Chapter 2- Jarin

**Jarin**

Had I not been waiting, I would have appreciated the beauty in this meeting place. We had been told by our informant to wait in the ancient forest by the oldest oak tree. It was late summer, and there were already signs of autumn decay. A wet earthy smell permeated the air and I took a great lungful of it in an attempt to calm my nerves. The informant had been a lone wolf who we believed to be mostly trustworthy. But you could never tell with lone wolves as they always had their own agenda.

I paced the glade impatiently, gripping my sword so tightly I was sure my fingers were going to go numb. Realizing this wouldn't be any good if I actually had to use the sword, I loosened my grip. Where was this fucking seer? The lone wolf who had arranged the meeting said she would be here before sundown, but the sky was already bleeding from pink to dusky blue. Seers were accurate in their prophecies, but that didn’t stop them from being sly. You could trust them to give you a correct seeing, but you couldn’t trust them to be loyal. They always went to the highest bidder.

What if this a trap? An attack arranged by the vampires or mages? Sensing my unease, I felt my Beta, Atlas mind link with me despite only being a few feet away. “Would you like me to shift, Alpha?” Part of me wanted to say yes, but instead I replied- “No, the contact was very clear about us being in our human form.” “Yes Alpha, understood”.

More time passed, and the sun had all but left the sky, I was on the verge of sending a message to Atlas to shift and retreat back to the kingdom, when a strong smell of herbs and spices reached my nose. It was the seer. She was finally close. Sure enough, I heard soft footsteps making their way towards me, and minutes later, she stood before us.

The seer was a slight woman dressed in a dark green cloak. Her dark hair was braided and pulled to the nape of her neck. As with all seers, it was impossible to tell their age, as they looked both old and young at the same time. However, the most striking and unsettling part of a seer was their eyes. They were entirely white, with no iris or pupil. They looked at me now, I held her gaze not wanting her to know how disturbing I found her appearance.

“You may think I'm late Alpha, but I assure you I am not.” Her voice was odd. It was as if it was more than one person speaking. Internally shaking myself I was reminded of the reason I was here. “As long as you give me the answers I need, that won't matter” I stated boldly. A wry smile appeared on the seer's lips. Her amusement angered me, and I felt my wolf stir. “Tell your dog to stay, or I will leave without giving you the answers you seek” she said sharply. Her words insulted me, but I pushed the anger down, knowing what was at stake. “Better, now if you would be so kind as to deliver the rest of the payment” sarcasm dripped from her mouth, “I will gladly listen to your questions”. I mind linked with Atlas “Do as she asks, Atlas”. I saw him step forward and hold out the purse and chest to the seer.

She took both from him, pocketing the gold first and then opening the chest. She looked inside “Yes, this is adequate”. She closed the lid and redirected her attention back to me. “Go ahead Alpha, ask your questions”. Before I could stop myself, I spat back “Shouldn't you already know them”. The smile appeared back on her face. “Yes, but you need to speak them aloud in order for me to be as accurate as possible”. I straightened myself, and then all my questions came pouring out. “What has happened to my race? For the past decade, we can rarely produce children, our strength is not what it was, we are taking longer to heal. What is the reason for this? How can I fix it? How can I save my race from extinction?” The seer breathed deeply and closed her eyes, on her next out breath her eyes flew back open, and I could see that they had changed from pure white to cloudy grey. “I cannot reveal the cause of your races decline, but I can tell you the way to save them. The King of werewolves as the Alpha of the Imperial pack must join with and sire children with a hybrid. A union of this kind will restore strength to the werewolves and promote fertility in the packs.” The seer took another deep breath, and closed her eyes. When they opened, they had returned to white.

I waited for her to say more, surely that wasn't it? This was my last hope and that was all the information I was going to get? “It is time for me to go, Alpha” As she started to walk away, I shouted to her “You haven't answered all my questions!” I walked towards her and put my hand on her shoulder to stop her from leaving, my wolf growling quietly inside me. She looked at my hand and then into my eyes as if shooting daggers into them. “You will remove your hand at once before I remove it for you!” The tone in her voice was deadly, and I knew it was not an idle threat. I heard Atlas growl softly behind me but I raised my hand off her shoulder and motioned for him to be quiet. “Why can't you tell me the cause of my peoples suffering? Will this hybrid even be my mate?” There was more desperation in my voice than I had intended but I needed more details. Her white eyes bore into mine. “This is how my sight works. We are done now, Alpha”. And without another word, she turned and disappeared into the trees.

I stood there motionless for a second. It was now dark and Atlas and I needed to get home before any other creatures decided to target us. I nodded at Atlas, signalling my command for him to shift. My large white wolf tore out of me, relived to be let out after being made so angry and frustrated by the encounter with the seer. I raced through the night, closely followed by Atlas's black wolf who I could tell was also happy to be released. I went over the seer’s words in my head. Hybrids were very rare as the races of supernatural beings hated each other. If hybrids did occur, they were outcasts and viewed as the lowest of the low. Sometimes they were even killed. How could someone like this be the future mother of my children? As the future Luna of my pack? My people would not accept her command, and I wouldn't blame them. What if this hybrid wasn't my mate? How could she be? The more I thought about it, the more questions I had. What other choice did I have but to try though? I had no other way to save my people. Once we had gathered full speed I linked with my Beta. “Atlas, when we return home tonight you need to get some rest. Tomorrow I need you and a small number of members to find out where a hybrid might be” “Yes Alpha, we will begin at first light. Do you want to inform the rest of the kingdom about the meeting?” I considered his question. “No, not yet, let’s keep this between our most trusted people.” We continued on through the night, both of us grateful our sight in wolf form allowed us to dodge any obstacles despite the lack of light. I felt Atlas speak into my head “Alpha, do you know why the seer wanted the skeleton of a captured rouge?” It was a question I had also asked myself. “I don’t know Atlas, they are odd creatures and apparently ask for a lot of odd things when providing prophecies”.

We arrived back without any enemy encounter and shifted into our human form. I looked at the castle, the place we called home. It was an old sandstone structure, and was said to have been built by the first werewolf King many centuries before. It was situated on the edge of the ancient forest, and was so big that our vast gardens were contained within its centre. I personally thought it was beautiful, even at night when the battlements torches were alight.

Atlas saw me studying the castle. “Is everything okay Alpha?” I sighed. “Yes Atlas, I was just thinking. If this last plan with the hybrid doesn’t work and we continue to be defeated by our enemies…how terrible it would be if this castle was ever destroyed” He put his hand on my arm. “I will do everything I can to make sure that doesn’t happen” I gave him a genuine smile “I know I can count on you Atlas”. We walked through the gate’s entrance into the first courtyard, nodding to the guards on the way in.

I noticed a rather beautiful red head waiting on the left-hand side by a stone pillar and thought it was odd that she was out here so late. Then I saw her smile at Atlas. Ahh. Another conquest. He turned to me “Do you need anything else tonight, Alpha?” I couldn’t help but laugh. “No Atlas, I think I can manage. Besides, I wouldn’t want you to be late for your…meeting” He grinned at me wickedly and went over to the woman. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Atlas was dedicated to his work, but he was also dedicated to bedding women.