Chapter thirty nine

“Aliyah, please,” Sean said as he walked home, trying to evade the girl jogging after him.

“Sean wait, come on. You have been ignoring me since yesterday, let’s talk this out okay?” Aliyah said, trying to catch up to him but he was walking way too fast. “Sean please, you have never been this mad at me before,” she yelled.

“You have never hurt me this much before,” he yelled back and turned to her. He paused and breathed, “you never hide things for me. Hell, we never hide anything from each other, no matter how bad it is we are always the first to know.”

“You are the first to know. If Steven hadn’t been with us yesterday, he wouldn’t have known either.”

Sean nodded, “tell me the truth. If this hadn’t happened yesterday, would you have told me?”

Aliyah sighed. “I would have, but it just won’t be yesterday.”

“Why Aliyah, why couldn’t you have told me all this while? Why didn’t you tell me you found him?”

“Sean, please. See it from my own perspective. You know what he is, how can I tell you something like that?”

“We are supposed to be looking out for each other. No matter how bad it is, I should have known, you should have told me. I don’t fucking care who he is Aliyah, I am hurt because of the one fact that you don’t consider me close enough to let me in your pain. I know how long you have been searching for him, hell, I even searched with you. I covered up for you whenever you sneaked out, I took your side every single time and I try to be there for you always so that you won’t miss him more and won’t think that you are missing the value of a mate. I may not be your mate Aliyah but you know I do most of the things he would have been doing for you, you know I try my best and all because I wanted you to be happy. And then you finally found him and you couldn’t even tell me? Come on Aliyah, the one person who is always with you and you can’t even tell me?”

Aliyah closed her eyes, feeling deeply affected by his words. “I’m sorry.”

“Even if he is a nightwalker, or a human or even a demon, whatever he would be I don’t care, I just wanted you to find him so that you would be happy. And when you finally did, you kept me in the dark just like everyone else and I have to find out the way I did. How can you trust Steven, how can you trust him to be quiet?” he asked.

“He said he would be quiet.”

“And you trust him? Come on Aliyah, he hates you for what happened to his brother and if Gerald doesn’t get better, do you think he would keep quiet? He still doesn’t know what is wrong with him, you know.”

“He does.”

Sean frowned, “what do you mean?”

“I was with Gerald on blood moon night and to get him to leave us, Edward compelled him.”

“Nightwalkers can’t compel howlers.” Sean frowned.

“Sean,” Aliyah licked her lips and hugged her arm. “Edward is different.”

“How so?” he raised an eyebrow.

“He is an Original.”

“That’s not true, they are dead.”

Aliyah shrugged, “except for him.”

Sean’s frown deepened. “Edward?” he asked and she nodded. “Wait a minute, you don’t mean Prince Edward?”

Aliyah nodded. “It’s him, the last Original.”

Sean’s frown turned into shock and he could the fast beating of his heart. “You are mated not just to a nightwalker but the Vampire Prince? Are you being serious right now, Aliyah?”

“That’s what he told me and he doesn’t seem like someone who would lie over something like that. The man is so proud of himself and his strength. He brags and gloats a lot,” she rolled her eyes.

“Who wouldn’t?” Sean asked and she glanced at him with a frown. “The man is the leader of the originals, he was their prince right from when he was still human and he was called the Dark Prince back then.”

Aliyah frowned. “The Dark Prince? Why?”

“He always leads soldiers to war and he never loses a fight. Legend has it that kingdoms fear his very presence and his brothers all hated and feared him. He became the crown Prince and the only person that can talk to him was his father. He conquered a lot of kingdoms and lands making his kingdom the biggest and strongest at that time. Legend said he wanted to rule over the world and was on a quest to defeat the kings of every kingdom but when he came to our ancestor’s kingdom, they refused to give up without a fight and our armies were the ones able to challenge his one hundred thousand soldiers. The fight lasted for years and hence the history we know of and that brought about our very existence.”

