Three

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Our rivals would laugh us to scorn if they could see what our once great and powerful pack had become. North Lotus used to be a subject of true envy to other smaller packs. Legend has it that our large pack was once a division of two smaller packs that got joined through the indivisible power of love. 

This happened when the original founder of our pack, Maurice Dolphus, found his mate and forever love in the eyes of Astrid Chann - Alpha’s daughter to a smaller local pack. 

The union of these two brought our packs together as one and started the new generation of North Lotus. 

Our pack was like one big family. We shared a strong love and bond for each other. And although a lot of our enemies never knew this, that was what kept us going.

We knew that united, we could do anything - even conquer an entire region or take on armies of rivals and rogues. Together, as one North Lotus, we developed faster and better than any other pack in our region. We became untouchable - invisible even. 

North Lotus used to be a force to be reckoned.

However, none of that mattered now. We were only living off our previous glory and each day was a futile battle to return our pack to what we once were.

 A few people say that the day North Lotus collapsed was the day her Mum, Luna Dakota Dolphus, became Alpha. 

That was the day division birthed amongst the pack and it fed off the fact that Mum was a ‘woman’ and a woman couldn’t be Alpha.

 To them, it didn’t matter that she passed the Alpha’s test or that the moon goodness had approved of her leadership. 

All they could see was her supposed ‘incompetence’ and how ‘weak’ she was to be Alpha.

Her blood boiled hot and she couldn’t help glaring bitterly at the lotus moon symbol entrusted onto the solid giant double doors.

In all her life, she do always anticipated being able to walk through these doors and have an important seat among North Lotus’ most respected individuals, also known as, the council. A circle made up of the alpha, beta, zeta, moon reader and gammas. Usually, they were the ones who passed judgement in our pack and helped the Alpha in making important decisions . But without the Alpha here, they were in power and some of them, a little intoxicated by it.

Steadying her breath and reeling in on her heavy emotions, she pushed through the double doors and walked in with her head held high. 

Then out of obligation than genuine respect, she curtsied towards the room full of sharks and monsters she never knew existed until her Mum disappeared.

“Good day, council. You called for me,” she announced, still with her head down.

“You may stand up properly.” 

His commanding voice said, it was as snotty as they came and without even a glance up, she just knew who it was. Beta Calian Hemming; Kurt and Kasa’s repulsive father.

She resumed her standing position and finally met the eyes of the nine members of the council. They sat in a circle around the large mahogany round table with that identical impassive expression glued to their faces. It made her wonder if they had a permanent stick stuck up their ass. 

“How are you, Catori?”

Mrs Maxwell smiled kindly at me, the wrinkles around her eyes squeezing in response. She was one of the gammas and her slowly graying black hair was a telltale of the type of wisdom she carried.. She liked her, genuinely.

She returned her smile but all her effort came off as weak. 

“I have been better.”

She nodded in understanding and her compassionate hazel eyes seemed to hold some sort of admiration. It was a refreshing look to see someone who didn’t stare at her like she was a pitiable helpless child.

“By faith in the moon goddess, I believe all this will pass eventually. You are a brave young girl. I know you will pull through.” 

She said firmly and in that moment, you could easily see why despite her age, Mrs Maxwell remained one of the most respected members of our pack.

She was about to speak, before someone else cleared his throat.

“I hate to disagree with you, Mrs Maxwell.” 

Beta Calian zeroed his dark eyes on her. 

“It’s okay to have a little faith but please, let’s be realistic here.”

Her eyes narrowed on him with obvious irritation.

 “What are trying to say, beta Calian?”

He grinned sinisterly. “I am glad you asked. Infact, I am delighted that you asked. This actually brings us to why we called you here. Zeta?”

A confused frown marked on her face as her gaze swung to the general in charge of the warrior troops; Zeta Ahmik Black. 

Zeta Ahmik sat up straight in that intimidating manner of his.

 He was all muscles and hardly bones, and given the scar that sliced through his face, you do be stupid to trifle with a man like him.

“My condolences about your mother, Catori.”

 'Condolences?' She thought.

'“From the first day you took my troops out to find her, I have followed this case with everything I have. I have given you the best of my best warriors and trackers, and I put them under your command. These are expertly trained wolves who have battled our worst rivals yet and if these set of warriors could not find your Mum…then, I do not know....” 

