The quest of Alpha Airen

~Half truth~

“Airen, Airen, hold up”, Lola called out, but Airen ignored her like she wasn't even visible to him. He kept on walking as though he was being controlled by a remote.

He was attempting to process what his sister had just revealed to him, but he couldn't. Wolves? Strongest and greatest? What did that even mean? Lola must be playing games with him because he couldn't seem to connect himself to werewolves.

How was it even possible? If it was true, then why did his mother hide it from him? She had always told him everything involving his life without omitting a single part. So, why had she kept this story of him being a werewolf a secret? If he was a werewolf, then Lola… Airen halted his train of thought and spun, staring at Lola intensively. He studied her from head to toe, checking if he could see something different from her usual appearance that he might have missed.

“What is it? Is there something on me?”, Lola checked herself to see if she could find the reason behind his fierce gaze.

“Are you also a werewolf?”, Airen questioned, still staring at her fiercely.

“Can we leave the questions for later?”, Lola replied and started walking.

“First, you, mama, and Mathew hid the truth about my origin as a werewolf, and now you are going to deny me the right to question you?”, Airen spoke up, he was getting upset at how Lola was treating him and endeavoring to dismiss his right to know the truth.

“I shouldn't even be speaking to you in the first place, but here I am trying my best to understand that there must be some justification as to why you, mama, and Mathew hid the truth from me for the past twenty years…”, he paused and inhaled deeply as he held his tears from dropping.

“You owe me an explanation, Lola, so, please don't push me to my limits”, Airen said in anguish.

“Look what we have here”, an unknown voice announced, appearing from the woods, breaking off the bickering between the siblings.

Airen and Lola turned in the direction of the voice.

“Who are you?”, Lola pulled Airen closer to herself, using her left arm to shield him.

As the footsteps approached, Lola took a closer glimpse at the unknown person, and immediately she recognized him.

“iPod boy?”, She asked out loud.

“How are you here?”, She questioned swiftly, not wasting any time.

“I should be the one asking that and not you. I had my doubts at first when you walked up to me on the plane. I could perceive your scent, it wasn't like that of a human, but seeing you here has cleared my doubts”, the iPod boy said.

“You still haven't answered my question, what are you doing here? You do know where this pathway leads to, right?”, Lola queried.

“No human knows this pathway to the land of werewolves or, as the humans call it, the land of trees”, the iPod boy said.

“So you are also a werewolf?”, Airen queried.

“Yes, I'm Decker”, he introduced himself to the siblings.

“I'm Lola. And this is my brother Airen”, Lola introduced them as well. Decker stretched his hand for a handshake with Airen, but he was ignored by him.

“ So, are you guys here for the conquest?”, Decker questioned as he led the way.

“Why should we tell you our reason for visiting the land of trees?”, Airen replied rudely. He was being careful and skeptical about Decker. To him, Decker was an outsider. Who knew if he was working with those who wanted them dead?

“Airen, please stop being rude to him”, Lola cautioned him and apologized on his behalf to Decker.

“I'm sorry for my brother's rude behavior. He has been through a lot in the past twenty-four hours”, Lola explained.

“So, tell me about this conquest?”, Lola inquired politely as she wanted to know more. She thought it might be of help to both her and Airen.

“Oh, the conquest is a battle of the fittest. It has been going on for the past fifteen years. Werewolves from all over the world come to compete against one another for a spot in the top ten werewolf clans”, Decker explained with so much excitement in him.

“Is there a certain requirement to compete?”, Lola asked further. Although Airen acted like he wasn't interested in their conversation, he was listening attentively to what Decker was saying.

“That's the best part of this conquest. There is no requirement, anyone, literally anyone can compete, be it an Omega, or a Beta, or a halfie, they are free to compete, you just have to claim a spot in the arena dormitory”, Decker said.

“What's a halfie?”, Lola and Airen asked simultaneously.

