|7|

16.3K 558 238
                                    

"What about this one?" Charles handed the paper to Chesca.

"Hmm...Oh wow, haven't we been dealing with this alpha for a few months now?"

"If I recall, yes, our communications began 5 lunar seasons ago."

"And he's still not getting the message! Just look what he's written, it makes no sense."

Charles scanned the letter and frowned, nodding his head. "I see. How do you reason with someone who thinks they know everything?"

"That's what you're going to figure out," Chesca leaned back in her chair and turned to another letter that needed a response.

"Me?" Charles looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"You are my beta, now get to it!"

He sighed as much as Charles ever sighed, which wasn't often so this was a big deal for him. "Ok, I'll draft something for you."

After another half hour of her and Charles working quietly, going through pack paperwork and other things in Chesca's office, she looked out the window at the midday sun. "Hey, aren't the warriors supposed to be out working by now? Where are they all?"

Charles got up and peered out the window. "Good question."

Soon a guard came after Chesca had mind-linked him, and she regarded him carefully when he hesitantly entered and shifted on his feet multiple times. "Where are Roman and the other warriors? And Head Guard Lexi, for that matter? I can't reach them, and besides, they're meant to be working on the road today."

"Yes, Alpha. I know, but they are...they're um," his eyes shifted nervously to Charles.

"Well, come on, spit it out!" Chesca snapped.

"They're out on a hunting expedition. With Alpha Kaiden. They passed the border which is probably why—"

"They're what??" Chesca and Charles both shouted at once.

The guard swallowed convulsively. "Out hunting. Alpha Kaiden organised a team to go and hunt in the Precipice Pass, saying with the new cold front of snow, the pack needed more meat—"

"Without telling me? They crossed the border, left my territory without once asking their Alpha's permission?" Chesca drilled him with her hardest stare.

"I—I'm sorry, Alpha, but Kaiden's an alpha too, so I guess they thought—"

She growled and Charles shot her a warning look, knowing how she was taking this.

"Get out. Just get out! And when you see them, send Lexi, Roman, Eric, and Kaiden to my office," Chesca ordered darkly, turning her back before she might inadvertently burn holes in the poor guard with her heated gaze.

It was another agonizing 2 hours before anyone showed up. She felt them re-enter her territory, but was distracted by another knock on her door. The same guard as before quickly came in and shoved an envelope in her hands. "This was found nailed to a tree near the border."

"Which?" she took it.

"The northern border."

Charles and Chesca exchanged a glance. Did that mean anything?

She tore it open, and a single small note was folded inside. On it read a few lines in a neat scrawl, and Charles breathed down her neck in order to see it too.

I am writing in regards to my son Kaiden, the Alpha of Razestone Pack. Last sightings have pinpointed his location as somewhere on your territory. If you see him, use any force necessary to return him to his pack. He is shirking all rightful Alpha responsibility and I will not tolerate this.

The Alpha's Shatter Zone ✔️Where stories live. Discover now