THE ALPHA'S SECOND CHOICE

RYKER

Tonight's meeting was more solemn than any other meeting I've had with the Elders and wolves of rank of the pack. The last time a meeting was this calm, was the time my father had died. We were mourning.

We were seated in the large conference hall in my manor. The spacious room had a large mahogany rectangular shaped table that was about three hundred metres long. Thirty six elders and wolves of rank sat at the opposing sides of the table. I took my place at the top of it, by my right, Caden, my first beta, and best friend sat, and by my left, Mason, my second beta sat.

Tonight, some people were fuming. They had every right to be angry. Others were scared. Again, it was okay to be scared. I could detect the conflicting emotions, fear, anger and sadness thick in the dining hall. They could barely eat. I could not eat either. We were a few weeks away from celebrating the biggest ball in our pack's history, and some Pack decided that it would be fun to murder few of our sentinels.

"I think at this rate, it is quite obvious. The Greenwood pack did this" Elder Aiden was the first to speak. The table swung at him, several eyes shooting death glares his way. Garret scoffed "what?" his voice rose defensively, his busy brows knitting in one straight rough line.

"You said 'obvious', but mentioned the wrong pack" Garrett chided.

"Have you forgotten that Alpha Edgar left this manor in a feat, three months ago? He promised to declare war. This is war!" Aiden objected.

"Alpha Edgar might have the temper of a wild boar, and the IQ of a sloth, but one thing every Alpha knows is that the Crescent moon is one pack that shouldn't be messed with. He wouldn't dare. Not when the dispute we had was over a trivial matter" Aaron disagreed calmly.

"Yes" Lucas concurred gingerly. "Whoever did this, must have been planning to war with us. And I would bet my money on the fact that a good number of us know who is responsible " At his statement, murmurings filled the hall.

Give it to Lucas to stir up the people. I had easily picked the strange smell from the murder scene, and from the dread that filled some of the elders, they definitely knew who it was.

"You're making assumptions." Mason countered.

"Am I? " Lucas charged. "The last thing we want is any sort of boycotting. The message was clear"

"There was barely a message, just death," Mason countered again.

"Brutal death" Aaron contradicted solemnly, his expression was dark and drawn._

-and contagious. His words had easily provoked images, painful images of a torturous death.

I was going over a few papers in my study, when my beta had come looking disturbed. Caden was barely rattled, his expression was always stoic. We were raised that way. However, whatever it was had gotten to him so bad his worry was visible.

He had come with really bad news. Few days ago, five members of our pack went missing, five sentinels all gone without a single trace. There was no scent, no guide, no clue, nothing at all. We had sent search parties after them, combed several packs, but it was all futile. It was as though they had vanished into thin air.

We had continued looking, and even if we had a big celebration coming, we had restricted movements. The pack's safety was my responsibility, and I was accountable for each of them. We searched and waited three weeks, and no sign of any of them until yesterday.

Caden had come with news yesterday's evening. I couldn't really believe a word he said until I saw the dismembered body of one of the missing pack members. His upper body was haphazardly separated from the upper body, and his head was severed and partly burnt in a way that was unfathomable. It wasn't just fire. It was something else.

His mother had collapsed upon seeing him. She recognised him from his scent. But I caught on something quickly, before it dissipated. Asides the scent, there was another scent that rested heavily around the areas his parts were slightly scattered. It was eerie and dark. It simply hung around us, and went no further. No trace of where it came from or where it went. Just at a spot. Few minutes upon the discovery of the body parts, the scent was gone.

"This might be war, but we can not go to war in our current state" Mason, my second beta, spoke after a long observation.

"Why?" Amar questioned, "what is wrong with 'our current state'?" His bushy brows were knitted in a rough line, his large nose snorted gases, and his thin lips hid grimly underneath his dishevelled moustache. He was clearly as pissed as he appeared, or even more. His sister's son was amongst the five missing Sentinel wolves.

"A lot is at stake," Raymond Sanders considered calmly.

