The Alpha Can’t Sense His Mate

AZRIEL’S POV

I headed back to the training ground sporting a bruised lip.

Odd looks were thrown my way as I passed members of the pack, but no one was bold enough to ask what went wrong.

These days, everyone was a shadow of themselves – trying to hide from my sight with hopes that they wouldn’t be the next to die.

I missed the days when I was looked upon with love and reverence as a protector and beta of the pack.

Now, I was seen as an angel of death – Picking up wolves from their families and sending them to their deaths – just like I was about to do with the next batch of wolves I’d been asked to send.

I arrived at the training ground and didn’t miss that we had reduced drastically. I’ve lost count of the warriors we have lost to this cause.

The number of people returned a shadow of themselves after being lucky enough to cross the darned portal and return alive.

“Beta.” One of my trusted aides said with a bow.

“Rally the warriors.” I ordered with gritted teeth, “We need to send another set of people for the search tomorrow.”

“Okay, Beta.” He said and after a moment’s hesitation, walked away to carry out my instructions.

I didn’t miss the murmuring that ensued as he called them together. They knew what was about to happen. They had seen it happen for the past three years since I returned.

“Silence,” I said, and normalcy returned. They were scared. I could taste their fear on my lips. No one wanted to go to the dark forest – Not after seeing what it had done to the Alpha, the pack, and me.

But there was no avoiding it. Until I restored the sanity of Zadok, we would keep paying the price.

I pointed at six men who had been training for the past year. “Prepare with your family. Tomorrow, you will go through the portal to search for the Luna.” I ordered, turned around, and went out of the training ground.

No matter how much I did this, It never got easier. The broken look on their faces knowing they might not return from the journey but having no choice.

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My heart skipped a bit when a familiar scent wafted into my nostrils. Athaliah. I knew it was only a matter of time before I encountered her. I just didn’t think it would be this early.

After she rejected me so cruelly, she went further with her plans to become the Luna – but met a shocking reality when the Alpha suddenly went missing with Ithra.

I remembered feeling happy when I found out he was gone and making plans to ask her again until the rogue’s invasion. I learned never to be emotionally dependent the hard way.

One mistake. One moment of losing focus nearly cost me the entire BloodHound pack. When we realised that the Alpha was missing with Ithra, the first thing we believed was that the witch had done something terrible as expected.

So when Shilhi fed into that narrative, it was easy to believe she had taken Zadok when our guards were down. Shilhi had promised to find a way to pinpoint Zadok’s location using his essence and demanded time to do that.

Stupidly, I fell for her tricks and continued chasing after Athaliah, while fighting off the increasing rogue’s attack and keeping the news of the alpha’s disappearance a secret.

Everything backfired, and I will forever regret trusting Shilhi and letting Athaliah get the most out of my time. Who would have thought that the same person who was supposed to be a part of the pack, was the mastermind behind the disappearance?

I knew something was wrong when I caught Shilhi talking to a bottle, and speaking of the progress the Alpha and Ithra were making in the dark forest.

I was too late. Before I could dig into the matter, she usurped power by conjuring a powerful rogue attack, that left me and the BloodHound pack in shambles. I was imprisoned with Athaliah, while the pack was under the rulership of Shilhi.

We watched her prepare the portal of the dark forest while she told us how long her plan had been coming, and how excited she was to see it finally come together.

When she left, we were guarded by the rogues she conjured until we were set free by the warriors who later followed us on a journey to the dark forest to recover and save the Alpha.

We were too late because when we stepped into the battleground, Ithra disappeared from our eyes after an explosion that rocked the entire forest. And for one year, we remained in the forest with the Alpha, searching every nook and cranny for Ithra, who he claimed to be his mate.

At the close of the year, the dark forest decided it had enough of us and spat us back into our realm, which marked the beginning of the search. A search that has eaten more than it has given. A search for our Luna – the first hybrid.

“Azriel.” Athaliah’s voice brought me out of my thoughts. “You haven’t aged a day since the last time-”

My eyes remained on her face, committing it to memory like I always did. I felt the familiar ache of my rejected heart and swallowed. “Good to see you are alive.”

“Of course.” She smiled, and came closer to me, speaking into my ears. “I couldn’t die in the dark forest, knowing my alpha was still here. Waiting to be taken as mine.”

The pain of watching my mate talk so favourably of another male was inexplicable. My tongues were tied as she continued.

“The mating ceremony is in the corner. If he doesn’t attend or pick a mate this time, then it would be a problem.” She chatted, “I was worried the dark forest wouldn’t spit me back on time. I am so glad to be back.”

People thought Athaliah was focused on finding Ithra. But I knew better. If she were lucky to find Ithra alive, she would return to the Blood Hound pack with her corpse.

“Beta Azriel! Gamma Athaliah! The Alpha is requesting your presence!” A warrior said in a panicked voice.

My face grew stoic, “What happened?” I asked, following him, with Athaliah hot on our trail.

“The portal. It disappeared!”