The scent of another wolf

~The Mystic-shadow pack territory~

Alpha Cephas got out of bed early. He was looking forward to getting rid of Belinda so much that he couldn’t sleep at all.

‘I can’t let her say anything to Maeve. I need to silence her for good. Such a stupid girl. If she had used those pills and had not gotten pregnant, maybe she would have lived longer. Now she has to die.’

He yanked the bedspread off him and got out of bed. He sat at the edge of the bed, his hands at his side and his head lowered.

Maeve who slept next to him slightly opened her eyes and saw him.

“Cephas.” She called, and he turned his head to look at her. He let out a faint smile.

“Good morning, dear.”

Maeve answered with a smile and also sat up. “You’re up so early. Are you thinking about something?” She asked, and he shook his head.

“It’s not so early. It’s 7am. Well, I couldn’t sleep well last night.”

“Really? Why? I slept like a baby last night, knowing that we’ll finally be getting rid of that girl.” Maeve answered, and Cephas nodded.

“Well, it had nothing to do with her. I just couldn’t sleep well. You should go back to bed. I’ll take a stroll around the block.”

“I can take a walk with you. I don’t want to sleep anymore.” She answered, and got out of bed too. They put on their light clothes and headed out of their chamber.

They got to the outer part of the house and began to hear voices from outside.

“What is going on?” Maeve curiously asked.

Cephas moved closer to the door and heard two of his pack members discussing.

“How do we tell Alpha Cephas about this?” One of them asked.

“Tell Alpha Cephas what?” Cephas answered from behind them and they jolted in fear.

“Alpha Cephas.” They bowed. He looked up and saw that almost everyone had gathered around the tree where he ordered them to tie Belinda to.

“What’s going on here?!” He roared and everyone shivered in fear. They made way for him as he approached the tree.

He got to the tree and when he found out that Belinda was no more there, his eyes widened, his face reddened and he clenched his fist in fury.

“Where is she?!” He yelled and everyone went silent.

“I… I think she escaped.” One of his Betas answered with great fear.

“Escaped? And what are you waiting for?! Look for her and bring her to me, right now!” He howled and they all scattered and rushed off to search for her.

Maeve moved closer to the tree and touched the rope. She stared at it and creased her brows. “The rope was cut with a sharp object.”

Cephas grabbed his hair in fury and began to pace in front of the tree.

“Can you pick up anything, Maeve?” He asked. He was beginning to sweat profusely. ‘You can’t escape! Not with my secrets with you!’

Maeve moved the rope to her nose and sniffed it very hard. She closed her eyes and took another sniff.

“Anything?”

“I pick the scent of another wolf… but it's pretty faint.”

“Another wolf? From our pack?” He inquired.

“I don’t know, Cephas. It’s too faint. The wolf must have been here many hours ago.”

“F**k!” Cephas roared. “We must find her! And when we do, we will kill her without hesitation!”

***

Megan told Belinda to give her some time, and she would be back with her father. Belinda laid on the bed and closed her eyes to rest, hoping Megan would do all she’d promised.

Megan got to her father’s chamber and took a pause. She swallowed hard and stared at the door anxiously. The guards were nowhere to be found.

‘Father, please don’t say no to anything I say to you. Please let Belinda stay with us.’

After her silent prayer, she proceeded to knock on the door.

“Who is it?” Her father’s guardsman asked from inside the room.

“It’s Megan. I need to talk to my father.”

The door gave way for her before she could even finish her sentence. He gave her a slight bow and made way for her to walk past him.

“Hey, my little Princess.” King Talos said, with a smile on his face. He had the daily society paper in his hand, and nerdy glasses on his face.

“I’ll leave now, my King.” His guard said, and he bobbed. “Yes, come back later so we can discuss more.” King Talos added, and his guard bowed before leaving.

After he went out, King Talos looked at Megan and noticed she seemed a little nervous.

“Hey, what’s wrong dear?? You look kind of nervous. You won’t even sit.” He uttered.

Megan exhaled softly and sat next to her father on the sofa. She took a peek at the society paper in his hand to check out the deadline.

“Another fight among packs?” She asked, and Talos nodded.

