The Cursed Gift | B1 [EDITING]

11 | A Warrior Lost In Battle

Eighteen years ago...

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"Sixteen months you have been gone. A mission that went south long ago and yet, your return had been rather slow..."

He was not asking, for an Alpha never asks.

"Forgive me, Alpha," the man answered as he bowed his head down in respect.

Alpha Ryker smiled wistfully before he tilted his head slightly in return.

"All is forgiven. But a pack surely feels the loss of a Delta every moment he is away," he replied before taking a seat behind his desk.

The man's sole task had been to scout the mainlands and deliver a message but news travelled fast back home that the mission had been unsuccessful.

However, the Delta had not returned promptly.

"The truth is... while I was scouting the neighbouring villages, something peculiar caught my eye. The Herytics... they have emerged. Rumours are starting to circulate."

This piece of information seemed to pique the Alpha's interest and the elder man that was seated in the corner of the room.

"So the stories are true," Alpha Ryker pressed as he looked up at his friend with curiosity.

"Others have spoken of such things?"

"They have spoken of an old ritual - once a century for twelve days they visit the naturals. Not sure what for, but the rumours speculate quite different things," the Gamma, Rydian, interjected.

He was old and wise, having been given the title after he'd passed the pack down to his son, Ryker, many years prior.

He knew certain things that none others knew of and such details in the wrong hands could be detrimental to them all.

The brown-haired man's eyes widened, attempting to grasp what that would mean for the wolves and the pack itself.

"What about the pack?"

"We will be fine, do not fret. They care little for us in the big picture. A war is only a slim possibility," Alpha Ryker smoothly retorted, brushing off the slight nerves his father's words gave him.

Rydian smiled gently, approving of his son's wise and reassuring words.

The young man was becoming a great Alpha.

"Ask me what you truly wish to ask me instead," Ryker commented, throwing the conversation onto a different route as he gestured for his old friend to speak once more.

"Forgive me if I talk out of terms, Alpha," he began but Ryker only brushed him off.

When they were alone and no longer talking pack business, they were simply friends discussing mundane topics.

His father's presence no longer felt like their Gamma, wise and all-knowing, but like their supportive father. He often supported the boys when they were younger and still growing, often helping them find their lost way.

Rydian had adored the other young man just the same and the way his friendship with his son had impacted them both in positive ways. The Delta was somehow more lost than Ryker could've ever been and he could sense it.

The young man was still troubled and time had not eased that.

"But if this is not an urgent matter for you, permission to take leave?"

Ryker's eyes widened, having not expected that.

He would've preferred the constant push of exploring the lead he believed he had found. The young man often hated his traditional duties, having no choice in the matter at all.