CHAPTER 002

Roman POV:

“Alpha.”

I nodded as the elders I'd assembled for a meeting bared their necks to me in obeisance, then took a seat, allowing them to do so as well before lapsing into momentary silence.

Finally, I spoke. “We have a problem.”

A disturbed look crossed most of their faces. “A problem?” one echoed.

I nodded. “I apologize for calling you all so late-”

“This is ridiculous.”

I paused and looked at the man who'd interrupted. His hair was greying at the sides, and his forehead already boasted of wrinkles. An alarmingly large amount of crow’s feet lined his eyes.

Despite that, the pride and authority in his voice could not be mistaken. I stared at him, my mind bringing up his profile. Aaron Kennedy, former Epsilon. Annoying fellow, according to my late father. Always seemed to have a stick up his ass.

Recently, he'd been a stick up my ass.

“What are you referring to, Aaron?” My voice was low, but powerful enough to remind him of whose presence he was before.

The man glared at me, not hiding his disgust. “This meeting is ridiculous. We’re in the evening, for crying out loud. Couldn't you have called for a meeting tomorrow? The least you could do is-”

I raised a brow. “I just said we have a problem.”

“We still could have slept on it and reconvened tomorrow-”

“The rogues attacked again.”

A hush fell over us, and I watched his expression change from that of annoyance to shock, then to naked fear. “Great goddess.”

My eyebrow rose. “Precisely. Now do you see why it cannot wait till tomorrow, Kennedy?”

He flinched when he heard the tone in my voice, but I looked away before I could see the partial regret in his eyes.

There were much more important things, like my people being killed.

I'd been in my room when the guard mindlinked me, groaning in pain. It'd taken a minute or two for me to run out into the woods, but by that time, about three casualties had been incurred.

I signaled Julian to give a brief report on the occurrence and when he concluded it, the elders had pensive looks on their faces.

“The attacks are a lot more calculated,” another of the elders said, concerned. “It's almost like they're targeting us, rather than just engaging in their usual violent ways.”

“But that is not the way of the rogues,” Aaron replied, his brows furrowed. “They're nomads, and they're unruly. They do not know their left from their right, and they have no sense of moral-”

“We know all that, Kennedy. Say something new,” a female said, rolling her eyes. I recognized her as one of the leading guards in my father's time. She was retired now, but there was a sharpness in her eyes that made it clear she was still very capable of dismembering someone and being proud of it.

There was a scowl on Aaron's face as he spoke again. “That was unnecessary, Lottie.”

“Please,” she snorted. “Do not act as though you know what is truly important and what is not.”

I resisted the urge to snicker. She wasn't wrong. When I was much younger, my father used to tell me a lot of stories about his advisory council, and I liked the tales of Aaron Kennedy the most. He rarely knew what priorities were.

But that wasn't my priority. A very serious issue had occurred.

I cleared my throat, stopping any further bickering. “I have sent scouts into the woods to survey the area. If we find any group of rogues, the pack house would be alerted. In the meantime, we need to get a strategy against these encroachers.

There's no way I'm going to sit back and let them take my people’s lives just like that. It's one for the other. Either they go, or we go.” Anger bubbled up inside me. “And we're definitely not going.”

Despite all the clashes we'd had, the elders knew when to set aside our differences for a common goal. Our families’ lives were at stake, and they were fully aware of that.

“We agree.”

“We bow to no one.”

“Good.” I gave them all a satisfactory look. “The former guards here and my highest ranking soldiers would meet later today by 4 p.m., so we can draw up a plan. In the meantime, I would like everyone here to reinforce security in their homes. A memo would go round very soon, so others will be aware of this.”

My gaze swept across the room, doing its best to look at everyone as directly as it could. “That would be all. Any inquiries?”

Fortunately, there were none.

A little less than an hour later, Julian had his arms crossed as he leaned against a wall, while I searched for a file. “You handled it well,” he said.

“I'm just glad no one mentioned my engagement to Tanya,” I snorted, finding the document and dumping it on the desk. “I'd have been pissed.”

Silence greeted my statement and I looked up to see him giving me his usual hooded look. “What now?”

He blinked, then sighed and helped himself to the chair opposite mine. “I'm confused.”

I raised a brow. “Whyever would you be?”

“You. And Tanya. It's not…something feels off.”

I furrowed my brow. “That's my fiancée you're talking about, Julian.”

“I thought you were looking for your mate.” His voice, as usual, was resigned. Low. Almost emotionless.

Hearing his statement, my jaw ticked and my gaze went to the document before me. “Things have changed.”

He was quiet for a moment. “Are you sure? Or are you just giving up?”

I rubbed my temple. “I'm trying to move on. So what if I don't find my mate? Does that mean I should never find love or affection?”

“What if your mate appears the day you two get married? Do you know what a mess that would be?”

“She could have appeared all this while.” I was pretty sure my voice had dropped by an octave. “She didn't. It's not my fault.”

“That doesn't mean you should go for the entitled brat-”

I whipped my head in his direction faster than I could blink. “Don't you dare talk about my future wife that way.”

“...right.” He pursed his lips, stood, and bared his neck. “Excuse me, Alpha.”

The room went silent after he left, and I tried to read the document before me.

It was impossible.

I closed the file and groaned. Curse Julian and his ability to make me question my decisions.

Tanya wasn't as bad as he made her out to be, She was sweet, and thoughtful, and had a beautiful laugh. It also didn't hurt that her beauty was exceptional.

But he was right. I was taking a huge risk, marrying Tanya. I was just thirty; I could still wait. Werewolves had an incredibly long life span, and I knew of a few who'd found their mates at even fifty.

However, that wasn’t my only reason for marrying her. I had an agenda.

Tanya's father and the former Gamma, Bernard Gatrix-Hill, was a ruthless soldier in the pack’s Guard. He killed many men in battle, but he was extremely hot headed. My father, however, had no problem with that.

The problem lay in his loyalty.

It was said that Gatrix-Hill might have been in cahoots with some rogues just before he died, as he was annoyed when the position of Alpha was given- well, forced upon me, if you recall that lethal look on my father's face when I tried to fight against the decision. He apparently wanted it for himself.

So when Diane Hill came to me with the proposition to marry her daughter, it'd been like a blessing in disguise. By marrying Tanya, I'd prevent problems between the pack and the Hill family, as well as keeping them close so I could monitor their plans. Even if Bernard was gone, who said Diane wasn’t the new person in charge of the apparent discussions with the rogues?

I dragged a hand through my face and sighed. A lot was happening all at once. I just hoped the moon goddess would have mercy on my predicament and relieve whoever was supposed to be my mate of that burden.