With Jake's help, Celia was driven to the airport quickly and without any inconveniences.

The driver he sent, arrived at the pack border half an hour after the call, and had swiftly brought her to the airport. He had also made sure she found the VIP area. As Jake's father was the Alpha of his pack and often used the special waiting room designed for the werewolf leaders of the various packs, the driver directed her with ease.

She had changed into her uniform and also adorned the student broach on her chest before she left her home, so fortunately no further identification was asked of her to be allowed access to the waiting room.

Sitting on the couch with her head propped on one hand, she looked out the window to see the incoming planes. At this point, she had no energy left to do anything else but this. Checking her phone for a brief moment to find out the time, she ignored all the missed calls that popped up and the unread messages, her only interest being the conversation with Jake.

According to the details Jake had messaged her about the flight, she still had to wait about an hour more. But she was lucky, asking him to help her book the flight was the best idea, as it was the very last one of the day.

It was also a private flight that normal people and low ranked werewolves could not use. Fortunately, her watcher student status had made all the difference. Otherwise, she would have had to wait until the next day for the first commercial flight.

Crescent had settled down as well, it must have been Waning's earlier company that made all the difference. Waning always had a calming effect towards Celia and Crescent also. Her healing power was also the best, this was why Crescent had wanted to suggest for Waning to take the phantom pains away a month ago, when Celia kept feeling hurt.

As her thoughts wondered to Crescent, naturally Celia also thought of Waning. After comforting Crescent in the hallway, the latter had now retreated again to the back of her mind, and did not even respond when Celia called, making her wonder why the wolf did so.

In the past, whenever Waning retreated to the back of her mind she would still hear her voice and the latter would also come up to talk to her from time to time, but now it was like she closed herself off, like she sealed herself from the outside world completely.

Pondering about this a bit, she suddenly realized that Rayan's wolf was supposed to be Waning's mate also, so she must have suffered just as much as Crescent. It was insensible of her that they had not tried to make Waning feel better as well. As such, she did not try to call Waning again, leaving her some time to recollect her thoughts. 

Waning was the most silent of the three, preferring to keep her problems to herself, whenever she encountered them. If Celia or Crescent tried to make her speak of them, the white wolf would suffer more from the conversation, rather than feel better. It had made Celia worry about her regarding this, but the comfort Waning preferred was only the one she would ask herself. Sighing, as she had found herself doing numerous times since she had remained alone, she only conversed from time to time with Crescent.

At the other far end of the large VIP room, another person was also waiting for the plane's crew to finish their preparation. The tall man dressed in a professional black suit, sitting with his legs crossed, was currently reading a document. He was surrounded by 6 guards that stood a few feet away from his seat circling it, preventing other people getting close to the somber man, not that anyone would dare to do so.

His black ebony hair neatly combed towards the back of his head, his pale white face, the bright blue eyes, sharp nose and small lips made a beautiful sculpted man. But his sharp clenched jaw and his thick straight brows furrowed in a frown, made him unapproachable, even without the presence of the guards.

He sighed and frowned more with each minute that he spent reading the report, turning a page of it from time to time, before returning his left hand to support his head, as he was checking its contents.

He was trying to concentrate on what was written, while he kept reminding himself mentally that his subordinate needed a reevaluation. The poor written report was too needlessly detailed, instead of only having included in it the main ideas. If he had to check every detail himself, then why would he need other people?

He frowned once more, before finally giving up, closing the document. Seriously, why did he allow Micah, his beta, to take some time off. The bastard could not even leave a proper replacement for his position. He decided then that the poor guy would not have another free day for the next five years. He had already let him have 10 days off in three years, it should be enough.

Raising his eyes in front of him for the first time in two hours, as he sighed in displeasure, his eyes were captured by the lovely image that appeared at the other far end of the room. On the opposite side, the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on in his hundred years of life, and he had seen so many before, was sitting silently on a couch. Her unfocused eyes gazing out the window.

