beta and one Delta that is usually with them. You will know them soon. Then the hierarchy continues: Betas have a few Deltas under them, then Deltas have Gammas, then the Gammas, and everyone else has us the Omegas. Since we are still in the probation period, we are under Gamma Sevy, Delta Dimitry, and Alpha Cain. Mostly we will see Sevy."

Jolly then intervenes, "We're like Sevy's bitches.” Her jovial tone matched the dimples on her small face and her dark brown bob-cut hair accentuated everything.

Everyone laughs.

"Sevy doesn't look that bad." Evie intervenes with her childlike voice while she swirls her long red hair on her forefinger. Soon her face reddened.

"None of them does," Vesper responded in a weak voice, almost cracking.

"After probation are we going to leave this place?" Jolly finally asks.

"Yes, exactly. Once the probation period is done, we pass the test, and we want to stay, we can move to the main building, nicer rooms, and nicer food. Everything is nicer. I know because I cleaned those rooms, and you will too."

"Pass the test? What tests?" Evie asks.

Both Jolly and Vesper stared at Emily waiting for her to answer.

"Every weekend from three in the afternoon till eight in the evening we have a training session that we need to do."

"Like what?" Jolly intervened.

"Like, running, climbing. Some courses the Delta has created for us. I think they want to know if we could be of help during an attack or something." Emily explains. "As long as we can finish the courses, we can pass and from there the Alphas will assess which of us will be part of which pack. But enough of that. I want to know why you want to be part of Citadel?"

"You mean aside from seeking refuge?" Jolly asks.

Emily nods.

"Well, for me, I want to meet other wolves and find my mate," Evie responded.

"What a hopeless romantic," said Emily.

Evie blushed instantly.

"Me, I want to be strong and make a difference. Being here is one step forward to that dream." Jolly says. "How about you, Emily?"

"Same as yours, be strong and build something for myself. How about you, Vesper?"

"I’m here because I need a stage so that my voice can be heard by everyone." She says.

Confused. Emily then asks, "So… You want to be a singer?"

"No!"

"An actress?" Jolly asks.

"No!"

"I know! I know!" Evie excitedly raised her hand. "A politician!"

Vesper laughs, "Oh, Goddess, no!"

"Then what?" Asks Emily.

"You’ll know at the right time." She responded while giving them a peculiar smile.

Evie grinned and then said, "Then we'll wait for that time."

Vesper nodded, then suggested, "How about we sleep early? The journey we had was a bit tiring."

Everyone nodded, and soon the light was turned off.

*

MEANWHILE, in the middle of the night, Omega Alexis rested in one of the trees along the dark road, waiting patiently for the rain to subside a bit. She checked her watch, and it was 11:16 p.m. Though the rain is falling hard, the moonlight is still as bright as it always was. She tried to boot up her phone, but the battery was long dead. “I should have charged it before leaving the main building.” She muttered to herself.

All of a sudden, she heard a loud rustling sound from the depths of the forest. The sound sent chills down her spine, and the hair at the back of her neck started to rise. She doesn't feel good about it. She tried to make sense of it, but the cold wind and the heavy rain did not help her situation. She sniffed the air but held nothing. She’s afraid but curious at the same time. “What’s making that sound?” She asks herself.

As if the moon goddess wanted her to investigate it, the intense rain became a soft drizzle. After what felt like an eternity, she finally summoned all her courage and followed the sound and that was the biggest mistake of her life!