Chapter 3 ALREADY EXPECTING

Keren's POV

"The game is about relaxation, and whenever you are chanced upon, you grab your spot, and nothing must dare distract you. That is the goal, after all." Arley lectures for the tenth time since we began playing the chess game.

I raise my hand and shake my head, saying, "I have played enough for the day. Also, isn't this game supposed to be for you, men?" I stare with sarcasm dripping off my tone, and he squints his eyes.

"Why should you say that?" He is now disinterested in the game.

I am glad.

I shudder and look away. "I was brought up to think that way."

"And do you, genuinely?"

I frown. Something about Arley makes me want to be honest with him and myself: "Of course, I do not."

He smiles, and there is a moment of silence before he brings up a new conversation. "You didn't show much of an expression earlier about Aarav's absence."

"Well, this has all been a lie from the start," I say, making an envelope of everyone altogether, "so he has no reason to stick with me. More importantly, fighting off our enemies seems like a job he cannot avoid anyway." I finish saying that like I am normal but, I'm not. I'm burning within. Raging.

Arley searches my eyes with questions. "I understand you, Keren," and that calls my focus, "I do. You were left to be abandoned by the ones who should love you, and the one who is your actual mate also abandoned you. That would hurt a lot, but in light of it, there's a lesson to be learned. I am here for you whenever you need that inspiration to grab your power." I hijacked the words from him.

"I don't need any of that, as I don't need a chess game. Much to be in peace, I shall love. A royal game, acquiring the Luna state, is one I shall forever detest."

Arley laughs. "And I worry about why you both fit." I don't understand. "The husband makes statements based on his present, so does the wife. A grown-up sense is needed." He speaks and stands up to leave the room momentarily. I frown at what his mean words.

Deciphering them, I realize he means, on my part, that I have to use this situation in my life as a strength and not as a drawback. He's right! If, at this point, my own mate would leave me to suffer, I might as well use my last option. Hunters have been werewolves' enemies for a long time. I just have to reach out to them.

My own race doesn't see me anyway; perhaps they would. Perhaps I could find peace with them and learn their ways. Anyway, I have got to see someone first.... Alsie.

Two teacups are held in Arley's hands. He passes one to me. It contains green tea. I mouth a 'thank you' to him, to which he bows lightly.

"I should take care of my Luna, should I not?" He asked.

"And speaking of, I do like to see one of mine. I do not feel pregnant yet, so I suppose I have the right to see someone from my family. Please, Arley." I plead, with begging eyes

He snickers at the one who wishes not to be Luna yet utilizes the position. "I will try my best to make that happen." When he tells me, I jump up and rush to hug him. Mistakingly forgetting that I hold a teacup, it flips into the air. However, the liquid stops moving; gravity is no longer working over it.

When I look at Arley, I see his eyes glistering a lighter shade of crimson red. He holds the power of not just a royal but shares the blood of an Alpha, which makes sense since he is Alpha Aarav's stepbrother.

The tea flows back into the teacup and floats to my front, in midair, waiting for me to catch it.

"You do know royals possess extra powers, right?" I nod my head.

"Yes, i know." I mutter.

I drop the cup on a table and walk over to one of the book shelves. "Tell me, what sorts of books are here?" I ask, scanning them.

"As many genres as you can think of." I can show you one that, you will love more." He says, and from where he is sitting, on a couch, a book is picked up and hovers to my front. I smile between fits of awe. "That book entails everything about royal werewolves. "I hope you find us interesting."

"Okay," I say. As I go back to sitting, Arley packs the cups and wishes to excuse himself again. Before he leaves, I ask, "Arley, do you know why a wolf might not shapeshift?" He only smiles at me and disappears from the room, leaving my question unanswered.

It is a few weeks later, and I have learned a lot about royal life from the book. It is actually great, to be honest.

I've learned about the amazing powers held by the Alpha King, his sub-Alphas, Betas, and sub-Lunas, as they are the ones subjected to extra powers since the extinction of witches and also more close to the moon goddess.

The Alpha King is basically the ruler of all of them, like the father of the entire species as a broad pack, while his Luna is the mother, aiding her mate on the crown; the seven sub-Alphas rule over the seven continents, more like governors in the human territories; and sub-Lunas are obviously the mates of these sub-Alphas; Betas are to help these sub-Alphas and sub-Lunas, more of a brother to each pack and closer to the members of those packs.

