Silver turned and saw his son leaning on a wall nearby. He was looking at the wolf lying on the ground with a blank expression.
"Eden, Atticus Blackbones informed us that Black Moon will remain closed for a few more days. I want you, Dante, and Cherry to stay in the cave. You're not allowed to step one paw out until I say otherwise, is that clear? "
The werewolf nodded silently then watched his father walk away inside. As the Alpha made his way down the hallway to his cave, he passed two wolves, one big and gray and the other with white fur and red chest and tail. They didn't take their eyes off their packmate lying on the ground and Eden was sure they heard what the guard said.
They could see the bloodstain that had formed on the cave floor below their packmate, his tongue hanging out to the side. His features were distorted with pain. Eden flinched when he felt the presence of Dante and Cherry next to him in their werewolf form. It wasn't the first time he had seen one of their packmates injured. After all, they are werewolves, and combat training exists for an obvious reason. The dangers they have to face are several. However, something was screaming at Eden that there was a problem.
The teenager was listening with a distracted ear to the guards who were on duty last night as he was reminiscing their attack. Several of them moved around the injured man and grabbed him as gently as possible to carry him to the healer and clear space. It won't be long before the pups wake up along with the rest of the pack, and the last thing they wanted is panic to spread among the young members.
"It was really weird that rogue. Even though he was of average height, his fighting style, his movements, he did not look like a rogue. He was more determined to attack us than to flee. He ignored the Crescent Moon guards. Besides, it's not every day that you see a wolf with this appearance. Caramel with black legs and tail. "
Eden froze and Dante's head snapped towards the sentinel. He strode over to the guard who had just spoken and grabbed him by the shoulders.
"What did you just say?"
"W-What? What is it? "
"The wolf you just mentioned, the one that hurt the guard," Dante yelled.
"It was a caramel wolf with black legs and tail."
Eden, who had just joined his friend, exchanged a knowing look with him. The two teenagers shifted to their wolf and immediately started running, following suit to Alpha Silver.
Beta Archer had barely joined his leader with several of his best fighters when two wolves landed like tornadoes.
On edge, Silver grunted as the two teenagers arrived unceremoniously in the middle of a crisis meeting. They had been the common thread of several recent issues in the pack and, even if the alpha wanted to be fair, he couldn't prevent some members from seeing them as the root of the issue, which would be bad for the organization of the pack.
Despite the warning and his alpha's anger, Dante couldn't bring himself to leave. His beta blood had started to boil the moment he heard the guard. The bad feeling had spread inside him like a bad fever and he couldn't ignore it.
He lowered his head to the ground in submission and linked his leader. Silver, who was about to scold again, frowned at the thoughts Dante had just shared with him. He looked back at his son and the young beta before turning to his men.
"The rogue who assaulted the sentinel earlier is more likely the young member who got banned from Crescent Moon. Eden and Dante say that his fur is unique. A caramel color with black legs and tail, is that right? "
The two young wolves nodded in response and the alpha turned to his men.
"If this is the little Crescent Moon future beta, she must have been terrified. The guards of her pack were in pursuit. She must have reacted because of the shock. We have to find her as quickly as possible. "
Eden and Dante exchanged a new look and wanted to intervene, but Silver addressed them in an authoritative voice leaving no room for discussion.
"Get out now. I appreciate the information, but you have nothing to do here. Know and respect your place. "
Dante was about to insist, but Eden pushed him with his muzzle and motioned him to the exit. They came out of the cave and shifted in the hallways.
"We are thinking the same thing, reassure me?"
"If by the same thing you mean this whole thing is more than weird, you take words out of me."
For the two boys, although Crescent Moon alpha Draken Hook was notorious for his cruelty, the penalties for members of his pack were too severe. But most importantly, It made him picture a lunatic leader willing to sacrifice his pack for his honor. A pack cannot survive without an alpha, and to deny the next alpha is to doom your pack.
Looking back, it was unthinkable that the man had ousted the future alpha from his pack and put his omega son's life at risk by separating him from his mate. Now that they looked at things from a different perspective, their doubts and fears only grew. The two wolves had entrenched themselves in Dante's cave, as it was far from Alpha and Luna's.
Eden and Dante had an idea in mind, a crazy and dangerous idea, and the last thing they want is to get caught by a dominant. After his father's reaction, the omega male was sure he was going to treat Mandy Moon as a victim to rescue and send a team out to hunt for rogues after dark. They were likely to fall into a trap carefully prepared by the alpha of Crescent Moon.
"What do you think?" Dante asked.
