I started praying to every God known to mankind.

Please don't tell me he went to the cave himself. Please don't tell me he abandoned me. Please don't tell me he's trying to be the hero when he can't.

I ran out of the room and down the stairs toward the Minister's office.

"Minister!" I panted, slamming his door open without knocking and startling him in his seat, "Alrik's gone!"

His eyes widened, "Gone? I talked to him this morning!"

"He's not there. His stuff is missing too," I said, dropping to my knees on the verge of hysteria, "Minister, I made him promise that he wouldn't go to the cave last night."

The Minister stood up from his seat and walked over to me quickly before kneeling beside me, "Pull yourself together, Jaslynn. This isn't like you."

"I've been a wreck. I'm usually not this emotional," I muttered, taking the handkerchief from his hands to blow my nose.

"Well, I can tell you part of the reason. Your heat is coming. I didn't realize this yesterday, but it's been a few days since Alpha Alrik marked you, right?"

My heat. No wonder I had been sobbing at every corner. My attachment to Alrik had increased, and all this added stress was making my hormonal levels fluctuate all over the place.

"You're in no position to travel like this," the Minister said, straightening and walking back to his chair.

I stood up as well and followed him to his desk, "Then what can we do?"

"You are going to find Alpha Alrik and stay with him. I'm going to the cave."

The handkerchief fell from my hands.

"Y-you're what?" I asked in disbelief, "Minister, are you serious?"

He nodded gravely, "I am, and I have no regrets about my decision either so do not try to argue. I have contacted Mr. Daxton, and he has agreed to send me five of his best dragon warriors to accompany me. Since Ester and Bartholomew don't know anything about the cave, I'm hoping having dragons with me will make it easier to negotiate with the rogue dragons."

"You have got to be kidding me."

"No joking here, Jaslynn. Mr. Daxton has assured me that the rogue dragons won't harm me if I don't provoke them. But in case they do attack, his warriors will be able to hold them off."

I gave him a deadpan look, "Why didn't we just ask Daxton the first time?"

He chuckled, "It would have made things easier, wouldn't it? But I was hesitant to approach him after he refused to help at the annual meeting. He was still reluctant to send his warriors, but I convinced him after filling him in on the situation."

"Do Helene and Dario know you're leaving?"

"They do. We were up late last night discussing it, and they're both in support of it. Dario was adamant on traveling with me, but I demanded that he stay back to take over my tasks temporarily."

"Minister," I sighed, "I don't what to say."

He didn't seem like someone who would fight, but I knew there was a raging beast in there that he would release when he wanted to. He was an ex-army general, after all. But once World War II was over, the Minister had made a solemn vow to never pick up another weapon.

Now here he was, packing up his guns and old swords, to take my place in a battle he never signed up for.

I was humbled by his selflessness.

"For starters, you can stop looking at me like that," he said, a little smile forming on his face, "This is not some great act of kindness for you to feel indebted to me. I'm doing my duty as the Minister. When the leaders can't do anything, that is where I step in."

"I know, Minister, but–"

"No buts," he raised his hand, "Child, do you realize what you have been through all your life? You have lost so many loved ones and have been betrayed by many, yet you are always the first one in line to help. I will never forget how you stood by my family when Dario went missing and saved his life when everyone else had abandoned us and told us it was hopeless."

He lifted my chin and looked me in the eye, "You have never forsaken anyone, and I know you never will. That is why I'm breaking my vow today. Because in the process of trying to save everyone else, you will forget about yourself and I cannot allow that. Do you understand?"

I didn't even realize I was crying again until my voice came out incredibly hoarse, "I understand, Minister."

"Now," he said, wiping my tears with his thumbs, "Alpha Alrik visited me this morning to tell me Ester and Bartholomew didn't have any information, but I didn't get the chance to tell him that I was taking your place because Mr. Daxton interrupted. I'm assuming he returned to his pack so you should find him there and if not, I am sure his commander knows where he is ."

I nodded and stepped forward to give him a hug "Minister, please be safe and keep me updated on everything that happens."

"I will call you every chance that I get," he murmured, giving me a tight squeeze, "Now go."

***

The Venom Prowlers. (A/N: I finally changed it y'all. Stop roasting me.)

–Also known as Alrik's pack.

The name was daunting to say the least– they were literally calling themselves poisonous predators. But with the reputation they had, the name was certainly fitting.

After my talk with the Minister, I immediately packed my bags and took the next flight out to the airport closest to Alrik's pack. Thankfully, the Minister had the address, and I was currently driving through the woods as fast as I could without hitting any trees.

The pack was deep in the woods to make sure humans wouldn't find them, but knowing Alrik, he probably made sure the first line of security was far away from the border so any humans would be forced away from the "private property".

And ten minutes after entering the woods, that was exactly what happened.

There were two wolves dressed in camouflage suits carrying long rifles that probably carried silver bullets. One of them marched up to the car and knocked on the window loudly, and I rolled it down.

"Identification," he said in a monotone voice.

I hand him my license, and he glances at it briefly, "State your purpose."

"I'm here to see your Alpha," I smiled politely, watching his eyes widen just a little before he returned to his professional nature. I guess not many people come to visit Alrik specifically.

