Working With The Enemy

Gamma Aldar POV

Something was wrong with the Luna Queen Alice. I could not pinpoint as to what was happening, but I could see her aura since the day she had arrived. There was a darkness around her, surrounding her at first softly, but more times I saw her, the more time progressed, that darkness, that agonizing presence, the demented and wicked energy around her grew bolder, stronger and more sinister. I kept my observations to myself, for now. I had no proof, no evidence of any kind to approach the Alpha King, and given how long he waited for his mate, I did not want to be the one who ruined his happiness. Yet, I was restless and uneasy. I grew up with Roman and my family had been in service to his line for over five generations at that point. The lineage of Royal Gammas, my ancestors have always served and fought for Spietta line, bled for them, died for them, and they have been our family and we theirs. In fact, the reason my father lived was that Alpha King Jonathan took a blow by a witch meant for my father. His Alpha blood plus the magic healing of my ancestors saved his life. The story goes that a rogue demon was aiming for him and my father placed himself in the line of fire, only for Alpha king Jonathan to step in front of him and not allow my father to take the fall.

They were best friends for life, and that was still the case. Both were retired, my father was busy with his grandchildren whom he gladly shared with Alpha King Jonathan until Roman had his own. I did not want to think of all the ways two old timers spoiled my kids though and left my wife and I to be bad parents with rules. I chuckled and thought about history repeating itself. My grandparents did the same to my dad. Fathers and sons. Grandfathers and grandchildren, I thought to myself and gratefulness filled my heart. I was hopeful for Roman. After all these years, when he announced he had found his mate, I was elated, in fact. The whole pack was. Ever since his mother and his baby brother died, life at the park has been different. Long gone was the happiness Luna Queen Angela created – that woman was something special, something extraordinary, a true Queen in every sense of the word. She loved her family with all she had and devoted herself to the pack in the same way. We may not have been her blood, but Queen Angela treated all of us as if we were her children, her sons and daughters.

There was a reason the pack rose in strength, numbers, and power. There was a reason we had friends across the world, supported by werewolves and other creatures alike. She often said that we do not get to choose our family, that which we are born in. But she often also said that bonds of family can be the source of our greatest strength or deepest regret. “I will make sure nobody regrets being part of our family”, she often said, and lived up to that credo. She raised Roman in the same spirit and for many years I know we have all prayed that he finds his mate and finds his peace. Many of us hoped Dragana, to whom he was somehow inexplicably bonded on a deeper level, was his mate. I do not know if he realized it or understood that bond, but all of us saw it. Her whole being lit up every time she saw him, as did his. We were waiting for years to pass, for her to get her wolf, and recognize him. The years passed and went and yet, they both remained unmated. Alas.

One thing that not many knew about me, or my family, is that we were hybrids. Coming from a long line of Gamma warriors, my lineage also included the blood of witches, the Celtic Coven, in fact, thousands of years old. Our specialty was representational magic – we could conjure and represent things, but also, on the flip side of the coin, no magic was hidden from our eyes. We could see the most complicated spells; we could sense cloaked magic. It has helped us many times in the battle, and in general. However, only my mate and Roman truly knew the extent of my power. Even Alpha King Jonathan knew some things about it, but he had never seen it in action. He had seen my father though, however, I had trained, and I had grown in both my understanding and use of it.

When Alice’s father died, I knew there was something strange about it. While the old Alpha Alan was weakened, his blood was strong. I could smell it. I could also scent the magic, a dark magic which cut his life shorter than it should have been. In truth, he did not have many years left, and with his recent injuries, perhaps not even that much. However, the last person who saw him, the person who saw him die, was his daughter, my very own, Luna Queen to be, doused in the dark magic apparently only I could sense. Something did not add up there. Something was definitely wrong, and I was at this point worried about Roman. I played my part, I supported her and made sure she was not aware of my suspicions. However, ever since we got back from her pack, I had my most trusted men watch her and when the report came of her mysterious trip to the outskirts of our territory, I followed her myself.

I did not know what I expected, however, when I saw her cross the invisible border, I knew something was up. Somehow, at this time, our northern borders were covered in magic, hiding whatever and whomever was right there. Why were these magic spells active directly at our border entrance, one with a neighboring ally pack in fact? Who was coming for us and, more importantly, how did Alice know them and cross through the boundary unharmed? And why did she go to see them now?? There was a good chance they were planning to attack us and I needed Roman to know that. How I would break it to him, how I would tell him that his future wife, the mother of his children, was conspiring with people shrouded in invisibility spells, sitting on our borders – that I did not know. What I did know was that friends would not hide under such spells – which meant only one thing. We would be attacked and the Luna Queen, the de facto mother of our pack, was working with the enemy.