Third Person’s Pov;
“My mate” Elijah replied.
“WHAT!!!!” the three of them shouted in unison.
Elijah was expecting this kind of reaction and the smile on his face clearly showed his infatuation for his mate.
“Who is she? What’s her name?” Cora was the first one to bombard him with questions.
“Which pack does she belong to?” Liam was next in line.
“How does she look? What’s her age? Her height? Tell me everything!” Layla asked excitedly.
Elijah chuckled at their reaction but the dreamy state took over again as he thought of his lovely mate.
“Her name is Rose. She doesn’t belong to any pack. She is 23, a little taller than Layla and lastly, she is the most beautiful girl I have ever laid my eyes on” Elijah replied imagining her right in front of him smiling shyly at him with a constant blush on her rosy cheeks.
Three of them looked at each other with confusion and shock before Liam cleared his throat and replied, “Every guy thinks the same about his girl. No need to be shocked”
Elijah narrowed his eyes at Laim.
“You will be in shock when you see her” Elijah replied confidently still mesmerized by her delicate features and charming personality.
“I am sensing challenge in his voice” Layla said playfully nudging at Liam who instantly captured her from behind in a hug.
“Is she a rouge?” Cora asked seriously focusing on the important part of Elijah’s speech.
‘No wonder she is an Alphas’ daughter’ thought Liam looking proudly at Cora.
“I am not sure if she is even a werewolf. What is she exactly?” Layla asked looking expectantly at Elijah but he wasn’t ready to share all the information yet.
“Enough of gossip. I must greet my parents first, after I change” saying that Elijah closed the door in their faces.
“That’s not fair! You can’t leave us in the dark. We will die in curiosity! At least tell us her surname so we can search her online” Layla and Cora were punching on his door demanding answers like their life depends on it.
“Okay, spoiled brats. That’s not called searching but stalking and He said enough so let’s get out of here” Liam grabbed both Cora and Layla’s waists with both hands and pulled them away from Elijah’s room before they could create unnecessary drama.
“Thanks, buddy” Elijah shouted from inside.
“Anytime” Liam replied cooly with a chuckle but he was also dying from inside to get to know everything about his newfound Luna.
……
Elijah took a warm shower. He stood in front of the mirror only to notice in relief that the gunshot marks on both of his shoulders were nearly gone. Wolfsbane was also completely out of his system and he was feeling a lot more energetic and stronger.
While he was looking at his wound, he remembered how Rose always complimented him about how handsome he is. He is been told that millions of times since he was a kid but never in his life has someone’s words had such an effect on him. Her admiration nearly made him blush as well but he controlled his emotions really well.
He took one last look in the mirror while brushing his left hand through his hair. He walked out of the shower to the walk-in closet.
He changed quickly into a white shirt, black trousers, and black suit, applied gel to his hair, and walked towards his bed.
He grabbed his cell phone and checked hundreds of missed calls from his mother, father, Cora, Liam, Layla, Matt, his uncle, and aunt as well.
He cleared the notifications and then texted someone.
*Elijah: We need to meet tonight. I have something important to discuss*
He kept the cell phone in his pocket and walked out of the room moving towards the great hall.
As soon as he entered, his mother, Queen Phebe, got up from her throne and ran towards her son.
“Elijah, my son” She checked him for any trace of injury and pain when he didn’t show any sign of pain, she hugged him tightly.
“I am okay, mom. Everything is fine” Elijah replied while hugging his mother back, and patting her back gently to calm her.
“Where were you? We searched for you everywhere” Phebe said leaving him only to make way for his father to greet his son as well.
“My son” his dad, current Werewolf king and Alpha Cole Smith, hugged him after his mother.
“Dad” Elijah hugged his dad back.
“What happened, son? Tell me everything in detail” Cole asked in worry.
Liam, Layla, and Cora were also present in the room, standing behind them.
“Dad, the matter is more serious than what we hope for. Those low-life hunters attacked me in the forest when I went outside to clear my head. Unfortunately, they have broken the peace treaty” Elijah answered calmly.
“How dare they attack the future werewolf king!” Cole was now writhing with anger ready to crush each and every hunter existing in the world.
“I don’t think they were there to attack me. They didn’t know it was me. My deduction is that they were not looking for such a powerful werewolf” Elijah replied reminiscing about the fight.
“What do you mean?” Cole asked in confusion.
“I was avoiding attacking them back for a while but then one of them tried to burn me so I had to defend myself. Honestly, I lost control while attacking back but I still didn’t use even half of my power though. I wasn’t able to anyways, I was shot four times” Elijah said making all the ladies in the room gasp in horror.
“What???? You were shot four times?” His mother again started checking him for any sign of pain or injury.
“I am okay now Mom” Elijah whispered gently.
“Did it have wolfsbane stuffed in bullet?” Liam asked in seriousness and Elijah nodded.
“Yup and the bullets were made up of silver too” Elijah’s answer was again met with collective gasps.
“How did you survive then?” Layla asked directly it’s not in her nature to hide behind the bush.
Everyone except for Elijah glared at her for her direct question.
“Hey! Don’t give me the death glare people. I apologize for the crude question” she said looking anything but apologetic.
“But what I mean is you were shot like four times with silver bullets stuffed with wolfsbane? It takes merely hours or maybe less time for it to spread in the entire bloodstream. So, how did you survive that?” Layla asked looking sheepishly at Elijah.