“A halfie is a werewolf mixed with different breeds. They can be an omega who has the blood of an Alpha, a Gamma, a Beta, a Lycan, even a human, flowing in their veins”, Decker revealed.

“So you are saying they don't care about the hierarchy nor the background of the werewolf as long as they can get a spot in the arena dorm?”, Lola asked to be certain she understood what he was saying.

“Exactly that, and you get to be mentored by the best of the best. From Alphas to Betas, and also Gammas”, Decker added.

“We are here. Which way are you heading to?”, Decker asked as they got to the entrance of the Town.

They stood before a picturesque arrangement of homesteads that looked like it was from a billionaire version of the events of the wild, wild west.

All the buildings were old-fashioned and yet in great shape and looked stunning. It all looked quite surreal.

“I'm headed to the pub where the Silver Crimson pack hangs, I need to speak to Gamma Ashley”, Lola disclosed.

She saw no reason to keep where she and Airen were headed to from Decker. He wasn't going to harm them with that little information, and maybe he could lead them to the pub and help them to get a place to spend the night.

“Gamma Ashley? He should be at… you know what, never mind, I will take you to the pub”, Decker offered to assist them.

Airen didn't like the idea of him accompanying them. He asked Lola if he could speak to her in private. She agreed and excused herself from Decker.

“What is it, Airen?”, Lola asked.

“How can you tell him where we are headed and about us wanting to speak to Gamma Ashley? I don't trust him, Lo, I mean look at him”, Airen pointed towards where Decker was standing.

“Does he look like someone anyone could trust? Not forgetting the fact that he is such a talkative”, Airen pointed out.

“Well, it's either him or a total stranger in this unfamiliar environment. Which wouldn't be a good idea for either of them”. Lola dismissed Airen's worries and left his presence. She walked over to Decker informing him that she and her brother had accepted his offer to assist them.

“Alright, this way then”, Decker pointed them in a direction and led the way.

Lola followed immediately, not wasting any time. Airen hesitated for a while before he joined them, chasing after their receding steps.

“Wait up”, Airen yelled as he chased after them.

“I thought you weren't coming”, Lola said sarcastically and grinned.

“Someone has to make sure you don't get yourself in trouble”, Airen quickly came up with a reason as to why he was going with them.

They arrived at the pub that the silver crimson pack frequented and waited outside for a moment.

It was a building with an inn on the top floor and a bar on the first floor.

It was quaint and homey, with people's laughter filling the building as they drank and gossiped.

“Who are you here to see?”, An omega who was the bartender, asked as he walked up to them.

“We are here to see Gamma Ashley if you could please call him for us”, Lola replied.

“You guys just missed him, he is on his way to the Arena for the conquest. This year, the Silver crimson pack is opening the ceremony for the conquest. Are you both here for the competition?”, the bartender explained.

Lola nodded her head in the pretense that they were here for the conquest.

“Oh, I see”, the bartender smiled and went back to his duties.

“What are we going to do now?”, Airen said in a low voice to avoid outsiders listening to their conversation.

“I don't know, I am as confused as you are, brother. But first, let's get a room, freshen up, then think of our next move”, Lola suggested, and Airen agreed with her idea.

“Excuse me, please can we get a room, if possible, with a double bed”, Lola asked. She turned over to Decker and asked him if he was going to stay with them for the night and continue his journey to the arena ground by dawn.

Decker accepted the offer without blinking an eyelid and thanked Lola for the offer.

“Good, you will share a bed with Airen, I'm sure he doesn't mind”. Lola turned around and glared at Airen, who was about to protest.

“Fine”, Airen sneered and rolled his eyes at her.

“Here is your key”, the bartender handed over the key to Lola.

“Thank you”, Lola said, and they left for their room.

“Is it just me, or does that young boy look exactly like Alpha Gray?”, the bartender said to his partner.

“It's just you, Greg ”, his partner brushed off his observation.

