Now, I knew why Nirvan and Mom were exchanging smiles.

These hall had nearly hundred students present and everyone was a girl.

Nirvan had left me on the gates of this wooden house and it wasn't very far from home. I thanked him and entered the hall. To my surprise, Beta Iago's wife who had same eyes like Ivan, welcomed me and handed me a notepad and a pen.

The moment I got my seat in the third row, in the middle, I was looking for my half-sisters. None of them were present or they too were arriving late like Ivan did at the training. Which reminded me immediately of his tight underwear.

I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head, trying to distract myself from thinking about it.

Just as I opened my eyes, my sisters were right there in the front entering the hall with the pride on their shoulders as Alpha's daughters. Whispers followed around as girls around me greeted them and exchanged smiles. I noticed Keira, Uncle Robert's daughter too following them.

I waited for a response as I too expected them to look at me, especially Natalie who had her eyes on the seat ahead of me. I readied a precious smile for her but instead of her, Eva sat there and ahead of her, sat Natalie. Beside her, sat Keira.

My smile faded when the girl beside me chuckled when Natalie and Eva turned their heads to greet her, "Hey! Nina! Finally turned eighteen."

The girl beside me smiled at Natalie, her raven hair were so silky and dark in contrast to her pale skin. She looked younger than I did despite having the same age as mine.

"Yes, I did. Hope, I'll meet my mate this season. I don't want to wait any extra."

Eva rolled her eyes. "Typical. Anyways. We have a little party at Naomi's house, you wanna hop on? I am sure, your mother will allow since you are a big she-wolf now. We are going to have some serious mating talks there." She winked. "Going to inform you about things, babe."

Nina blushed right beside me while I was surprised that tomboyish Eva had interest in talking about mates and mating.

"I'd love to come, Eva. Thank you."

While I was looking at Nina, I suddenly felt Eva's eyes on me.

"Whoa! Look who's here." Eva turned her bitch side on. Her eyes meeting mine and the hall started silencing slowly. "Why are you attending the classes? As if any of this going to get in your head?"

My jaws clenched while some girls behind her and me laughed in her support.

"Or maybe, you are trying to impress my mother," her lips moved while I loosened my legs which I had crossed.

"Or maybe, I am trying to pass my time here at this place since your father brought me here, begging me to stay so your mother could be happy," I spat back, considering Eva wouldn't tell this to Mom to anger her father. "She is already impressed by me. Period."

Her mouth parted in disgust while some girls made 'ohs' and oohs', making me smirk at her.

"Remember, Misty." Eva smirked back, her eyes giving me a death glare. "You are just an audience."

I kept quiet in utter anger while she turned around as soon as we heard clicks on the wooden floor. Someone was entering the hall.

Looking right in the front, it was none other than Uncle Robert's mate, Kate Arche. The third-in-command of the pack.

"Hello, girls. You all look divine this morning. The room smells of flowers. Sweet flowers," her voice boomed all around.

"So do you, Aunt Kate." Eva hooted like a backbench-er, except that she was sitting ahead of me.

Girls chuckled and hummed in agreement while Aunt Kate blushed slightly. My eyes squinted at her not-so-flat belly.

"Everyone is provided with the notepad and the pen?" She asked, rubbing her hands and looking around. Her bright eyes and straight hair making her look like a true speaker. When everyone nodded, she smiled. "Good."

Standing in the center of the little six inch platform, she was visible and audible to everyone.

"As we all know, the mating season is right after two months from today."

Some girls blushed and hooted like Nina sitting beside me, making me shake my head. While others groaned.

"Within ten days, we will be aware if we are the host of this season or not. Considering, the five other packs have gotten their turn previous years, I personally think, the Alphas will decide and honor us to host the season." She said while palming her sides.

I was low key loving her plain blue dress that was reaching her knees. It looked Royal. Even Keira would dress up nicely. But she looked way too bitchy to me, considering she didn't talk to me when I had greeted her at the dinner yesterday.

"Mating Season, for our pack, is not just a matchmaking game. Not just a bachelorette or some love game tournament." Her voice turned serious and her eyes roamed on each face.

"For our pack, Mating Ceremony is an occasion that brings us the chance to do the right."

Beside me, Nina breathed out while I observed Eva's shoulders turning straight in seriousness.

