Einar and Garrick had been on good terms since the latter's unfolding of the truth. Einar on the other hand had been relieved to share everything with his best friend. His tranquility reflected in his moods and his work. It was as if a huge burden from his shoulders was being lifted and he felt lonely no more. Most importantly, Einar knew that Garrick would be in the frontline to help him, defend him with his mate situation now more than ever.
Speaking of mates, Garrick revealed his own discovery and tryst with his bond mate to Einar. Garrick had a problem of his own as the mate in question was a human. The Alpha was apprehensive of the situation as a human mate would create quite a ruckus in the council. He promised Garrick that he would help him convince the council to accept Fayette as the pack member.
****
It was a fine day in the pack lands today. The sky was blue while the clouds were puffs of joy. Pure rays reflected from the sky as the light that touched the ground warmed Rosaline's skin. Her crimson gown absorbed the sun rays at its best while her hair were perfectly combed with a few strands on her forehead dancing to the tunes of the wavy wind. She looked to the silent motion of the clouds and a small grin formed on her face. With that smile were two rolling beads dripping from her eyes.
She was remembering someone dear to her.
Today was the day when her pack was massacred. Lives were lost and people had to flee to save themselves. Among the deceased were her parents and her little brother. The bloodbath assured that no mortal remains be present at the scene. That was the reason she could not bury her people with the respect they deserved.
To pay homage and honor her people, she and Einar decided to pay a visit to her previous pack. Though she was quite reluctant and scared to go there, it was the Alpha's encouragement that brought a pinch of courage in her.
Einar stood beside the lady "Lets go."
"Are you sure we don't need any guards with us. I mean those people are hostile." She fidgeted her fingers.
Einar took her fidgeting fingers in his hand and smiled at her "I know you are worried but we are not going there for war. Besides I have already informed the Alpha and taken his permission."
"You don't have to do this.."
He caressed her cheek "Yes I do." He kissed her forehead "You are my responsibility now. Good or bad we share it both."
This brought a smile to Rosaline's face while both of them turned into their wolves and started their journey to the pack of Idris. They ran for quite a while before reaching the pack beyond the mountains. They quickly changed into their human forms and dressed up to meet the Alpha of Idris pack.
When Einar and Rosaline arrived at the pack borders they were forced to wait for hours. Initially Einar thought that it was a required precautionary measure so he kept his calm but soon his patience was waning. He contemplated barging in, breaking the chain of warriors stationed at the border but it would show his disrespect and dishonour towards the pack and its Alpha. Moreover Rosaline needed him to be with her.
After agitating hours of wait, a middle aged petite man was seen from a distance. He was short in stature and had a thin moustache while his hair were all ruffed. He carried a walking stick and a slew of bodyguards surrounded him as if a procession was being carried out. With a smug look on his face he said "Welcome Son of Ragnar, Alpha of the blue moon pack. I have been waiting for you since you announced your wish to visit us."
"I can see that." Einar remarked sarcastically.
The petite man tilted his head and looked at Rosaline curiously "I think I have seen you somewhere.. Have we met before young lady?"
The anxiousness in her faltered her stance for a moment but Einar held her hand in comfort and she composed herself. "This used to be my pack once." She said after a brief moment of pause.
"Ohh... So I suppose you are here to reminiscent the past memories or perhaps collect a souvenir."
Einar growled at the Alpha for his comment. "We come here in peace Alpha Lothar. It is already tough for my luna to be in a place where her family was killed. Don't make it hard for us." He uttered the last part as a warning.
With a fake smile and a mysterious glint in his eyes, the Alpha rebuffed Einar. "Of course you come in peace! I can see that you have brought no one but yourself to my pack lands. So you see; you are in no position to make threats here son of Ragnar." He rested both his palms on his stick and curled his fingers.
Einar sighed as he realised why the Alpha took so long to meet him. His sudden visit must have alerted Lothar of a surprise attack. The Alpha's instincts would have forced him to be insecure and extra cautious. He must have searched the perimeter or its nearby areas to make sure Einar brought no men with him.
Einar just huffed in amusement when he thought about it "You think I would require an army if I were to attack your pack! Believe me Alpha I have no aspirations to take over such a puny pack like yours. I alone am capable of destroying the whole pack if I so wish."
Lothar was enraged with Einar's audacity to challenge him in his own place. He was naïve and underestimated the power of Einar's beasts. He wanted to react, however he kept his grin intact while his eyes expressed rage and defiance. "Well well well. Peace it is." He exhaled a long breath "I, Alpha Lothar of the Idris pack, welcome you Einar Ragnar knight and his mate Rosaline to my pack." With that, the Alpha left in arrogance without even actually inviting the guests in. Einar knew it was disrespectful but he did not wanted to create a fuss.