Aliyah was wowed at the story but something surprised her and so she asked, “may I ask how you come to know this because I have read every book in our library and none of them spoke of this.”

Sean grinned, “I know a lot of young alphas,” he shrugged. “They are told a lot more about the nightwalkers during alpha training. I’m sure your dad knows about this and you would have too if you went for the training but then…” he sighed and shook his head, “anyway, Prince Edward died with his Originals, so how come…” he stopped when he heard the alarm. He frowned and stared at the sky, “something is wrong.”

Aliyah was looking around too. “Why would the watch wolves blow the alarm if we are not being attacked?”

“Oh my God,” Sean said and started running towards the main gate. Aliyah joined him and they met her father and the Beta with the Elders. “What is going on?”

“Tyler said he saw the rogues,” Alan said.

“What’s with the alarm?” Steven asked, running out to join them.

“We don’t know for sure but one of our watch wolves said he spotted the rogues,” Aton explained to him.

“But it’s the middle of the night,” Sean said.

“Attack can come any time, Sean, that’s why you must always be prepared, always. Never let your guard down.” Alan said as more wolves started appearing after hearing the alarm and soon, all the warrior wolves were gathered in front of the main gate.

“Guide the weak, wounded and young cubs to the panic room,” Alan ordered. “I have a feeling this is not going to be a little fight.”

“It’s just the rogues, what exactly can they do?” An elder said.

“That is the mistake you always make Maximus,” Alan sighed. “Never ever, on no account, look down on your enemy or underestimate them.”

“Alpha, I see them,” Someone shouted and then jumped down from the watch tower. He landed on his feet and rushed to Alan. “Alpha, it’s not just the rogues. There…there is something with them. They looked bigger, way bigger than the rogues. What should we do?”

Alan sighed, “no matter what, we must keep them from getting to our pack. The fate of our young cubs depends on it. So wolves, it’s time to do what we do best, they don’t fear the Blue Moon warriors for nothing. It’s time to give them your best.” He turned to Steven then, “you don’t have to join in the fight, son, you can go back and stay with your brother.”

“Like hell,” Steven hissed. “An alpha always protect, it doesn’t matter if they are my pack mates or not. It’s my duty as an alpha.”

Alan smiled, he liked the boy’s comment. He turned to his men and ordered, “open the gates.” The gates were opened and Alan shape shifted first and then there was howling everywhere as every other person shape shifted as well. Alan ran out first and the rest followed. If there was going to be war, then it must be out in the woods, away from their pack.

They met with the rogues in the big meadow. The moonlight was bright as it shone upon them. The rogues looked like they did the last time, deranged and lifeless. Alan shifted back to his human wolf, hoping they could hear him. “May I ask why the constant attacks, Rogues? Blue Moon pack has never crossed anyone before but we don’t hesitate to fight when we are crossed. I say you speak your problem with us and we will try to settle it as peacefully as we can.”

The rogues growled and snarled until one walked forward. It was the biggest of them and Alan was surprised. It was as big as an Alpha, but the rogues don’t have alphas. The high howlers were the ones that called them forbidden and so no Alpha powers were given to them.  He transformed into his human self and Alan noticed that he was as big as his wolf but his eyes were also white and lifeless. “You have what we want,” the wolf said in a distorted voice. “Give her to us and they won’t be any fight.”

“Who is that?” Alan asked.

“One of your pack mate, she is the one we want. Give her to us and there won’t be a fight.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what the daughter of my pack may have done to you but I won’t be throwing her under the bus. I am an Alpha and the alpha always protect.”

“Fine then, you brought this upon yourself,” the wolf said and then howled.

Alan felt as the ground shook and soon, some creatures ran out from the woods behind the rogues. Alan felt his heart missed a beat when he recognized the creatures immediately.

“Alpha,” Aton said as he turned back to his human self. “Are those…?”

“Nebuzars,” Alan whispered.