He seemed to avoid her eyes as he said those last words. 

Her breathing stopped for a fraction. “I do not understand…” 

“What our Zeta here is trying to say is that we can not keep chasing a shadow, Tori dear. For the past two weeks, we will have put in everything we have to finding her and it has all yielded nothing - not even a single clue. At this point, we are wasting our resources and time.”

 Beta Calian spoke calmly, a sense of finality to his words.

“What? You can’t just give up on finding her, my mother, the alpha.” She scowled. 

“She is your alpha. It’s your responsibility to find her. She’s out there and deep down, you know it!”

She said again, wanting her voice to be heard, what ever these council treacherous men were planning, she would not give them the chance to execute their plans, never!

“Deep breaths, child. I know this must be difficult for you.” 

Gamma Theodore spoke with an edge to his voice. 

“But for all we know, your Mum ran away. She abandoned her pack. That is why there was no sign of struggle and that is why you haven’t found her. Because she doesn’t want to be found.”

Gamma Theodore said, to her he was spilling trash, rubbish.

“That is what we all get for making a woman alpha.” 

Zeta Ahmik scoffed and had everyone in that monstrous room nodding in agreement. Everyone except Mrs Maxwell, yet she did nothing to oppose them. 

Her heart sank to watery depths and a knot tightened within her throat, urging her to let the tears behind her eyes out. She clenched her jaw instead and glared angrily at everyone seated.

“With all due respect, that makes absolutely no sense. I have watched my mum dedicate everything she has to taking care of this pack. I have seen her make big sacrifices just so that the pack can be happy, she labored for everyone here. It never mattered how much poisonous men like you tried to sink her with your claws, she always stood still and gave everything she had.” 

She stared at every single one of them and held back the urge to spit in their faces.

“But now, she is gone and I am sure this makes a lot of you very very happy. You all never accepted her as your leader and now when I think of it, you must have wanted her gone. I would not be surprised if one of you took the extra step to make sure of it yourself.”

She said, keeping her voice straight, she was not afraid of these mother fucking children of whores.

“Oh, how lovely.” 

Beta Calian drawled out dangerously.

“Seems like your mother forgot to teach you manners too.”

Beta Calian growled out lowly, but it never frightened her.

“And what exactly are you trying to insinuate, child? That we had something to do with her disappearance…?” 

Gamma Theodore inched up a bushy brow and something about the look in his eyes sent goosebumps to her skin.

However, she never backed off like they had expected her to, instead she matched his stare with fire in her eyes. 

“I don’t know. Did you-”

“Dark days are coming.” 

The pack’s moon reader said, interrupting her, Ma Salili, certainly had her way of always grabbing attention when she deemed it right. 

Her gray eyes, void of emotions, fell on her.

“Days darker than the the darkest nights and full of so much evil. I saw it all yesterday and oh, the darkness. Without an Alpha, we will be doomed. The lands will cry with the blood of our pack and strife will be king. The red moon is coming in the next few weeks and we better be ready to face it’s fury.”

She said, her words causing Catori to shake with fear. Was these a gang up against her and her mother or was these the pure truth.

Perfect silence rested in the room for seconds and she had no doubt that everyone was sinking in Ma Salili’s words. 

Some say her gift is a blessing from the moon goddess but most believe it’s a curse. 

Among the pack’s people, she’s called the omen-speaker, afterall, all she brings was bad news. 

In the most dramatic way, she always sprung up with news that would plunge your heart to it’s deepest fears and had you wishing you never heard it.

The red moon coming in the next few weeks was not news at all. 

Infact, it had probably been sang as a song to all werewolves in the pack and even told as stories from when they were younger.

 Rumors say that it was only just a myth started by our forefathers to keep them in line but one thing was certain, it haunted the essence of their pack - the constant fear that the red moon would bring out the worst of their nature.

 The stories have it that after every two hundred years, the moon goddess visits their pack and if they have done well in the past 200 years, she do bless them and give them a gift. 

However, if on the contrary, they have become lawless and driven by evil, she do come as the red moon; 

a force of pure fury and wrath will be unleashed, turning them to the monstrosity of their primal nature and letting them shed their own blood. Or at least, that was what they had been told. No one for sure have had any real encounters with the moon goddess or red moon, but with the way their pack has been for some time now, it was clear that they were headed straight for destruction.

