THREE

ARCHER

SHUTTING HIS EYES, Archer took a deep breath before releasing it and opening his eyes. He then looked at Benjamin.

"What if I can't?"

Fear was not a strange word to Archer and neither was uncertainty. One thing Archer would never admit is the fact he was scared. Not just unsure or worried.

He was afraid of the darkness he knew was inside him. The darkness was slowly turning him feral. He did not want to feed it even more and he knew that stepping into that library would be the tip that would push him over the edge.

Archer suddenly chuckled but it was without humour.

"You know, I used to see my father as the strongest Wolf in the land. I thought he was invincible and unable to get hurt.

"However, seeing him in a lifeless state made me realize that even the strongest of persons can feel fear," he said then paused and took another deep breath before continuing.

"I can never forget the scared look on his face. It seemed like he knew what was coming but could do nothing about it. Fear was the last expression on his face before he died and that fear is what I never want to feel."

A warm hand on his shoulder made him sigh.

"Most wolves try to suppress the human part of them, failing to understand that although we are animals, we are still part human too.

"And once the human part is suppressed for so long, it would cause a tremendous impact on our wolves when it gets triggered. Anger outbursts, recession, withdrawal from reality and worse, insanity or becoming feral as we may call it.

"You see, Alpha, fear is a huge aspect of that small part of our humanity. Being afraid does not make us weak or less than we are.

"It means we are still aware and conscious of the things that may harm us and our loved ones. It is a constant reminder that we are not invincible," Benjamin explained before coming back to stand in front of the King.

Archer hated how much sense Benjamin made at that moment. He badly wished to find faults in Benjamin's words but he could not.

Besides going back to the place where he found his father's body, his biggest fear was being seen as a weakling. So no matter how weak he felt, he never showed it to anyone. He did his duties cautiously even though it was becoming more difficult by the day.

"Do you think the werewolf community would respect a weak King?" Archer asked suddenly.

"Your people respect you not because you are strong but because they believe in you and your ability to lead them.

"After the death of King Edward, you won their trust and love in just a few years. Perhaps you do not realise how much they love you," Ben informed Archer with a warm smile on his face.

Archer sighed again but did not respond and Benjamin took it as his cue to take his leave.

The crisp air blew into the room from the slightly opened window making the room even colder. Winter was coming and it was getting even harder for Archer to produce heat.

Even his fur coat could no longer keep him warm as he tried to shift as little as he possibly could.

Archer stood up and walked over to the window to shut it. His room was located at the highest point in the castle and he could see the entire pack from there.

For the past two decades, he began working on putting things together and placing capable people in charge of different sectors.

Other packs in different countries had enforcers in charge of them. He upgraded the hierarchy of packs, thereby making things easier for him and the Alphas.

The Alpha King was in charge of all wolves in the world and he was followed by his Duke Beta as second in command. The Marquee Enforcers were next.

There was one enforcer assigned to each country and the enforcers reported directly to Alpha King. The Earl Alphas followed thereafter and were in charge of different packs in the countries. Next were the Viscount Betas, Baron Gammas and lastly the Deltas in each pack.

In case anything were to happen to Archer, no part of the kingdom would suffer. It took him thirty years to make his entire kingdom what it was and the last thing he would want was for anything to happen to it.

He had more plans for his kingdom but might not live to carry them out. Archer cursed his fate but could do nothing to make it better.

He was not even able to take another step forward, for fear of losing himself to darkness. He could only prepare his mind and his house for his inevitable demise. After all, two weeks were just fourteen days.

*****

Two knocks sounded from behind his door and he looked up, his glasses resting comfortably on the bridge of his nose. He perceived the scent of his second in command.

"Come in," he growled in a raspy, tired voice, looking up to see Ryan, his best friend and the Duke Beta walking into the study.

"Alpha." Ryan bowed.

The Duke Beta of the Royal Wolf Pack was a tall brown-haired Wolf with a slender build. Ryan was the fastest Wolf Archer knew and his slender physique helped with his speed.

"You may hand over the report," Archer ordered, taking his eyes from his best friend and bringing them back to the file in his hands. The word "URGENT" was boldly written in front of it.

"It's been a week since the backup team was sent to the Red Lotus Pack in China but things do not seem to be turning up anytime soon.

"The rogue attacks are progressing and we are losing more wolves. Wolves from the pack are emigrating to other packs in China. At this rate, the pack might become desolate soon. This case is the most pressing issue at hand," Ryan announced, as he gave the file to Archer to look over.

Archer sighed in frustration, unconsciously squeezing the file in hand before responding, "I know. I am staring at the report by Alpha Zhou Chen of Red Lotus.

"However... What I do not understand is how the hell he was made an Alpha in the first place. Due to the increasing rogue sightings in his pack, I looked into his history and accomplishments and guess what I found..."