Kissed By The Moon (Wolves Of Addelun)

The silence in the room was loud, maybe it was high time everyone kept quiet, and let him think. Seated as we were, in the grand living room, it was obvious who the centre of attraction was, as Zarek stood to his full frame of six feet plus five inches.

"I have heard just enough of this talk; I do not wish to continue." Zarek said

Callistus had the nerve to keep going, "Zarek, deep down you know this is the truth. If you refuse her again, the next full moon hunt will not be so easy for you. You have kept away from her long enough."

Zarek laughed, he had this thing where he would laugh like only he was privy to a particular joke, and he was doing it again. "So? When has anything ever been easy?" He said. "I think I understand your concerns, but there has to be other ways to get out of this situation."

I knew I had to say something, but Gabriel chose the same time to speak, and all three of us were talking at once.

"Zarek, just hear us out. You do not have to get married ̶

"Surely, it cannot be easy for you, with all that's on ground ̶

"What are you talking about Gabe? She's his bond mate! ̶

"Quiet!", the Alpha roared, and walked away, heading upstairs, then he stopped. We had no other option.

Your natural instinct was to listen to your Alpha; even as a Beta, I had limits. The room temperature was dangerously low and that's just one of the many powers of Zarek Addelun. Power is power, and he wielded it well.

His voice went down a pitch, "I will heal in my own time, for as long as it takes. Or does anyone here know how long it would take to locate her?"

We could only see his back.

"No," We chorused.

"Good," I felt, rather than saw him smirk. "I did not expect any of you to have an idea, none of you have rejected a mate, only to have her go missing, years later"

He turned abruptly, "Where is Sevestos?"

"Out, said he had unfinished business with Kairos," Gabriel said, quietly.

A strange look crosses Zarek's face as he retreated from the steps, "Funny how he has been having unfinished business, these days. Does he seem flighty to you?"

I snort. Of course, nobody had an answer to that. I have never really trusted Sevestos, and any smart Lupin or Lupina would do good to steer clear of him. The wolf was like a viper, slithering around bushes, all these however, were best kept to myself.

Gabriel continued, "We receive the Moon Circle in less than thirty minutes; they have decided to come al the way over here...it means something."

Zarek sat back on the queen sofa, hunched, and looking from underneath a mass of auburn hair and powerful forest-green eyes. 'Yes, then we wait. Whatever this is..." He gesticulates with the sweep of a powerful arm, "...it will wait."

That was it, the Alpha had spoken.

***

"It is dire; it needs to be addressed as soon as possible. Zarek, you are the Alpha, you know as well as we do that this is dangerous! You are well over two decades and a half, wasting any more time would not bode well for the clan of Addelun, it doesn't matter that you can live for as long as a thousand years."

Lord Garlwyck, lead wolf of the Moon Circle stared at Zarek with old, piercing eyes. These five wolves were the oldest living and representatives of the whole Moon Circle, a sect of the aged wolves.

"The bond might have been broken when you were children, but as long as she breathes, she is still very much your mate. You might have your reasons, but accept her under your wing."

"You need to be reunited with your bond mate," Almaris put in softly. I thought she was aiming for the maternal touch, then, she said, "Anjelene needs your protection, now more than ever."

Zarek looked at her, "From what?"

"What?" Almaris looked lost.

"You just said she needs to be protected, I'm asking, from what?"

Almaris laughed softly, unexpectedly, "oh, I said that? It must be the age thing, I cannot remember"

Lord Garlwyck butted in, "she misspoke, I think. You know we can hardly trust these things" He stared meaningfully at Almaris, and I think other members of the Alpha's gang noticed this. 'However, think deep about what we have discussed, Ardene will be notified to prepare his daughter, we cannot keep waiting for something to happen."

We all stared at ourselves.

Lord Garlwyck got up, followed by Lords Almarick, Tigaris, Leto, and Lupina Almaris. They filed out without a word, their display of a mission fulfilled, but Almaris turned around to say another unexpected thing, her eyeballs were milky white and tinged with gold fire, again.

"Make haste, Alpha. Do not waste time. The next full moon is almost here, and you know the remedy to your illness. Fix it, for in Addelun, never has there been the demise of an Alpha less than the age of thirty."

She left the room chilly than ever, it wasn't shocking, that was Lupina Almaris . What we didn't expect was that our Alpha would get a saying like that.

We were all still sitting quietly, when Gabriel barged in from the other entrance to the grand room. I wondered if other members of the gang had noticed he was missing.

"Alpha! Where is he?" He was panting, obviously from a wild run. I cannot say the exact moment he stepped out, but Gabriel has always been reliable.

"What is it?" Zarek stood suddenly, still on edge from the encounter with Almaris

"You need to come now to Wolves' Cliff, it's Sevestos!!" Without waiting to explain, Gabe took off again, Zarek bounded after him, with me and Callistus hard on their heels.

The way he said it, I knew nothing good would come out of whatever was going to happen next. Then, it's been a long time coming."