Lycanthropy
Chapter Nine

A thousand miles south of the river:

“How much territory has the Alpha taken already?” I asked my Beta, while we looked over the maps of our continent.

Apparently a new pack was formed a little over a year ago, and ever since the Alpha of that pack had taken control of at least two other packs. I had sent my Beta to do some research, and he had awoken me, in the middle of the night, to alert me with troublesome news.

“Everything above the northern river.” He replied.

“Yes, what region of that area?” I asked him for a more precise answer.

“No, I meant everything above the northern river.” He said again.

“What?! Did he take it all? How?” I asked in confusion.

“Yes, and not he, but she… People say that she is so strong, and has such an Alpha command, that she can command other Alpha’s with ease, and she has the power to shift half way. Making her have the strength of her wolf, and the agility and ability of using her arms as claws.” He said.

I was silenced by his words. I let myself drop in my chair, and rubbed my tired eyes with both my hands. Her being able to shift half way, is something that bothers me, I have read about it, but where? My historian may know more, I’ll ask him later to search for it. But I knew up front, that it was something dangerous.

“If what you say is true, about her powers, than we have a war to prepare.” I said to him.

“I’m not sure about that.” He said with a smirk on his face.

“I’m not going to like, where this is going, am I?” I asked him.

“Well, there are two reasons, as to why I don’t think she will be attacking us. Reason one, she only takes over the packs, that attack her, as she was never the instigator, so I doubt that she will start being aggressive now.”

I waited for reason number two…

“And reason number two is…” He took a few steps back.

“…she is unmated, so you could ask her to… you know… become our Luna?” He asked very delicately.

“Goddess Hell No!” I bellowed with the full capacity of my lungs.

My Beta fell over, and crouched back towards the wall filled with books, and as he bumped into it, one of the books fell out and dropped on his head.

“There is no mate for me! I have waited for far too long, for her to arrive, and I’m doing pretty fine without one!” I yelled to him.

He had a smile on his face, knowing that this was not my favourite subject to talk about. I have been pestered by the council for over nine years now, that I should take a strong Alpha female as my Luna. As my Luna Queen in fact.

The council had presented me with a few Alpha females, but none of them were suited to become my Luna, and Queen in ruling. They were all just power-hungry-bitches, looking for a good fuck, or acting as if they weren’t out for my money. But none of them were strong, determined to do good things, or even being nice to begin with.

Choosing a mate yourself, and marking her, will make me stronger, but not as strong as when you replace your true destined mate. I am the Alpha King for a reason, I am still undefeated and still the strongest Alpha alive. So, why should I bother with taking a random Luna then?

My father was the strongest Alpha before me, and when he passed away, I had taken over his reign, but not without a fight. I had to face a few trials, as one of them was to show to each and every Alpha of this continent, that I was able to beat them all. And I did.

But it made me wonder, how strong this female Alpha actually is, as she has defeated all of the Alphas from above the river, which are five, and which are all pretty strong.

“What are you going to do about it?” My Beta asked, when I was calmed down.

“I’m not sure, if she doesn’t oppose as a threat, then she is just a powerful and rich Alpha. But if she forcefully, and aggressively crosses the river, then I’m going to think about what I should do.” I said to him.

“Why not invite her for the annual mating ball? It is within a few weeks, and then you can talk to her, to see if she is aggressive or not.” My Beta said.

“Yes that is a good idea, send out an invitation.” I said to him.

I had been trying to sleep all night, but my wolf was running wild in my head. He was constantly begging me to call her, go to her, and meet her.

“Yes! What if this strong Alpha is our true mate?” He said, while hopping up and down in my head.

“You know that, that is a chance of one in a hundred-million right? That specifically this woman, is our mate.” I replied.

“Yes, I know, but what if?”

“Well I know that I will cut you off, if you don’t give me some sleep the next three weeks!” I yelled to him, and closed the wolf-link.

I was eating breakfast now, and since I haven’t slept, I need to eat a lot of calories to get me through this day. So, ten slices of bacon, two ribs, ten baked eggs and a gallon of freshly pressed orange juice. My mouth watered from the juicy smell alone.

“Alpha King?” My historian, has the greatest timing.

“Yes, in here.” I said as I took a bite of bacon.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your breakfast my King, but you asked me to come replace you as soon as I got it.” He said while throwing an old leather-bound book, of fifteen by twenty inches, on the table.

There was still some dust on the outside of the book, and between the pages, which got all over my plate of food. Great… Coffee it is today.

He shifted through the delicate pages, and when he reached what I asked him to search for, my breathing hitched. I saw an old drawn image of a rabid wolf, standing on its behind legs, half covered in fur, half still human. Yet this creature had claw-like hands and the face was only half transformed, making the ears pointy, but still at the side of the face, instead of on top of the head. The nose and mouth were only enlarged, just like it’s total height, but not shifted into a full wolf face.

And there on the other page, next to the image, stood the story of this creature. With the title above it, that made my breath hitch in the first place, hoping desperately, that we weren’t dealing with a creature, with this capability.

“Lycanthropy.”