Alpha Running Rogue

12. Call

Matthew's POV

I could barely control my wolf with every word that spilt out of the Omega's mouth. 

"Oh! Alpha Elliot will be so pleased? Won't he? Little girl?"

If it wasn't for the silver bars, I would be tearing his face apart.

"Shut your mouth!" I snap and grasp onto Arabella's elbow to drag her out of the dungeon as quickly as I could.

I pull her into my study and bolt the door. Running a hand through my hair, I let out a frustrated sigh. What information had he taken from us? I had sensed Arabella's panic in the dungeon and I could still sense her fear. 

"Arabella. Look at me." I say softly, regaining my composure. Her eyes are glassy, full of hurt and rimmed in grey. I can barely see light behind a deep dark blue sea, so beautiful and... trapped. Carefully, I step forward and wrap my arms around her small frame. It scares me too, I felt lost in her emotions, my wolf feels everything she feels, her emotions begin to shape mine and it scares me because I don't ever want to leave her presence. Her stance relaxes as she leans into my embrace.

Finally, I let go and stride towards my paperwork, rummaging to find my contacts directory.

"What are you searching for?" Arabella asks in curiosity.

"My contacts list, so that I can ring up Alpha Elliot's allies and pass on my number. If he wants to speak to me, he'll have to call because I'm not letting any of the Midnight Storm pack cross my borders until I know the full details of what we're up against." I reply, digging out the hefty file from beneath dozens of folders and begin dialing.

"Hello?" Rumbled a voice on the other end of the line.

"Alpha Raphael, this is Alpha Matthew from the Crimson Eclipse pack."

"Ah! Elliot my man! Long time not talk! How's everything going boy? Haven't heard from you in a while. How are your parents? Is your pack following you well?--" A blabber of words spew out of the speaker in such a rapid pace, that cackles cover the alpha's voice until he finally takes a breath to hear me respond. I chuckle at his habitual ramble that had not been lost over the many years of knowing him. Just last year, I had seen him at our annual ball where high order pack members would gather and interact with leaders of other packs.

"We're all doing well here. Just a quick question, has Alpha Elliot from the Midnight Storm pack contacted you recently?"

"Ah! yes as a matter of fact. What a good alpha he's been since the death of his parents. Apparently his elder sister left shortly after, what a childhood he'd experienced! I didn't even know he had a sister until I spoke with him at the ball last year."

"Alpha Elliot has an older sister? Why did she leave?" I see Arabella stiffen in the corner of my eye.

"I'm not sure why she left, but yes he has an older sister somewhere out in the woods. I pray to the Moon deity that her soul is at peace with the spirits."

"She could have become alpha." 

"Hahaha! You are so funny ma boy! A female alpha? what a joke! Never in a millennia has that ever occurred. There is a reason why she left, as there are reasons behind every action. Either she couldn't handle the death of her parents and left to find another life or the pack voted on exiling the she-wolf after what she did to them. Though, no matter which scenario, this child is at fault and the woods are unkind. My vote is that she died during these past 5 years. No rogue would likely survive, knowing that they killed the very people that raised them. What an absolute monstrosity!" Alpha Raphael concluded with an angry breath. 

I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that there was another member of the Midnight Storm pack that I did not know of. After the tragic deaths of Alpha Liam and his Luna Maria, no one knew what happened next. It was as if time had stood still, as if they ever existed. No body was found, no one cared to look for them. 

Everyone was solely focused on the leading Alpha Elliot, and consulting him at a time of deep grief. I remember paying my visit to a heartbroken boy who had only just turned 18 and was forced to take on the role of a leader, but I paid my condolences only to a headstone with simple engravings, whilst those at the top of the hierarchy caged the boy with comforting phrases. Little did the boy know that those words were all meaningless and filled selfish promises. 

I walked closer to the marble slab, sticking at a crooked angle on the crisp lawn.

In neat cursive were the words:

Alpha Liam and Luna Maria

Great Alpha and Luna of the Midnight storm pack, 

Father and Mother to the Eltrixia household

Died: 10th July 2012

Such simple engravings without any questions of how or why. No mention of neither a son ...nor a daughter. No birth date. Only a household. Only a death date.

I remember the photo frames and the young girl that looked like Arabella. The pictures of a once carefree girl invaded my mind. She stood beside the Alpha and Luna, with an arm around a young boy, grinning at the camera.

Was the daughter Arabella? Was she Alpha Elliot's sister? The thought seemed plausible. Her strength radiates off of her in viscous waves that demanded attention. 

But... Raphael implied her death.

Did she really kill Alpha Liam and Luna Maria? That wouldn't be like her. She's so innocent...or so it seemed.
My thoughts muddle into a formless cloud, as stories of the past overlap and make my head spin.

How many secrets lie beneath our lunar moon?

How many more lies have been told? 

How many reasons must there be for the truth to unfold?

Why must we only hear through rumours and gossip?

And so we question. 

We question the lies to find truth, but never do we once stop to think about what lies beneath false talk.

"Matthew? Hello? Are you listening?" The cackles rumble out of the phone.

"Yes, I'm listening. Will you take alliance with the Midnight Storm pack on whatever he is planning against the North West Witch?" I ask with amusement. No one could win a fight against a witch and her spells, the thought itself was lunacy.

"Of course! That wicked being deserves nothing but the worst, but you wouldn't understand I suppose. Ignorance is a bliss." The wolf on the other end was never wary of his words. Thinking before he spoke would do him good.

"What are you insinuating?" My tone drastically darkened.

"You should consider taking a side, Alpha Matthew. Remaining the only neutral ground will only get you into trouble. No pack knows where you stand. Take my word Alpha. Choose a side. War is coming." Alpha Raphael warned.

"Can you give my number to Alpha Elliot? I want to know what I'm getting into before entering a frivolous war." this conversation was inane. War was no jest. Neither was battling a witch.

"This war is not frivolous. It's an entire army of allied packs against the Wicked North west witch and all her concoctions. I'll give Alpha Elliot your number so he can explain directly." The cackles snap to a halt as Raphael ends the call.

Arabella is silent as she stares blankly through the window behind me. 

I can't blame her, this war was serious enough for an army of packs to fight in.