FRIEDRICH
I was just 8 when my father, Alpha Bastian called me out of my chambers into the pack’s ancestral hall. “You called for me, father?”.
The pack’s ancestral hall was crowded with pack members all around. It made me second guess if a grand event was about to happen.
Father looked at me with a feeling of dissatisfaction as he pats onto an empty seat beside him. “Sit”. I do. “Do you know why I had called for you?”
I shake my head. “No, father”
Gesturing around the entire pack house, father says. “Soon, all this would be yours so you need to be able to make wise decisions and bear the consequences of your actions as the alpha of the pack”
“And how do I do that, father?”
A wide grin splayed across father’s face as soon as those words escaped my lips. “That’s why I called you here, son. Watch and learn”
Father gestures for his Beta, Harriett to come forward. “Bring in the traitor”
“Yes, Alpha” Beta Harriett dismissed and soon re-entered dragging a man that had been badly beaten across the ground and throwing him down onto father’s feet.
My eyes widened with horror as it was my first time seeing such crude sight. I made attempts to close my eyes shut but father ordered me to do otherwise.
“If you cannot handle such small bloodshed, how do you intend to lead your people?” Father inquired as I throw my eyes wide open upon his words.
I recognized the man not by name but by face. He was of general status as a member of the ruling council.
“Conrad Anton” Father begins, regarding the half- beaten up man. “You are being brought here to decide your judgement as you have committed a grave sin”
“You had a love affair with a member of the rival pack, River valley pack and as such you have become a traitor to each and every one of us. How do you plead?”
“Guilty, Alpha” came Conrad’s response. “And I do intend to face the consequences of my actions but I do have one request”
“Your life cannot be spared” Father reminds Conrad Anton.
“I don’t seek to save my life”
“Then?”
“Can my pregnant lover be brought into the pack?”
Inaudible murmurs filled the air. Even I was taken aback by the boldness of this man to request such a thing from father. There was no way father was going to give into his request. I was sure of it.
Father called for silence as he asks. “Your request cannot be granted but I can be lenient enough to let you decide your judgment.”
“Would you rather remain in the pack with your lover and unborn child while being branded a traitor for the rest of your life or would you rather choose exile?”
The fact that father was even willing to accept the Conrad and his pregnant lover caught me by surprise as it was a known fact that the consequences for being labelled as a traitor was death by fire.
“I choose exile” The Conrad declared, having reached a conclusion. The pack members seemed unpleased by the judgment being meted out to the Conrad and they didn’t hesitate to show it but father didn’t pay any attention to them.
He ordered his Beta to drag the Conrad out of the pack house as father dismissed the pack members. Tuning to face me, father says. “Do you now see what it means to be a pack alpha?”
I nod. “You knew he was going to choose exile, didn’t you?”
Father nods his head. “If he had decided to stay in the pack, he would be no different than a dead man as people would look upon him with scorn. It’s the price he as to pay for his actions”
I looked up at father with admiration. For the first time in a long while, I saw myself seated on father’s throne with this strong determination to become the next alpha.
Its been 18 years since that day and now it seemed like my dream was about to slip away from me. My dream to ascend to the throne and claim my post as the heir. And why? It was all because I hadn’t found my mate yet.
Father tells me not to worry as he had a plan but I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing. Springing up from my bed, I exit my chambers without informing the guards as I head straight into the heart of the forest to see the witch who knows all things; Lyra.
It had been forbidden by father to meet her but I’m a desperate man. Once I arrived at her gate, it instantly opened; she had been expecting me. Good.
Strolling into her creepy abode, I see Lyra draped in a black cloak from her head to her toes. Her long black nails were hovering over a magic ball. “Finally, we meet Alpha”
“I’m not the alpha. Not yet”
“oh, but you will be. Isn’t that why you are here?”
I cut straight to the chase. “You know why I’m here so tell me what I need to know. Where can I find my mate?”
“There is an Intertwined fate between you and the one you seek- “
“And I don’t care” I cut her off. “Just tell me what I need to know. Give me a name or a location”
Witch Lyra heaves as heavy sigh. “Very well”
She uses a minute or two to concentrate before scribbling on a writing on a piece of paper and handing it over to me. “Go here and you shall find what you’ve been seeking for?”
Taking the piece of paper from her hand, I read the content as a grin splays across my face. Finally. I thought. Finally, all my problems were solved. It took me long enough. “How shall I pay you for this?”
Grinning, Lyra responds. “Become the alpha first and then we shall discuss further”
