ZINA
"Zina, you know we love you right?"
"Zina, you must do what you must and save us! We are your family, right?"
"Zina, the road ahead may be paved with thorns. But how hard could it possibly get if you've your family by your side throughout it all?"
"Zina, as it has always been in the past, we will stand steadfastly behind you no matter what. We will never abandon you."
"Zina, do not feel guilty. We are all but a small pack, and we shouldn't concern ourselves with the well-being of a man so high in our world. I am sure this Daemon prince is more than capable of taking care of himself, so do what you must."
Zina's captors had given her ample time to hear the despair of her pack. And in those times, Zina heard all about how wicked it would be if Zina didn't tell such a simple lie. Her tears had finally cascaded down at the cruelty of their situation. Indeed, in their world, being weak is a mortal sin.
Zina's captors had returned all her pack members save for Pia and the Alpha's only son. And throughout the week as they waited for the cursed decree from the North to arrive, her pack members kept convincing her that what harm could one lie possibly do? To them, one lie wasn't worth Pia's life.
Zina thought the same. Except it wasn't just one lie; it was a lie that would change lives, bring down dynasties, lead to a bloodbath like no other, and haunt her forever.
"Zina Wolf-Knight!"
"Yes!"
"Receive the Decree of the Alpha King that rules supreme in the North." The emissary commanded, causing her and her pack members to kneel on one knee as he read out the decree.
While such tradition of having a king was foreign here in the East, the NorthSteed pack had united all the Northern Packs under one banner of the Alpha King. It was a feat that most regions struggled with, as any attempt at unification was met with internal strife and civil wars.
"I, Alpha King Xavier NorthSteed, Alpha King of the Arctic North and Alpha to the NorthSteed Werewolf House invite you, Zina Wolf-Knight, to my birthday banquet. In recognition of your divine powers, it is my utmost pleasure to have someone like you present there. I do hope to see you come dine and party with me."
Zina bowed in acceptance of the decree, her shoulders squared with a deadly determination. "I, Zina Wolf-Knight, shall receive the decree of the Alpha King of the North."
She got on the carriage sent by the king since she was wolfless and couldn't journey with them in wolf form. Her companions shifted into their wolves, running alongside her carriage that was propelled by a very powerful horse.
It took fifteen days to reach north, although that was in part due to the fact that she rode a carriage. The shift from the usual rain forest atmosphere in the east to the frosty and ice cold atmosphere in the north was profound.
She found herself shivering as she was not used to such a wracking cold.
Her companions were kind; providing her with a fur coat and all that she needed—she was after all the so-called guest of the northern Alpha King.
A cursed status of course.
Throughout her journey, questions churned in her mind; Like why the Alpha King invite seers to his banquet when she was sure such a high ranking man would have his own personal Theta? And why her?
Finally, their journey came to an end, and Zina was housed in what was termed the most expensive inn in Borle, the capital of the Arctic North, and the territory of the NorthSteed Pack.
Alongside her, Zina heard there were also three other seers from insignificant packs that would be presented before the Alpha King together with herself. Zina wondered if her captors had met those people too and bribed them… or perhaps, threatened them as they had done with herself.
The day of the king's birthday quickly rolled by and Zina was awakened by a knock on her door.
"Come in." She groaned, unable to sleep the night before as she thought of what she must do to save both her pack and her conscience at the same time. But it had been a terribly losing battle as the only road she saw before her was to make one choice.
And when Zina did manage to doze off, the man came again in her visions. Black hair tousled against the wind, expression grim and mysterious. Clad in a commoners dressing, and eyes like an endless orb that threatened to swallow her whole. Eyes that demanded her submission.
Would she give him her submission? Or not?
'The Alpha King shall ask you two questions; the first who shall kill me, and the second, who shall inherit my throne—to all these questions you must answer; Daemon NorthSteed, the fourth legitimate son of the Alpha, born in the year of the DireWolf and currently twenty-two years old is the one who shall kill his father, and also the one who shall also inherit his throne.'
Zina would be a big liar if she said she felt profound sadness for this Daemon guy. He was obviously a privileged man, born into a privileged house and whose existence was currently haunting hers.
That was what she tried to tell and convince herself throughout the night.
Okay, perhaps she felt bad for him, but that was about all the emotions she could muster for him. They were both wronged in a very cruel world. It was not her fault that she had no power, and not her fault that he had too little power to prevent such an obvious lowly framing of himself.
Zina assumed the latter because however would the man be set up so easily since he was the legitimate son of the Alpha king? Truly, only the powerless could be treated that way. Zina had tasted a fair share of the feeling so she knew it too well.
Zina had no intention of becoming an abandoned one again, so no matter how much her conscience pricked at her at the thought of what she must do, she had to summon a courage like no other and weather the storm before her.
All she needed to do was tell just one lie, and everything would be fine and her beautiful blissful village life as she knew it would return back to her.
Yet even as she said those words in her mind, she knew they were untrue. Nothing would ever be the same again.
A knock sounded on her room door, and the door swung open almost immediately. "Miss, I have been assigned to help you prepare for the banquet tonight."
Zina looked at the direction of the girl who spoke, her senses telling her that the girl was certainly young, probably even younger than her.
"Who are you?" She asked the girl.
"My name is Seraph, I am an omega and servant to the NorthSteed pack. I am ten and three years old."
"The banquet is only but at night, I believe it is still morning."
"Indeed miss, however there are a lot of preparations I must help you with."
Zina knew that by a lot of preparations the girl was referring to her rural appearance. Zina definitely didn't look like one fit to stand before an Alpha of a high ranked pack talkless of the Alpha King.
The girl led her to a bath, and with her staff and heightened senses, Zina counted the steps they took and listened to her environs.
She could hear servants chattering about her. Even though she was still at the inn and not the castle, the birthday celebrations of the Alpha King swept through everywhere.
Seraph submerged her in a warm water that smelt of different kinds of flowers.
"I hear the king will finally pick his heir. Say the king has fourteen sons; seven legitimate and seven illegitimate sons, which of them do you think it will be?" A servant said from the next room.
"I must reckon it shall not be any of the illegitimate sons." Another servant responded and together they all burst into laughter at some hidden joke.
Zina listened intently, stretching her senses, even as Seraph lathered her body. She was going to war, and there was no better strategy than knowing the people she was about to face.
She was from a remote place, there at the eastern lands and knew nothing of the infamous Arctic North, talkless of the Northstreed Pack that inhabited there and reigned supreme.
"Do you think it shall be any of his legitimate sons either?" A different voice interjected, "do not underestimate any of his sons, although I do believe this banquet shall make for a more interesting foreplay than the appointment of the werewolf heir."
"What do you think?" The first voice asked in a hushed and excited tone.
In a whisper that almost escaped Zina's wonderful senses, the third voice whispered, "they say the king's food was poisoned twice in a row. They say the culprit is sure to be one of his legitimate sons."
The first and second voice gasped loudly, their hands smacking against their lips harshly as if to hush themselves.