A young man who had similar features that of the Alpha arrived at the scene and meekly smiled at them. "Hello my name is Bryce. I apologise on behalf of my father. His ambitious nature has made him power hungry and conceited. He is always rude to outside people and hence we have no alliance."
"And why are you telling us this?" Rosaline asked to which the man merely just smiled. Einar on the other hand nodded at him as he understood what the young man was implying. He wanted to replace his father and for that he needed help. Indirectly he was hoping for Einar to help him in his mission to oust his father.
Bryce took it upon himself to tour the guests and make them visit the place they wanted to see. Rosaline took charge and memories of her previous life flooded her brain. Every path, every house even every tree took her down in memory lanes of her beautiful past. The strong waves of nostalgia played with her emotions as she laughed and cried all at the same time. She then halted her steps to a deserted house.
It looked like a giant had sat on the roof of the house for it sagged terribly. The windows were gaping holes for the winds to rush in and out and the door rested on its hinges at a jaunty angle. With shivering legs and glossy eyes Rosaline stepped slowly but cautiously towards what was supposed to be her home. She requested Einar and Bryce to wait outside.
The two men sat on a large tree log nearby while the Alpha's son ordered tea for the guest.
"So what do you think?" Bryce asked suddenly.
"Is it a right place to talk about such things." Einar swept his eyes around.
"No one is here at this place right now. I don't know if we would get any other chances."
"Why are you compelled to do this." Einar sighed after sipping some tea from the cup "I mean shouldn't you be the alpha right now. You seem of age."
"Yes I do. " Bryce chuckled "I have completed my training in the kings land years ago but when I came back I saw that my father had changed completely. He wanted to amass as much power as he could, he was reluctant to stand down from his position and still is. His and my opinions are completely different. I am not 'worthy enough' for him." He huffed and lowered his eyes when a treacherous bead left his eye "The hunger for more has already caused the lives of my mother and my younger brother. I don't want the same fate for my sister."
Einar deduced that whatever Bryce was speaking was true indeed. Still, meddling in other pack business can breach the law of trust amongst packs. If he intervenes here, other packs may take objection to it cause Idris has done nothing of sort to provoke the blue moon pack.
Einar sighed "Lets discuss this some day later. I will try my best to do what I can and you are invited for a visit to the blue moon pack whenever you deem fit." Einar squeezed Bryce's shoulder in assurance to help him out the way he can.
As if on cue Rosaline came out of the house with a bag whose contents struggled to peek out of its container. She smiled at Einar and said "Lets go; I am done here." She than looked at Bryce with gratitude "Thank you for helping us out."
"Its my pleasure." Bryce reciprocated the grin.
"Please let the Alpha know that we are obliged for his generosity and look forward to do business with him." Einar blinked an eye as both the men chuckled at the sarcasm.
The pair than made their way out of the pack house and decided to walk a few distance before changing into their wolves. They had to walk a few more distance of the lone deserted meadow before the lush green outskirts of the forest began. They halted in their path when they heard distant footsteps thumping its way at faster rate. They looked back and saw a wolf heading their way. When the wolf reached the duo, it hid behind a big boulder and changed its appearance into a beautiful girl. The girl breathed heavily; she was frantically looking behind her shoulders and to her sides.
"Who are you?" Asked a perplexed Rosaline.
"You must run. They are coming..." The girl looked scared as drops of precipitation covered her entire face.
Looking at her distraught state Einar guessed something was suspicious and took initiative to probe further "You look familiar to the man we just met. Are you related?"
She briskly nodded her head. Einar sighed "Tell me what's wrong."
"M-My father. He... He wants to kill you." Rosaline gasped while Einar chuckled at the stupidity of the Alpha.
The girl shivered when vibrations from beneath the ground were felt as they witnessed a few number of men heading their way in a casual manner.
Einar closed the gap between him and Rosaline and hid her behind his back. He looked behind his shoulders and mumbled "Take the girl with you and find Garrick. Tell no one else. I will handle this myself."
Rosaline nodded as she knew there was no point arguing. Einar was capable to take on every single one of them with ease. She grabbed the girl's hand and made her way to the pack.
Einar stood firm at his position. He crossed his hands on his chest and intently looked at the approaching group of men. The only person he recalled was the one who seemed to lead the group. He was the head warrior of the pack. What also intrigued him was that the Alpha was absent in his own plan of action.
The group of men stood in front of Einar at a distance. They formed a human chain blocking Einar's view to the front.
"I suppose the girl has ratted us out." The buff muscular man smirked.
Einar nodded "The question is not whether the girl spoke about you. The question is... Do you really want to go through with it." Einar's smug look said it all.
