Epilogue

Rhys’s P.O.V
“We have a female Alpha amongst us.”
I watched unsurprisingly as a group of tough, macho Alpha’s from all over Asia, fell to the floor laughing with their hands clutching their bellies.
“And she’s the one who killed Aiden and Devon.”
This time however, their reaction was less than hilarious.
“So, you’re telling us, or rather, you actually want us to believe that a chick living up in the Himalayas was not only able to defeat an entire army of wolves from three of the best packs in Asia but was able to kill two strong Alpha’s without breaking a sweat?” It was Alpha Dong-Ju of South Korea who spoke up for the rest of them.
“Do you see Devon and Aiden amongst us?” I questioned him instead.
“We all know they’re dead, Rhys,” Salim, the Iranian Alpha, being the gentleman that he was, tried to control the situation. “After all, we are here so we can let their packs decide what steps they want to take next, but what our good friend here wanted to say was that a female Alpha is unheard of. If she really is an Alpha, why did she not show herself first? Why stay hidden in the mountain ranges away from everyone and built a pack on her own.”
I was currently at the All Asia Werewolf Summit where all the Alphas of the twenty eight packs all over Asia come together
“Alpha Dong-Ju, Alpha Salim,” I addressed them both as the rest kept quiet and listened. “I understand that we are unable to believe that the world around us is changing and we are unable to cope with it, but as the Alpha of...the second largest pack of Asia, I think it will be best if I not just explained the situation, but showed it to you.”
Shocked silence prevailed after I’d finished my sentence. Everyone was staring at me with eyes wide open and jaws that had were mere inches away from hitting the ground. Yes, it was indeed a big deal when an Alphas as strong and prideful as I offered a group of other Alphas to probe around in my mind just so they could see proof of what had really gone down during the battle a month ago. Call me stupid but I’d rather they poke around in my head than go anywhere near Mikalya.
I didn’t know how strong Mikalya’s mental barriers and she had stayed away from civilization and other packs for all this time especially because she had wanted her privacy. I might not have gotten into a permanent arrangement with Mikalya as mates but I understood her need for privacy. And I wouldn’t let her endure harassment of any kind from the other Alpha’s. If that meant opening my mind to them so they could witness the battle and Aiden and Devon’s demise, so be it.
“Gather around everyone,” I told the bunch of them as I linked my mind to all the other Alpha’s present in the tent. “I’ll only be this generous once. So you better sit back and buckle up for the show.”
As soon as my mind connected with them and they accepted the link, I recalled my memories from the battle, how Aiden and Devon had tricked me from the start and then, how Mikalya had easily beat them in their own game and ripped their hearts right out of their chest in one final swoop. I ended the link there.
Everyone looked dazed and shocked and I let them absorb all the new information before speaking again. After this, no one will dare look down on Mikalya. They might become foolish in their pride and want to challenge her but no one will dare think of her as inferior.
“So gentlemen, now you know the entire truth. So let man up and welcome the female Alpha into our little gathering, shall we?”

Mink's P.O.V:
“Exactly what did you tell them before I arrived?” I asked Rhys as we walked out of the Summit camp where all the Alpha’s had been having a meeting.
The All Asia Werewolf Summit this year was being held in the Gobi Desert of China, far away from prying eyes. This area belonged to the late Alpha Aiden’s pack, the DesertWarriors, while Devon’s pack, the MountainHunters, was located a few miles off of Lhasa in China’s part of the Himalayas. All pack members, however, had been requested to be present at this summit so we could hear their side of the story and have them decide which pack they would like to join. But the biggest surprise for me had been the warm welcome I had received without the slightest bit of rude comments or chauvinistic challenges.
“Nothing but the truth,” Rhys told me. “I even shared my memories with them.”
My head snapped in his direction. “You did what?”
Sharing memories was considered a violation in most cases and the only time it was used was in extreme situations. To have an Alpha freely share his memories with others was not an easy task. Especially an Alpha with ego like Rhys’s.
Rhys shrugged his shoulders, drawing attention to the dark grey T-shirt that was stretched taunt against his muscles. “I know I wasn’t the only witness to the war but the others know that the information coming from me would be the purest form of information they could get. And besides, I only showed them parts of the battle, not the entire thing. If that happened, we’d be here for hours.”
“I don’t doubt that.” I shook my head as we walked over to a refreshment tent and entered to grab a bite. For some reason, my wolf felt extremely restless ever since I landed in the Gobi Desert. I tried to find the reason for the restlessness but I couldn’t come up with anything. It was like a constant hum in the back of my mind.
“Oh! Would you look at that?” Alpha Salim greeted us with a huge smile and two goblets of palm wine. “The Alpha pair is here!”
“Thank you, Alpha Salim.” I smiled graciously as he handed me the goblet of chilled wine.
“Oh, please, call me Salim.” He said as a woman joined him for a drink. “May I present to you, my beautiful mate, Noor Jahaan.”