"State your species."

"Witch."

"State your purpose for meeting my Alpha."

I almost snorted out loud, "Your Alpha left me in bed this morning."

What else was I supposed to say? I wasn't sure if Alrik told his pack he found his mate yet.

Suddenly, the muzzle of the rifle was pressed against my cheek, "Do not lie to me. Does this look like a joke to you? I can have you dragged to prison for trying to tarnish my Alpha's image."

I slowly leaned away from the rifle so I could see his face properly, "How about you mind link your Alpha and tell him Jaslynn Beaumont is here to meet him?"

"No. I won't disturb the Alpha for a mere trespasser. Unless you have a real reason to see him and or evidence that he knows you are arriving, I cannot let you pass."

"How about Commander Reece? Can you mind-link her?" I asked, losing a bit more hope as his eyes narrowed on my face suspiciously.

When he didn't reply, I sighed, "Look, I respect that you are doing your job, and I don't want to make this difficult for either of us. But if you could take two seconds of your time to ask Commander Reece about me, I'm sure you'll have all the information you need."

He studied me for a few seconds and when he saw no threat in my stance, he nodded and appeared to be in a daze for a moment. A minute later, he snapped out of it and pursed his lips, "Commander Reece will be here shortly."

The guard didn't move from his position until a chocolate brown wolf rushed out of the woods. When she began to slow down, he bowed his head and stepped back to his spot next to the other guard as Reece shifted back.

"Jaslynn, you're here!" She grinned, running to the driver's side. I opened the door and stepped out of the car to give her a hug. When we pulled back, she turned to the guards, "Could one of you park Ms. Beaumont's car and bring her luggage to the Alpha's house?"

"Of course, Commander," the other guard, who had been silent until now, stepped forward, "Right away."

As Reece dragged me past them, I smiled at them both, "Thanks, you two!"

The guard who had pointed his rifle at me blushed a little, and the one taking my car just smiled politely. Once we were out of hearing distance, Reece turned to me, "So what happened between you and Alrik that made his assholic nature increase a tenfold?"

***

I wasn't wrong when I said the first line of security was far away from the actual pack. It turned out we had to walk about a mile and a half before we saw any glimpse of werewolves.

Once we finally entered the pack land, the first area I came across was the training grounds. Hundreds of wolves were sparring in pairs in their wolf form or with all sorts of bronze and metal weapons.

It was almost mesmerizing to watch their calculated moves and quick reflexes.

"Come on," Reece nudged me, "I'll give you a full tour after you pay Alrik a visit."

I nodded, and we sped past the training grounds to the large houses that were spread out all across the expanse of land. It was like walking through a little werewolf town with boutiques, hospitals, pharmacies, rows of houses, and even short apartment buildings.

"The pack is divided into three sections," Reece explained as she noticed my awe-stricken face, "First section is the training grounds, second section is the living grounds, and third section is...hard to explain."

"Hard to explain?"

"It'll make much more sense when you see it," she said quietly, her tone indicating that she didn't want to discuss it any further.

"Where's Alrik's house?" I asked softly, noticing how several wolves were staring at me since I wasn't a werewolf, and I was walking with their Commander.

Reece snorted, "Where else would it be? The man had it built at the very end to keep his privacy. It's the largest house coming up."

I turned my head to follow her line of vision, and my eyes widened at how beautiful it looked. It was a large, light gray brick structure with white trim around every window and dark gray roof tiles. It had a front porch lined with a black iron railing, and the front doors were painted a blood red.

"It's beautiful," I mumbled.

"It is," she smiled, "I helped him pick all the colors and material because he didn't think it was important. If he did it his way, everything would have been black and white."

Once we were closer to the house, Reece stopped walking, "I have to go take care of some errands, but if you go around to the back of the house, you'll find Alrik there."

Why did I get the feeling that she was trying to get the two of us alone? Not that I was complaining. I wanted to give Alrik an earful about nearly giving me a heart attack.

As she speed-walked past me, I slowly moved toward the gravel pathway that led to the back of the house. The little pebbles crunched under my feet, and my heart rate escalated with every crunch.

I turned the corner, and my jaw dropped at the gorgeous array of plants before me. There were several different colored flowers and large bushes and trees that were heavy with different fruits and berries.

My eyes were happily devouring the heavenly garden until they landed on an even more drool-worthy sight.

Alrik chopping wood shirtless.

My mouth was almost watering as his back muscles clenched every time he raised the ax above his shoulder. His bronze skin was glistening with sweat and smudges of dirt as if he had been gardening and chopping wood for a while. The veins in his arms were even more prominent as he swung the ax with ease.

He must have felt me drilling holes in his back because he stopped and turned around, breathing heavily. His eyes narrowed when he saw me standing there, almost trembling at my knees from how turned on I was.

"You," he growled.

I glared at him, "Don't growl at me. You were the one who left this..."

I trailed off as Alrik tossed his ax aside, ripped his gloves off his hands, and started marching toward me like he was intending to rip me apart like a wolf pursuing a rabbit.

And I had no place to run.

😂