"I know there has been tension between Bloodhood and Crescent Moon since my dad withdrew his mating offer. I thought their alpha was going to jump at my dad's throat when he told him. He said he was doing us a favor by taking a failed omega like me and that without his future alpha I'd remain a sub forever and cause the ruin of Bloodhood. He was sure we were going to regret it. Of course, you know my father. When he spoke to me using the s word, my dad got mad and Beta Acher had to get him under control."
"Yeah, that sounds like Alpha Silver. Nobody talks about you like that without regretting it, ", Dante sneered.
"So if you want a specific goal… I have a weird feeling since I know which wolf hurt the sentry and how it happened. "Eden said, watching his words.
"Yeah, the same."
"There is something wrong with this whole thing. It just happened, or rather, it escalated way too fast. "
They were silent for a while.
"Say, Dante. Is the border with Crescent Moon the closest to the cave? "
"Hm. Yes, compared to the others, I would say this is the closest one why? "
"What if they had passed Moon off as a rogue to better infiltrate our territory?"
"Why would they do such a thing?" Dante asked, surprised by the question. "I mean it's pretty messed up as a plan. Why would they go that far? "
"What does old Woodstock always tell us when it comes to great battles between packs? What is the reason that comes up every time one pack invades another's territory? "
Dante was holding his chin, brow furrowed as he was deep in thought. Suddenly, a panel of emotions turned his face from realization to dread.
"Kill an alpha." whispered the young man.
Eden watched his friend's face as he confirmed with a nod that he had come to the right conclusion.
"No, no, no. We must have been wrong. There's no way Crescent Moon's alpha imagined such a twisted plan to infiltrate our lands and take on Alpha Silver. "
"You said it yourself, the only reason a pack infiltrates another pack territory is to kill their alpha and gain power over the pack."
"But…"
"In that case, how do you explain that Mandy, who is supposed to be hurt by her alpha, can move, or should I say attack a dominant middle rank and hurt him so much?" Eden continued. "If what Blackbones said is true, her alpha's toxin should affect her to the point that she should hardly be able to move. No matter how young and strong she is, there is nothing she can do about an alpha's toxin. It's a biological rule that we are all subject to. The only logical answer is that she was never hurt. "
"OK. I understand the reasoning. You have a point, but I still can't figure out the connection between this possible lie and an attack on our Alpha. "
Eden sighed. He paced back and forth in the cave to help organize his thoughts. He suddenly stopped and then started pacing again before standing in front of Dante.
"What is the current rogue procedure?"
"After the Big Bloodshed, many packs disappeared. In the region, we went from sixteen packs to four. Either because their alpha was dead or because they had lost too many limbs and were too weak to protect their territory. Many joined other packs, others went in search of other territories to occupy elsewhere. The remaining ones became rogues. Not all rogues are bad werewolves. They mostly live in hiding on the border between our territories and Human's territories. Because we chose to avoid killing our kind just because their leader or their land is gone, Bloodhood and the other packs have decided that killing must be the last resort against rogues. In other words, we push them away. Sometimes we hurt them, but we don't kill them. "
"Now tell me what is the procedure when an enemy from another pack invades our territory?", asked Eden.
Dante frowned and his face lit up once again with realization.
"Death."
The two boys stood face to face for a moment without saying anything. If they were right, The Crescent Moon Alpha had set up the most deceitful scenario possible to take on their pack. For several years now, it has become increasingly apparent that the pack is thirsty for power and keeps eyeing Bloodhood which they deem too powerful and too great for their liking. But Bloodhood is one of the oldest packs created by their peers. Crescent Moon, which only enlarged its territory through the absorption of decimated pack refugees by the Big Bloodshed, lacks the strength to compete with them. At least, as long as their alpha is alive and he has no successor.
In Eden's head, a storm of thoughts was swirling. The young omega knew there was no way his father would listen to him, even if he was sure he was right. He also knew that when night came and the sentries would be deployed for surveillance along the borders, the enemy would try their luck. Because with one of its limbs injured, there's no way Silver Bloodhood will sit idly by. The Alpha was going to patrol with his men and do what he thinks was the best for his pack.
They were both in the throes of an internal conflict when Cherry's face appeared.
"It's time for a meal. Aren't you coming to eat? "She asked in a shy voice. She didn't know what was going on, but Cherry knew her best friend and her fiancé well enough to know that they were thinking about something important and that it was about the pack. After all, she had seen their faces when they had run after Alpha Silver. She had seen them come back and take refuge directly in Dante's cave. They rarely went there, except when they wanted to make sure that no one would hear what they were saying.
As normal, Cherry would support them the best she could, but this time the omega female was scared. Ever since she saw their faces, the young werewolf couldn't shake the odd feeling that had gripped her. She was sure of it. Something was going to happen. Something was wrong.