She Is My Mate

After Enrick retires to his quarters and Alcina gets used to whatever her business is, I head back to the woods.
Erina is no longer in Midnight Moon, that's for sure now. She's gone and I don't know where to go find her. Only the forest can give me any clue. I shift and give Hunter control. We go again for a race just like a few days ago, but now to the southern side of the pack border. Some warriors are watching from a distance, no one tries to approach me when I am in this state of mind.
An hour later, when fatigue kicks in, Hunter slows down.
Looking around, I see that we have reached a hilltop and smoke rises in the air a few meters further. Someone is there cooking or roasting. We comfortably sit in the grass and watch the rising smoke. This area does not belong to the pack domain, we are at least a kilometer in neutral territory. Humans often camp in this jungle with their families or solo. Walkways are laid out and signpost where danger lurks. Humans are naturally afraid of wolves and tigers, which are pretty common in this area.
Hunter lies on his stomach, staring forward.
Every now and then, he takes a sniff at the air, attempting to discover something about Erina. But to no avail.
We have been lying down here for about fifteen minutes when there is a rustling in the undergrowth. Hunter twists his ears and goes on edge. And then we feel a strong aura, the one approaching us is a supernatural but not a werewolf. Hunter jumps to his four and growls low. Ready to attack, he scrutinizes the undergrowth and whoever needs to get out of there.
We both know it's not our little mate hiding there.
The rustling stops for a moment, whoever is there must have seen us now. “Beta, please, don't attack me. I'm not here with bad intentions”, we suddenly hear a male voice. Hunter sniffs a few times and relaxes. The undergrowth is pushed aside and then we see a man emerge, he is about forty years old. His clothes and hat indicate that he is a warlock. “I'm not here to argue or fight, Beta. I'm glad I can finally talk to you without entering a pack full of dangerous werewolves," he claims. “I saw you running through the woods a few days ago, but everyone could tell you weren't in a good mood. So I didn't risk approaching you."
Hunter walks behind a tree where we shift.
After a bit of searching, I find shorts and a sweater that are a bit tight but still allow me to appear decent in front of the man. He seems to know me, knows I'm the pack's Beta. Maybe he knows something, saw Erina go by. When I reappear, the man walks over to me with his hand outstretched. “I'm Andre, the warlock of the coven a few miles from here,” he introduces himself. “You are the Beta of Midnight Moon”.
I nod as I shake his hand.
“What are you doing here in the jungle all alone? How long have you been here?” I ask him curiously. The man falls unto the grass and I sit down next to him. It feels like he has a lot to tell me and wants to take all the time for it.
“I came here a week ago. To be honest, I wanted to talk to a high ranking of your pack but your border security is tight”, he explains. “If I had just come to the gate and asked to speak to a staffer, it would have caused a lot of commotion. So I decided to wait until the right time.” The man stares ahead.
“You can discuss anything with me now that we're here. This is a sublime moment you won't get easy,” I answer him. “But first I want to know. Have you seen a girl around five in the woods?” I try not to make my voice sound too eager. To my delight, Andre nods. But before I can ask him any further, he turns to me. “I know she's your mate. She is your strength. The Moon Goddess placed her next to you early on so that your wolf can be confident and strong in her plans for you and the pack,” Andre explains mysteriously.
I look at him bewildered. “How do you know all this?”
“And Drina is Alpha Enrick's mate", he continues. "Beta, keep a close eye on Alcina, please. Her sole plan is to destroy Drina. She plans to persuade Enrick to reject Drina. Alcina's main focus is actually Drina's parents," he declares in one go.
“Yes, Enrick and I already know that. But whether she succeeds is of course, the big question. Enrick is crazy about Drina, their mate bond is solid. I'm afraid Alcina sports a failed plan," I say dryly.
“After the death of her beloved Giles, she joined my coven. She is keen to avenge the man despite being just a filthy rapist," Andre said harshly. “Fortunately, I got the visions in time and bound her powers for three years. That's why you can't recognize her as a witch," he says.
Surprised, I look at the warlock. He is unusually talkative about this sensitive matter.
“But there's something wrong with this story, it's like there's an angle missing. Why does she want to wipe out the whole family and waited for so long? She could have destroyed Drina's parents when her mother was pregnant with her. Is there something that is not being told?” I ask, hoping to get clarity with Andre.
“That's the main reason I'm here. Alcina's plan goes against the creation of the Moon Goddess. Alcina is on her way to her own death, her hatred will only bring her down," the warlock sighs. “I tried to protect her by freezing her powers in the hope that she would repent. I'm here to stop her, protect you from her wrath before it eats her itself."
I nod thoughtfully. “But why bother with all this? If she's so eager to face her demise and you've already made an effort to stop her, what are you doing here, actually?," I ask him. "Let her reap what she sows."
Andre takes a deep sigh.
“Because her downfall also means mine and my coven. If she dies, it's my end too," he states, lost in thought.
“She is my fated mate”....