The_Alpha_And_The_Female_Warrior
Chapter 16
Theme : Finding The Hidden
I squinted and scrunched my nose in concentration, trying to figure out what Leona was mouthing.
I really svçkat l!pre-ading.
Leona chose to mouth something to me from across the table. She wasn’t sitting next to me like usual because one of my pack members sat on her seat, and she was too polite to say anything.
She rolled her eyes, amused at my inability to re-ad herl-ips.
Everyone was sitting at the breakfast tables outside in the back garden area of the manor. Leona suggested to eat breakfast outside as it was a beautiful day.
She picked up her phone that was laying beside her plate, pointed at it and then at me.
Is she asking where my phone is?
I picked up my phone hesitantly and held it up at her with confusion.
She stifled a giggle and signaled me to look at the phone. I complied and turned my phone on to see text notifications from her.
My mouth opened and shaped an ‘Ah’ as I realised what she had been trying to tell me.
To check my messages.
I opened the chat, noticing that she made a new chat, just between the two of us.
LEONA – Would you care to explain what happened yesterday, early morning? 😉
I stared at the screen, wondering what on earth she was talking about.
ELISIA – I honestly have to no idea what you’re talking about… ><
LEONA – Of course, you don’t! You were asleep when I saw you…but Theo wasn’t 😉
My eyes wi-de-ned at her reply, ma-king me snap my head at her in alarm. She saw us together? How? When?
ELISIA – Okay, explain!
LEONA – Well, I woke up way too early because I heard a noise. I’m a lightsleeper, if you didn’t know. So I got out of my room to see…
I waited patiently for her to finish the s£ntence, desperately wanting to know what she’d seen. She purposely s£nt the text unfinished to be dramatic.
LEONA – …Theo carrying you up the stairs, ooh la laa!
My cheeks flu-shed at her comment, finding it to imagine me in his arms. He really did carry me upstairs and into be-d; Leona witnessed it happening.
LEONA – When I was about to ask what happened, I as-sumed the worse because of your health condition. BUT, he shushed me because you were asleep. He told me not to ask questions and let you sleep in.
Ah, I did think it was strange that she didn’t come into my room to wake me yesterday.
ELISIA – That’s why I oversle-pt? Because Theo told you not to wake me up? Why didn’t Jay then?
LEONA – I told him to let you sleep. Thankfully, he didn’t question it because he was craving yogurt.
“Can you guys get off your phones and actually interact with us?” Jay complained, leaning in to look at my screen.
I locked my phone immediately and set my phone down while childishly sticking my ton-gue at Jay.
As a response, he also stuck his ton-gue out and then attem-pted to li-ck my face.
“Ew, no! St©p!” I exclaimed, laughing as I tried to avoid his advances. “Down boy! Sit!”
Everyone was chuckling at our behaviour, amused at our childish antics.
Everyone except Theo. He had on a dark expression that seemed to go unnoticed by everyone but me. What’s his problem?
He glared at Jay for a split second before shifting his attention on me. He held my gaze intensely as though he was trying to s£nd me a message. After a few more moments of staring at each other, he seemed to give up and break eye contact.
I didn’t fail to notice him sighing in defeat.
“You used to hate it when people t©uçhed your face!” One of my pack members said in surprise.
I blinked at him, taken aback from what he’d just said. How did he know?
He started to explain himself after seeing my confused expression.
“Remember when you broke br@ndon’s arm when he squee-zed your cheeks without permission?” He elaborated, chuckling at the memory.
That guy’s name is br@ndon?
Oh God, I broke his arm a long time ago…when I couldn’t control my anger.
He squee-zed my cheeks ha-rd because he thought I was ‘cute’ to think women could be in the pack’s defence f0rç£.
Now here I am, not only a warrior, but also the Chief Warrior of my pack. However, I still don’t think breaking his arm was the best response.
He made me mad at a time when my wolf and I had very bad anger management and always demanded and expected respect from everyone.
That was when I was nicknamed ‘That crazy abnormally strong orphan’. Pretty long nickname, if you ask me…
Another pack member, the one who takes his ‘guarding job’ a little more seriously, joined in.
“I remember that, I was there from the beginning! You got so mad so fast! You always had an issue with people treating you lower than you thought you deserved.”
Theo’s eyebrow raised at this while Leona, Julian and Kobi turned to me with big eyes.
I shrugged while I kept on eating.
“Her temper has improved immensely over the years.” Jay spoke up, somehow sounding defensive.
I was grateful for his response. I don’t p@rticularly like to revisit how I used to be like. The anger, the temperment and the whole dominance behaviour. People hated me like that, even though I was really being me .
Ironically, people kept saying ‘who does she think she is?’ or ‘who is she to act demand respect like that?’. I wasn’t trying to someone I wasn’t…that was genuinely my character. I don’t remember ever being a bit-ch to people, I was just different, I guess.
It took countless of thera-py sessions for me to see how wrong that all was.
Little things like someone looking directly into my eyes, doesn’t mean they are challenging me or disrespecting me. Like my wolf kept telling me.
I know that now …
Breakfast ended a few moments Jay spoke. Everyone had different objectives today.