“What can we do to avoid this?”

 For the first time, Gamma Emmett broke the silence. Always the practical one.

Ma Salili’s straight face stared blankly at her. 

“Luna Dakota needs to be found before the red moon or a new Alpha elected - but no longer from the Dolphus lineage. The Dolphus lineage will be striped of their generational alpha status and a new age will begin.” 

She said, her words made all the hairs on her body to stand up with shock.

“What!” 

Her brows shot up, as simultaneously her heart dropped painfully to the ground.

 “You can’t do that.”

She said, not knowing the right words to use because she was still In shock.

“That’s all I have to say.” 

The moon reader said, throwing her a dark look.

Murmurs rose in the room as each counsel members turned to one another and considered Ma Salili’s words. She was insulted by the thought of striping the family of the Alpha status. They founded this pack! Every previous Alpha of the Dolphus lineage had been given their blood and sweat to making sure that this pack stood and just because her Mum disappeared, they were just going to take it all away? She do have to be six feet under before she let that happen. Anger bristled through her veins and her wolf itched to be let out - to bare her teeth and growl at these men who thought they could take everything her family had worked hard for.

Beta Calian cleared his throat and a grin worked it’s way to his lips. “Well, we all heard the lady. We need an Alpha as soon as possible-”

“That’s not what she said.” she glared at him.

“Right. If your Mum is not found before the red moon. But Catori dear, what are the odds that you do actually find her, hmm? I say we tidy up our acts and give your mum a befitting burial tomorrow, and to be safe, we elect a new Alpha the day after that. We can not just wait around for a woman who might as well be dead. Don’t you all agree? I mean, let us be realistic here. She had been gone for two weeks.”

Her fingers clawed into her palms and her nostrils flared as she listened to every insolent words that came out of his lips.

“I agree with Calian,” 

Zeta Ahmik said, smirking at her.

 “Two weeks in the wild with hunters and rogues all around? It would take a miracle for any she-wolf to survive that long without help.”

“Secondly, Our pack can not remain Alpha-less.”

“There is no telling if we will ever find her.”

“We all need a new alpha.”

They all inputted and soon, the room was spilling over with their voices and opinions.

Her heart crashed and even though she did everything to fight it, the tears pooled up in to her eyes. It hurt that they all thought she was dead. It hurt that they could all give up on her so easily. It all hurt too much.

“That settles it then.”

 Beta Calian leaned back into his chair in smug resignation. “But for the benefit of our little Tori here, let us reach a mutual agreement. To be fair.”

“None of this is fair.” She choked out, but she did not want these little traitors to see her crying, that would make them defeat her the more.

“Hmm. Anyway, if you don’t find Luna Dakota or if she doesn’t return by next week, supposing she’s still alive, we will conduct a grand burial for her and a small farewell feast to the Dolphus lineage. It will all be honourable, with music and wine and dance presentations…” 

His voice trailed off with a grin, like he could almost imagine it. And god, she wished she could claw that sick satisfaction off his face.

“Then, the age of a new alpha lineage begins. Meaning no red moon and pack saved. Agreed?”

“Sounds generous to me.”

 Gamma Theodore nodded.

She gritted her teeth and hated that a stray tear fell from my eyes. Hated more than ever how she felt powerless to them. Hated how she was not being the strong courageous girl her mother had always trained her to be. Hated that she was gone.

“Fine.”

She said. These was what they wanted to hear right?

“What, child?” 

Gamma Theodore asked coyly.

“I said, fine. I agree to this. But you must know that I will find her and when I do, you will all pay.”

She said looking at them with disgust and more hatred

“Is that a threat?” Zeta Ahmik growled but it didn’t scare her one bit.

“I wouldn’t dare threaten our pack most important citizens, would I?”

 She lifted her lips to a weak smile. 

“This is a promise.”

Beta Calian snorted. 

“You should really watch your tongue, you know.”

“I do rather watch my back.”

 She scowled and without waiting for another words from any one of them, she walked out. But the lump tightening in her chest crashed down on her like gravity the second she left the room and soon, she was sprinting down the hallway and straight into the woods.