The quest of Alpha Airen

~Start of the prophecy~

“How…did…you?”, Arien stumbled on his words. He couldn't finish his statement, he was confused, but at the same time impressed by Ariel's response.

This was the first time that Arien was so strikingly impressed by him.

“How do I know your real name?”, Ariel replied, his face suddenly evolving into a smile.

“How naive of you…”, Ariel said quietly and shook his head before leaving for his room.

“You haven't responded to my question”, Airen pestered him by following him. He was about to step into the room when Ariel stopped him.

“I have just one rule: don't invade my personal space. Do you understand?”, Ariel scowled at him.

Arien nodded his head, acknowledging his mentor's words.

“Good, now take two steps backward”, Ariel ordered in a relaxed tone.

Airen did as he was told and took the required steps backward before he resumed with his questions.

“Who are you? How do you know the name Airen? Do you know me from anywhere? Have we met before?”, Airen questioned several times. He couldn't stop himself from asking all these questions even though he knew asking such questions might blow his and Lola's disguise, he just couldn't hold himself back.

“I…”, a knock on the door, halted their discussion and stopped Ariel from answering Airen's questions.

“Who is that?”, Ariel inquired, glancing at his watch.

“I am sorry for the disturbance, Alpha Ariel, but your attention is needed by Gamma Ashley”, the knocker informed.

“Gamma, Ashley?”, Airen's eyes immediately popped out.

The actual reason for his joining the conquest was the one calling the attention of his mentor.

The night couldn't get any better than this. His face was newly married to a smile as he thought about Ashley.

“Why does he want to see me? I thought we had finalized the preparations for the opening ceremony, so why is he asking for me?”, Ariel questioned as he opened the door.

“Good evening Alpha Ariel”, the omega maid, greeted him, bowing his head to him as a sign of respect.

I don't know Alpha Airel, I am only the messenger, the omega responded.

“You may lift your head”, Ariel said to the omega.

“I will be back shortly. Do not roam around Airen. Not every Alpha would be as tolerant as I am of that attitude of yours”, Ariel said, staring intently into his eyes. It was like he knew Airen wouldn't heed his words.

Alpha Ariel was right in his perception of Airen not heeding his words.

As soon as he was out the door with the omega, Airen began to trail behind him quietly outside, but unknown to him, Ariel knew he was following him but had decided to feign obliviousness to the motives best known to him. Ariel knocked at the door before he entered, closing the door behind him but not fully, leaving a tiny fraction open for Airen to peep through.

“Alpha Ariel, you are here, please do take a seat”, Gamma Ashley stood up and welcomed him before grabbing his seat too.

“Gamma Ashley, I know you are the revered Gamma to Silver crimson pack and also quite respected, but that doesn't mean you should call for my presence whenever you like”, Alpha Ariel sneered at him.

“Forgive my manners, Alpha Ariel, but it was a matter of urgency”, Gamma Ashley apologized for his rude behavior.

“What is this matter of urgency?”, Alpha Ariel questioned.

Gamma Ashley pointed the TV screen out to Ariel.

“Alpha Gray, Alpha Ariel, is ready to speak”, Gamma Ashley announced.

“Godfather, to what do I owe the honor of your gracing me with a call when you could be in bed with your mistress”, Ariel said with a load of sarcasm dripping out of his voice. With the way he sounded, you would know that his relationship with Alpha Gray wasn't all clouds and rainbows.

“I see that you still have your sharp tongue, Ariel, but that isn't why I called. Can you please tell me why you changed the rules of the conquest and also why you have just twenty-one participants picked?”, Alpha Gray requested.

“You didn't even ask for their names or the names of their packs, you just went ahead by giving them the first task. Ariel, you had better give me an excellent explanation because the council of elders and other Alphas are beginning to whisper”, Alpha Grey explained. He wasn't delighted with the modifications Ariel had made to the conquest.

“I don't know the Alphas you are talking about, but if they have a problem with how I am handling the conquest, then they should come to me and not run to you like cowards”, Ariel retorted, enjoying the satisfaction as he watched Alpha Gray recoil from his words.

“Ariel!”, Alpha Gray, yelled out his name in anguish.

“We both know that they wouldn't dare complain to you as you are the heir to the Autumn moon pack and also my godson”, Alpha Gray pointed it out to him.

“What? You and I both know this wasn't the mumbles of the elders or some so-called Alphas but that of your mistress, Zephyr. She is pissed because I didn't choose her adopted son as my mentee and that he has to fight for his spot in the next month”, a cold mask fell upon Ariel's face as he said those words. He was mad at how Zephyr had a great hold on Alpha Gray, making him do all of her bidding.

“Ariel, are you implying that I am allowing a woman to manipulate me?”, Alpha Gray flared upon him, his eyes becoming soulless as he stared at him.

“Isn't that what you are doing? It's bad enough that Godmother has to put up with you parading your mistress in her face and you're trying to make her borrowed son your successor and those witches she bore for you, but allowing her to dictate what goes on in the conquest and question my authority, that's the height of it”, Ariel was breathing heavily, his eyes became watery as he stared at Alpha Gray.

He was aggrieved, how could he allow a woman to have such a hold on him that it had made him the gossip of the Town, and he was being called a weakling?

“I'm done talking to you”, Ariel ended the call. He was so pissed that he threw the chair he was sitting on at the TV screen and growled out in a rage.

