"This is way bigger isn't it?"
When Damien had cut ties with Lorcan to go on his own little adventure, he had no clue how he was going to proceed. Going to another country is one thing... but travelling continents, leaving his pack to fight when a war can break out any moment? Not so much.
However, with more than a little moral support from Adriana, Damien had finally taken the step. After stepping on the soil of Asia, in the Indian subcontinent, he was then tormented by another subject.
Shardul had no idea that he was visiting, nobody in the Warrior Pack did. What would he say? How would he face them, especially Saanjh?
Damien didn't know that Lorcan had met with Asteria after she had been taken. That day with everyone around, when Lorcan revealed this particular piece of information, he had been shocked, more than that he had felt betrayed. But he didn't bring it up.
The decision he took to not tell anyone about his sudden departure was also because he didn't want to risk Stacy knowing it. He had no idea how many wolves he had lost to the mind games of the hunters. He couldn't risk anyone reporting it to the hunters. He had hoped that his children would handle the situation maturely, even with his sudden departure.
Without the direct knowledge of where the Warrior Pack was and with no help of any witch or warlock, it took Damien and Adriana more than a few days to locate the pack. Even continents across, they had to be cautious. They had taken detours and paid extra attention to make sure that they weren't followed but as they said, nothing is 'too careful' when hunters are concerned.
Alpha Shardul had been sitting in his office, just enjoying the beauty of the mountains through the window, when a knock sounded on his door.
His eyes didn't blink away from the scenery that always seemed to leave him mesmerised when his beta entered the room and bowed his head in respect, "Someone came to meet you, sir. They are saying it is urgent."
"I don't remember having any plans with anyone today, Adarsh," he said in a low, relaxed voice.
"They are not from here. But they say that you know them."
"And do they have names?" Shardul asked, his eyes still on the scenery. He didn't need to look at his beta's son to know that the guy was red from embarrassment. Shardul often wondered how the easily embarrassed boy would be his loudmouthed son's beta but the more he saw them interact, he could proudly say that they would make a great team.
"Damien and Adriana Martinez," Adarsh said lowering his head in an attempt to hide the blush on his cheeks.
Shardul finally turned around on hearing that with a little smile on his face, "They are friends, Adarsh. Bring them in."
Adarsh nodded his head and turned around with the door still opened. He seemed to be saying something to someone behind the door and in the very next second, he opened the door wider and in walked Damien and Adriana.
"Damien, my friend!" Shardul said in his loud voice as he rose up to give Damien a hug. Damien hugged him back with equal enthusiasm and the two patted each other's back, making Adriana smile at them.
Adriana hadn't really spent much time with Shardul and his pack members so she just knew them as Damien's friends.
Shardul bowed his head at Adriana with respect and the Luna bowed back, then two then proceeded to shake each other's hand.
"You could have told me you were coming here, I would have arranged for someone to pick you up from the airport, or maybe I would have gone myself, who knows," Shardul said as he signalled them to take a seat and sat down himself.
Damien smiled and shook his head, "It was a sudden trip, Zaar. We were not sure if we were coming until a few hours before we boarded the plane."
"Will you never even try to get my name right?" Shardul rolled his eyes.
"Never," Damien smirked, "It is a mouthful anyway, Zaar is nice."
Adarsh had told a few of their pack cooks to bring them water and some snacks. Until these had been delivered, Damien didn't bring up the more serious stuff and they caught up on how each of the packs was doing.
"Guess what?" Damien chuckled, "Robert and Marcella's daughter, Selena, is mated to my son."
Shardul smiled and shook his head, "Small world. Robert and Marcella must be out of their mind with happiness."
Damien's smile fell and Adriana put her hand on his shoulders.
"The Lunar Eclipse pack was attacked," Adriana began, Shardul's face immediately became serious, "Robert, Marcella, and the rest of the pack is dead. Selena, her beta Jayce, his son, and her older brother Connor are the only three people found alive."
"Hunters?"
"Hunters."
Shardul sighed.
