When Ava woke up the following day, she was delighted. Ava noticed she was sorer than the other day but didn’t mind.
She turned to Lucas’s side of the bed, but he wasn’t there. She managed to get up and went into the bathroom, drawing a hot bath for herself.
When she was done, she returned to the room expecting to see Lucas, but he wasn’t there.
She then saw a note that he had left on the table.
*
Hello precious,
Hope you had a good night’s rest. Ramsey has already been taken care of, so don’t worry about him. Take care of yourself instead.
I love you,
Lucas.
*
The note did not mention anything about his whereabouts, which was unlike Lucas. Ava was worried, but she decided to eat before thinking about anything; she was famished after yesterday’s marathon.
She contemplated going to the kitchen or asking them to send her food up before Nani walked in with a food tray.
She smiled, “Good morning Nani.”
“Good morning, my dear. I can see you had a great night.”
Ava blushed, “What do you mean?”
Nani smiled coyly “so you haven’t taken a look in the mirror.”
Ava hadn’t taken a look in the mirror this morning. She had rushed her bath, thinking that Lucas was waiting for her breakfast.
Heading to the mirror to have a look, she saw the bite marks and scratches littered on her skin. Since her dress neckline was a bit low, they were visible to onlookers.
“Lucas,” she groaned, and Nani burst into laughter.
She changed her cloth into a long flowing gown and put a scarf around her neck.
After changing, she dug into the food that Nani came with before she thought to ask.
“Have you seen Lucas?”
“Yes, he is in the meeting hall with the circle”.
“We didn’t talk about any meeting today. Do you know if there is anything wrong?” Ava asked.
“No, but I saw him awake last night when you were already asleep. He was gazing at the sky for a long time; I think something is bothering him”.
“Nani, let’s go to the meeting,” Ava said and made to stand up, but Nani grabbed her hand.
“Nope, finish your food, and then we can go”.
“But Nani…..”.
“Eat, my dear. I feel this is a serious problem for Lucas to be this troubled. Besides, you need your strength.”
Asides from the fact that Ava had no other choice, Nani was right. She nodded and continued eating. Soon, she was done, and both of them went down to the meeting hall.
Lucas spotted her coming. Smiling wryly, he extended his hands to her, and she took them.
Ava noticed a group of strange hooded wolves, probably in their middle ages, seated in the hall near the Alpha. From the way they appeared, they weren’t from around anywhere near this terrain.
“Council members, this is my Mate Ava,” Lucas introduced, and Ava curtsied before them upon hearing who they were.
“Ava, these are the supreme council members, Konrad, Saoirse, Jakub, Jovan and Soya”.
“It is nice to meet you, Luna Ava,” Saoirse answered on behalf of the council.
“Excuse me for a moment. I would like to have a word with my Luna in private.”
Before Ava could say something next, Lucas had already taken her hand and led her away from the council member’s presence. Now in a quiet corner on the large nearby balcony, Ava broke the silence.
“What is going on, Lucas? Why is the supreme council here?”
“I’ve been trying to avoid telling you the truth all this while, but now I think it’s gotten to a point where the problem can no longer be kept secret.”
Ava became worried, “you’re scaring me, Lucas. What problem are you talking about?”
“You must have heard about the black dynasty, a group of rogues who have grown in large numbers these days. Their leader’s name is Vulcan.”
Ava nodded, digesting the information.
“They are the ones who destroyed our outer territories. They sent a message this morning.”
What message?”
Following her question, she watched as Lucas retrieved an unsealed letter from his pocket. He handed it to her to read what it contained.
*
To the dawn Alpha,
This is a notice, Lucas De’ Clan.
I am sure you must have seen all that is happening around you. You must have taken note of my recent acquisitions, of which I now have their Alphas heads. You have three days to surrender the dawn pack and all of its wolves or face the same fate all the other packs have suffered.
I will be awaiting your next line of action. Do not try anything you will regret.
Vulcan Darin,
The Black Dynasty.
*
Ava’s heart dropped upon reading the content. She didn’t know whether to be mad or feel sorry for her husband.
She held up the note at him. “Why did you have to wait till it got to this before you told me?”
“I am sorry, Ava, but let’s face the facts. Telling you would have made no difference. This is all my problem to deal with as an Alpha.”
“It’s not just your problem, Lucas. We are all dawn wolves, and it’s our responsibility to keep our home. I am certain we will need more help to defeat the rogues.”
“All of the other packs have been taken over. Only the Daivie and Moonlight pack still stands. The Daivie wolves would have even been brought down if not for my soldiers there. I already asked for help from Alpha Daryl, but we can’t ask for any help from the moonlight pack.”