“Ariel, calm the fuxk down!”, Gamma Ashley shouted at him.

“[You have to calm down Ariel, remember he is outside listening]”, Sage commented.

“[That is why I am pissed. The boy doesn't even know who he is, Sage]” Ariel responded to his wolf.

“Airen, you had better get your ass back to the quarter”, Ariel growled, leaving Airen flustered.

“Again? First, he had known my name, and now he knew I was listening?”, Airen was confused, attempting to understand what his mentor really was.

“Is that how Alphas are? Do they possess such powers?”, The door opened and Ariel was in front of him, giving him a gaze that could induce extinction.

“Fxck!”, Airen's breath increased rapidly as he stared back at him.

He wanted to turn his tail and hightail it away from Ariel's daunting gaze, but he couldn't as his legs had become stiff, rooting him to the spot.

“Why are you still here!?”, Ariel's beautiful silver-grey eyes suddenly altered into a cold and soulless oxblood color.

Catching a glimpse of how his eyes changed made Airen extremely scared. His legs that refused to move started moving. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, shrieking his lungs out, brushing off people with his shoulders.

Everyone stopped and watched him, wondering why he was shouting like a mad person.

“You didn't have to scare him like that”, Gamma Ashley commented.

“I had no option, Ash, do you know who that is?”, Ariel asked him.

“No, is it someone I'm supposed to know?”, Gamma Ashley responded, disturbed by his reply.

“You know how godmother made sure that only I and Efe knew what Zev Jnr looked like?”, Ariel raised a question.

“Yes, she did that because she knew Zephyr would attempt to use dark magic on her or me to find out what Zev looks like”, Gamma Ashley replied, even though he was as confused as ever by Ariel's unexpected questions.

Luna Eleanor had been prudent with Airen's identity. She knew how powerful Zephyr was and how she would go to any length to find out what she and Alpha Gray's son looked like, so she made a decision not to see him or get any close to him, but made sure that Efe, Ariel's elder sister who was a sorceress and Ariel knew the identity of Airen in case something bad happened to her, they would be able to recognize him and give him all the assistance he needed in taking his rightful place. That act alone has been the only thing keeping Airen safe, because no matter how hard Zephyr set out to use dark magic on her, she couldn't get the real identity of Airen.

“That is him”, Ariel disclosed, leaving Ashley too stunned to speak.

“I had my doubts the first time I saw him and his sister, Lola, but then I remembered Mildred had been unreachable for the past few days, and we had called our men stationed there to check on her, but they said she had disappeared into thin air with the kids....”, Ariel paused for a second before he continued.

“Well, she didn't disappear because Zev Jr is here with Mildred's real daughter and that only means one thing…”.

“Zephyr got to her”, Ariel and Ashley quoted simultaneously.

“Oh, goddess”, Gamma Ashley rubbed his head down to his jaws in despair.

“We have to inform Luna Eleanor”, Gamma Ashley mumbled.

“Not yet, we will wait for Efe to come and take a look at him. Only she can see that which we can't see”, Ariel quelled him, about informing Luna Eleanor.

“She should be arriving soon”, Ariel added.

“Zephyr, that fxcking evil swine!”, Gamma Ashley stomped his hands on the table in fury.

As Alpha Ariel and Gamma Ashley waited for Efe's arrival, Airen was still running down the hallway, petrified of what he had just beheld in front of him. His running came to a stop when he bashed into Efe and her entourage.

“Who dares bash into the high priestess?”, One of the maidens from the entourage bellowed, pointing her spear at Airen who was on the floor, breathing heavily.

“Elyria, let him be”, Efe declared. She walked over to Airen and bent down, took off her cloak, and then smiled softly, one that could melt the heart of a demon.

“Please forgive the rude behavior of my maiden”, Efe said in a soft tone. She extended her hand to him but Airen shrugged and scooted backwards, he leaned his head sideways.

“Don't worry, I won't hurt you”, she held his hand and began muttering some unknown phrases with her eyes closed, and in a split second Airen, who was scared, became calm like an infant.

He was no longer nervous, it was like he had forgotten what had happened between him and Ariel.

“There you go”, Efe said with a big smile on her face, and left his presence with her maidens behind her.

Lola and Decker ran up to him and assisted him.

“What happened? Why were you running?”, Lola queried, her expression compressed with concern as she inspected his body.

“Who is she?”, Airen asked. From the look he had got on, it seemed that Efe had piqued his curiosity, it was like she had placed an enchantment on him.

“Oh, that is Efe. She is the high priestess to the Autumn moon pack and also the elder sister to Alpha Ariel. She was supposed to be the next in line to their pack, but the moon goddess had another plan for her”, Decker explained.

“Is she stronger than Zephyr?”, Lola asked. That was what really mattered to her at that exact moment and what she was curious about.

“Oh, she is. Word on the street is that Zephyr is extremely scared of Efe as it is prophesied that Zephyr would die at the hands of the greatest Alpha to ever grace us in three generations to come up who has the guidance of Efe”, Decker narrated.

“Hold on…”, a thought immediately came to Decker's mind. He turned and looked at Airen, and the next word that came out of his mouth was a curse word.

“Motherfuxcking goddess!! The prophecy has already started”, Decker declared and covered his mouth with his hand.