The Hunted

The Outcast

                                                                                 1806

              The Alphas had gathered at the long and worn table that sat in a candle-lit room. Not one made a sound after that night when the Moon had given them answers to a question all had been asking. Heads held high as they gazed across the room with smug and unhumbled postures. 

"Well?" One spoke. The silence continued until the doors to the meeting hall slammed open. With their advanced hearing, they could hear the footsteps of three men coming closer.

It was him.

The King of Alphas. The betrayed. But most importantly The Unforgotten. No matter how hard they tried to forget the King himself, he was etched into their brains in a dark terrorizing memory.

The doors to the room gently opened and the gamma walked through first with a quick and thorough sweep of his eyes. His eyes were a night sky lit ablaze by a dull grey fire, constantly churning like a tree being tossed in a flood. His hair matched the fire with a coal-like look to it.

Next, the beta walked into the room with a bounce. A false glee spread across his face as he gazed into the eyes of the men he once respected. Rage filled his lungs like a broken bottle sinking into the sea. The eyes were like a boat that was ship-wrecked on a jagged cliffside in a dark storm. His hair is like a sunny day on a California beachside. Soft waves in his hair accompany the freckles that spot his nose.

Finally, the King lazily strolled into the room with a sway in his shoulders. It was surprising how the war aged the alpha as a few white hairs grew on the side of his head just above his ears. He was the same age as all the other newly promoted alphas who sat cautiously in their chairs. Honey dripping high from a dying oak tree still had its leaves, similar to his hazel eyes. His hair had soft and loose curls that lay at the top of his head like the fragment of a whirlwind.

"Well, I presume we all had the same vision last night?" The gamma spoke first. The rest of the alphas silently nodded their heads.

"Then the steps we will take next will have to be delicate. I suggest that once a year each alpha will hold a hunt, like the vision showed, that will take place on their land. In the month leading up to the hunt, we will collect those whose scent shows one of our mates is ours. Objections?" The beta questioned.

"What if our mates are not ready to be shown? You cannot expect us to wait?!" One wolf suddenly shouted.

"You think we would take orders from you?! I wouldn't take one step onto your land even if my mate were to be on it." Another spoke.

"We fought to be free from your idiocy, I wouldn't be surprised if my mate died the second she was in your blood-soaked hands." A gamma spat. The room erupted in angered voices. Alphas spoke over betas, betas spoke over gammas, and alphas spoke over one another.

"Enough." Said the king. The room silenced.

"We will do each hunt on different pack lands each year because of our need to have control. Which is the one thing I willingly gave up by the way. Look what happened once I did! Our families grew up with one another. My mother was honored and loved by each of you. You're pathetic, each of you. I could gain control in a heartbeat but I choose not to, and you know this." The king met the eye of each wolf that spoke up initially with a fierce dark gaze, each submitting the second their eyes met the king.

"As for you not wanting to meet your mate on our pack lands, I say that's unfortunate. We seek the opportunity to hold a hunt just as much as everyone else here. If you have a problem with that, I will take it up with you." The gamma finished. Everyone knew what that meant, death. There's no alpha in that room other than the king who could take the gamma in a fight, let alone the beta. 

The king sighed," Is this all?" He asked, but no one spoke. With that, he stood up from his carved chair and left the room.

With that, the hunt for mates and more so peace began.