Using two cars in total, Amber and Zael left Ceurian. Their destination was Yulian Pack which was in another province and it would take them at least six hours of ride to reach the pack. The journey was smooth and no untoward incidents happened so they reached the pack an hour earlier.
Alpha Gidou personally received them after hearing from the Beta that they were going to visit. He already knew the reason behind the sudden visit and he understood that as an Alpha.
Amber noticed that the Alpha seemed to have age a couple of years because of the black circles around his eyes and the disheveled hair. He looked so haggard and had no energy at all even though he was smiling at them. "Welcome to Yulian, although we could not give you a proper welcome at that because of what had happened." He acted as the host and guided them through the ruins towards the pack house that was luckily still standing.
They could also see most of the houses were destroyed after the scuffle and she could also smell the scent of death in the atmosphere. "How many rogues attacked your pack that they were able to cause this much damage?" Zael asked after seeing the damage.
"We are not sure of the exact number because some of them had escaped but there would be at least fifty of them," Alpha Gidou answered bitterly. They came in the middle of the night when they were supposed to be resting, if not for the warning of one of their warriors who survived the from the initial attack, they would have suffered more damage and lost more lives.
"Fifty?" Zael felt a little bit dizzy after hearing the estimate, "that's impossible! How could that number of rogues cause these much damage?"
"I know that it is impossible to believe but it is the truth. We were also surprised but we did what we can to stop them slaughtering us and all of those rogues had gone feral. We all know that feral rogues are much dangerous than the ordinary ones we usually encounter. We killed some of them but most of them left as the sun started to rise from the horizon." His shoulders slumped after those words because even though they successfully defended their territory, many of them had also sacrificed and lost their lives along the way.
She knew this kind of feeling, it was a mixture of resignation, loss, anger, resentment, which she had felt before. "Where did you bury the ones who had lost their lives?"
It was not a question he was expecting, "We buried them with nature." He pointed in the direction of the woods where a narrow path could be seen.
"I would like to go and pay them my respects first before we talk about the other matters," she stood there tall and strong which made Alpha Gidou admire this young Alpha for her manners and for the fact that she wanted to mourn with them even though their packs had no close ties.
"I will lead you there then," he changed direction and headed towards their graveyard.
They came upon a meadow in the middle of the tall trees where graves were planted with flowers. There were still some bodies that were yet to be buried with their families on their side. Some of them acknowledged their Alpha's presence with a nod and he returned them with a comforting smile.
Amber stood in the middle of all this and closed her eyes to utter a short prayer. When she opened her eyes, she could see the families looking at her with smiles on their faces as they bowed towards her direction.
It was rare to see an Alpha offering a prayer for wolves who do not belong to their pack that's why they were thankful that this young Alpha was mourning with them. Both Alphas walked around comforting the bereaved families before they left for the pack house once again.
"I know that our packs are not close but you were the only one that I could think of that would be able to help us. I know that I am shameless for asking you of this favor but my pack is currently vulnerable. If we suffer another attack Yulian might be erased from the map that's why I wanted to look for a temporary place where the young ones of my pack can stay. Ceurian is also the nearest pack that we can contact." He did not waste any second and went straight to the point after they sat down for the meeting.
"Young ones? I thought even the elders will come?" Zael asked a little bit confused at what he had heard.
"The pack decided to only let the young ones go. We will be sending some people to look after them. We do not want to burden you too much," Alpha Gidou answered with a smile. "We don't want the young ones to stay in this place and be reminded of the attack or how their family had been killed. Once we are done with fixing everything that had been destroyed, we will take them back."
The smile on his face made Amber grit her teeth. She knew that no pack wanted something like this to happen to their pack and to see him smiling despite what they saw, she was moved by his strength. "If that is the case, I will be doing my best to convince my pack's elders to allow members to take refuge in Ceurian. For the mean time, I will leave some of my warriors to help you with the clean-up and patrol around Yulian." Amber had already made the decision after they had entered the pack. The attack had left the pack with almost nothing and she understood why Alpha Gidou wanted to make sure that their pack will survive.
"Thank you so much Alpha de Lune. Regarding the attack, the numbers of the rogues were unexpected. We will be sending a message to the other packs to stay alert just in case these group of rogues decide to attack another pack. We are not sure if they would believe us so we would like you to vouch for us. We need to warn the other packs." After the attack, the Alpha already decided on the next step they would take and did not hesitate to call Amber. Since Yulian is only a small pack, they had no power to convince the other packs to remain vigilant, thus it was a blessing that Alpha Amber came personally to their territory.
Even in this kind of situation, Amber could see the sincerity of the Alpha so she nodded, "If you have the letter hand it to Zael, he will take care of it. It's also timely because even our pack had experienced attacks from rogues. If the rogues that attacked you are connected to the ones that were roaming around our territory, then we can assume that there is something bigger happening behind the scenes that we do not know."
Alpha Gidou looked behind him and gave the person a nod. The man stepped forward to give the letter to Zael which he accepted. Upon receiving the go signal from the Alpha, he affixed the Ceurian Pack's symbol on the paper. The symbol was of a wolf head with the silver moon flower as it's background with its vines enclosing the wolf as protection.
"I would definitely return this favor in the future, thank you so much Alpha de Lune." Alpha Gidou stood up and bowed in Amber's direction.
"Please stand up!" Amber was startled at the sudden action. An Alpha bowing to another Alpha never happens because each Alpha have their own pride. "You can't do this. You are an Alpha just like me and I am even younger than you. No matter what happens, you should not bow down to any Alpha and show submission."
He looked up and even though her expression remained unchanged he could feel that Amber was truly concern about them. "You don't have to worry. Even though I am an Alpha, I am willing to forget that I am in that position in order to express my gratitude towards you for helping my pack."
With this kind of compliment, Amber stood straight and gave the other Alpha a nod. Alpha Gidou sighed before gracing them a soft smile. "You've come a long way so we prepared a simple feast for all of you. Let's eat first."
They obliged and followed the Alpha to the dining room. After the meal, Amber decided to leave in order to talk with the elders earlier. They made a round trip and reached Ceurian the next day.
Upon arriving, she had no time to think about any other things and immediately held a meeting with the elders. Their conference room was still as gloomy as ever the moment she stepped in. The elders were already in there waiting for her, all with serious faces.