Dropping the book, the image in front of me shocks me for a second before I shriek an exciting cry and hug Alsie. As I pulled her into a hug, my eyes caught Arley far behind. I thank him through eye contact.

"I have missed you so much. I can't believe you're actually here." I say happily, and that is the beginning of the next three hours of non-stop chitchat. We talked about absolutely nothing important, but at the same time, it was important to us.

She tells me how miserable she has made her father feel ever since I was gone, and I laugh about it, and I tell her about the sex between Alpha King Aarav and me. I tell her about how that part of our body can be so interesting, and she wishes she had such a sensation soon, too, once she finds her mate. And speaking of mate, she got shocked when I told her Alpha King Aarav is my actual mate, who did reject me, seemingly.

"It was still a surprise when I was called by His Grace, Arley Halfclaw. Anyway, I have a plan, and it's going to be hard to hear." She takes my hands and gives me a worried look. Uh-huh. "Keren, Father doesn't have any plans to..." I stopped her involuntarily with a wince.

Then the pain came again, and I groaned louder. My hand shifts to my stomach, and I cry aloud. "It hurts." And at the same time, I feel nauseous-no, rather, dizzy. I am unsure. I don't feel good at all.

I can't make sense of anything, and I feel like I am losing my consciousness. Without doubt, in a flash, Arley covers a large range to keep me from falling.

I could hear people talking, but I couldn't comprehend, and the last thing I remember is the hard contour of Dustfang's hand as I held him to brace my weak self.

I open my eyes to see the council in front of me. There are at least more than ten people in the room, including a physician, and heavens, the eyes they give, scares me. Queen Akki is here, too, as is Arley. Aarav, however, no. It hurts again.

Soon, they leave the room, and I sit up, my back against the wall. For some reason, my brain catches up with what has happened that led me here and with the look on Alsie's face. I grab her hand, and with fear, my forehead already releasing beads of sweat, I shake my head. I'm not ready yet. Not this soon. It's just been a few weeks.

"Calm down..."

"No!" I shout at her and close my eyes. I wish to vanish.

"It is true. They say you are with a child, and it is growing abnormally fast."

No. Oh, no!

Alpha Gerwulf's POV

I hold onto the hunter's head in front of me while I use my domineering aura on another hunter. The other hunter tries to fight against my aura, but we both know it is of no use. I pressure more, and at his yielding point, he picks up the archangel blade on the ground and rips it into the heart of the hunter I hold.

Once that one is dead, I plan to pick the other hunter when I receive mental banging, distracting me from the ongoing war. It is Arley, of course.

"Brother." He speaks and clearly shows his disgust for what he sees. He had connected to my mind so that he could see whatever I saw. He sees the death and the ruins in the earth where I have massacred these hunters. With what I have done, uprooting them from behind, their king would be furious when he learned of it.

"Arley. Please, be quick. I am quite busy."

Still distracted, the hunter pokes my chest with a spear, but before it reaches my heart, I stop it. He struggles with penetrating it further into my skin.

While you fight an unnecessary war, which will no doubt show on us later on, your mate is now pregnant. I need you out of that filth to come take care of her by yourself. "I am about to talk when he interrupts, and he knows I hate that. "And don't tell me any bullshit story about you not liking her. Anyone can tell you crave for her." He finishes.

I scoff, "Since you know my mind, well, then, you know I don't plan on ever wanting to see that mutt anymore."

"Aarav!" He shouts at me, and in my rebounding anger, I grab the hunter's head, having yanked off the spear, and tear his skull into two, as patiently as I can, to create enough pain for him before his death.

"Never shout at me again, or you'll end up like this." I say this and kick the hunter's body away.

Arley chuckles, of course. "You are nothing but a coward who would vent out his sadistic nature on the one who is supposed to love him, sending them away, and in return, he remains sad. For seventy years plus, you have been sad. Perhaps you should try chasing happiness now." He stops in the midst of his lecture when his mother enters the room. I could feel her essence.

She connects through Arley to reach me and says, "Come home, Alpha Aarav. Please, before the baby bump And as you know, the girl is special. Her baby grows differently than we know. Be here," before she disconnects.

I don't allow Arley to talk to me any further, so I block him afterward. I am supposed to be cold-hearted, barbaric, and ruthless. It is who I am meant to be, and someone like Keren knows not the pain they shall bear for being my mate.