Theo was going spend the day doing paperwork on pack business, and he asked Julian and Leona to as-sist him. Kobi was going to as-sist Irene on training the warriors. Jay and the others were planning on chilling in the forest.
When they asked me to go with them, I replied with, “No, thanks. I want to rest today, but you guys have fun!”
Today, I had a different plan.
I was planning on giving Ms Williams a visit. I wanted to get more information on her pack. Considering how much I alre-ady knew, it would make s-en-se to tell me everything.
I waited approximately an hour after breakfast, until I thought it was fine to go. I didn’t want to anyone to come across me visiting her and raise questions I wouldn’t want to answer.
A familar quaint little cottage c@m£ into view as I treked down the rocky trail to her home. I could see the chimney puffing smoke indicating that she was pres£nt.
I knocked on the blue door when I’d arrived and waited for the door to open. It opened almost immediately, revea-ling Ms Williams surprised face.
“Oh, hello dear! I wasn’t expecting you to come by!” She exclaimed. She opened the door even further to give me wi-der access into the cottage.
I stepped in and gave the place a once over, gaining back memories from the day I coll@psed.
It was also the day Theo voluntarily initiated skin-to-skin contact, a voice in the back of my mind reminded me.
I sat down on one of the sofas, the one closest to the fireplace, after she had ushered me into the living room.
“How have you been? Were you able to figure out what happened that day?” She asked, sounding concerned.
I shrugged and said, “They couldn’t figure out what had caused that reaction. They didn’t diagnose it in the end, whatever it was.”
Ms Williams eyebrows went up in surprise. “Is that so?”
I nodded and looked down at my hands. I wondered when it would be a good time to bring up her pack.
She said something that snapped me out of my thoughts.
“I think I may have something that can help…” She said hesitantly, frowning in thought.
“You do?” I asked, confused at what she could do to help if the doctors couldn’t.
She nodded and said, “Follow me.”
I followed her into a small room filled with books. Everywhere I looked, there were just endless rows of books.
“I guess you love re-ading books.” I chuckled, admiring all the books on displa-y. If I had my own place, I would have a room dedicated to books.
“You could say that.” She said, smiling. “Now come to this side of the room.
She led me to a large bookcase, filled with large, thick books that looked a little worn.
I was able to recognise a few of them, just by looking at them by it’s side.
“These books are all about our kind werewolves. I own a few of them myself.” I said, admiring how many she had.
From a young age, werewolves are educated about our kind. Everything was covered, from shifting to mating. You learn all the basic stuff like the order of the ranks starting from the highest, Alpha, and about what to expect when shifting for the first time.
Werewolves shift into wolves for the first time at the age of thirteen. The age of seventeen is when you’re able to have a mate. You’re taught that rogues are bad news and should never try to encounter them. All of these things are just a few of the things we’re taught, just so we have the knowledge of how our kind works.
However, I was just surprised at how many books about our kind Ms Williams had. She seemed to have a lot more than I thought existed.
“But why and how do you have so many? Why are there so many books about us?” I asked, not able to hide my curiosity.
“I have collected these books for years from different p@rts of the country. I think every book about us should be preserved.” She explained, gesturing towards the books. “Many of us don’t nee-d to know everything about our kind to live their lives so people disregard the books that are unhelpful and only keep the ones that are.”
“Like the ones that I, and everyone I know, have at home?” I said. “The books that talk about the basic ranks, shifting, pack order, mating, book of legislations and pack policies.”
She nodded. “Exactly what I mean, everyone has the books that are deemed important and necessary, which they are. But that doesn’t mean the other books aren’t important at all.”
She turned away from me and picked a book up and gave it to me.
“For example, this book would be unhelpful to you, but helpful to others.”
I re-ad the book’s title and almost g@sped in shock.
It re-ad:
‘ Werewolf and Human Mate Pairing’
I looked at Ms Williams with wi-de-ned eyes. “Werewolves can be mates with humans? Is that really possible?”
She nodded. “Very rarely, but it does happen.”
I looked back at the book, still shocked. “Then the hell do they mate? The human cannot mark the werewolf.”
She gave me a smug look. “See, that’s why it’s important to preserve these books. If a werewolf had a human mate, they would have no clue on what to do. The answer to your question actually lie in this book.”
Wow.
She slid the book back into it’s place and looked for another. When she did, she held very close to her che-st.
“This is the book that I think will be able to give you an idea of what happened when you coll@psed.” She started to say, almost nervously. “Now I can’t say that it will solve your problems since everything I’m doing is based off a hunch.”
A hunch?
“You have a hunch of what my problem is…or what?” I asked, feeling my eyebrows raise.
She shifted in her sp©t, still clutching the book.
“Hmm, just know that this book will either be helpful or not.”
I glanced at the book she held, wondering what it’s content was. Was a book about health problems werewolves can aquire?
She sighed and finally handed me the book. I turned it around to re-ad it’s title and felt confused all of a sudden.
I held the book out to her with a smile on my face.
“I think you gave me the wrong book.” I said, chuckling a little.
Her gaze went from my face to the book and then back to my face again.
“No, I meant to give you that book.” She said firmly, not showing any signs of humor.
