The Alpha's Oracle

CHAPTER 2: IT IS STARTING

Sierra’s POV

I hummed merrily as I walked into the dining room. I paused and blinked when I realised how loud it seemed in the silent room. Wait a minute! Silent? The dining hall? No way! We people always make more noise than in a market!

I looked at the people sitting around and my gaze paused at my mother, who was looking solemnly at me, her violet gaze lacking the usual sparkle. Uh-huh. This didn’t bode well. What could cause my Mom who was known for being the cool, level-headed one, to look so depressed? 

I narrowed my eyes and turned to the head of the table where my dad, Alpha Aiden Black, was sitting. His green eyes that Ethan inherited were now filled with worry, and his black hair stood up in all directions, as if he had been running his hands through it repeatedly. Damn. Things were really wrong if he was having such an aggrieved expression. Usually, he would be sporting a fierce gaze even while eating, as if the food was an enemy he was bringing to surrender.

The only time he softens up is when he gazes at my mother and Moon Goddess knows how sappy those two get when they just stare at each other as if no one else exists in the world. To be so in love with each other even after more than two decades of living together. That is not the kind of love everyone is lucky to have. They had their fair share of hurdles once, but in the end, it all worked out and they are one of the most loving couples I had ever seen in my life. Still, I would be lying if I say he is a strict father because, though he is stern, he spoils his kids, especially me. I am a daddy’s girl and I have no shame in admitting it.

Seeing me, Dad let out a sigh as if the weight of the entire universe laid on his shoulders. Okay, I am officially peeved. What exactly is going on here?

I stared at Uncle Fred, who was not my actual uncle but my mother’s friend. He was not even a wolf. He and his wife Elise were witches but yet honorary members of our pack. He was what I would call the advisor of the pack, and he was the guy everyone went to get answers to. But right now, he was having a puzzled expression on his face and he looked haggard, as if something was really bothering him. 

My senses were on high alert after watching all these people sitting there with long faces, as if they had received some really unpleasant news. My eyes fell on the others in the dining room, but they all looked equally distressed. I looked at Ethan, who was already there in the room before me. Maybe he knew something? 

‘What’s up, bro?’ I mind linked him, not able to stand the curiosity anymore. I had the feeling that something had happened. But worse, there was a foreboding feeling in the back of my mind that said the worst was yet to happen. And I knew to trust my senses…

Ethan shrugged his shoulders at me, looking just as puzzled as me. Okay then...

“Enough with the long faces. Someone, please spill the beans before I die out of curiosity. What the hell happened here?”

“Language, young lady!” Mom admonished me, and I raised my brows. Really?

Knowing it was not a battle I would win, I gave her a sheepish grin.

“Sorry, Mom!”

She hummed in acknowledgement, and I discreetly rolled my eyes. Mothers!

Knowing that Mom had no intention to explain anything to me, I turned towards Uncle Fred. With his nature of finding and giving answers, he was the most likely to explain things. Seeing my curious gaze, his lips crooked into a smile, and I knew that I had won. He was going to speak. Yes!

“Supernaturals are going missing everywhere, Sierra,” he said with a heavy sigh, as if he had just declared that the apocalypse has begun.

For a moment, I looked at him with confusion. While people going missing was not a good thing, I couldn’t understand why it would upset my folks like this. I mean, no one from our pack went missing. At least not as far as I knew. So what was the big deal here? 

I didn’t voice the question out loud, but still, the confusion must have been evident on my face because Uncle Fred was looking at me with what I could only describe as a ‘well, duh’ expression. Okay. What was I missing again?

“It is starting, Sierra,” he said, emphasising the ‘starting’ when he saw my confused look. What is starting? For a moment I stood there with a blank expression, until the foreboding feeling in the back of my mind intensified. 

‘It is starting,’ a voice in my head that sounded eerily like my own repeated inside my head. But this time, I understood what it meant.

“King Nicholas,” I whispered, and the mood in the room became even more sombre. I had always known that this day will come. That the King will grow stronger one day and come out of his hiding. That he would sacrifice the supernaturals with the Dragon ritual and I would have to face him. But now that the King was finally letting his presence known, my mind drew a blank. I had been training to face him my whole life, but was I really ready for it? What was I supposed to do now? Wait for him to come to me or go find him? Why didn’t I know what to do instinctively? Wasn’t I supposed to be the all-powerful Oracle?