“Why?” She asked.
“Because of the new Alpha. My former Gamma, Fillip Kirundi, took charge of the moonlight pack after I banished him.”
Ava gasped. Now it all made sense; Filip had disappeared for years after Kiron’s appointment. And the Alpha forbade anyone from speaking about him or his whereabouts until he was a forgotten matter. “What happened between you two that led to his banishment?”
She watched as Lucas sighed before telling her everything.
“Seven years ago, Filip and I heeded the supreme council’s call. It involved appointing a new leader to take over your former pack since the Alpha was killed. I was summoned, being responsible for Alpha Ethans’ death. The council members gave me a choice to either take over the pack myself or appoint a new Alpha.”
“Then what happened?”
“I never wanted power in the first place, not to talk of more of it. It took a lot of persuasions for me to become the dawn Alpha on the grounds that I refused to take part in any more leadership matters.”
“But you couldn’t have left the moonlight throne empty after killing their Alpha.”
Lucas nodded, “I know. That’s why I left it to the supreme council to choose whomever they deemed fit for the position. I wanted no such involvement.”
“Why, then, did they choose Filip?”
“They didn’t. It took a while for me to notice how greedy and covetous my gamma was, but it was too late. Filip was angry at me for refusing the offer to acquire more power. He went to the council members behind me to take the role against my wish, earning him a banishment from the dawn pack. He didn’t just do that but also turned away some of my soldiers to join him. I later found out after many of them disappeared suddenly.”
Ava felt a sharp pain hit her head then, all these happened for years, and not one time did Lucas ever give her a hint about it. Not one time!
They didn’t say a word to each other as they returned to the meeting hall. Ava didn’t want to make a scene, at least not now.
“Unity will no longer exist if the rogues take over all the territories. That’s why we came here, Lucas De’ Clan. We need all the help we can get now. What do we do to protect this lineage of peace?” Council member Konrad asked.
Everyone turned to the dawn alpha, the conqueror of the rogues, the builder of the sanctuary, and the one everyone was sure would bring peace and protection, even in dangerous times. Lucas was sorry to disappoint them this time around. There was no plan in place.
Ava was the next to speak, saving the moment. “I think we should start by protecting the weaker ones amongst us. We should evacuate the women and children first.”
“We will first evacuate the women and children through our secret tunnels.” Lucas turned to his side, whispering to Ava. “Will you be able to handle it, precious?”
Ava wasn’t expecting the assignment, but of course, anything she could do to help. “I will need assistance, but yes, I will take charge of it.”
“Great, thank you, my love,” Lucas said before turning back to the leaders. “Luna Ava will be in charge of the evacuation, and I will ensure she is given all the assistance she needs. Gamma Kiron and I will intensify the soldier’s training, as we need to be prepared for anything during this time.”
Lucas kept speaking, and that was how Ava’s first idea gave rise to his own, making him take charge as the Alpha. It’s no wonder they were destined for each other.
“The circle will also help with weapons, medicines and whatever they can offer. We will not surrender; we will stand our ground to keep our land and the peace. It will be bloody, but I will try all I can as a leader to avoid losing many lives.”
“It is not your fault Alpha Lucas, this war is inevitable, and we, the council, will offer as much help as possible.” Council member Jakub assured.
***
That same evening, the evacuations began. Ava took charge while Lucas was busy training the soldiers with gamma Kiron.
She enlisted the help of Kiara and a few soldiers; they helped her evacuate the children first, after which the pregnant and disabled women would follow.
While the evacuation was going on, Ava searched for Lucas; she found him studying the Dawn Pack’s map with gamma Kiron. Upon seeing her, he excused himself to talk to her.
“I know you’re still mad at me, precious. I am sorry for…”
She interrupted his words with her kiss, burying her face in his chest. She inhaled his scent before she released him.
“I am sending Ramsey and Nani to stay with Madeline; I think that is the best thing to do. I will only be focused when I know he is safely away from here.
Forgetting all about the apology, Lucas sighed. What would he do without Ava? She’d not just handled the evacuation but also found the best way to protect their son.
“I think you should go along with them too. It will be better for me knowing my wife and child are safe.”
Ava shook her head, “I’m sorry, but I will have to stay here. We don’t know the outcome of this war, and we don’t know if these are the last moments we will have together. I want to spend every precious last moment with you.”
Lucas would have stayed to continue the argument, but Kiron was already giving him signals from afar. His talk with Ava was getting too long and eating into their little training time.
“I love you, my Luna, but I have got to go,” he kissed her.
After he left, Ava went in search of Nani. She was in Ramsey’s room. Due to Ava’s order, Nani and Ramsey packed up and were ready to go.