Shadow Alpha

Chapter 1 🌙

Ferir's POV

"You think you can escape your woes with our help?" Mikel asks the old woman, after she stepped through the blood portal, begging for help.

"My name is Lorraine! From the Banshee Wolves. My Alpha – he is terminally ill... he's going to die any day and I don't want his brother taking the pack," she drops to her knees, supplicating herself – thinking that wins further respect, "Please, please help me."

"You gathered the skulls to ask to save one life?" Mikel looks to me, rather disappointed.

We used to be summoned and questioned for winning wars, saving worlds, ending famine – or even simply asked for advice.

In this new modern world, after the first contact with their Elders in hundreds of years – we were being asked for this? One life? Disappointing.

"I love my Alpha," Lorraine looks up now, crying, fists balled, "That is why I'm here."

"Love," Mikel says the word like it's dust.

It barely was an alive concept nor meaningful for us.

"Can you help me or not, I am begging you, can't you see my pain?" her face screws up with impatience.

Mikel goes quiet, looking to me again.

She will not be able to see me. I am choosing not to be seen. I didn't like mortals very much. I was a Shadow Alpha – Ancient. I didn't belong in their world. Mikel was a brooding Griffin, and enjoyed when mortals called for Court.

"I will not decide this," Griffin tells me, "I'll leave it up to you, Ferir."

I internally sigh and allow my shield of invisibility to drop.

When I appear, she can finally see me standing in the shadow of the stone wall to her right.

"The Eternal Alpha," she mouths and barely gasps in a breath. I hated that stupid modern interpretation of my name, "I – I... didn't know I would see you here... please..." she looks hopeful, thinking I am a part of her pack. But I was not in her pack and she was not in mine, "Can you help me?"

"We don't use Wraith Magic for one life – mortal wolves die from sickness, war and natural death. Your Alpha's coming death is natural. I don't understand your request."

"What do you mean you don't understand," she hisses now, "Do you have any idea how long it took to gather the Five Skulls of Lupine to come here, to ask this one favour?"

"To ask," I remind her, "It does not guarantee a response you desire."

"So I came here for nothing?" Lorraine firms up, a challenge in her eye. How annoying. Still, I remain calm.

"Yes," I answer her, "Go back to mortaldom and learn to grieve."

"Excuse me? My first-born daughter was given to the enemy as a part of a peace-pact when I was 18, my first child, ripped from my arms – I have sacrificed for peace. I have learned to grieve. Now, I am going to lose my mate too, where is your mercy, " Lorraine jumps to her feet, and Mikel intervenes, standing and fanning out his wings to block me from her approach. His beak snaps at her, and she stumbles back to the portal, "At least tell me why you won't help me," she begs, before she goes.

"Come to our realm when you have a real problem," I advise her.

"A real problem?" Lorraine screams – but the portal reaches out and sucks her back in, throwing her out of here. Our Wraith Court, unused for centuries until this monumentally disappointing moment.

Mikel paces the room, shaking out his feathers in irritation.

"Your Kind are weakening," he tells me.

"I am aware," I say, neutral to that fact.

"What are you going to do about it?" Mikel looks back at me, raising a feathered brow, "At this rate Lupine will go extinct from weakness in the blood. They don't know real struggle anymore. You neglect them because they neglect you."

"I do not care," I admit, "They are undeserving. That will not heed my attention."

"They will soon," the Griffin looks to me with a wild eye of knowledge, "Banshee's rivals, the Neptune Wolves, are planning to perform an ancient sacrifice, to send you a virgin Lupine. It will be the first time it has happened in hundreds of mortal years. They've been praying to me by mistake – they do not read the scripture well enough," Oh, really. I hadn't cared for that ritual for so long, and forgot it quite easily when the practice stopped, "Will you grant Neptune the power they will ask for, as Loraine has just requested, and you refused."

I think about it, "But a virgin bride sacrifice will be a gift from Neptune – while Lorraine was a nuisance. I will have to give Neptune a gift in turn."

"You say it without a single expression, but you mean trouble..." Mikel reads the dead-pan look in my eye as violent emotion.

Not really. I hadn't felt violent emotion in a millennia, let alone centuries.

I wasn't a young demi-god anymore.

"What is the name they pray upon their lips – who are they sacrificing?" I ask, out of curiosity, "And is she the prettiest one?"

I wouldn't accept anything less.

"She isn't really one of Neptunes," Mikel murmurs, as he paces back over to me, "Cheats. They will sacrifice the peace-pact hostage. Lorraine's first born. Evelyn."

"Interesting. If Evelyn is a Banshee Wolf... then she will receive the gift, Neptune will be punished for sacrificing a hostage," I say, "That is not acceptable Lupine behaviour."

"I knew you still had a heart for your Kind," Mikel paces out of the area, mocking me, "Although I still pity your new bride."

Why?

It wasn't anything personal. Virgin brides could last as long as they could, sometimes a month, a year, a decade... but eventually they stopped being interesting. Mortals were very uninteresting in general. And at that point, they throw themselves into the Eternal Fire to escape Eternal enslavement to me.

At which point, I don't really care.

My pack was my priority.

Set in stone, the Wraith Lupines were eternal and I was their protector and Shadow Alpha.

One day I would release each beast.

But for now, I liked to rule the Lupines alone.

I was selfish.

My job was to watch down on Lupines and laugh at their behaviour. The time of worship long passed. It had been too long since I had been revered. So now I just felt disdain.

Mortals.

So ungrateful.

They had no idea what power they used to persuade out of the Wraiths until they stopped worshipping us and forbid the rituals.

Why forbid power?

I could make all their lives worthy, dripping in glory, but they chose mediocre squabbling over bloody war and real sacrifice...

Speaking of the sacrifice.

Mm.

Evelyn.

I better prepare my den for her arrival.