Both the men remained silent. Hunters were the one thing these two friends have not been able to take lightly for years. Shardul was looking away, out the window again when Damien actually got to the point.
"Their next target is my pack."
Shardul nodded and looked at his friend, "I will help you in any way I possibly can."
"I know I will have your support Zaar, but that's not why I came." Shardul raised an eyebrow questioningly and Damien continued, "The hunters have the help of a witch," he looked Shardul in the eyes, "No other witch being lost or kidnapped has been recorded since her. I think she is alive."
Shardul straightened as back as he placed his elbows on the table, leaning on them, "Damien..."
"I know what this means to all of you. I wouldn't have come if I wasn't sure, Zaar."
"How do you know though? Did you see her?"
"I overheard two hunters talking about Asteria. Moreover, Lorcan said that the last time he had seen Asteria with the hunters, she was alive. He seems sure that it is her."
"Then why didn't that fucker say anything before this?!" Shardul spoke louder, his heavy voice making him seem even scarier.
Damien sighed, "He said Asteria refused to leave, and that they didn't have the power to rescue her back then."
Shardul banged his hands on the table and stood up. He remained there still on his feet as his fingers soothing his forehead.
"That is why I am here, Zaar. I was hoping you and Saanjh will come with us. The hunters will attack any moment now. My children need our help."
The door to the room opened and a bot almost the same age as Selena came in.
"You called, baba?"
"Vishal, meet Adriana and Damien Martinez, the previous leaders of the Ferocious Shadows pack in America. They need our help, so we need to send someone," Shardul said without missing a beat.
"Of course, I will prepare a few warriors for them to take with them."
"No, Vishal. We will be going ourselves. Adarsh will be able to handle things here for a few days with his father. Saanjh, you and I will be going ourselves."
"Saanjh?" Vishal asked confused, "Are you sure that is a good idea?"
"His mate might be alive."
Vishal's eyes widened, "I'll go call him right away!"
Vishal exited the room before he entered again slightly embarrassed, "It was great to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Martinez."
With that he left before Shardul could speak another word and the latter sighed.
"He is quite the enthusiast isn't he?"
"Like you wouldn't believe," Shardul shook his head with a small smile, "Sometimes I wonder how he got such a lively spirit."
"Isn't his mother like that?"
"She is," Shardul smirked, "These two make sure there is not a single boring day in my life," he said lovingly.
"Well, I am glad they can handle your dark and dangerous moods."
Shardul rolled his eyes and stood up, "Well, I need to set up a few things before I leave. How long do we have?"
"We must leave as soon as we can."
"Then I will show you a room to relax for a day or two until I arrange everything here as soon as I can."
____|~.~|____
Vishal had sprinted from his father's office, ran through the woods and didn't stop until he reached the small yet fancy cottage located within their pack lands.
He knocked on the door twice, but as expected, got no answer.
"Saanjh! Open the door, I come bearing good news for you!"
"Leave me alone, Vishal! I am really not in a good mood."
"Hey, trust me," Vishal said a little bit softer, "You would want to know this."
After a few more seconds, the door opened. A man with raven black hair, and almost similarly dark circles under his eyes glared at Vishal, "This better be good or I will throw you off the mountain."
Vishal smirked, "Trust me it is." His face softened as he said the next words, "You should go see baba right now. It might be better if he is the one to break the news to you..."
"Vishal, I don't have time for games. If Shardul is here with some new work for me tell him it can wait."
"Saanjh, it is not that."
"He has been trying this shit with me for days now. What, he thinks I don't understand what he is trying to do? I don't want to do anything. Just let me be!"
"God, you can be so annoyingly stubborn, Saanjh! She is alive!"
The forest turned creepily silent.
Vishal saw his hands tightening against the wooden door before he met his glowing green eyes again.
"Vishal, if this is a joke..."
"It's not," Vishal interrupted, "Two werewolves are here to meet baba, Adriana and Damien Martinez. They think that Asteria is alive, still held captive but alive."