I gaped at her, really shocked that she was being serious. I looked at the book and re-re-ad the title.
‘ The disruption of ranks’
What on earth does this book have anything to do with the condition I have?
“Listen, why do I nee-d to re-ad a book about the disruption of ranks to know about the health condition?” I sighed not un-derstanding her efforts.
She shifted on the sp©t again. “You might or might not un-derstand when you re-ad the book.”
“But I’ve re-ad the book ‘ The order of ranks’ when I was middle school like everyone else.”
“Have re-ad this one?”
“No.”
I didn’t know it existed, like most of the books on this bookcase.
“Then re-ad it. It’s quite different, trust me.”
I sighed, and shrugged. “Alright, I”ll give it a re-ad.”
It’ll be interesting to re-ad a book about our kind that I’ve not re-ad.
“Just one thing.” She spoke up. “Try not to give it to others.”
I nodded, reas-suring her that it’ll stay with me.
We went back into the living room after that and spoke about different things other than the book and my condition.
I couldn’t bring myself to talk about her pack and ask what really happened.
Not when she looked that happy.
I walked out her cottage with mixed feelings. I found her eagerness to help me very sweet, but couldn’t help but feel disappointed in myself.
I hadn’t accomplished the mission I set myself to do.
I walked the long trail back to the Alpha Manor, clutching the heavy book, and went straight to my room.
I changed into my PJs since I knew I wouldn’t be leaving the manor for a long time. Hopefully, I won’t leave the house at all. I wanted to get around to re-ading this book.
‘ The disruption of Ranks.’
Why did Ms Williams give me this? This has nothing to do with illnesses.
Regardless of my apprehension, I opened the book to find a short indroduction.
~•~
‘This book is a continuation of the well-known book titled, The Order of Ranks. In this book you will find basic information, explanations, rules to follow, and helpful guides regarding any disruption or the fall of the natural order of ranks.’
~•~
re-ading that pas-sage, I un-derstood that the book was going to address what happens and what to do if sonething goes wrong with the natural leaders, Alpha, Luna, Beta and Gamma wolves.
I sighed, knowing I won’t find anything that’ll help me. But I still turned the page, out of curiosity.
I skimmed re-ad the first chapter, which seemed be a summary of The Order of Ranks.
~•~
The natural order of ranks in the werewolf community are:
1. Alpha
2. Luna
3. Beta
4. Gamma
5. Omega
{Unranked} – Rogues
~•~
I skipped a lot of the content I alre-ady knew and stumbled across a title on one page that caught my eye.
‘ The fall of the leaders ‘
I stared at that title, my heart pounding ha-rd and fast in my che-st.
This is what happened to The MoonKnight Pack.
To, supposedly, my pack.
To Ms Williams pack.
And Lily’s.
I started to re-ad, scared of what I might find.
~•~
‘This chapter is dedicated to the unfortunate case of when all the leaders in the pack, including the Alpha, Luna, Beta and Gamma, die of whatever circu-mtance.
If this happens, of course, the natural order would be for the Alpha and Luna’s child, the heir, to take the reigns.
If this is not possible, due to their age, there being no offspring or whether they’ve died too, then the following should to be done.
The pack in question should immediately be bound to another pack, even temporarily, to prevent them from becoming packless wolves. In other words, rogues.
The Alpha’s family must be thor0ûghly investigated first, to ensure that there isn’t any potential Alpha blooded offspring forgotten.
If there aren’t any, then the power will automatically shift onto the Beta family. If the Beta family cannot, for whatever reason, take their rightful position, then the power will then shift onto the Gamma’s family.
If the Alpha and Luna’s heir is alive and has come of age, seventeen years old, then the power of leading the pack will naturally be shifted onto them.
~•~
I st©pped re-ading just then as I sli-pped into de-ep thought.
So Alexander and Lily, the Alpha and Luna of The Moonknight Pack, must’ve not had any children…or maybe they did, but their child was too young to lead the pack.
If their child was too young back then, then shouldn’t they be of age by now?
The power to lead their pack should have shifted onto them by now. However, the fact that no one knows about The MoonKnight Pack just shows that no one is leading it.
The pack members probably joined other packs, like Ms Williams did or unfortunately, joined the Rogue f0rç£ for fear of becoming deranged packless wolves.
Ideally, the MoonKnight Pack should’ve been formed again and gone back to normal when the child bec@m£ of age…
What really happened?
It would be nice to see who my pack members would have been if things were different, I thought as I resumed re-ading.
I accidently started to re-ad another p@rt of the chapter, momentarily forgetting where I had left off.
I f0rç£d myself to st©p in surprise of what I had just acccidently re-ad. I backtracked and re-ad the sub-title of that p@rticular pas-sage.
‘ The rare circu-mtance of the heir not knowing their rank as an Alpha ‘
That can happen?
“Elisia?”
I perked up the sound of Julian’s voice.
“Yeah?”
“Leona and I are going out for lunch, you coming?”
I paused, looking at the intriguing sub-title in front of me. However, I felt so hungry and I could always re-ad the book later.
“Yup, coming!”
#Tobecontinued…