Ivan's POV
The hum of the private jet couldn't quiet my thoughts. I sat by the window, watching Northland's forests blur beneath the clouds. The plane touched down near the border. A young wolf waited by a black car, shifting from foot to foot, his gaze flicking between the ground and my face. "Welcome, sir." I raised my hand in response as he bowed, opening the back door to let me into the car. The drive was long, too long. The Eastern woods looked lifeless—hollow trees, empty fields. This wasn't the region I remembered, but I was happy I was returning to my mother's land again after a decade, even though I only knew her grave. My father had told me since I was a kid that my mother died in a car accident. I never got to see her. "What happened here?" I asked, calmly. The driver hesitated. "The city has been this way since Alpha Varkos took power. After he declared war against the people, everything changed. The old packs scattered. Some were absorbed, others… vanished." I furrowed my brows and blinked hard, trying to piece his words together. "I don't seem to get it, Silas. Who is Varkos?" He looked at me briefly from the rear-view mirror and said, "Varkos is our new lord. He controls everything—both humans and wolves." "I see." I nodded as I scrutinized the place through the tinted glass of the car's back seat. It looked as though World War II had just concluded a few weeks ago. "And my father?" I inquired, with little patience. "Maybe he's still alive. But no one seems to hear of him, sir. He suddenly vanished." My eyes darkened. "You mean my father is nowhere to be found?" I asked, raising one brow. "Sir, that's what we all know. No one knows what happened." I felt a little guilt in my heart. A lot has gone wrong while I was away. Silas, our family driver, was silent. Clearly, the situation wasn't fun to talk about. "And Valeria?" I asked, my voice thick with terror. "She's been trying to start up her pack. A pack that will fight him." It was as though someone poured a bucket of ice on me. Everyone wasn't gone yet. I still had someone—the owner of my heart. A small smile appeared at the corner of my lip. She's still strong and resilient, like she'd always been. "But how did Varkos emerge as our new Lord?" "Sir, you know our law forbids an Alpha king or a royal blood sleeping with a mistress who is yet to become his Luna or having a concubine. As well as making any illegal potions or getting involved in treason." I nodded, showing that I was following. "Alpha Damien was caught doing that." "Doing what?" "Having sex with one of his slaves. The council had advised him to take a mate and make her his Luna, but he said he hadn't felt the mate bond with any yet. Until he was caught in the act. Though, he was drunk. But that didn't justify him. The council wanted him to step down, but he refused, pointing accusing fingers at Varkos, who was also a member of the council. He said that Varkos had set him up. The council wanted a fair judgment, so they declared a fight between both of them, as the people demanded. Varkos won, and later on emerged as our new Lord after killing all the members of the council secretly." I froze. A lot had really gone wrong while I was away, training and improving my fighting skills so that I could lead the Eclipse pack effectively and make a difference. The car jerked as he hit the brakes in front of Yula's apartment. Yula is also a member of the Eclipse Pack—our pack. But Yula specializes in herbal treatment in addition to her Beta powers and traits. She's the first I've ever known who's both a wolf and a herbalist. After I heard everything that had happened, going home felt pointless. "I knew you were coming." "How's Valeria?" I asked without wasting time. "Varkos got her!" It was as though the world fell on me when I heard this. "I warned her about going to avenge her father's death, but she wouldn't listen." "Eldon's dead?" I asked, surprise flickering in my eyes. "Yes.Since Varkos forcefully took power after murdering Damien, the former Alpha King, in a fight, his next hit was Eldon—whom he murdered in the Town Circle for refusing to bow to him when everyone else did." I stood there, completely frozen. Too shocked, too heartbroken to speak. Silas had told me that Valeria was trying to start her pack, but now Yula was saying something different. I asked her, "Are you sure?" Yula looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Come with me." We walked over to an old shelf. Yula reached into a corner beside the books and pulled out something small—a pendant. She handed it to me. It was the pendant I gave Valeria ten years ago, before I left. Back then, I had promised her that I would come back to protect her and our pack. Love