Chapter 20: The Arrival

Jakob’s Pov

I was sitting in my office, discussing pack matters with my beta and my other commanders. The rogue attack had been minimised surprisingly for the last few months. The last one I remembered was five months ago, just a few weeks after Lotus left the. Eva also found her mate, Lawrence, after merging our packs. He was supposed to be alpha of the Silver Moon Pack, and right now was my Beta.

‘Alpha, a wolf crossed our territory. She came from Golden Moon Pack’s territory,' one of my patrol guards suddenly mind-linked me.

‘Rogue!’ Lawrence said in a concerned tone. I frowned as we have not heard from them lately.

‘We are not sure, Beta!’, another guard replied this time.

‘What do you mean by that?’ I asked this time.

‘The wolf doesn’t smell like a rogue!’ the guard said again.

‘It is running too fast for us to catch it!’ another guard said.

‘It is moving towards the packhouse!’

“Lawrence, ask everyone to stay inside. Ask warriors to be ready.”, I ordered him while leaving my office.

‘Is there anything else you can smell?’ I asked my border guards.

‘Alpha, we sensed a few more wolves, but their scents have fainted. It seems like they were nowhere near, the guard replied.

“What do you think, Jakob?” Lawrence asked me.

“It’s strange for only one wolf crossing others territory.”, I replied. By then, we were standing in the back of the packhouse because that wolf was coming from that direction.

‘Alpha, she is nearby’, another warrior warned us as he could not stop the wolf.

I did not reply. I was looking towards the woods. After a few moments, I sensed a slight disturbance in the woods. Everyone took a defensive position. I smelt chocolate. Then I saw the wolf. I saw her. It was her!

“Lotus! Lo!”, Evalyn shouted running towards her from the packhouse. I didn’t waste any more time. I also ran towards Lotus. Something was wrong with her. Her wolf was panting. Suddenly it laid on the ground giving up on her legs. I had never seen her like that.

“Lo!” I patted her,” What’s wrong?”

She let out a painful growl.

“Someone! Please grab a blanket. Quickly”, Eva shouted again. She placed her palm on her fur. Lotus growled again. An omega came running with a blanket in her hand. Eva put it on Lotus’ wolf. She shifted back.

“Lo! What happened?” Eva asked her, hugging tightly. But Lotus only screamed in pain. Tears were rolling down her cheeks.

“You are burning, Lo! You got the fever”, Eva said again in concern.

“Let’s take her inside!”, I said, scoping her up on my arms and mind-linked the pack doctor to come. Lotus was still screaming in pain.

Evalyn asked me to take her to her room.  I placed her on the bed gently. Then I saw it. She was marked! What the hell was that? What was he thinking? Marking a minor!

“Jakey! I’m sorry! I couldn’t stay any longer”, Lo said painfully. I did not say anything. I went outside the room, leaving Eva alone to get her dressed.

“Alpha, someone waiting for you incall”, Lawrence said, handing me the phone.

“Alpha Jakob!” the voice said.

“Damien!” I yelled, “How dare you?”

“Alpha Jakob, listen to me very carefully. I know I did not treat your sister the way I should have treated her. I made a lot of mistakes while making decisions for her. Even I marked her without her consent. But right now, I need your help. She is in heat Jakob.”, Damien said.

Heat! That was why she was screaming. How dared him to mark her without her consent? How did he know she was here? Did he follow her? Then why was he not here to comfort her?

“How did you know she is here? Why on earth would you mark her?” I yelled again.

“Jakob, the day I marked her, I was not in control. She was numb because of that for a long time, and then her heat came. I was in my office.” Damien sighed. “The alpha of the Blood Howler Pack is my uncle. His daughter, my cousin, came to visit me on that very same day. She was in my office. She came near me to give me a friendly hug but tipped over. I held her quickly to save her from falling, and accidentally, her lips were on mine. At that very moment, my kitten came to my office. She was in pain. Before I could explain anything, she left. I couldn’t follow her as my patrolling guards informed me about an attack from midnight pack, who happens to be one of my allies. My pack needed me, and I could not abandon them. I asked my best warriors to follow her and bring her back. They followed her and informed them that she was running towards your pack. I held them back. I only asked them to follow her from a distance so that they can protect her if required. Jakob, fifty of my best warriors, are now living near your territory on each side to guard her.” Damien stopped after his explanation.

I could understand his situation. He was an alpha. Still, he held back too long for the sake of her safety. He truly loved her. I had no say in that matter. After all, he was her mate. He had that right to mark her from the very first day.

“What? Why did you get attacked by your ally? Why didn’t you inform me before about Lo’s health?” I asked him in a more patient tone.

“That’s another story. I recently signed a treaty with Midnight pack that we will not attack each other under any circumstances. The stupid daughter of alpha Markus came to my territory one day, slutting around me. Everyone knew in my pack by then about our marriage. At first, I did not pay any attention to her. In fact, she was like destruction for others when it came to Kitten. But I have no idea how on earth she felt that I would be making her my Luna! The day I marked my kitten in front of everyone, she questioned me why I had chosen my kitten over her. I already lost control on that day. I was furious at her, and my wolf couldn’t bear her anymore. I kicked her out of my territory, and that attack was the after effect. But Jakob, you need to be very careful. I will come there as soon as I am done with all the pack business, and meanwhile, I will send some more warriors. Alpha Jakob, I want you to keep my Luna safe for a few days.”, Damien confessed.

