Chapter 12

3 hours earlier

There's a knock coming from the door of his bedroom. "Pardon my intrusion, Alpha Jackson. The envoy from the Maeror clan is here. He requested to seek an audience with you." A female voice spoke up. He pinches the bridge of his nose. "Lead him to the study and told him to wait for me. I'll be there in a few minutes." He ordered. The female werewolf let out a 'yes' before doing what she was ordered to do.

After he hears the footsteps gradually disappearing, he rose from his seat and walks over to the nightstand, picking up the framed photograph. He stares at the photo for a moment before putting the frame back on the nightstand. "I swear to you, I will bring you back in my arms no matter what. But I wish I didn't have to do this. I'm so sorry, my love. If you knew what I had to do to save you, you will be disappointed in me. Please forgive my selfishness." He closes his eyes as he remembers his mate's warm smile.

He saunters to the walk-in closet, stripping his current garment as he enters the closet. He did a quick search for proper attire before putting the clothes on. He checks himself on the mirror before finally leaving the room and headed to the study. When he arrived, Arklan, his best friend, and also his Beta are waiting for him. "You want me to accompany you?" Arklan asked. He considers it for a moment before nodding. "Yes. Who knew what I might do?" He joked. They both laughed quietly at his lame joke.

"Right, we shouldn't keep our 'guest' waiting. Let's go inside." Arklan commented, grabbing the doorknob and open the door for both of them. They enter the study, noticing that the envoy is already seated on the sofa. "Welcome, what brings you here?" He asked, taking a seat behind the polished mahogany desk. The envoy wordlessly pull out a sealed letter from his cloak and handed the letter to him. He takes the letter and examines it.

The Maeror clan's insignia seemed to glare at him. A ram's skull with a snake slithering out from its empty socket. He always hated how it looks. He almost crushed the letter in his hand if it's not fora gentle squeeze from Arklan's hand. He ripped open the letter with the letter opener and read the content of the letter. His brows furrowed as he finished reading the letter. "He wants me to kidnap the Omega? But our deal is only to gather information about him! Why change the agreement out of the blue?" He slammed the desk with his fist.

"It is the will of our Master. And since he is kind at heart, he also gave you the tools necessary for the mission." With that said, the envoy took out several vials with different color liquids and a handcuff with runes engraved in them. Alpha Jackson and his Beta look perplexed. "What the hell is all of these for?" He let out a low growl.

"The blue liquid is modified wolfsbane, it will weaken the wolfs to an extent but it will not harm them. Master doesn't want any difficulties before the real war starts. The clear liquid is a sleeping draught for the Omega. The red liquid is Master's blood. Please feed the blood to the Omega after the sleeping draught and before handcuffing him. And the purple liquid is an invisibility potion. Any other question?" The envoy explained.

"No. You can leave now." He gritted his teeth in anger. The envoy rose and bows. "One last thing. You are required to deliver the Omega by midnight. The exchange for your mate will be held at the Forbidden Bridge." The envoy leaves the room and Alpha Jackson immediately throws a vase against the wall. It shatters upon impact, wetting the carpet below with the water for the rose. "Calm down, Jackson." Arklan grabs his wrist as he was about to throw another vase. "Ruining your study and destroying things aren't going to make the situations any better."

He snatches his wrist away, huffing in anger. "I don't need you to lecture me right now, Arklan." Arklan frowns at him. "I say this for your best interest, not to lecture you. How sad do you think Maia will feel when he sees you like this? We will get her back, we promise you that. So reign your anger, Jackson."He glares at Arklan, still refusing to hear his friend's point. But, he did his best to control his raging emotion and not do something foolish. "Call for Karlie. Brief him about this." He waves the letter and plops down onto the sofa.

"Fuck, I cannot believe this. What the fuck this have to happen to us? We were just fine, living in peace before wartime. Why her?" He covers his face with both of his hands, the sadness finally catching up to him. "Hey, I don't know why this happens to us, but we are here for you. You took care of us, so now we will take care of you and get your mate back. You just have to believe in us." Arklan offers him a small reassuring smile. "But are you sure? Betrayal will be paid in death. You will be hunted, we will be hunted. It's going to be hell for us." He said. Arklan slaps him in the back of the head.

"Oh shut up you goof. We are all here because of you. You brought us, the rogues who don't have family nor friends under your wings. The fate of the rogue wolves is hopeless. But you fight your ways for us. So it's only fitting if we follow you to the end, even death." Jackson's eyes went wide with the sentence uttered by his friend. He didn't know that his packs felt that way about him. He did save some rogue wolves back in his younger days, his heart aches for them. They become family and over the years, their bond is unbreakable.

But to think that they are willing to follow him to hell is bewildering. He searches for his friend's eyes. The genuine look he found warm his heart. "Okay then. If everything went well and the goddess still put favor in us, we will make things right again. I will make sure that you guys won't have to suffer from my selfishness." He smiled. Arklan pats him in the back and hugged him. "You damn better keep your promise, my dear friend." They both laughed. "I always keep my words. Now, shall we prepare? I believe we have two missions to carry tonight." He claps his hands and looked at his Beta.

"You know what to do, right?" He smirked. "You bet I do!" Arklan grins back. Both of them and the whole packs except children and elderly sprung in action. An hour went by and they still have another hour to prepare. "Arklan, have you prepare the owl and the message?" He asked. "Yes. Zara will send the owl right after midnight. They will receive the message as soon as possible." Arklan replied. "Okay good. Let's pray that the goddess still gives us a chance." Arklan nodded, agreeing with his friend. "Now, all we can do is wait. I will return to my room and change my attire. I'll see you again when we depart." With that, they both went on separate ways.