“It’s a pleasure, Alpha Mikalya.” The woman with long, curly black hair and skin of dark honey spoke for the first time. “I must say, all the females here are very excited to hear about a female Alpha. They are very eager to meet you! I would request you to please join us at the ladies tent this evening for dining. It’ll be a pleasure to have you there.”
I considered the options. Like I’d said before, I hated shifter politics and shifter politics relied heavily on power play. If I accepted the invitation and went with the women for dinner, I would never be able to make a mark as an Alpha. All Alpha’s would be dinning at the main tent tonight, going over pack details and I needed to be a part of that little power play. But I also could not disappoint the women. I was their beacon of hope, a hero in their eyes. Disappointing them would crush that delicate hope, the faith they had in me.
“I’ll be attending the meeting with the other Alpha’s tonight, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it.” I told her truthfully. “But I’m sure I can make time tomorrow morning, for breakfast maybe?”
“Oh! That would be lovely!” Noor Jahaan clapped her hands together in excitement. “Excuse me while I go tell the others.”
“Of course, love.” Salim bid audie to his mate and led us to the refreshment table for our meals. But it wasn’t long before everyone started clearing out of the tent and move towards the back of the tent formations where most of the pack’s high ranking wolves stood in a formation to discuss their plans with the rest of the Alpha’s.
“Are there any candidates who want to take over as Alphas in Aiden and Devon’s place?” I asked Rhys as we walked together to where everyone was headed.
The sun had gone down mere seconds ago the temperature was already dropping. Several bonfires had been lit in the desert and I could already see the groups that had been formed around each bonfire. I was certain that each group will be making an unanimous decision, but whether that decision will be to join another pack or to form their own, was still unknown.
But one thing kept bothering me still. Why was my wolf getting even more restless the closer I got to the group?
“There are about seven candidates from MountainHunters,” Rhys spoke then, breaking me out of my thoughts. “And four from DesertWarriors. I think the betas will be the most suitable for taking over the Alpha position, especially since they already have the knowledge of how to run a pack and have the trust of the pack members. What do you think? Mikalya? Are you alright?”
“I’m fine.” I spoke through gritted teeth.
The uneasiness that I had been feeling had suddenly morphed into a stabbing pain in my chest. My wolf was scratching against my skin, begging to be set free and the pain in my chest was suffocating me.
“The hell you are!” Rhys snapped, wrapping an arm around my waist. “Listen, we can just go inside and tell the others to continue this tomorrow. There’s no nee-“
“And let everyone believe that I’m a weakling? Just like they had imagined?” I grit out. “There’s no way I’m risking that, Rhys. I’ll be fine in a minute. Just…keep walking.”
“I don’t like this one bit; you’re being stubborn and egoistic!” Rhys said as he tightened his hold on me.
“This entire Summit is stubborn and egoistic.” I snapped. “I said I’ll be fine so keep walking with me.”
“Fine.” Rhys grit out, but he walked with me towards the group nonetheless.
Surprisingly, the pain did lessen as I stopped in front of the group who were now without an Alpha. Rhys steadied me and removed his arm from around my waist as we stood in line with the rest of the Alphas, but he was close by, I could feel the warmth of his skin at my back and the comforting presence of his wolf nearby.
A scent of lemon and lavenders.
I gasped in a sharp breath. That scent! I knew this scent!
No! It’s impossible. How can it be…?
A drizzle of lemon over fresh lavenders.
There it was again! I wasn’t mistaking! The scent was really there!
I took another whiff of the scent, filling my lungs with it, filling my soul.
But the scent was still there and it filled my lungs with that long forgotten perfume with every breath I took. It was a scent I could never forget, it was etched so deep in to my memory. A scent that was as familiar to me as my own. A scent that I haven’t smelled in over seventeen years.
It took me a while to notice that the scent was getting stronger by each passing second. Involuntarily, I took a step forward towards the group and broke the line.
“Mikalya?” Rhys’s surprised voice came from behind me, but for me, it could have come from a thousand miles away. Nothing else mattered to me at this moment; nothing but finding out the source of the scent.
I took another step forward, then another. The scent was strong here and it felt like with every step I took closer to the scent, the more the pain in my chest eased away. The crowd of wolves in front of me parted as I walked closer to them, out of fear or respect, I wouldn’t know, because the only thing I could focus on was the scent.
The crowd parted further as I took another step.
Everyone moved back a step, away from my path, until there was an open space in the centre of the crowd and I was the only one standing in the middle of it. No…I wasn’t the only one, was I? Someone else was waiting for me in the centre.
Everyone had moved back from the centre, everyone except for one man. And he still looked the same. He was wearing a loose fitting light green shirt with blue wash jeans with a jean jacket of the same color hung over his shoulders. His hair was shorter though, but just as dark and silky as I remembered. But the most prominent feature about him was his eyes. Those same unique eyes.
And just like being woken up from a never-ending nightmare, I saw him, after seventeen whole years of waiting without hope and searching endlessly through lands unknown…I’d finally found him. The man who bore the scent of lavender and lime, my most favorite scent in the whole world. My mate.
“Abhay.”
“Firangi.”
--------To be continued in The Chosen Alpha--------