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Ares
"Come on, slow poke. You are too strong to be taken down by a few miles." I smirk, staring down at my beta Roan who is definitely out of breath as he heaves, his breath growing short. He looks completely done and ready to give up on life after the few miles we have run. Or a few hundred, I lost count.
He scoffs, " A few? I've always known you wanted to kill me." He rolls on the grassy field, his chest rising and falling at an alarmingly first rate.
"You are a werewolf. One of the strongest and here you are whining like a child." I stare at him, amused by the expression on his face.
"Not all of us have your stamina, alpha." He mocks, shooting me a glare.
His eyes widen briefly and he groans.
"Definitely not what I meant."
"Sure." I grin, "You've been in love with me for a while. This just proves that."
Horror takes hold of his face and my face splits into a grin before laughter escapes my mouth.
"Man, you are so easy to rile up." I reply.
Roan gets up, his breath having evened out. Too quickly if you ask me. He must have been faking it. It's not the first time too.
Roan walks and stands next to me as we both stare at my gigantic land where most of it is occupied by thick trees that hide the beasts that lurk underneath it. The beasts that belongs to my pack. One of the largest ones that exists. Right now, early morning, I can see clearly the bright orange rays from the sun that reflects through the thick trees. Standing at an elevated point, I am able to see the pack in quite a long distance, the diversity in the colors that surround it warming my chest. I can see a few lights are still on while a few houses are bustling with activities, a few are empty. My heart warms. It had taken a few years to build this pack from what it had been before when my father was in rule. He wasn't a bad alpha but he had his weaknesses that I improved on and completely erased some.
"This place is beautiful." Roan whispers and I hum agreeing. It is indeed.
My territory expands so widely that sometimes it is quite hard to keep track. Experienced and highly skilled warriors guarded the borders of my pack with extra vigilance. With my territory being this huge, some idiot may assume I would have blind spots. I did, but I ensured they were tiny and they wouldn't make it past one mile before they are caught and dealt with. Pack safety was one and the most top priority of my pack. I guarded it like a child.
"Did you find anything about the missing pack members?" I ask.
I had requested Roan to look into my pack wolves who have been missing for a while now. It occured a few months ago when two young wolves completely disappeared. They were young and naive and I thought they wanted to explore the world. I had let that go knowing I couldn't truly cage wolves, they are free creatures. However, when five parents and two mates reported their children and mates missing respectively, I knew then something was off. I wasn't going to sit still while my pack begins to deteriorate. I had put too much effort into this pack to just watch it go down the drain.
"No but I called a few of our neighboring packs and you wouldn't believe it. Over the past few years, almost a decade, wolves have just gone missing. Disappearing without a trace. Our pack is the most current one with missing members." Roan explains and I'm lost. Why weren't this cases ever reported? If they have been happening for a while now, why wasn't anyone doing anything about it.
"Why wasn't the cases reported?" I ask out loud knowing even Roan doesn't know the answer.
"I don't know but something is strange about this disappearances. It just ...doesn't feel right." Roan says and I agree with him. Wolves go missing all the time. Most prefer to be left all alone, others just want to blend in with humans. It was rare but not impossible for some wolves to abandon pack life. Wolves are pack creatures and thrive most when they are with other wolves, however some rare situations, wolves love their seclusion. This however wasn't the case. The fact that the parents were reporting it and the missing wolves were even leaving their mates was a cause for alarm.
"I think so too. Do you know where the first missing wolves were reported?" I ask knowing Roan would not leave any stone unturned. That was the other reason he is my beta. He is efficient, effective and fast.
"Yes, you wouldn't believe it. About a decade ago, a wolf disappeared in a pack in the eastern part of Ravenia. The wolf wasn't reported missing because he was orphan but the record was made public. Strangely, it was never investigated but a few weeks after that, someone dies from the pack. It was the man who had made the report. There was nothing after that about the pack." That is definitely strange.
"How did you find this information?" I ask, very impressed.
He grins, "That would be telling. Anyways, a year ago the alpha died in mysterious circumstances. They said his wolf died. It's not impossible but when a wolf dies, it already shows signs of deterioration. I don't know."
This was getting interesting.
"I think I'll need to visit this pack. What's it called?" I ask, walking back towards the pack.
The sun is already shining and I had to deal with what would happen when I'm gone.