"Is that it?" he questioned incredulously "There's more to lose if we sit on our hands and let these people poke at us for fun. Did you see the body? Did you see what they did to one of us? And there are others, more to come!" This caused the others to shudder. I couldn't imagine seeing five more bodies like the one of yesterday.

"We barely know who did this," Elder Aiden reasoned.

"Oh, come off it!" Amar rose to his feet, anger emanating from his pores. "I can smell the fear ten miles away from you! No Greenwood wolf would rattle you this way."

"I am not scared!" Elder Aiden refuted defensively. I watched both of them, picking their auras. One had a combustible anger, and the other had fear.

Of course he was.

"Everyone knows that the Darkmoon pack did this!" Lucas announced, amidst the brewing chaos, successfully plunging the whole table into full blown panic mode. Caden shot a glance my way, I met his dark eyes. He knew right from the start.

"You do not know that," Mason disputed. "We cannot begin to point fingers yet," he added.

"Boy, my eyes have seen war, far more than whatever you've witnessed. This is the Darkmoon pack, the scent said it all. Evil" Lucas deadpanned, his gaze fixated on Mason.

"Do not address me like a child. I know what war feels like" Mason was quick to defend himself.

"You do not know what it means to war against the rogues of Darkmoon. You cannot fathom" Jerome spoke up, directing a long look my beta's way. Mason shifted uncomfortably in his seat. The murmurings heightened as the people began to talk amongst themselves. Fear swarmed the place.

"So you think we are no match for them?" Amar questioned in an accusatory tone. "Are you doubting the capabilities of our Deltas?" This time, his gaze was fixed on Jerome, the Chief Zeta, and general of Crescent Deltas.

" The Darkmoon pack has a rigid reputation built from a series of brutality and conquests. They are what they have claimed to be. For your question, no, our Deltas and Gammas are more than equipped to battle and conquer the Rogues and any other opposing pack " Jerome spoke with a calmness that always had me appreciating his position as Chief Zeta "But I think Raymond is right. We can't attack at this time"

Jerome was smart and calculated. He knew the ways of war, what to say and how to say it. My father had never made a better choice in selection than this.

"If the Deltas and Gammas are as capable as you've claimed, why the hesitation and emphasis on timing?" Amar prodded.

"The acts of war. We know the Darkmoon rogues. We know they're baiting us. And we know how bloody of a war we would fight to have them retreat or be defeated. Now is not the time" Jerome reasoned again.

"They took five of our sentinels, and had one brutally murdered!" Amar spat. "Are we going to sit and watch them treat us like toothless dogs?" He growled.

"We are not sitting on our hands..." Jerome rebutted, a bit triggered by Amar's inability to see reason.

"We are!" Amar cut him off.

"If only you'd listen..." Raymond intervened

"To what?" Amar thundered.

"Silence!" I ordered, totally irritated by their arguments. The hall went silent. I stood to my feet, towering above the whole table. Amar sat down grudgingly. "The last thing we should do now is argue. We have to be more level headed, and calculated at this point now, more than ever. " I watched the whole table watch me as I spoke. I had their full attention. "Elder Lowell, a penny for your thoughts?"

The old man who had silently observed the whole table, sat up slowly, then cleared his throat. I took my seat. "Thank you, Alpha '' He began in a hoarse voice. "The Darkmoon pack has always been a thorn in our flesh. Their attacks are glaring and insulting, and not retaliating may be interpreted as weakness." He paused, scanning the room. Amar nodded in agreement. "However," he continued, "retaliating at this time, when the Crescent ball is fast approaching will cost us the joy of the moon. We cannot afford such risky decisions and its consequences at this time "

"I agree." Garret concurred.

"Well said, Elder Lowell" I commended, the old man bowed slightly "We can not go to war now. We have to investigate properly, prepare and properly strategize." I spoke again. "General Jerome will continue to train our troops and prep them for the impending battle"

Jerome bowed slightly in acknowledgement "Yes Alpha"

"Chief Garrett will triple up security. Every movement should be monitored. Nothing should take us unaware."

"Yes Alpha" Garrett bowed.

"If there's another body" I paused watching the eyes that watched me "we would be ready"

And whoever it was, was going to curse the day they were born.