The Black Rose Pack

Prologue

Prologue

The candles flickered, alarmingly close to being snuffed out, and the small light they gave off made the large stone room seem unfriendly and cold. In the middle of the room was a rectangular long table and around one of the ends were four men, who were talking in angry but hushed voices. They had an air about them that made them respectful, yet extremely dangerous.

"If we can recruit the Arden pack, the forest towards the east of their territory would provide ..."

"The Arden pack is too loyal to the Royals. If we tried to recruit them to the cause, they would alert the Royal Guard. Then they'll torture us. Maybe our families as well. Is that what you want? Your little girl screaming out for daddy to stop the bad men?" an old Alpha snapped, sitting forward with his arms resting on the table.

"With respect Alpha Reuben, we need that forest and all we need to do is convi-"

"We can't trust them," the alpha bellowed. His hair was greying slightly. "I won't risk my family because of them." His brow creased as he sat forward, his deep brown eyes trained on the other men.

"Well then what do you suggest we do? Amass all our possible fighters and meet them head on? We can't risk our warriors either," another growled.

"So which is it? Our families or our warriors?" Reuben said coldly, leaning back in his chair.

Silence was his only reply. None of the other men knew how to reply to the increasingly angry Alpha.

Well? Which one is it to b-" Reuben stopped suddenly as the sound of the heavy door groaned.

A little girl with long, black hair stood in the shadow of the door, rubbing her eyes and holding a ratty, ancient teddy bear. "Olivia, what are you doing here?" the old Alpha asked, surprise lacing his tone. His face softened as he stood up, and went to his young daughter, holding her in his arms. Reuben knew he couldn't let her get hurt, he was going to protect her no matter who or what stood in his way.

"I had a bad dream again, Daddy," Olivia said, starting to sob into her father's shoulder. He moved out of the conference room and into the hall, where he started to soothe her, slowly walking back towards her bedroom. When they reached her bedroom door,Olivia wrapped herself around her father's leg. He chuckled and tried to walk over to Olivia's bed. She held on tight, tears still running down her small, delicate face. Her porcelain white skin was smudged with dirt, and red from crying. "I don't want to go to bed," she whimpered, her voice hoarse from crying. Her eyes were wide as she stared at her father.

The floorboards creaked and a boy walked towards the crying girl. "Dad, Livvi can sleep with me tonight." The old Alpha looked down at his son, barefoot and in his favourite pyjamas, beside his little sister, tightly holding her hand. The two, he couldn't help but notice, were so similar. With their black, curling locks, the way their hazel eyes were always wide with interest, questioning everything around them, and the way they stood together, as if nothing would tear them apart.

"That may be a good idea. I still have to attend to some unfinished business," Reuben sighed.

"Okay Dad, good night then. Come on Livvi, let's go." The little boy lead his sister away from their father, both taking small, slow steps, as if afraid to leave the comfort of their father.

"How did they grow up so fast?" he murmured to himself, then turned and walked back towards the conference room where the other Alpha's stood, arguing. They didn't stop until the old Alpha bellowed out, "Quiet!"

Immediately the room was silenced. He glared at the three men that stood before him, letting off a dominating aura. The lesser of the of the three men cowered back slightly. Their eyes flashed black for a moment, before they sat down in their designated seats.

"Now, what is the mishap?" Reuben asked, while taking his seat and glancing at each of the men.

"Alpha Balen has suggested that we use the combined forces of Alpha Tobruk's and my warriors to serve as a decoy." The Alpha shook with anger as he glared at Balen; but Balen didn't seem to notice as he watched the reaction of the old Alpha.

The old Alpha sighed with slight annoyance and said,"Why is this such a problem, Alpha Jardin?" But Jardin only spat in disgust and stood up, which made the chair fall to the floor with a loud clatter.

"Why do you think?" he growled, "They are my men. I will not lead them to their deaths."

"But if they choose to do this, they will be known as heros for werewolf kind. They won't let their egos get in the way and their wolves will help them. With the right kind of training, they can win this fight," Reuben said, voice strong yet weary.

"Of course you would side with him. It's not your warriors being led like lambs to the slaughter house," Jardin growled, eyes turning black. Anger radiated off of him in waves, hitting the other men in the room at full force. Only the older Alpha sat calmly in his chair, staring the man down.

Reuben watched the younger man struggle to control his temper. Jardin shook uncontrollably, his eyes flashing from black to green to black again. He could see the way his wolf fought to get control of the young man, the angst in his eyes. Then the man took over, taking in deep, calming breaths, before running out of the room. The sounds of a slamming door echoed through the hallway.

"I think it's time to end this meeting," the old alpha said, his eyes fixed on the door as the two other men bowed their heads and left, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

When his mind touched the topic of his wife, he decided to check on his children, whom he hoped were more like her than himself.

The war had taken a heavy toll on the old man. Organising men, creating alliances and training new warriors had meant that the Old Alpha didn't often see his children awake. However, he always kissed them goodnight, even if they were already asleep.

When Reuben reached his son's room, he stopped when he heard voices. The two children were whispering, or least to them it was whispering. To the old Alpha, it was cute the way they thought they were conspiring, and he chuckled softly to himself.

The voices stopped as he reached for the doorknob. The movement of weight had made the floorboards creak, and had warned the two children of his presence. Their voices stopped and the old Alpha opened the door.

Olivia and Phoenix lay there, their eyes fluttering as they pretended to sleep. He couldn't help but smile at their attempts, and walked in, going over to Phoenix first.

"Take care of your sister," he whispered, kissing the small boy on his forehead before leaning over his daughter and kissed her, and he smiled.

The old Alpha turned and walked to the door, where he spared one last glance over to his children. He closed the door and walked towards his office where he spent most of his time. He walked passed his youngest child's room, where the baby slept. He stopped, and watched the Nanny flitter around the room, watching after Serena. He sighed sadly, and continued on walking, until he made it to the large oak doors.

This was his life, he realised. This is what he had chosen, and he will make sure his family will be safe no matter what it cost.

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Hello, Alpha Steph here. So, I would like to say thanks to Third in Command Ashen (or Allie) for helphing me write this. We have been planning for a few weeks now, and we have finally finished and we are now posting. We hope you like it, and I really do hope you tell us about what you think about it.

Note: we changed Stephanie's name to Olivia, so it will be that from now on.

Alpha Steph