Lola, Airen, and Decker entered the room. They were impressed with the appearance of the room, it had this unique antique aura surrounding it. But, of course, what did they expect? This place belonged to the Silver Crimson pack, it was going to live up to their name.

Lola fell flat on her side of the bed and heaved a sigh of relief. Finally, she was going to take a hot bath and a lovely rest. Well, that was if Airen would permit that, as the young lad had something else up his sleeves.

“Lola, Lola”, Decker called out, petrified. His hands were shaking as he attempted to tap the bed.

“Ahhhh, can't one get a minute's rest without either of you boys disrupting it ?” Lola grumbled as she got up. She followed Decker's finger in the direction he was pointing and was shocked by the scene in front of her.

“What are you doing, Airen? Put down that knife”, Lola stood up from the bed and set out to walk over to Airen, but Airen yelled at her to stop.

“I am not putting down this knife until you start giving me the answers to my questions, Lo”, Airen stated firmly.

“Who am I? Who are my biological parents and why are there people out there wanting to kill us?”, Airen asked one after the other.

“Ren, it's not like I don't want to give you the answers you are looking for, but I don't have them. All I know is you are the son of Alpha Gray and Luna Eleanor, and it was the duty of my family to protect you, that's all I know, Airen”, Lola broke down.

Decker's eyes popped out as he heard what Lola had just uncovered: he couldn't believe it. If what Lola just said is the actual truth, then Airen is the rightful heir to the Silver Crimson pack.

“You are lying, I don't believe you”, Airen flared up, getting more and more irritated that she was refusing to say the whole truth.

“I'm telling the truth Airen, mama refused to tell me the reason you were placed in her care. Maybe Mathew was aware of the reason, but not me, Ren. I was kept in the dark as you were”, Lola explained. You could feel the sincerity in what she was saying.

“Hold on? I know the story about Alpha Gray and Luna Eleanor's child”, Decker chimes in. He thought it was an opportunity for him to gain some point with Airen for future purposes.

“I can tell you if you want”, Decker added.

“Well, go on, I'm losing my patience here”, Airen sneered at him.

Decker started explaining how Alpha Gray and Luna Eleanor had been looking for a child for years, and finally, they were blessed with a child, but unfortunately for them, the child was said to be cursed, that he was going to bring doom to them and for that not to happen, the child needed to be sacrificed, and his blood used to cleanse the whole pack.

“So you are saying that I'm supposed to be dead and both my parents agreed to it without putting up a fight?”, Airen asked in dismay.

“Well, the prophecy came from Zephyr, the greatest sorceress of all time, they couldn't fight it even if they wanted to”, Decker pointed out.

“So I'm cursed?”, Airen let out a sad sigh and fell flat on his ass to the ground, dropping the knife on the floor as his emotions were all over the place.

“Technically, I don't think so. Rumors have it that Zephyr might have faked the prophecy because she was jealous. She wasn't the one who gave Alpha Gray his heir”, Decker shared further.

Airen couldn't believe what he had just heard. The woman who he thought was his mother wasn't his biological mother, and his parents willingly sacrificed him because they wanted to protect their pack, and he was a walking curse. Tears were about to leave his eyes when he held them in and swore that he would not shed a single tear until he got to the root of all this and to achieve that he needed to speak with Gamma Ashley.

“I have to know the whole truth, I just can't sit down here in this room and do nothing”, Airen said.

“I have to speak to Gamma Ashley”, he stated firmly.

“Well, to do that, you will need to compete in the conquest, that's the only way you can speak to him currently unless you are willing to wait until the conquest is over, which will take three months”, Decker informed him and pointed out his options for him.

“Three months?”, Lola yelled.

“Yes, three months”, Decker replied.

“Then, so be it. I will join the conquest”, Airen declared.

Decker smirked as his plan was falling into place. This is his opportunity to earn Airen's trust and become one of his people.