The buff man chuckled "Your reputation exceeds you Alpha but let me tell you this, son of Ragnar... We come prepared."
Einar huffed at his stupidity. "Alright then" He uncrossed his hands and stood in attention while he clenched his fists. "Who wants to go first" he said menacingly.
All of a sudden the smirk on Einar's face vanished as he gasped taking in more breath. His lips quivered and he fell to his knees. He widened his eyes in surprise as he looked behind his shoulders and saw the old petite man leaning towards his ear.
"I want to go first." He chuckled and started laughing hysterically.
Einar could feel the surge in his pain as he tried to recover the dagger which was pierced right into his spine. As he was trying to reach for the metal he noticed that the Alpha was now standing ahead of him.
"Not so powerful anymore right. The more you struggle the more the Alsim will infuse into your blood stream you see." Einar was horrified. Indeed the Idris pack had come well prepared. Silver was already potent enough to make Einar weak and to make it worse the metal had been infused with the wolf poison. Einar could deduce that the metal had been dipped in a strong dose of Alsim. He could already feel his nerves failing to flow blood and his muscles seemed unmoving.
The Alpha looked at a struggling Einar "I have been preparing for this day for a long time now.. Do you remember your horrible birthday?" Einar look startled as he squeezed his eyes. "Ahh.. you do remember. Did you know how many months it took me to gather such a huge army but you and your people killed them like rodents." he hissed angrily "I underestimated you powers back then but I realised my mistake and began to amend my plan."
"Why are you doing this?" Einar said between his muffled breaths.
"You still don't get it? Its all about power. I am done overtaking those small, diminutive packs. Their resources gets used up real fast. However when I stumbled upon your pack, my eyes gleamed in hunger. Those green luscious forests, the big open space for festivities, the massive land that stretched from mountain to mountain. I wanted that; I wanted that all to myself."
The Alpha grabbed Einar's chin "But there was one slight problem. I observed that their are no border patrols for such a big pack. When I gathered some information I came to know that the formidable spirit has blessed your pack and the Alpha possessed it. So I made a plan of attack when the pack was most vulnerable."
Einar chuckled "Your sources failed to tell you that there were two spirits in the pack land that day."
The Alpha scrunched his nose and jerked Einar's face to the side with a force. "I admit that it was a mistake. I failed miserably, but as they say you learn from your mistakes. If I had to take on your pack I realised the only barrier I had to eliminate was YOU."
The attack on the pack was several years ago. Lothar must have known that Einar was away from the pack in those years. It was ample amount of time to strike again but Einar wondered why Lothar did not use this opportunity. "Why wait so long? You could have taken me out in the following years."
"Gathering an army requires time my boy."
"Certainly you had some help." Being able to take on a pack ten times larger than yours was not a small feat. What bothered Einar though were the number of ferals that were present in the attack. They equalled the number of people the Idris pack had. It was clear that Alpha Lothar had outside help. Someone who had his own agenda against the blue moon pack must have aided Lothar. The question remained- Who could it be?
"People have ulterior motives my friend. As the saying goes, an enemy of an enemy is a friend." he smiled with arrogance. "We had been planning on attacking your pack this full moon day. The plan was simple; lure you out, isolate you and kill you. But just look how our fortunes have turned out to be." He giggled menacingly "You showed up on my doors and made my job facile. Now I will easily take over your pack."
Einar huffed as he bared his teeth to the alpha "You have to kill me to do that."
The Alpha just laughed at Einar and slowly retrieved another silver metal from his sleeves. "That's not going to be a big problem now. Is it?"
The knife met Einar's flesh and made a squish as the tip of the blade sank deep enough to make Einar scream. The Alpha twisted the blades in his hands all the while sinking it deeper and deeper. Einar's skin was tearing as the knife rotated in his abdomen. The sound of his muscles and nerves being gauged was growing louder. The Alpha jerked the knife all the way inside Einar until the metal had disappeared inside him. Einar cried through his excruciating pain, guttural chokes mixed with an agonised roar. He sunk to his side, convulsing and trembling like a rabid animal. Soon thick blood started flowing through the stabbed holes.
"Goodbye son of Ragnar." The Alpha laughed maniacally. "Safe journey to heavens."
Einar felt his life slipping away as the men of Idris pack surrounded him, probably waiting for the entire life source of his body cascading away and killing him. He could see the men laugh, cheer and curse him in their victory. He barely managed to keep his eyes open. The pain that once burned like fire had faded away to an icy numbness. Black filled the edges of his vision and the only thing he could hear was his own heartbeat. The warriors of the pack swarmed him trying to make sure he breathed his last today. Amongst the cheerful heads in a circle, he could see the sky through the gap hole in the middle.
He could see the beautiful blue sky and the black raven hovering above their heads.