There was nothing truly special about her, if you only glanced on the surface. Her chocolate brown eyes were an ordinary normal color, most of the population on Earth had that color, but they seemed moist and watery. The red rings that framed them, the clear evidence she had been crying, making them more vivid, enhancing their brilliant sparkle.

Her dark hair was just ruffled and put up in a messy bun, but it made her already small face seem even smaller and cuter, regardless of the lack of makeup applied on it. In her entirety, she seemed just like a beautiful woman, but not so much as you could say the most beautiful one. But nonetheless, her whole appearance fitted so perfect together that it felt like he was looking at a painting.

He felt like his gaze could not leave her, captivating him. How lovely it would be if someone like her was his mate, his half a soul that he had been searching for through the decades... but he knew she could not be the one meant for him. After so many years he had lost all hope of finding his mate. Perhaps he did not even have one.

He knew as he looked for her all over the world, searching all the places he could think of, but had been unable to find her. The girl before him was lovely, and perhaps he could even easily fall in love with her. But he did not feel the mate pull towards her, even if his nose picked up the lovely strawberries scent from the direction of the girl, coincidently the smell of his favorite fruit.

For a werewolf to be a mate of another there needed to be a certain pull. He would have recognized her at first glance if she truly was his mate. But sadly her wolf did not seem to acknowledge his, and his wolf also did not recognize hers.

To be a mate there were three conditions that absolutely needed to be met. One was smell, the scent of a mate would feel enticing to a werewolf, two was attraction which could be seen if the mates' eyes locked together, and three was wolf, the pair needed to recognize each other. Her smell and the attraction were obviously there, but the wolf was not.

He only ever wanted one single mate, the mate designed for him. Just like his mother had been for his father. Any other werewolf would just leave you once they found their true mate. And he also wanted to be with his true mate, what if she had been waiting for him and he did not wait for her? He could not handle his mate's rejection because of this reason.

He sighed again, it seemed that after all he still did not lose all hope to find his mate. He chuckled to himself mockingly, he was still waiting for her even after all this time.

Clearing his mind of thoughts, he saw that the beautiful lady stood up from the couch, and that was when he noticed the Royal Academy's uniform. He looked again intently, concentrating his vision and checked the metallic broach on her chest. It was the identification of the type of student she was, the year she was in and her rank in her class.

The silver white watcher's broach which shined brightly was one of a kind. It was owned by only one person out of all the students of the same year. Intrigued, he quickly searched his memory, just as the realization of her identity  hit him in the next second. He was informed earlier, that this year a girl had managed to defeat several dozen 3rd ranked werewolves in the melee war, becoming a watcher and the alpha of the new class.

It had surprised him and everyone from the Council. It was not an easy feat to actually win against so many alpha ranked werewolves. And seeing her now in front of his eyes, she was a bit taller than most girls, this was true, but she was thin and seemed frail at the same time.

He could not comprehend just how she managed to defeat them. Everyone had urged him to see the recording of the melee war, to see the spectacular fight. They told him that for the first part of the test she had not attacked much, only defending against attackers. But mid fight when she went from a defensive stance to an offensive one, it had been a crushing defeat. It had picked his interest to see the fight, but he hadn't managed to find the time for it. 

Now seeing her in person, it made him even more curious and he would certainly watch it. Trailing her with his eyes until she left the room, he gestured to the assistant who was behind him to approach for an order. The latter came close sweating profusely, as he had seen the report he had painstakingly written closed abruptly.

'Yes, your highness.' The young man immediately acknowledged and slightly bent his head.

'Find the information about this year's watcher exam for me . I want to know the details of the new alpha.' He succinctly ordered.

'I already have it with me your highness. Do you want to read it now? I also have the recording of the melee war.' The assistant quickly offered.

Salas looked surprised towards him, it seemed that this assistant was not so inefficient as he had appeared at first glance. Perhaps he should give him another chance, and also let that bastard keep his 10 days' vacation every three years.

He did not realize that his assistant was actually an avid fan of the watchers, especially of this year's alpha, the first ever female watcher. And so had simply kept the file to learn more about his idol.