As questions flashed through mind, I forced a smile on my face. I will get the answers I need. I always do. But for now, I have to take care of my family. If I panic, it would only increase their worry and I can’t let that happen. 

I sat on the chair casually and served myself, even though my appetite had long since vanished. Then I looked up at the people who were looking at me as if I had lost my mind. The atmosphere was far too depressing for my liking. That can’t do, right?

“So what are we going to do now?” I asked casually. Right people. It is no big deal. Breathe!

“Not we. You kids will mind your business while we adults will take care of it. We had already called a meeting for all the Alphas, the covens, vampire council and the fae on the coming Sunday. You don’t need to worry. We will track the King down before he causes more harm,” Mom declared in her no nonsense tone. 

I gaped at her in disbelief and the spoonful of cereal that I was about to put in my mouth fell back on to the bowl with a splash. Seriously? Kids? I am only two years younger than she was when she destroyed the mighty weapon that was supposed to be indestructible. And I am the freaking Oracle who is supposed to kill the damn King. What does she mean by mind my business?!

I looked at her ready to argue but when I saw the worry in her eyes which she tried to hide behind her stern facade; I felt all protests leave my body. 

Well, how could I blame a mother for wanting her child safe? She knows it is my destiny, and she accepts it. But still it won’t be easy to just watch her kid deal with a deadly ancient evil while she watches from sideline, would it be?

I sighed and looked down while thinking about what to do. I understand her reasons and fears, but it doesn’t mean I will sit idle and let them deal with the King while I stay safe. After all, it was my destiny. Sorry, Mom. I will not listen to you this time…

I risked a peek at my dad to see his reaction and found him looking pleased by my resignation. Hmm, so he was team Synthia too. Okay, then…

Lost in my thoughts, I brought a glass of water to my lips and the next moment, my brat of a twin shouted inside my head. 

‘Yo, little sis!’ he called in a singsong voice, making me choke on the water, and I spat it out all over myself. 

There was a dead silence in the room as everyone stared at me with wide eyes. And then the joker had the audacity to point his finger at me and started laughing. Following his lead, the rest of them laughed at my drowned cat appearance, making me the laughingstock of everyone. I narrowed my eyes and fumed at my twin. This meant war!

Just as I was about to shriek and launch myself at him, he caught my look and winced. Smart guy that he was, he raised his hands in surrender and blinked those huge green eyes at me in a seemingly innocent expression. Oh no, boy. It doesn’t work on me! You are going to pay!

‘Wait sis! Don’t kill me! I didn’t do it deliberately,’ he coaxed me.

‘I don’t care!’

‘See how everyone relaxed! Weren’t they all too tense? I was suffocating seeing them all serious like that! Now look how everyone is smiling!’

‘Again, not at my expense!’

‘Wait! Wait! If you kill me, you won’t hear what I was about to say, right?’

I narrowed my eyes at him.

‘What exactly were you going to say?’ I asked, curiously.

Seeing that I was hooked, a victorious smile appeared on his face before he pasted on a nonchalant expression.

‘Oh well, didn’t you hear that they called a meeting?’

‘A meeting where we aren’t invited,’ I sulked.

‘As if that would stop us,’ he said with a conspiratorial wink, and I gave him an evil smirk. Hell yes, we were going to crash this so-called elders only meeting.

‘But that was not what I tried to say,’ he said, making me frown. Huh?

‘Well, I wanted to say that all the Alphas were invited,’ he said in a tone that suggested that I should be overjoyed at the information. 

‘Yes. I heard. So?’

He rolled his eyes at me in response.

‘All Alphas,’ he repeated. I frowned at him before my eyes widened as I realised what he meant. All Alphas! Means a certain brown-eyed hunk of an Alpha that I had been missing like hell. I stared at Ethan with a wide grin. 

‘And now she gets it,’ he teased me, but I was too happy to care about it. I was already planning to crash the party but now I had all the more reason. I couldn’t wait for the meeting day to arrive...