"To do what our great founder of the pack, our Alpha Rucus asks for us to do."

My eyebrows furrowed immediately.

"To do what is required to balance the powers and blessings between us wolves and Lycans."

Lycans?

My eyes squinted in concentration while she further said, "Before we began our classes, our preparation, our mental strength, I want you all to give me your word." Aunt Kate looked straight at all the faces. "That you'll follow the path of Alpha Rucus. That you'll do the right for the balance of powers and blessings. That for you, pack comes first."

I looked around and observed that all the girls looked dead serious.

"Give me your word," Aunt Kate yelled and I was slightly embarrassed because I was shaken.

The girls yelled around me, "The Pack comes first."

"I can't hear you."

"The Pack comes first!"

Aunt Kate shook her head in fake disappointment.

The Girls were now screaming and before I could even realize, I was one of them. The whole room was blaring with shouts.

"The Pack comes first!"

She let out a faint chuckle of satisfaction.

"Now, we begin."

I relaxed back in the chair and readied my pen to write any notes I would be needing to revise it all later. But the way she began, I didn't think I would be ever be forgetting what she told.

"Our Pack, situated in the North Eastern part of these big jungles of Nirvana, at the Moon Valley, is one of the biggest packs. From years, we have been worshiping moon Goddess, stayed connected to our roots, following our traditions, believing in our beliefs." She said, while moving her eyes on each head.

"We are great with our neighbors, our exports, imports, security, our functions, our necessities, our grains, our clothes, our education, our culture, our training. We have been improving well along with time."

Suddenly, her face turned serious and voice turned heavy as she taught, "But from the day our pack was formed till now, something is becoming a serious issue. Can anyone tell what it is?"

The girl on my left raised her hand. She didn't look happy while answering, "The percentage of young wolves' surviving is declining."

I breathed slowly, for a moment feeling like a duffer for not understanding. What? It looked like I was in an International Relations' class.

Aunt Kate nodded, her voice still heavy. "For a pack that is close to leading, this is a big issue. Pups are our future and number of young wolves dying is increasing every year."

How?

"What are the causes, can anyone tell?"

Eva raised her hand. "According to me, it's all about the basic factors. Why would a young or even an adult werewolf die? What could make a young werewolf die? In our packs, each wolf is being trained. We are invincible, unbreakable. The wolves who could be vulnerable, are the ones who have lost their mates or never found them."

My eyebrows raised in surprise and a little bit of self-pity. Eva was such a confident goddess, I didn't want to turn from hating her to admiring her so soon. She was a bitch anyway for being rude to me.

Some girls gave her a tense look while Aunt Kate nodded. "Can anyone tell me why anyone would not be able to find their mates?"

A voice came from behind. "Because one of them died early. Or it's the fate."

Aunt Kate nodded but her eyes showed that these weren't the enough causes. "There is a big cause of not meeting a mate, resulting in a death of one of our pack's young wolf. I want this question to stay within the boundaries of your mind while everyday you come to attend this class. Because at the end, we will be able to conclude an answer. Most importantly, a solution."

I breathed out while she shrugged her shoulders.

"Most of the she-wolves present here are sent by their parents or their inner wolf because they have crossed eighteen summers," she said, observing each of us. Her eyes would fall on me but she wouldn't give any specific interest. I liked her.

"Because when you are eighteen, you are in a suitable, most suitable pre-breeding period. Your wolf is developed fully and your inner soul needs to be completed. It demands a soulmate."

Nina beside me, smiled to herself while some other girls were giggling too.

"It's not necessary to find your mate after eighteen years only. Some find their mates when they have just become a woman. Do you get me? The eighteen years is the right age when you are mentally strong, matured enough to leave your home and go to your mate's pack."

I raised my eyebrows, relaxing when I realized it was somehow similar to the human world except for the terms and conditions.

Aunt Kate smiled and further explained, "Those who are under eighteen and are sitting here, are welcomed with truest of my heart. It is great that you are interested in knowing the history, culture and goals of your pack. It is only preparing you to be ahead of other she-wolves in your upcoming years."

She looked at Eva and gave her a goofy smile. "Those who are over eighteen and still hadn't find their mates. I am sure, the time wasn't right for you and your mate to get together. It is not a thing to worry about and is quite normal. This means that your wolves are taking time and preparing themselves better for their mates. The more you learn, the more you are prepared."

