His Human Mate

"Who are you people? Why have you come here?"

Reginald and the group whirled around to find a man stepped forward out from the mist. He looked quite old; somewhere in his sixties. Although he looked like a man in his sixties, he seemed like a man who had undergone many experiences under his belt, especially from his posture and the way he talked to them. And knowing that this man was a werewolf from his scent, they knew that from a werewolf age, he must be older than he looks. His hair was short and lush with a salt and pepper tint. His jaded eyes were black with wrinkles at the corner of both his eyes.

Behind him were a few shifters, who were growling at them from behind; their fangs glared out with fury and suspicion. Seeing how the shifters stood behind the man in utter respect and a bit of fear, Reginald and the others concluded that this man must be the Alpha of the pack.

Noaz stepped forward and bowed his head. "Greetings. I am Noaz. I represent the Alpha from the Kendall pack."

The man narrowed his eyes with suspicion as he studied Noaz from top to bottom. "I see. The Kendall pack. It has been awhile since I heard of that pack. Is Marcellus still the Alpha?" he enquired.

Noaz blinked in surprise at the name. Reginald frowned as he recognized the name. Marcellus used to be the Alpha of the Kendall pack centuries ago. He was the grandfather of the current Alpha, Lachlan. He then passed the title to his first son who was Lachlan's uncle at that time. However, after his uncle passed away, he did not have any son but instead, a daughter. Since only first born sons were allowed to be the Alpha, they had to pass the title to the other brothers. The other brothers were the second and third brothers of the Alpha, who were respectively Dex's grandfather and Erick's grandfather. Yes, both Dex and Erick were related. In short, they were distant cousins.

However, when the battle for the title of Alpha started for the two brothers, Lachlan's father won the match. He won without killing his brother. At first, his brother had urged him to kill him as he was ashamed that he was defeated. But Lachlan's father had refused and left him alive. He probably has some kind of close familial feeling that he could not bear to kill his own brother. Instead, he told him to just help him with the pack matters. It was unsure what his answer was but the very next day, Dex's grandfather had left the pack, together with his mate.

Although there was a possibility of his brother and his mate going rogue, Erick's grandfather did not go after them. And instead, he left them alone, hoping that he may return back to the pack.

Years later, Dex's father returned with his mate to inform Lachlan's father that his father died. Grieved with guilt, Lachlan's father invited Dex's father and his mate to return back to the pack, which he sincerely accepted. He was grateful that even though, Dex's father and his mate had gone by without living in a pack, they had not gone rogue. This shows their strength which Lachlan's father greatly admired. And since he already has a Beta, he appointed Dex's father to be the Gamma [1], instead.

"Marcellus has passed away decades ago," Reginald answered as he studied the man's face.

There was a glint of shock in the man's eyes before it disappeared. It seemed that he did not expect that Marcellus had passed away so soon, which surprised Reginald. How long has it been for this man to not venture out of his pack? Does time stops in this village?

"I see," the man said quietly.

He then turned his head to the shifters behind him and said out loud, "At ease."

The shifters behind him relaxed but they still kept a protective stance around the man as they still do not trust Noaz and the group.

The man turned back to face Noaz again and introduced himself. "I'm Isaiah Cairin. The Alpha of the Cairin pack. Let's go to my house and we'll talk."

Shortly after, the two groups were in one of the large houses at the back of the village. The house was a modest two-storey house with red brick exterior walls. Inside the house, all the floors were made of parquet with a mixture of brown and green like the colour of soil and earth. The walls were painted in cream, and ended in a brown baseboard. The atmosphere it gave was welcoming and homey. It made one feel comfortable and at ease.

However, the two parties who were sitting in the living room of the house did not feel at ease at all as Noaz and the others were on guard. Obviously, since they were in an unfamiliar house and surrounded by a pack that was not known to the outside world.

Noaz stood in front, facing Isaiah, while Reginald and the others stood behind him as support.

Isaiah, who was sitting down on an armchair, with some shifters standing beside and behind him, laughed lightly as he watched Noaz and the group looking tensed. "Come and have a sit," he invited. He turned to one of the female shifters nearby and said, "Lita, serve them some tea or coffee."

The female shifter, whom Isaiah had called, 'Lita', bowed her head and said, "Yes, Alpha!" Soon after that, she disappeared.

Noaz alone sat down as he did not want to be rude to reject the invitation from the Alpha. However, Reginald and the others still stood beside and behind Noaz; all of them in defensive mode.

"Now, let's get started," Isaiah began. "I must admit that I am impressed that you have found your way to this village."

"Was that warlock one of yours?" Noaz countered.

Isaiah narrowed his eyes as he intertwined his fingers together thoughtfully. "Warlock?" he repeated, his tone has a hint of suspicion.

Noaz just nodded, not wanting to give more details. He was still not sure whether he could trust this man just yet.

The Alpha kept quiet for awhile and continued. It seemed that earlier, he was mind-linking with the other shifters. Probably to ask about the warlock. "This is indeed quite a predicament. We were not aware that there was even a warlock messing around with our forest," he admitted.

"Is there something in the forest that may attract these warlock?" Noaz continued to ask. "It seems that this warlock may have worked together with some rogues."

Murmurs started to spread all over the room as looks of shocked confusion appeared in the shifters' faces. They really were oblivious to the fact that a warlock was found in their territory. And what made them furious was that he was working with some rogues.

"I apologize for the damage that they have caused you," Isaiah said humbly. "We assure you that we will get to the bottom of this and will eradicate everything that seems unusual."

Noaz then stood up with his right hand on his left c.h.e.s.t. "On behalf of the Kendall pack, I thank you. And we also would like to cooperate with you on this mission."

To Noaz and the others' surprise, the Alpha shook his head, rejecting Noaz's offer. "Again, I apologize. We, the Cairin pack, have always kept to ourselves. Whatever matter that has happened in our territory, we will work on them ourselves."

"But we sincerely would wish to help you," Noaz interrupted politely. "We, too, would like to know what has happened. Especially when there's a presence of rogues around."

The Alpha shook his head once more. "No," he rejected with determination in his eyes. "Should we have any information about the rogues or the warlock, we will inform you via a messenger. Thus, we bid you farewell and we apologize once again for the ill-mannered welcome you have received, coming in here."

Just as Lita walked in with the refreshments, the Alpha turned to her and said, "Lita, it seems like our guests have to leave so soon. Bring the refreshments back and thank you."

"Yes, Alpha," Lita bowed before going back.

Noaz and Reginald's eyes narrowed at the insinuation that the Alpha had spoken. They were really not welcome here.

Noaz sighed inwardly. 'I hope the others did a better job than I did.'

----

[1] Third in Pack hierarchy.