SIERRA

"You smelt ash, Sierra. That is the distinct smell of a witch practicing black magic. She has probably disguised herself as a wolf to spy on us," exclaims elder Raoul.

"I encountered one when I fought off Princess Evanora's abductor." Hearing the words, I freeze in my tracks. I turn to look at the elder who seems to be pleased that he knows who this spy is.

But I don't know who he is talking about. I am curious about this princess and impatient enough to wait to ask about it on any other day, I head back to my seat and frown at all the elders who have started chatting amongst themselves about the possible witch in our school. I clear my throat loudly and wait for the elders to look at me.

"Yes, child?" asks elder Raoul.

"Who is Princess Evanora?"

"Prince Lucian's mate," he replies with a 'duh' tone, making me feel like an unintelligent person. I just nod and wait if he continues to tell me more about her. The royals seem like an interesting lot of people.

"The last royal mate couple who was ambushed by the rogue and were murdered brutally," elder Raoul continues to explain with a hint of sadness in his tone.

"Oh! I didn't know," I exclaim trying to connect it with the appearance of a witch spy in our school.

"What do you know about the royal wolves?" Elder Alarick asks making me think.

"I only know that a large number of wolves were killed in the royal war that is when the rogues attacked the royals in an ambush and that today, there is no living royal among us." I tell them.

"Well child, you have very less knowledge about them. Prince Lucian was the only son of King Adrian. Prince Lucian and his mate, Princess Evanora escaped the royal castle when Prince Adrian was poisoned. The young couple had a son who was entrusted with their Royal Adviser. He took the young heir and gave him away to another pack Alpha. Meanwhile, Prince Lucian and his mate were caught by the rogue, a personal enemy. He along with a very powerful dark witch, tortured the princess in front of Prince Lucian and left her to die. Out of rage, Prince Lucian challenged him for a duel till death as he knew that he couldn't win against the rogue who was being aided by the witch. We thought that the rogue was dead but the recent deaths and some written warnings to surrender the royal heir have confirmed that the rogue is still alive."

My mouth hangs open by the time Elder Alarick gives me a brief of the war and the post-war scenarios. I stare at them in shock. After a few minutes of processing the information, I am able to close my mouth and form coherent thoughts.

"Did... did the witch die?" I ask.

"We don't know child. We were too busy fighting off the traitors and the rogues. If the witch is still alive it is possible that she has somehow aided in planting this amateur yet powerful witch spy," says Elder Alarick grimly.

"The rogue has sent the spy to keep an eye on the royal heir and his mate." I speak but my words come out more like a question instead of a statement. All this information at the same time are making my head spin.

"The spy is here specifically to know more about the heir and his mate. If they come to know who the mate is, then she will probably kidnap her or kill her. We don't know for sure if Prince Lucian is still alive or not but we know who the royal heir is and who his mate is. The rogue is not so sure but has his doubts that is why he is planting spies in the school so that he can find more information on the royal heir and his mate," informs Elder Fridolf.

"Oh, Goddess! Why don't you move them to somewhere safe? Why not inform all the Alphas around our school and order them to help eradicate this rogue? From what I know about my pack Alpha Christopher, he will definitely help the royal heir and his mate to kill the rogues," I blabber. Immediately, elder Alarick grunts and looks at elder Fridolf, shaking his head. Elder Fridolf pales under elder Alarick's ferocious glance.

"No child, the royal heir is preparing himself but his mate is not ready yet to face the complications. She is in danger and that is why she is watched by all the Elders here," elder Raoul says, making me turn away from the other two elders and at elder Raoul. I nod in agreement. The couple should be looked out for.

"Wait a minute!" I stare at all the elders in shock as the meaning of their words sink in. "You said that the mates are under your care that means that those are young trainees, right?" I ask and elder Raoul nods with a glint of knowledge in his eyes. He knows who this couple is so I ask him.

