Author's note: this is from Seraphina's point of view

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I was up early the next morning. Too early for my taste as it was barely dawn.

"Why are you waking me up?", I asked the maid grumpily. Maria would never disturb me this early.

"Master said that you need to leave. He requested your presence downstairs and ready to depart in fifteen minutes. I am here to help you pack. You will need to ask Master for details, young Miss."

"Eeeh?", a strange sound left my mouth as I yawned. Fifteen minutes didn't leave me much time for anything other than to brush my teeth and dress up. Why are we leaving in such a rush? We were supposed to stay in Paris for at least a few more days.

When I got out of my room, Aldus was waiting for me in the living area and talking on his phone. He waved at me, urging me to hurry.

"Something came up and we need to return to Italy…", Aldus told me with urgency as he closed the door of the apartment after us and he was making another call on his phone.

I saw the gold and silver runes appearing on the walls and moving in wave-like patterns before disappearing, and it reminded me that I still don't know many things about this world I found myself in. I took a mental note to read about runes when I get home.

Aldus was talking on the phone and I heard him arrange for a car to wait for us at the airport. I thought that the car Mitch used to drive us to the airport is still there, but then… what do I know?

"What about my training with Vesper?", I asked when Aldus ended his call.

"I spoke with her. She said that you should continue what you were doing. When you feel the energies inside you, try moving them outside of your body. Once you reach this step, we will meet with her again.", Aldus said and gave me a tight smile. "I'm sorry, Serina. I know that your progress would be faster under her guidance, but I can't stay here and it's not safe for you to be with Vesper without my protection."

I assured him that it's fine.

Mitch was waiting for us next to the car. It seems that he was used to this quick change of plans.

"Why are we leaving in a rush?", I asked while we were on our way to the airport.

Aldus let out a long exhale. "There was another rogue attack with human casualties. Lazarus is on the site and waiting for me."

"Are rogues attacking only Lazarus's territory?"

"Do you remember the story about the Supreme Alpha?", Aldus asked and when I nodded he continued: "After his pack fell apart, a big mass of land was left unclaimed and there were many conflicts between remaining werewolves. Some wanted to become the next big leader, and others were looking for one. Werewolves crave for a powerful leader and in that quest most of the survivors left to different parts of the world, while some stayed in the area and formed packs around powerful individuals, even if they were not Alphas." Aldus paused and gave me a few seconds to process that information before continuing: "Packs are organized into what you might call communities and roles are divided among members. They have warriors whose role is to protect their pack from outsiders and to maintain order within the pack. Lazarus is different. He is a loner and that is why he is having difficulty keeping his territory clean from rogues. Lazarus has humans working for him, but they don't stand a chance against werewolves, so he is mostly relying on technology while using humans as sentinels. As you can see, his success is limited."

I thought about Aldus's words and summarized, "Werewolves who live in packs have numbers on their side, and they will either repel rogue attacks or conceal them before you find out about it, while Lazarus calls you when a mess happens in his territory."

"Correct.", Aldus confirmed.

"If he can't protect his territory, why does he have one?"

Aldus shot me a side-glance and his small smile told me that he was amused by my questions.

"Werewolves gain territory based on their strength."

I was surprised by this. "Does that mean that Lazarus's strength is comparable to what a pack has?"

"Leader of the pack.", Aldus corrected me before explaining further. "In the absence of the Supreme Alpha, existing pack leaders agreed to create their own council that establishes and enforces the rules in order to prevent senseless bloodshed. When werewolves dispute around territory, there is a one-on-one fight in which the winner takes it all. Lazarus won against several pack leaders to secure his current territory."

I was impressed. "Lazarus must be strong."

Aldus confirmed. "He is. For a werewolf."

My opinion of Lazarus improved a bit. In the world of creatures where strength is valued, Lazarus must be an imposing character if he alone can compare to packs of werewolves. A second later, I remembered him sniffing me and I shivered subconsciously. It was a bad memory I was trying to suppress.

The car ride to the airport passed with Aldus telling me more about werewolves and the current situation and I found out that the number of werewolves in Europe dwindled after the Bluemoon pack fell apart, either due to wars or because werewolves fled. Their absence allowed other creatures to spread through Europe.

We were boarding the plane when Aldus got another call and I saw his brows furrowing.

"More problems?", I asked him when he ended the call.

"I'm not sure…", Aldus said. "Two men asked if they could climb to the roof of our building in Paris."

I liked that Aldus called it OUR building. It made it sound like we are family.

I had a feeling that Aldus would not get a call over two men who knocked on the door. "Is that unusual?"

Aldus looked at me and I could see that he contemplated if he should tell me more.

The plane shook as it sped up over the runway, and when we were up in the air, Aldus spoke…

"They mentioned the specific view of the Eiffel Tower and wanted to get to the roof from inside, even though there is a ladder in the back that is used as a fire escape. Also, one of them was a werewolf and he called the other one 'young master'."

"You think their goal was to get in the building.", I voiced my thoughts. "Did they cause trouble?"

"No. After the rejection, they backed away. The werewolf probably caught my scent, or they figured out that my housekeeper is not a regular human."

It didn't make sense, unless… "Do you think they were looking for you?"

"That building is mine, but it's not used for any official business. If creatures want to reach me, there are different channels for that, and if they had bad intentions, they would not come so openly." Aldus rubbed his face. "I hope this is not another problem. What's wrong with werewolves these days?", he grumbled and saw me yawning. "Sleep, Serina."

Obediently, I closed my eyes. It took me less than a second to drift off to sleep.

…

When we got off the plane, I saw two cars waiting for us on the runway and I realized that his call for a car was because we are going to part ways from here. Well, Aldus said that Lazarus is waiting for him, and Aldus does not have time to drop me off home first, while I can't join him until I figure out how to control my pheromone curse.

"Mitch will take you home.", Aldus said. "I should be back in a few days."

He reached into his briefcase and gave me the spiky instrument that can measure pheromones. "Keep this in front of you as you practice. When you can move the gauge at will, you will be ready to meet Vesper again for the next set of instructions."

I wanted to go with Aldus, but I knew that I'm too weak. I would be in the way and probably cause problems. With my pheromones going crazy due to my fear, getting near rogue werewolves would be a bad idea. And then there is Lazarus as well.

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