Vishal took a step back as Saanjh pushed past him, running as fast as he can with a speed he didn't know he had.
When Saanjh reached the packhouse, he rushed through the stairs until he opened the door to Shardul's office.
"Damien..." he said as he stared at the man wide-eyed.
All three of them stood up on seeing Saanjh.
"Is she... is she really?"
Their heart broke on seeing Saanjh in such a bad condition. Even after all these years, he still wasn't able to get over her.
"I haven't seen her, but I really believe she is."
Saanjh looked at Shardul.
"We are going with them to their pack," Shardul said, "The hunters who kidnapped you, they have destroyed the Lunar Eclipse Pack and have killed Robert and Marcella. Their current target is Damien's pack and he is sure that they still have her. They are using her to attack the werewolf packs. So we are going to help them defeat the hunters and..."
"Kill them," Saanjh interrupted, his eyes still bright green, "You mean we are going to kill them."
"Yes," Shardul agreed, "to kill them, and to rescue Asteria, but Saanjh," Alpha Shardul hesitated, "She was held captive for years, almost a century, she might not want to come to a whole new continent, hell, she might not even remember us."
"Then I will stay there with her, try my best to make her remember," Saanjh answered without any hesitation, "I will travel if I have to. But I am not leaving her alone again until..." he gulped, "until she wants me to."
Shardul seemed to contemplate for a second as he looked at Saanjh's face before replying with a sigh, "Very well then. Prepare yourself, we are leaving in three days."
Saanjh looked at Damien, "Thank you, for letting me know."
"Of course," Damien smiled, "I would have come earlier but I didn't know before."
"I..." Saanjh looked thoughtful, "I don't know how it is possible though. I felt her soul leave, I felt her die..."
"Lorcan thought it might be because the hunters forced her to make you feel that way so that we stopped looking for her."
"And she did so?" He asked surprised, "Asteria isn't one to just give in to them so easily."
"These hunters, they are trained. I don't know how they became hunters. However, the fact that Asteria's mother didn't come to help her even though she knew is very suspicious."
"Irene hated that Asteria was mated to Saanjh, she was even more furious about Robert and Marcella were mates. Didn't you say that the hunters who attacked Luna eclipse are the same?" Shardul asked with a frown.
Damien nodded.
"How are they still alive? Humans shouldn't live for so many years," Damien mused.
"There are spells to make the humans age slower," Saanjh added.
"Are you suggesting that Irene was in this?"
"I wouldn't be surprised," Shardul said, "She is very much capable of that."
"Maybe she didn't actually plan on harming her daughters. She hated werewolves, right? Maybe she trained the hunters to kill werewolves for her but lost control."
"If that was so, wouldn't Lorcan know about it?" Damien wondered out loud to himself. Adriana had chosen to remain quiet all throughout this as she didn't know these men.
"Maybe he did. Maybe he tried to talk her out of it, or voiced his dislike for it," Adriana added for the first time in a while, "What other reason would there be behind the fact that he never visits his own coven anymore?"
The men nodded.
"This is way bigger isn't it?" Saanjh asked.
"Wait so... Selena is Marcella's daughter right?" Shardul asked, the couple nodded, "So, isn't she a witch too?"
"If she received the powers, then she might have gotten them on her birthday. It was a few days ago," Damien pointed out. "However, there isn't much time for her to train and control her powers."
"We should go."
In the next three days, there were a lot of conversations going on amongst the werewolves and the warlock about how everything came to be this bad. They couldn't help but bring up how things were when they all were young.
Damien, however, even amongst all these people, couldn't push out the thought of Lorcan. Why didn't he tell him? If Lorcan knew this little piece of information and kept it from him, what else did he know?
He couldn't see any possible reason for Lorcan to not talk to him about it. They have been such great friends for so many years. Damien was getting too eager to go back. He felt this sense of danger that he couldn't explain, like they were really close to the end, like everything was just waiting to go downhill.
Heneeded to go back to his pack, his son, he needed to be there during the war.