"Is the mate couple among the new found mates? As far as I know, there hasn't been any new mating in the past few years," I ask in anticipation but then I frown. I edge forward in my chair to rest my elbow on the desk and prop my chin in it, thinking hard. Aztec is Alpha Chris's son. Lycidas is the future Alpha of Moon Stone. Zion is future Alpha of Mystic Shadow. Fenris is from Mystic Shadow but he is an orphan with no knowledge of his mate. He was given to his pack Alpha by elder Raoul. This is very, very similar to that of the royal heir's escape.

Oh shit!

A gasp escapes my throat as I sit up in the chair and nearly fall off it, my butt is resting only an inch on the edge of the chair seat. I clutch the arm rest in a death grip and look up at elder Raoul to see him waiting for me to speak but I refrain. I don't know if it is true or not.

Maybe there is someone else who found their mate and was not disclosed to the other wolves so as to reduce the risk of being known.

Yeah! That would be it. Fenris would know about his royal status, won't he?

"Who is the royal mate couple, elder? I know that you know. I promise I won't share it with anyone and will personally lookout for the mates. I will watch the spy and report back to you," I offer as I desperately wish for the elders to tell me. Elder Raoul blinks at my request and lets out a long sigh. He shakes his head and my shoulders slump in disappointment. I sit back in my chair and sigh warily.

"Hmmm." I look at elder Raoul as he strokes his beard trying to read his face but fail.

"Please tell me who is this royal mate couple?" I am curious now.

"Child, we don't need to tell you. You already know but you are evading it," says elder Alarick. I stop with my fidgeting and look at them with wide eyes.

"There is no other new found mate couple. Lycidas, Fenris, Aztec and Zion are the only four Alphas who have found their mates," says Elder Alarick shocking me.

If I were standing at this moment, I would've surely fallen on my ass. It feels as if the ground on which my feet are, is trembling or is it my knees that are trembling? Instinctively, my mark starts tingling and my hand, out of its own accord moves to touch it. The elders' eyes follow the movement so I immediately move my hand back to my lap. I resist myself from touching my mark.

"Fen... Fenris is not an Alpha, elder. He is adopted," I say and even to my own ears, my words sound unsure. I know it is useless. I remember how Alexandria accused me of being power hungry and how Fenris had looked at me, accusation in his eyes when I said that I am Aztec's Luna. If Fenris is the royal heir then if I accept him now, he will think that I accepted him just because he is the Prince.

I shake my head imagining his reaction and others will also think that I am really power hungry for accepting him. Oh Goddess! I am so foolish. I should've accepted him before kissing him. Now he will always be suspicious about my acceptance of our mate bond. No, No, No! I shake my head in denial.

"You have a mark on the back of your neck, don't you, Sierra? Does your mate know?" asks Elder Raoul startling me from my thoughts.

I shake my head, trembling now. How did he guess accurately? I don't correct him that the mark is actually at the base of my nape, just at the beginning of my thoracic vertebrae.

No, it should not be happening to me right now. Not a panic attack now. A whimper escapes from my throat and I clamp my mouth shut, covering it with my trembling hands to avoid any other sound from escaping.

"Child, you are safe in this school as long as you don't run past the borders of the school. Fenris is special and so are you child. Fenris belongs to the royal pack and will one day rule it with you by his side. Till then I need to you promise me that you won't disclose this information about your true identities with anyone. Even your roommate and her brother don't know about Fenris's true identity," elder Alarick speaks with calm authority and I am left with no other option than to agree with it.

I swallow audibly and elder Raoul passes me another glass of warm water. I try to stop the tremble in my hands as I pick up the glass but the water sloshes from the glass and the glass slips from my hand. An agonised cry tears past my throat as I get up from my chair shaking my head furiously. I move behind, towards the doors and look at Elder Raoul. He nods, silently giving me permission to leave. Not bothering about mannerisms anymore, I unlock the door and run as if my ass is on fire, hoping to escape reality.

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Faleminderit!

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