"And what about the alpha?"
"What about him?'' She quipped.
"Was he strict? Stern? Was he anything like the King?'' I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
" I think every alpha is like that. I think all of them are just like the king. The only difference is that the king has every power and authority to be however he chooses to be. While alphas only have jurisdiction to rule over their own Pack, which is a lot of times much smaller than the territory that is owned by a lycan King, He can chip in on other territories he doesn't own.'' Cecilia explained as I shook my head taking in the information. I had been curious about all of this for quite some time. Right now seems like the perfect time to learn as much as I needed to know about how werewolves lived in packs.
" But when you say that alphas only have jurisdiction to rule over their packs, do you mean that the Lycan King has control over other packs that are headed by werewolf alphas?''
" Not so much.'' Riley added, " It just means that he has a say in a lot of matters. He is much bigger than alphas. Stronger than even the Alpha King himself."
" The alpha King?'' My lack of knowledge betrayed me. A lot of the things I ended up asking were met with groans and eye rolls from Emily. I knew that I was asking pretty much obvious and basic stuff but I was curious and I wanted to learn as much as possible.
" Yes. He is chosen among other Alphas. He gets to be the head of all the other offers. Anyway the alpha king has been given much more authority than the Lycan king.''
" But he is not more powerful than him." Simone interrupts. I stared at the both of them trying to come to terms with the contradicting sentences. It did not make sense.
" What do you mean?''
" What Simone means,'' Cecilia spoke as she took my hand, "Is that there is official power here. No matter how powerful a man can be he still answers to someone. The people at the top put the alpha King at a higher status than the Lycan King. Just to balance the power. But in reality everyone knows that if the master, Lycan King Jordan Luther, wanted to challenge the alpha King for his position then he could very well take it.''
We reached the water pond, all of us set our buckets down. Today we were supposed to clean our quarters. and the source of water was only a few miles away in a large pond in the middle of the South Side of the compound. Learning about my own species has been the most entertaining and exciting thing.
" Does the king answer to anyone?'' I asked as I tied my bucket to the Rope in the well and dropped it down.
" Technically yes. until he is King he answers to his father.''
" Why do we call him King then if he hasn't yet been crowned that title?'' Haley for the first time spoke up. And the rest of us stared back at her with shocked faces. She wasn't much of a talker.
" The current Lycan King, Joseph Lamuel Luther, wants to retire. and he wants to leave the throne to his son, our master, Lycan King Jordan Luther. but the law states that for a new king to sit on the throne, he has to have a legitimate heir to the throne, in case anything ever happens to him. OOr at least an expectant woman who would birth him an heir less than seven months after he is officially crowned King.`` Cecilia explained.
She explained it as if it was something so obvious yet it wasn't general information to the rest of us. Even the other girls were rather shocked. I couldn't help but feel that they were more knowledgeable on werewolf matters other than Lycan matters.
" And what happens if none of us get pregnant? Is there a deadline?''
" Not quite. but seeing as his father wants to retire, and he only has one son, the master would be allowed to take over only for a small division of 2 years. and within those two ears if he provides no heir-to-the-throne, then he is to hand the throne over.''
It didn't make any sense. and it was certainly one of the most confusing things I've ever heard. If their species were as powerful as they were claimed to be, then why did they have to conform to these kinds of Rules? Could they not just set their own rules? And there was no need for a king to have a son before they sat on the throne.
" I know what you're thinking," Cecilia jokes, " What would happen if more than one of us was pregnant for the King?''
It wasn't what I was thinking but I was now curious about that.
" What will happen?'' Riley asked as she finished tying her bucket. I picked up my bucket and placed it on the ground as I turned to Cecilia more curious than I had been previously.
" The babies would grow up until they were nine years old and then each of them would be given a sword and they would be required to fight and kill each other until only one remains.''
Everyone remained silent and stared at her as if she had grown two heads. Our eyes wide, a distasteful feeling settled at the back of my tongue as her words resounded in my mind again. and then all of a sudden Cecilia burst out laughing as she pointed at all of us. One by one, I watched as the other girls slowly began making a laugh as they stared at her nervously. But I couldn't see what was funny. Children killing each other?
" You should see your faces.'' Cecilia said in between laughs, " Come on guys. I was only joking.'' she said and I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. The last of the girls joined in the laughter with much more enthusiasm. But my mind was drawn towards the entrance of the castle where I saw Carlos walk out and behind him was Rachel, holding her shoes in one hand and the hem of her dress in another.
She seemed distraught and she was crying.
" Rachel…'' I let out as I dropped my bucket of water and began walking towards her. The rest of the girls followed my eyes and they all seemed shocked as they called after me. Together we ran towards Rachel and I couldn't help but pray that she was all right.
What could have happened to her?