FOUR

ARCHER

FOR A WHILE the room was left in silence as Ryan thought. Having drawn a blank, Ryan immediately shook his head, as Archer held himself back from palming his face.

"Nothing... nothing at all. He achieved nothing but decreased revenue, increased taxes and an increased rate of emigrated wolves.

"He even managed to do what no Alpha has ever done; how does someone even lose in a category which never even existed?" Archer asked in obvious disbelief.

Ryan looked confused but amused. "What do you mean, Alpha?"

"He was rated the worst Alpha for thirty years. Thirty fucking years!" Archer exclaimed in awe.

"No one informed me that there was a category like that in the yearly pack leaders awards," Ryan thought aloud.

"That's because there was not. It was recently made up by wolves on the Wolfnet. He is the only nominee and the only winner. Even his own Pack wolves voted for him," Archer stated before putting down the file.

Ryan was unable to help himself any longer and burst into laughter.

Archer eyed him with twitching eyes. "It's not a thing to laugh about, Ryan. How in the world did we not see this?"

Quickly, Ryan swallowed up his laughter, then responded, "Well, the Council of Elders are responsible for assigning Alphas and not us.

"They must have seen something in him or perhaps Alpha Zhou must have been one of those special cases which were assigned without elections."

Archer glared down at his desk with annoyance he did not bother to hide. The reason he assigned people in charge of things was to avoid mistakes like this.

"General Daniel was supposed to return last night, yes?" Archer asked after some time.

"It was around midnight when his plane landed," Ryan responded.

"And his mate?" Archer asked again.

"The delivery was successful, Alpha. It's a beautiful little she-wolf."

Archer nodded with a barely noticeable sigh. General Daniel found his mate, Lauren, about a year ago during a trip to a pack in Russia. A few weeks later they were expecting their first child.

"Archer, are you okay?" Ryan questioned suddenly, bringing Archer out of his emotions of jealousy he would never say aloud.

"Mmmm." Archer nodded. "Send some flowers and a gift on my behalf."

For a few minutes, Ryan said nothing but stared at Archer who stared back, knowing that Ryan was trying to figure him out. Archer gave nothing away and kept a blank face on. As always, Ryan gave up soon after. He sat down, watching Archer with worried eyes.

"Aunt Celia says you have not been sleeping. And I also spoke to Doctor Campbell. You have not visited him in three weeks. What is going on, Archer?"

"Nothing is going on. You know how dramatic my mother can get, and I've been too busy to visit the clinic," Archer replied, his blank stare not wavering.

Ryan scoffed. "You should know better than to lie to me, Archer. I was your best friend before I became your Duke Beta. Others may believe you but I do not buy it. Not one bit."

"Then that is your issue," Archer simply said.

"I know about the scrolls," Ryan blurted out, causing Archer to stare at him, not the least shocked. The Queen Mother was not exactly the discrete type.

"Who else knows about it? The whole Pack?"

Ryan shrugged. "That is not the problem here. The issue here is that you found another way of possibly finding your mate and you are still sitting on it."

"Like you said, "possibly". Tell me Ryan, how many possibilities have led me to dead ends?" Archer asked with raised brows then sighed when Ryan did not respond.

"I have been to every continent, country and state I can think of since I turned eighteen. Every time I think I might actually find her, I hit a dead end. At some point, I began to entertain the thought that my mate probably does not want to be found. Or..."

"Or she might be searching for you at the moment," Ryan cut in.

Archer scoffed. "What are the odds of that happening? If she was also looking for me, don't you think we should have found each other by now?"

"Perhaps she is in the same situation as you now," Ryan responded with a slight shrug. "Archer, if you do not consider your family who is constantly worried about you, then please think of the she-wolf who at the moment might be tirelessly searching for her mate and wondering why he has not come for her yet."

Archer leaned back into his chair and folded his hands behind his head.

"Sometimes I wonder if she even exists and all this time, maybe I have been searching for someone who is not in existence," Archer mused.

"You and I both know that's impossible!" Ryan quickly responded. "Every Wolf has the other half of its soul. The goddess would not create a wolf without their soulmate."

"Then why has she not shown me mine? Is she playing favourites here or does she get some kind of pleasure from my agony?"

Archer's voice dripped with anger and desperation. He watched Ryan's face become appalled by what he said but he could not be bothered by it. When he was a lot younger, he looked up to the goddess and admired and loved her a lot.

But as the years passed quickly without her giving him the very thing he asked of her all these years, his love slowly turned into resentment and then anger.

"Only the goddess has the answers to your questions but please, Archer, can you try one last time?" Ryan implored.

Archer shook his head. "No, Ryan. I might not be able to handle another disappointment. If I am destined to die in thirteen days then I prefer to die in the hands of the goddess. Since she created me, she should end me herself."

Taking a deep breath, Ryan calmly began, "I know you to be many things but a coward. The Archer I used to know would jump into a burning building with just one per cent hope of coming out alive, as long as someone needs him. Don't you think that Archer is the one your mate deserves?"

With that last question, Archer could feel his resolve faltering. "I do not know, Ryan..."

Ryan cut in again. "Let this be the last thing you do for her."

When Archer sighed finally, Ryan broke into a wide grin, knowing that Archer had finally given in.

"I will get the maids to clean the library right now," Ryan announced and disappeared before Archer could say a word.

Ryan's excitement made Archer feel even worse about what he agreed to do. Falling back into his seat, Archer wondered what he had gotten himself into.