Eva hadn't move an inch while Aunt Kate moved her eyes off her and further said, "Now, I'll simply start from the history of our pack. The story of Alpha Rucus. The story that binds us to achieve the ultimate goal. The girls who'll answer my questions in the last class, will be able to get honored by our dear Alpha."

The girls cheered and hooted while I rolled my eyes. So much for that murderer. Really!

Though, I hadn't wrote anything in the notepad since I had it all in mind, I was still ready with pen. I relaxed and took a long breathe as she began the story.

I felt excited.

Aunt Kate had a far-looking expression as she began, "About two hundred years ago, when everything was going well for the Werewolves of the world. There was harmony, there was peace. There was blood, there were claws. There were Alpha's and Luna's. There were preys and predators."

She took the chair from the side and sat down, crossing her legs, she relaxed and breathed out.

"In this area, where we live, which we call our pack's territory, lived a harmonious pack. Alpha Rucus' pack. Barely a pack of fifty wolves."

I wrote it down immediately and breathed as she further told, "Alpha Rucus, the only son of Alpha Alaricus, was a wolf with blood in his eyes and elixir in his smile. His little pack of nearly forty nine wolves, was full of peace and harmony."

"They had everything. Trees, animals, love, hate, pups, flowers, sky, God, sorrow and happiness. Everything."

She smiled, "The wolf families loved each other, worshipped the Moon, evolved with the time taking them ahead."

Suddenly, her smile faded and I gulped.

"Until one day, the neighboring pack, the Lycans known for their extremes and aggression, set eyes on his little world."

Again that word. Lycan!

". . . The beautiful land of innocent wolves was taken by the greedy claws of the higher breed of wolves who called themselves, sons of Alpha Ruth, the founder of the pack who was blessed by the Moon."

"At that time, four sons of Alpha Ruth, the elder one, Alpha Ronyn and the other three- Reed, Gregor and Rex, crossed the borders of the forests you all are prohibited to enter and took steps on the land of Alpha Rucus."

Aunt Kate's eyes turned glossy.

"It was a feast on some occasion. Kids were playing, women had dressed up. Man we're enjoying the sight while Alpha Rucus was grateful for having happiness at this beginning of his rule. It had been just two years he became the Alpha and lost his father. He wanted nothing but to have his own family now. A beautiful mate and some beautiful pups."

Some girls awed as she further told, "The leader known for his uncontrollable thirst, Alpha Ronyn, was a greedy and arrogant wolf. So much harmony and happiness attracted him as he witnessed the function in the foreign land of wolves. Being a Lycan, he never really had the privilege to be on loose."

Aunt Kate immediately took a break at the story and explained, "Those who don't know much about Lycans, here I explain. Lycans are the highest, most honored breed of wolves. They are Moon Goddess's most loved beings because they suffer the most pain for her. Now, that is something ancient. But at the time of Alpha Rucus and Alpha Ronyn, the Lycans were arrogant on their powers because of being most loved."

"They had powers. They were big. They were strong. They could defeat a hundred of wolves at once. They were capable of the unpredictable."

"Sounds hot," commented Eva, making some girls chuckle.

Aunt Kate mustered up a tight smile. "Alpha Ronyn and his three brothers stepped on Alpha Rucus' territory and brought a storm with them. They tore out the innocent pups' veins, raped the she-wolves, walked on the broken chests of the males whom they spent no sweat fighting."

Her eyes filled up as she explained frustratingly. "It wasn't a fair attack. The four Lycans were capable of shaking the whole werewolf world. Instead, they preyed on innocent wolves of Alpha Rucus. There wasn't any cause but a kick they got from torturing the innocent ones. It was barbaric."

Oh my God!

"Alpha Rucus was on the brink of death, staring into a dead pup's eyes of horror. He could smell the metallic taste all around. He could hear the howls of Victory as the strongest Lycan, Alpha Ronyn stood near him, his one paw on his back. Turning him around, Alpha Ronyn tore his throat for the final swing of death."

Oh my God!

Aunt Kate moved her lips to speak further when a bell rang and echoed around. I concluded that there was more but girls beside me stood up already.

"Class over for today," Aunt Kate spoke with a smile and I loved the way she told the story so clean.

Alpha Rucus died in pain and so did I, in suspense of knowing what happened ahead.

________

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