This morning, I heard about Midnight Pack. I've heard the story of how Blood Stone Pack almost destroyed them in a night. But now I could see why that happened. I could see both Damien and Lotus went through a lot. But Lotus ended up hurting herself physically while Damien was still struggling physically as well as mentally.

“We are capable of guarding her. We don’t need your warriors, alpha Damien. Also, she is my sister.”, I told him in assurance.

“Jakob, I am not done yet. Let me ask you one question. How many rogue attacks have you seen after our marriage?” Damien asked me suddenly.

I was a little surprised. There was only one. It was a good thing. Then why am I getting a bad feeling about that?

“Only once”, I said. “Why are you asking?”

“Because the rogues used to attack your pack because of her. It’s her whom they want!” he said in anger.

“What!” I couldn’t believe it.

“Yes, Jakob. There is a pathetic lunatic bustard who calls himself the rogue king. That asshole wants her to breed with her because of her abilities.” There was disgust and anger in his tone right now.

I was also losing control. Some lunatic wants my sister to breed! But still, we are stronger together. We have merged our packs.

“Calm down, Alpha. Even if they attack us, we can handle them. We have already merged our packs! We are stronger now!” I tried to assure him again.

I heard him laughing. “How many members do you have in the whole pack, Jakob?”

“Around five hundred.”, I said. Why is he asking us? We are now considered a decent pack.

He laughed again!

“Almost seven hundred attacked us for the first time on the very same day I went to the midnight pack for the treaty. My beta was with me. My pack would have been devastated if my wonderful wife hadn’t taken the lead to kill all of them mercilessly. The second time, I was stabbed first, and then they attacked in a chaotic situation. That time, it was eighteen hundred.” Damien paused. I couldn’t utter a single word. If that many rogues attack my pack, we will share the same fate as the New Moon Pack.

“That was not it. After that, we hunted down the hideouts of rogues. There were thousands of them. The last attack was only with six hundred rogues. My warriors searched for more, but they could find only five hundred more. I have already contacted Blood Howler Pack, Night Walker Pack, and Shadow Stone Pack. They reside in your territory. They are not only my allies but also, we are related by bloodline. They adore my Luna, and if something bad happens, you will find them fighting beside you. They are also keeping an eye on your territory. I will ask you to be prepared for an attack. And this time, they are not attacking Blood Stone Pack, Jakob. So, they will use all their might. Also, the moon festival of yours is next week. What an ideal time!” Damien completed.

He thought it through! He involved those three packs! They were large werewolves’ packs with thousands of pack members. Damien was right. They would strike again. They would do it during the moon festival when none would be paying attention. Lotus was also in heat. I didn’t know how to react!

“Jakob! How is my kitten?” Damien asked me. I never heard him talking that softly before.

“Not very well. The pack doctor is taking care of her along with Evalyn and my mate.” I sighed.

“Please take care of her, Jakob. I will reach your territory as soon as possible”, he said again.

“Thank you, Alpha Damien, for taking care of my little sister. My pack will be waiting for you.” I thanked him though what he did was much more.

“Jakob, she is mine to protect. You are doing a favour here. Don’t thank me.”, he said before hanging up the phone.

Lawrence was standing there beside me. He probably overheard some of the things. I looked at him. He was concerned. I could see in his eyes.

“Jakob! What will happen?” he asked me.

“The storm is coming, Lawrence. We need to be prepared. We will do whatever we can from our side.”, I said. He nodded his head in approval. We both headed back to Eva’s room. The pack doctor Sheryl was still there. Sam and Eva were sitting beside Lo.

“Jakey! She is in the heat! She is marked!” Eva said in concern. “Last time I asked you to bring her back! You left her alone, Jakob. You left our little sister to suffer”, Eva was crying. I did not tell her yet that Lo was with her mate all this time who was trying to protect her with all his means.

Lawrence walked towards Eva and held her tightly to calm her down.

“Alpha! When a minor is marked, she suffers a lot because of the overflow of emotions, but it seems like she is doing fine except that she is in heat. Has her mate marked her?” Sheryl asked.

“No! she is marked by a devil!” Sam shouted this time. She was a good friend of Lotus as far as I remember. She was also angry with me.

Sheryl nodded her head. Almost everyone knew about the treaty marriage between Lotus and alpha Damien, but they did not realise that Lotus was married to her destined mate, her other half.

“In that case, I am giving her some medicine. She is a minor, and her mate has not marked her. Hence her heat should not last more than two to three days. The medicines will help her to go through this time. But I still could not understand how she could go to heat while her mate did not mark her. Probably because it's the alpha mark”, Sheryl said.

Lotus was sleeping. Sheryl gave her some medicines to put her to sleep and subsidise her heat. She travelled from Blood Stone’s territory to here. The route was not short. She must be tired as well.