Alpha Dewan sat in the back of the sedan, the leather upholstery cool against his skin as the vehicle moved through the ink-black night. In the front passenger seat, Ezra—Dewan's Beta—adjusted his position, the light from the dashboard catching the sharp line of his young jaw. Barely in his early twenties, his movements carried the restless energy of youth, strengthened by his Earthen wolf.
Behind the wheel, an older driver gripped the steering wheel with weathered hands, his eyes fixed on the asphalt with unwavering focus. They were on the return leg of a trip to the airport. Zeta Aylin had insisted Dewan shouldn't trouble himself with the long drive, her voice maternal and firm, but Dewan had refused. After the brutal attack that had claimed his father's life, he was not taking any chances with the important elders of his pack. The Zeta was the only person he had left who felt like family, and he would not entrust her safety to anyone else, not even for a moment of comfort or rest.
Ever since Aylin's son mated with a human woman and moved to human territory for his bride's comfort, the Zeta had become something of a ghost within her own pack. Most of her time was now spent traveling to the human city, drawn there by the pull of her grandchildren.
"Since you refuse to find your mate and give me grandpups to spoil, I might as well go where I can," she had said with a teasing huff, as if finding a mate were as simple as picking fruit from a tree. Some things could not be rushed—you had to wait for the moment the Goddess decreed, the moment your mate appeared. It was not something one simply chose. But the old woman would not hear it.
She should have waited until after the awakening, Dewan thought, his gaze drifting to the window. The woman had been adamant about being there for her daughter-in-law, who was currently expecting a fourth child. Birthing a werewolf child was not something a standard human hospital was equipped to handle safely. The Zeta had to be present to ensure the delivery did not end in tragedy for the mother.
Dewan sighed and looked out to his left as the forest trees blurred into a dark, continuous wall. This stretch of woods served as the border between the Moon Howlers and the Vicious Fangs, the primary thorn in his pack's side. If only there were a way to eliminate Alpha Vexton with the same cold efficiency that man had used against Dewan's father, all without the Alpha Council catching wind of it. He knew the political risks were astronomical, but he refused to lose hope. One day, he would find a way to eliminate that bastard and avenge his father's blood.
His thoughts soured as he considered their strength. Unlike the Vicious Fangs, who seemed to produce high-class wolves with effortless frequency, the Moon Howlers struggled. They could barely count a handful of Earthen wolves during an awakening, and Umbras were a rarity reserved strictly for the Alpha line. While they gained a few Earthens, the rest were always Ashens. Right now, Dewan and the Zeta were the only Umbras in the entire pack. Even Ezra, his loyal Beta, was an Earthen wolf. It was a staggering realization to have only two Umbras in an entire pack.
Sometimes Dewan wondered if his ancestors had provoked the Goddess, leaving the new generations to pay the debt in pale fur and diminished power.
The car suddenly screeched to a halt. The force was so violent that Dewan would have smacked his face against the back of the passenger seat if his seat belt hadn't locked with a sharp tug against his chest.
"What's going on?" Dewan demanded, his voice tight with sudden adrenaline.
Ezra leaned forward, peering out the windshield. "I… I think we hit something," he said, his tone tense.
Without another word, Ezra and the older driver threw their doors open and stepped out into the humid night air. Ezra's voice rose, strained but controlled, "Probably a deer…"
It better be a deer, Dewan thought, already feeling a knot of dread tighten in his stomach at the possibility of hitting a pedestrian.
He prayed it wasn't a human. He had no strength for the mountain of paperwork and endless explanations required by the human government. This was exactly why he believed humans should stay in their own territories, leaving the supernatural world alone. They died as easily as ants, and their government would spend months investigating the cause of death just to be certain. Such long investigations only happened when a death occurred in supernatural territory, whereas a death in the human city was usually filed away in days. Dewan sighed heavily; he was not in the mood for a diplomatic nightmare.
"Shit," Ezra cursed from the front of the car, his voice rising in alarm. "I think we just hit a human girl."
Dewan let out a low, frustrated groan. "For fuck's sake," he muttered under his breath, unbuckling his seat belt with a sharp click before stepping out of the car. Talk about bad luck, he thought, banging the heavy door shut behind him.
He rounded the front of the sedan, his jaw set in a line of irritation, but the words he intended to speak died in his throat. He stopped dead beside his driver and Ezra, his breath hitching as he stared at the figure slumped on the dark asphalt.
— — — — — — — —
Hey lovely readers! 💖
I want to know, how are you finding the journey so far? Are you enjoying the story? What would you love to see happen next? Your thoughts, comments, and reviews mean the world to me. Don't hold back, every little bit of feedback, every power stone, and every gift is a huge motivation that keeps me writing the scenes you love most.
Thank you for being part of this adventure with me, I can't wait to hear from you! 🌟