“That’s okay, Layla. Your point is valid. If it was any other wolf he would have died in minutes and if my body wasn’t strong enough I would have perished too but I was..” Elijah was cut in by his mother.
“Then the bullet must be still in your body by now. Call for our doctor, don’t just stand there Liam!” Phebe commanded looking panicked for her son’s life.
“That’s not needed, Mom. Calm down. If the bullets were still in my system, I wouldn’t have survived no matter how strong I am, but luckily the bullets had been removed and the wolfsbane is also out of my system. The silver toxicity is reduced to negligible. I am completely fine now. don’t worry” Elijah replied calming her mother and rest of them as well.
“You couldn’t possibly remove your own bullets” Cole uttered as a matter of fact.
“Nope, he can’t. Someone special generously helped him” Cora said the first thing in a really shy as well as excited tone. Finally understanding the dreamy look of his brother for his savior.
Liam and Layla exchanged glances with a slight smile but didn’t say a word.
“Who did it?” Cole asked demanding an immediate answer.
“Who helped you dear?” Phebe asked more gently curious about Cora’s statement.
“Tell them, Cora. I know you are dying to!” Elijah said looking at his sister who was about to burst out of excitement.
“My brother has found her mate!” Cora announced happily ready to dance like a monkey.
“What? Really?” Phebe covered her face with excitement while glancing towards Elijah for confirmation. She saw Elijah had the most genuine smile on his face and instantly knew the answer.
“Yes, mom. Now, I don’t need to take any random girl to the ball” he said, turning towards his father.
“Who is she? What is her rank?” Cole asked demanding answers even though he was relieved by the discovery as well.
“I will tell you everything when it’s time. And no matter what is her rank, I have already made up my mind. I am not replacing her with anyone” Elijah said coldly making his point very clear that he would not budge from his decision.
“You heard my son” Phebe stood between Elijah and Cole taking her son’s side like always.
Liam and Layla exchanged worried glances at each other.
“Fine, I am good as long as she is a werewolf” Cole said strictly.
Two ladies were more interested in knowing about that information of the next Luns than Alpha King Cole.
“Yes, she is a werewolf” Elijah confirmed and Cole nodded in affirmation.
“Tell me more about my sister-in-law!” Cora jumped at the opportunity.
“Now is not the time little one, but I can tell that you will love her” Elijah said confidently.
‘Rose is everything my mother wanted in her daughter-in-law. She is a strong independent girl, extremely brave, smart, and intelligent, and really kind to save a beast when she didn’t even know me. Not to forget, no one can even come closer to her beauty. She is celestial! Her vulgar mouth is a bit of a problem but I like her the way she is’ Elijah thought almost engulfed in his own thoughts when Cole’s cold voice pierced through his daydream.
“I highly doubt that” Cole said rather coldly.
“What do you mean?” Phebe asked in irritation.
“You are going to be a mother-in-law and I am pretty sure you are going to act like one” Cole scoffed.
“Excuse me, Mr. failed lover. I am the better half, so, my daughter-in-law will love me” Phebe said ready to fight the untamed beast she calls her husband.
“Mom, dad…” Elijah knew it was the beginning of a new battle and he was already exhausted.
“It’s our queue to get lost” Liam said with an embarrassed smile.
He took Layla’s hand and was ready to leave When Elijah stopped them,
“Wait here, Liam. It’s not like you don’t know anything” Elijah called out for him.
“You all will meet my mate soon and I will be taking her to the ball. Let’s all come to the main topic which is the meeting tonight. Hunters have broken the peace treaty and we will make them pay for it” Elijah said changing the course of discussion to what was important at the moment.
“Of course, we will. I heard that you called for a meeting tonight. Good work. We must take action against them together” Cole said finally agreeing to something without an unnecessary fight.
“But I am still in shock. How dare they come to our lands and attack you?” Liam asked still not clear about this.
“As I said earlier, they were not here to attack me specifically” Elijah corrected him.
“Yes, I understand but the way they were all prepared with guns and everything. They were here to attack someone” Liam replied and Elijah nodded in confirmation.
“Yes, you are right about that, and my guess is that they were here to attack the Dawson family, the one we kicked off last night. They probably thought I was one of them. Hence, they attacked me but they regretted it” Elijah said deep in his thoughts.
“You shouldn’t have kicked them out” Liam was still fixated on that.
“I was really pissed at them. We already had this discussion, Liam. Because of one of their fault, our family has been suffering for years” Elijah said with a hint of anger in his face and Liam bowed his head immediately.
“It’s not actually their fault” This time his father gave him a knowing look.
“I know that now. On my way here, I have already sent guards to call them back. Those hunters can attack again and I don’t want any more werewolf blood-shedding under my reign” Elijah said getting a nod of approval from his father.
“But I am unable to understand one thing” Cora said.
“What is that, my dear daughter” Cole asked his daughter affectionately.
“Dad, Bro, how did they know that we kicked some werewolves out of our pack? Brother made that decision just yesterday and the attack was almost immediate” Cora asked and the suspension was already clear in everyone’s mind but Elijah voiced it.
“It’s easy, Cora. We have a traitor amongst us” Elijah informed without hesitating.
“Who is it?”