Alpha's Insanity

Chapter Eighteen

Ryder didn't need to be told twice as he immediately began to create a plan to the Underworld with Alpha Carter to guide him in his wisdom for the journey.

"You cannot touch any of the rivers in the Underworld. They are full of deceit to trick souls to cleanse their memories so that they may go through the process of reincarnation, touch the any one of the rivers and you with either die or lose your memories and all hope will be lost for you and Fay," Carter warned and he leaned over a large, ancient, tattered book the lay on the desk with a layer of dust coating it.

"How do I gather the water in the Underworld and how can I be certain that I won't come into contact with the water?"

"The ferryman of the Underworld, Kharon, will greet you and he will be the one to assist you across the River Styx as he does with all souls. He is not usually one to be giving so you need to make his time worth-while. He always expects something in return for helping a man of the living," Carter responded while indulging in the words that were on the page of the book.

"Why do I need his assistance? What can he give me that I don't already have?"

"I think the question you need answering, Ryder, is what can you give him in return that means he will offer his wisdom in the Underworld? He has no need for materialistic objects, no need for land, no need for power. Kharon likes to bargain and his bargains never come at a cheap price. He will want a soul in exchange for your soul," Carter read as he pulled out some mathematical object and placed it against the map of the entire World of Packs. It seemed as though he was studying the map in order to try to find something specific.

"I have no soul to give Kharon," Ryder eyed Carter suspiciously.

"We will do. Just wait and see," Carter smirked knowingly before his face turned serious again. "Here, I believe I have found the entrance to the Underworld, three days journey in between the base of two mountains that lay in the centre of the Pack's neutral land. You won't have to enter any other territories to reach it. Take minimal equipment with you, it will only slow you and no weapon of earth can destroy a creature in the land of the dead. Trek carefully and make decisions with caution. You will be lead into all sorts of temptation down in the Underworld, it's not a place for the living, and it's a place where the darkest of souls are damned to for all eternity. Heed my words, Ryder," Carter gave him a look that warned Ryder of great peril but Ryder pushed it to the back of his mind.

Ryder would go to Hell and back for his mate. Literally.

****

Bones popped and snapped frantically as Ryder allowed his wolf to take over to lead him to the entrance of the Underworld with only a bag in his mouth containing little money, clothes and a map in it. Sniffing the air, he took off in the direction that his instincts guided him towards- north. He would have to trek up north for a day to reach the neutral land of the Pack's before travelling east for two days until he reached the mountains where the entrance should be. Fear wasn't something that Ryder had felt much of in his life span so far, however, with is mate's life and sanity on the line, fear was something that he felt extremely prominent at this point in time.

He enjoyed releasing his wolf for a couple of days, he enjoyed feeling the wind rushing through his fur as he ran throughout the trees, he enjoyed the taste of the wind that passed his tongue as he panted, he enjoyed the feeling of the clear, crisp water that he lapped up from streams when he drank. Ryder enjoyed being at one with nature as these moments were very few with his Alpha duties.

At times, Ryder often found himself looking forward to the day when his mate would give him a son and he would come of age to take over as Alpha. It was a day that Ryder looked forward to, but not only for his own selfish reasons of being free once again. No. The feeling of being able to say "you have made me proud, son," was something that Ryder longed for as he knew he would look at his son the utmost pride when that day should arise.