her more than I ever did, and make her my Luna (my queen, my forever mate). I held the pendant in my hands, staring at it, feeling my blood melt with memories— Standing among the crowd, my knees wobbled. Sweat ran down my face like the sky had opened its floodgates on my skin. I knew the gravity of what I had done. If I weren't condemned to death, then I would be declared a slave with hard labour or something worse than that. I was ready to face the consequences. My father stood somewhere among the crowd, his face grim, eyes fixed ahead, waiting to see the one who had carried out such an evil act. "Who has done this evil?" Alpha Damien asked in a loud, demanding voice. I stepped out of the crowd, my pulse pounding. The crowd gasped. Then my father's voice rose above them all. "Nooo!" he cried. Alpha Damien was surprised too. He didn't believe it could be me. "Slay him! Slay him!" the crowd yelled in unison as they threw their hands up above their heads. Even though my eyes were filled with tears that didn't drop, I still scanned the crowd. Valeria was nowhere to be found. Alpha Damien looked at the ground for a second before raising his head again. "Enough!" he yelled above their heads. "My judgment! He'll be whipped until his back cries for mercy." Silence filled the air, as though the punishment wasn't befitting enough. No one made a sound. The guards tied my hands mercilessly above my head as the rope ran up to a heavy iron hook far above. My feet touched the ground, tied as well. Just as they were about to whip me, Valeria stepped in from nowhere and took the whips for me. After receiving all the whips, she collapsed. I felt a fresh pain pierce through my heart as if I were the one who had been whipped. She shouldn't have done that. I cried as I held her unconscious body to myself. The crowd dismissed one after another, including my father. No one came to help. "I understand how this makes you feel," Yula said, her voice jolting me out of my thoughts. As I held the pendant, all those memories hit me hard. She had sacrificed so much for me… and I hadn't done much for her in return. "Don't overthink. Come with me—I'll take you somewhere," Yula said. The car tyres screeched sharply against the road as we headed to Yelena's territory. She's the separated Luna of Damien: the very Alpha Varkos killed in open combat, Yula had told me. No one knows that she is related to him, especially Varkos. I am sure if he were aware, he would have gotten her killed by now so that Damien is left with no trace. We entered with our backs and sat on a large stone made for visitors. It wasn't just a stone—it read the minds of the visitors. "Varkos hurt me too," she said immediately after she saw us. "And I have been waiting for this time, when you will finally return." Yelena is a pretty woman in her early seventies with grey eyes and grey hair. She wears nothing but leaves: one across her breasts, another below her waist. She doesn't seem like someone who bothers with clothes the way we do. "He doesn't belong there. The throne has chosen you. Its lineage knows its true owner. You must fight and get Valeria out of his territory. He plans to kill her on the next full moon for more powers.I will fortify you so that you will be able to rescue your own people!" Then she started gathering leaves of different kinds. A large pot already sat on a local fire that she had made, with quiet steam running up above the pot. Yula gently tapped me. "I knew this would happen someday." I grimaced, not wanting to talk. I took off my shirt as she instructed and lay on a table covered with white cloth. She placed cooked leaves on me after cutting my skin—tiny cuts with a sharp blade. She had tied my hands to the table, and my wolf was subdued several times when I felt the urge to transform. I guess that was the work of the leaves she placed on my body. Yula stood, her eyes bright like a bulb—they didn't blink. I saw the desperation to get her friend out of Varkos' territory before she got killed. Yelena was done, and I was putting my shirt back on when we heard distant growling. Yula sniffed their scent from a distance. "Varkos is aware we are here. He's sent dangerous wolves after us. We can't stand them. We must run!" I looked at Yelena. Her face said that she was already mourning the death that was coming for her. She was old, and even if she died now, she didn't mind. As long as she had fortified me for the battle ahead, she would die happy. "You must come with us!" I said, my grip firm on her weak shoulder. "No! If this is my fate, let me die. You both must leave now." Pain ran through my veins like electricity. "We must run now! They are closer!" Yula snapped, her wolf threatening to take over her.