"Dark Storm Pack. The new alpha is the former alpha's Luna, Alpha Summer."
Alpha Summer. Nice.
"You are very good at this. I knew I chose right having you as beta." I grin and Roan smirks.
"Are you sure it isn't because of my good looks?"
"Please, don't go there." I cringe and he laughs at my misery.
"So what do you plan on doing about this?" Roan inquires and I sigh.
There's only one thing to do. I was going to look into it. It won't hurt to visit the said pack and look into matters. I would discover what's going on and find my missing wolves. It isn't a big deal.
"I think I'll visit the pack. I need to know more. It's the root of this problem. It won't take long actually."
His eyes widen considerably.
"I think that's a terrible idea. Maybe you should just let nature takes it's course." I stare at him in shock and quite appalled.
"This isn't nature taking it's course. We are losing wolves and soon, we'll be losing almost the entire pack. And for that foolish comment, you'll be coming with me." I offer and he grins. He wanted that. Idiot.
"Will you inform the council?" My annoying beta asks the most logical question of all.
As the biggest pack in the continent of Aventia, I am in the council. That was not the only reason though. The king appointed the new council members in a strange criteria I knew nothing about. There were strong alphas with large packs and there were others from small tiny packs across the world. Portals made it possible for them to travel easily for meetings.
Two types of councils exited, The Wolf Council and Supernatural Council. One addressed the welfare of wolves, the other all supernatural beings that roamed the world; vampires, faes, elementals, changelings and other strange beings that either hid well or weren't discovered yet. I am on both.
The Wolf Council once consisted of old werewolves who had more knowledge of the world than we did. Who had lived for centuries and existed for years. They were cold, brutal and sometimes inhumane. After they completely disregarded a pack that was attacked by hunters, there was need for intervention. It all changed when the king took control. He disbanded that council and created his own. A few council men had complained and a few almost lost their heads, if they didn't.
"No, there's nothing to share with them right now."
It would only create feuds and argument considering how unstable some alphas and other supernatural creatures are in the council. This also has nothing to do with them. Right now, the only creatures missing are wolves. No other creature has been reported so it deals with wolves and I would deal with it myself. I would do this on my own.
"Okay, so when are you leaving? The pack isn't that far away from here you know. Ravenia and Aventia aren't that far apart." Roan states and I nod, knowing it's true.
I go to reply but he speaks again.
"Wait, the pack will be unguarded. If you are gone, they'll be no one here to take care of thing. I think I'll just stay behind." Roan offers and I hold in a cackle.
"Roan, the last time I left the pack for you to lead, I came back with two burnt houses and you crying. I think I'll leave this to Melissa." I grin and he's not even fazed.
"Hey, that was one time and I didn't know the two males left to take care of the pups would start an argument and leave their houses with the stove running." He grumbles glaring at me, "Weaponized incompetence is you ask me." He continues and I sigh, not arguing with the thought. Some males always carry misogynistic tendencies to them. Good thing they weren't mated yet. They'd be alot to handle. The thought alone almost makes my head pound.
"Melissa is more suitable for this but Simon can help her." I say referring to my gamma. A strong and fierce female who's proven more han once she's a capable and trustworthy wolf. She also loathes Roan somehow. Her mate, Simon, my delta is also a powerful wolf who has helped me more than once around the pack. It will be safe in their hands for the short time I'll be gone. I trust them. Melissa also takes pack duty very seriously, unlike Roan who barely did. That's why he's my beta. The serious and crucial activities are for me to cover, while the brains and investigations are his forte.
"You do know you'll eventually have to share this with the council. I feel like this is going to prove to be problematic. I'm still young to die because of this." From serious to completely something else. Sometimes I can't keep up with him.
"Of course but this is a necessary action to be carried out. Might as well be helping everyone with it. When we find out what's really going on, then we'll cross that bridge."
"Okay, when do we leave?" Roan asks sounding too excited.
A few seconds ago he was lamenting on how he doesn't want to die.
"In a week."
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Heyy! A rewritten chapter 10! I hated how it turned out. This book solely focus on Ares and I realized I had unknowingly drifted to Atlas. So, there's a few changes here and there.
Ares connection and Atlas remains so, but this is his book. When this is done, we'll delve into Atlas.
I'm sorry if this becomes quite confusing. I just want to focus on Ares here.
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