The Holding

(Lucas)

I mindlinked my beta, Enzo asking him to meet me at the pack house. Shifting back to my human form, I quickly dressed up and headed back to the pack house. The thought of the strange brown wolf and how he was able to enter my pack grounds undetected hung heavily on me. What surprised me more was the fact that he was able to mind-link me without being a pack member.

Whenever pups are born, they are taken to the Pack's Alpha to get their pack mark. The Alpha makes a small bite on the shoulder blade of the pup showing that he/she has been recognized by the pack. The pack mark is a sign of membership to the pack. It is what enables wolves to mind link each other in a pack. If female wolves find their mates in a different pack from them, they are also presented to the Alpha of their mate's pack for their marks.

Walking into the pack house, I saw Enzo waiting for me. He looked disheveled as if he had been in a scuffle before coming here.

"Good evening Alpha," he said.

"What happened to you?"

He bowed his head and kept quiet.

Walking over to him, I asked again; "What happened to you Enzo?"

"A wolf was found leaving pack borders" he replied.

"Now, why would you be bothered if a wolf was leaving pack borders? Aren't we all wolves?"

"The wolf wasn't a pack member Alpha. I was on my way to inform you that we are all ready for the annual ball tomorrow. The guards alerted me of their findings and I tried mindlinking you but you had blocked your mindlink. When you mindlinked me, I was trying to contact you too," he said.

I did not block my mind link. How was that strange wolf able to mind-link me if it was blocked? This heightened my curiosity about the wolf.

"Enzo, I met an unidentified wolf in the forest during my run. Do you mind explaining how he got into my pack grounds?" I asked.

"I'm sorry Alpha, the guards were patrolling the borders this night and they said they never saw a wolf coming in. They only saw the wolf leave and they are tracking him as we speak"

"That wolf was no ordinary wolf Enzo. He was able to mind link me without a fucking pack mark" I shouted in anger.

This made Enzo look up in shock.

"But that is impossible"

"Impossible or not, it fucking happened. Rogues attacked the pack and now a wolf comes in without any of the guards noticing. How incompetent are you mutts?" I said while pacing about.

I stopped to calm my wolf down as it began to struggle to take control due to my temper.

"I am sorry Alpha. I will heighten the security at the pack grounds. I will…."

Cutting him off, I replied; "Shut up and listen. Tomorrow is the annual ball and we are both attending. I want the security around the pack doubled. I don't want any surprise attacks while we are gone. Any guard who leaves his duty post while we are gone will go back to the moon goddess by my hands. Understood?"

He nodded and I signaled for him to leave.

"Where's my dinner?" I yelled at the omega cleaning the pack common area.

"It's been served at the dining area Alpha," she said scaredly.

Sighing, I left for the dinner area. Shifting into my wolf always takes my energy so I was quite hungry.

Dinner was made up of rare steak and orange juice. Weird combo but it was always what I ate after a shift and the omegas knew that so when I shifted, it was made available.

I dug in and began to eat while still thinking of what I encountered in the woods.

I was done with dinner after a little while and I walked up to my room to take a shower. Turning on the knob, hot water fell on my skin giving me a sense of relief. I finished having my bath put on my boxers and lay down on my bed to sleep.

"The black wolf needs his mate." a voice whispered.

I quickly got up from my bed and searched for the owner of the voice.

"Who is there?" I asked.

I was met with silence.

"I am going to rip your tongue from your mouth if I find you myself unless you show yourself and beg for mercy."

Again, I was met with silence.

"Find your mate. She is the key" the voice said again.

I growled in anger while using Boris's eyes to search for the source of the voice.

There is no one here Lucas but we need our mate."Boris said.

Finding my mate was the least of my worries right now. My worry was keeping my pack safe from rogues who have increased lately.

Go to sleep. There is no one around here.

I finally brought down my guard convincing myself it was just my mind playing tricks on me because of the stress I had encountered lately.

Laying back on my bed, I closed my eyes and went to sleep.

Soon it was morning and I woke up remembering that it was the day of the annual ball and I would have to leave my pack to attend. I felt uneasy with this fact. I needed to stay back to protect my pack from danger but it was against wolf rules for an unmated Alpha to miss the annual ball. It was widely known that most unmated Alphas find their mates during the annual ball because their mates are usually wolves of another pack.

I groaned at the thought of another set of rogues attacking my pack while I was away.

I quickly mindlinked Enzo.

"Tell all the pack guards to meet with me at the pack house now".

"Yes Alpha," he said through the mindlink.

I washed up and headed downstairs to meet the guards.

"Good morning Alpha," they greeted unanimously.

"Good morning. I called you all here for some important information. Today is the day of the annual ball. The beta and I are going to be away from the pack the whole evening. While we are away, I want all of you to be on alert. I want the security on pack grounds and pack borders to be made twice as much as possible. If any wolf leaves his duty post, I will arrange for his soul to meet with the moon goddess. Understood?"

"Yes Alpha"

"You're dismissed."

They bowed and left back to their duty posts.

"Alpha, the cars are ready for our journey to the Crescent pack," Enzo said.

"Good. Check on the guards and make sure they are at their assigned positions before we leave" I said.

"Yes Alpha," he said and left.

I hope we find a mate today.

What is it with Boris and finding a mate? I did not want a mate.

I definitely did not need a mate now. I have my pack to think of.

I just need to get this ball over with and get back to protecting my pack and figuring out what the hell the council is talking about.

"There's a message for you at the border Alpha," said Enzo through a mindlink.