Chapter 20: A phone call

**Elliot’s Point of view**


We look at each other, stunned. 
"How long have you known?" I ask. 
"Since I saw Alice's wolf. I was waiting for you to call me."
"Wait." Alice interrupts, "You're telling us you've known for months? Before we even knew about it? How is that even possible?"
"Let's just say that I knew Elliot was my General but I was very surprised when I saw that I was going to have two. That had never happened before!"
I frown. "Your General? I don't understand anything."
He sighs. "Well, let's take it from the beginning. What do you know about the mark on your wolves?"
I answer. "We just did some research and found out that the mark on the chest connects two mates that are in conflict and absolutely must stay together."
"Very good. What about the crescent moon?"
"We didn't have time to do more research." Says Alice.
"The crescent moon indicates a fighter whose intervention will be crucial. Thank Goddess it is a very rare mark because it is a bad omen. It is a sign that a great war is coming and that it cannot be won without this warrior. He is called the General because he leads the army alongside the King and once the war is over, he remains in command of the army.
As soon as I saw your wolf Elliot, I knew you were my General. I didn't expect it to be on your chest though. I thought about coming to see you right away but my Father convinced me to wait. He thought that your mate would have the same mark in the same place. We assumed it was going to be someone from the Blue Moon pack, because of the way you guys hate each other, but we didn't dare hope it would be you, Alice.
When we realized that the two of you were the Generals and that you had to accept each other, I wanted to call you in and intervene but my Father talked me out of it. He thought it was better to let destiny do its work and trust the Moon Goddess."
We remain silent for a moment, in shock. "Wow. That's way too much information in too little time." Says Alice.
"So basically, you're telling us that a war is coming and that Alice and I are going to have a decisive role. Is that it?"
He laughs. "Pretty much yes. One of you won't be enough. My father and I think it has something to do with your packs. It's no coincidence that two Alphas from enemy packs are General mates. We think that to win this war, your two packs must be united to fight on our side."
"What do we know about this war?" I ask.
"Not much, unfortunately. The first one to have this mark was the beta of the first King. He helped him to make peace and it's thanks to him thatmy ancestor Michael was crowned King. 
The second one on the other hand was an Omega. It happened less than a hundred years after the first one. He wanted to join the Royal Guard but he couldn't fight becaus eof his rank. The King gave him a chance anyway and in a few months he became the best fighter, I guess it was in his blood. Thanks to him, a plot was prevented because some nobles wanted to take over the throne to destroy the humans.
The third one was a woman, the sister of the Queen, who helped to conquer lands. Without her, many packs would have gone to war with each other to get more territory."  
"And after that?" I ask.
"There hasn't been another one, well not that we know of. But for General mates to exist, the threat must be very serious."
"That's why we're calling you." Says Alice. "As we told you, our three packs have been under attack almost every night for the past several weeks by rogues and we're sure they're not acting on their own."
"How many are there?" He asks in a serious tone.
"We've killed about fifty of them, but when they attack us there are over a hundred per corridor."
He whistles. "No one has ever seen so many rogues together. Any idea how they organize themselves?"
I look at Alice and she shakes her head. I know she's right and we shouldn't tell everything we know, but I feel uncomfortable withholding information that could help us stop them. 
"No, we don't know much more." Alice says in a firm tone.
Prince Benjamin remains silent and I fear he will ask more questions so I hurry to explain the situation.
"The rogues have made us believe that the Blues are responsible and vice versa. We know it's not true and we have to look elsewhere but our fathers won't listen and they won't listen to our mothers either."
"What about Alpha Jack from Silver Moon?" Prince Benjamin cuts me off.
"I went to see him last night but he's convinced it's the Reds. Derek convinced him to talk to our fathers but no success either. We think that only the King will be able to talk to them but they must not know it's us. They're angry enough as it is." Says Alice. 
"I see. I'll talk to my father about it so he can summon them. I'll get this done as quickly as I can."
"Thank you, Prince Benjamin." We say at the same time.
He sighs. "I already told you to call me Ben. I'll call you back soon. Good luck."
Alice hangs up and we remain silent for a moment.
"Well! We didn't waste our evening!" I say in a light tone.
She exhales. "You can say that. I feel better now. All that's left is for Owen to do some research on the Alpha rogue."
I nod. "I'll ask him."
"Thanks." We stare at each other blankly for a moment. "I'll go. I'm going to go check on Sam." She heads for the door but I call her back. She slowly turns to me.
"Why did you ask me to come tonight?"
She stares at me for a long time, so much that I wonder if she heard me. She turns to the door and joins it with a quick step. I lower my head, defeated. After all, we've learned, she's still running from me. 
As she closes the door, she whispers loud enough for me to hear. 
"Because I missed you."