“Yes, but we aren’t affected in any way. Since we have rules we keep to, and we mind our own business, we have nothing to worry about.” Talos answered, with a satisfied grin.

Megan bit her lower lip in nervousness and gave her laps little taps. “Ermmmm. Father, I need to talk to you.”

Megan forced the words out of her mouth. Her heart was thumping against her chest like she was going to have a heart attack soon.

“Really? What is it?” He put the paper aside and removed his glasses.

One thing about King Talos was that he always paid rapt attention to his children anytime they needed him.

“Before I go on, I need to apologize to you, father. I did something irrational and I don’t want you to hate me.”

King Talos furrowed his brows and shook his head.

“Nothing would ever make me hate my daughter. People make mistakes, Megan. I can never hate you. Talk to me, what did you do?” Talos sounded as calm as he possibly could.

Megan bobbed and heaved a sigh. “Father, I brought in a stranger last night. I was so scared to…”

“What? Megan…”

“Father, you said you wouldn’t hate me.” She mumbled.

“I don’t hate you, but why would you ever do that?! You know it’s part of our rule. We never bring home a stranger!”

“But she needed our help! She was dying. I couldn’t just look away. Father, she is a woman like me. I’m sorry.” Megan muttered as tears heated her eyes.

Talos wiped his mouth with his hand and looked away. “Tell me, where did you find this dying stranger?” His voice was lower than before.

“From a Pack boundary, far from here.”

“Megan !! You intruded another pack boundary?! Holy Moon, which of the rules didn’t you break?!”

“Father, let me finish, please. I saw her tied to a tree, she was naked and cold. If I didn’t help, she could have died.” Megan explained in tears.

“She was in another wolf territory, if she was tied to a tree, she must have deserved it! Bringing her here will put us in trouble!” Talos smacked and sprang to his feet.

“Father, please. I’m sorry.” Megan cried.

“Does Damon know about this? You went out together, why would he be so careless to let you…”

“He knows nothing about it, Father. We split up when we were hunting, then I found the girl and rescued her, I brought her home before Damon got back home. He knows nothing about it.”

Talos clenched his jaw and tightened his fist. “I have always wanted to keep this kingdom safe, and this legacy is about to change because of this. She can’t stay here! She has to leave this kingdom, immediately!”

“No, Father! No! She can barely walk.”

“That is none of your business, Megan . You don’t even know her.”

“Father…” Megan fell to her knees.

“Ayman!” Talos called upon his guardman.

“My King. Ayman answered from outside the door where he was guarding, and rushed into the room.

“Father, please! Don’t send her away.”

“Ayman, there is a stranger in our kingdom…”

“She lost her baby!! She was pregnant!” She wailed, cutting Talos short.

“Father, she lost her baby. You know how this can affect a woman, don’t you? Mother lost my baby sister before she was even born, and you know how this traumatized her. Please, I swear they can’t find her here.” She mumbled.

Talos stared at Megan and heaved a sigh.

“Megan, the longer she stays here, the more dangerous it is for us.”

“But we are stronger and bigger than any pack, aren’t we? We are a kingdom, Father! Can’t we give her a chance? Please! If she leaves, I swear I will go with her!”

Talos raised his brows in surprise. “And now you’re threatening your own father?”

Megan exhaled and shook her head.

“No, but please I need you to help her. She has no one. She’s a victim. They’ll kill her if she goes out there. We are capable of helping her, can’t we just do this for her? Who knows if she’ll be helpful to us in the future.”

‘She will never give up, will she?’ Talos thought as he rested his hands on his waist. He looked at Ayman, and Ayman bowed.

“Assign a guard to keep an eye on this stranger. We need to be sure she isn’t a spy.”

“Yes, my king. Can you please tell me where she is, Princess Megan ?” Ayman asked.

“She’s in my room.” Megan answered as she stood up. She cleaned her eyes and smiled feebly at Talos.

“Don’t smile. She’s on probation. She does something off or something strange happens, she’s out of here.”

“I promise she wouldn’t do anything off!” Megan excitedly wrapped her arms around her father, and Talos shook his head.

‘Why is she so bent on helping this girl? Who is she?’

“I’d like to meet her, Megan.Take me to her.”