Chapter thirteen: Lesson one; don’t anger alphas

When Seungkwan walked into the little backroom that served as a meeting room he could immediately sense the tension. Chan had just arrived back in town after visiting a small outpost a south of Grenhil in hopes of getting more intel. Hansol sat in the furthest corner of the room, his face solemn, in anticipation of the news that Chan would’ve acquired. Seungkwan sat himself down on the chair across from Hansol, there had still been no news from Seokmin, Jihoon or anyone else but considering that it was three days ago that the older had left Grenhil that wasn’t something to be concerned about. Although he wished that tomorrow there would be news from Jihoon regarding a plan of action… As he redirected his sight to the room instead of the table he saw both Chan and Hansol staring at him, most likely waiting for him to speak up, as he was still the oldest of the three they expected him to lead this little meeting.

“So…” he started, “Chan please speak up, any news?” Not exactly the best opening ever but even Seungkwan couldn’t be picky about his word choice right now. Time was running out and it was better to handle everything as quickly as possible. There was no need for unnecessary formalities.

“Nothing that we didn’t know off already. Our men are still looking for survivors at the borders of the forest, but until now without success. We have also yet to locate the attackers. What we do know is that they attacked in the middle of the night. The encampment was set afire before the pack could figure out what was happening. No one was spared and as far as we know they have not taken prisoners.” Chans monotone voice was not helping in easing the tension in the room. Hansol was shifting from left to right in his seat, unable to sit still.

“Do they still have hopes of finding survivors? The reports until now have all spoken of a massacre…” Unlike his normal self their was nothing cheerful about Seungkwan right now. His demeanour speaking the words that he couldn’t say out loud. “How do we tell them?” His voice broke down on the last few words. Chan walked around the table towards his friend and slowly laid an arm around his shoulders.

“Jihoon will know what to do, let’s just wait for now. I’ve told the outpost to tighten our defences and patrol more often. The other outposts are also notified.” Seungkwan nodded his head slowly as Chan continued, “We are going to prepare Grenhil for the worst outcome…”

“And that is?” Hansol finally spoke up, asking the question that everyone knew the answer to but that still had to be asked.

“War.” Seungkwan answered very calmly.

----

The black wolf disappeared before his eyes, merging into the shadowy forest, only to emerge after a few seconds looking back towards him.  Gold coloured eyes always watching their every move, waiting to see if the rest was still following behind. He held up his hand towards the wolf in front of him, signalling him that he planned to halt. Their companions were getting tired and they needed their strength for when they arrived at their destination. For now the others were in need of a break, whether the black wolf liked it or not. The large black wolf slowly trotted back towards their position his tail high in the air, signalling a certain amount of dominance that he didn’t think was necessary. But for once he let it go. The wolf was definitely agitated and he felt no need to further increase it.  

“They can’t go on anymore, please have mercy on your own pack members. They need a break.” He waved his hand towards the people behind him, that were silently watching the two converse. The black wolf let out an annoyed growl in response before turning around and dropping himself to the floor dramatically. Definitely not pleased with the short break that the others so desperately needed.

Rolling his eyes at the black wolf he let his own view wander off to their surroundings. Only a few more days and they would reach their destination and either receive confirmation or not. He was still hoping for the latter but all the news they had received thus far was pointing towards the direction of confirmation. It was not strange that the black wolf wanted to carry on faster. It was his nature telling him to move right now. His mind wandered of again thinking of ways to sooth the others worries and concerns. But there seemed to be no quick solutions or short cuts this time around. His brain was still trying to sort out the thoughts from a few days ago, creating order in the chaos of the events that happened. Right now he was weighing his options in calming down the black wolf that was already back on his paws and pacing around their little encampment in small circles, making all of the others nervous in the process.

With a deep sigh he pushed himself up onto his elbows from his comfortable position in the grass, his head following every movement of the large black wolf. Their eyes locked for a moment, dark eyes staring into golden coloured eyes. Traveling like this for a few more days seemed like a nightmare… and was bound to cause irritations as the black wolf was keeping everyone on edge right now. Something had to be done and sadly he had the feeling that he was the one who was supposed to change things right now as he saw the eyes of their other companions drifting over to himself. … he was definitely going to regret this. As he stood up he felt a little sting on his right arm and shoulder that he slightly traced with his fingers, the wound was still fresh and served as a small reminder to not anger alphas…

---

“What is the name of the pack that was attacked?” Soonyoung had asked, breaking the ongoing silence after several minutes had past. The whole room seemed to hold their breath as they all looked at Jihoon expectantly. They couldn’t suppress the ominous feeling that was present in all of their minds. Somehow the fact that Jihoon took his time to answer made the situation worse. Jisoo and Wonwoo exchanged a quick glance with each other before sending a quiet warning to Soonyoung. They all knew a pack that was residing in the south east of Grenhil forest.  A pack which head alpha was currently not around to lead them. Some of his advisers had gone with him to some town and a few of their best warriors had gone missing. For all they knew that pack would make an easy target if the right (or in this case wrong) pack acquired information about the packs current state. Everyone in the room seemed to have figured it out on their own without Jihoon having to answer. Jeonghan who already knew the answer hung his head down refusing to look Jisoo, Wonwoo or Soonyoung in the eyes, further confirming their suspicions.

Raising his head up and taking a deep breath and directing his eyes towards the menacing head alpha that was slowly walking towards him Jihoon answered. “The Vanghguard pack.”

Three words, confirmation. Jisoo and Wonwoo tried to compose themselves, not willing to show weakness to these people that they still considered to be strangers, but their pack had been attacked while they weren’t around to help defend their packmates and that hurt them more than they would like to admit. The only one that couldn’t supress his feelings was Soonyoung, he had taken a hit for sure. As the head alpha his main job was to make sure everyone was protected from danger, and he had failed miserably. His one task, and he wasn’t there to fulfil his promise to his pack. He clenched his fists, his nails long and sharp sinking into his skin, but he didn’t feel the pain. The only thing he felt was anger, he was furious, but Jihoon wasn’t done speaking yet. Soonyoung still hadn’t broken his line of sight and was still directing his glare onto the petite omega in front of him.

“As far as the initial reports go, the attack happened in the middle of the night, it was a massacre. My scouts have yet to find survi…” Jihoon’s sentence was cut short as he was knocked to the ground by huge black flash. Soonyoung had shifted towards his wolf form in second and launched at the smaller man, swiping him of his feet before he could react. Now buried underneath the large black wolf that was staring him down with his teeth barren, growling at him. Soonyoungs eyes were a bright golden colour, intensified by the black fur that surrounded them. In normal situations it might have been a beautiful sight but right now all of Jihoons survival instincts were blasting on full force, allowing him no time to think about irrelevant thoughts that could hinder his escape from the huge claws that were currently clinging onto his right shoulder.

The others were just as shocked as Jihoon by the scene in front of them. Before the situation could become worse for Jihoon Seungcheol decided to step in, shifting into his own wolf form. With his hind legs he lunged forward towards the black wolf that was still trapping the small omega in front of him. In one fluent motion he knocked the alpha off, while growling dangerously at the wolf. This was his territory and he would not tolerate others to display their power in su