SACRED FOREST

SACRED FOREST

Blake’s POV

My name is Blake McCullough, the Alpha of the shadow moon pack. I took over from my father as the alpha of our pack at the age of nineteen after my father's sudden death from a heart attack.

I had to leave everything and come back home to take up my duty as the leader of the pack. As the only son of my father and his direct heir, I was duty-bound to return whether I wanted out or not. However, I could relinquish my position and the council of elders would appoint someone else to take over, someone that has shown great leadership skills and is very honorable.

But, I was not about to give up on being alpha. I had great plans and a vision for my pack and that was the reason why I left for the city at the age of fourteen, almost a year after I shifted for the first time.

My father had not agreed with my decision to leave and this caused lots of problems for us. I did not want to leave without his blessings so I involved his council of elders. I explained in detail what my going to the city would do for us in the future and the development it would bring. When my father agreed, I had another challenge of convincing my mum.

I was surprised when she willingly accepted, unlike my father. I later got to know that she always knew I would want to leave someday and she was more relieved that I had intentions of coming back than that she had feared I would not want to return at all.

I assured her that that would never happen, I would always take the shadow pack as my first home and nothing would keep me away from my family forever.

I knew we had problems plaguing the pack and I wanted to bring a solution and not just be the alpha of a redundant pack. The shadow pack was among the twelve packs in the wolf kingdom of Calabar, we used to be among the lower-ranked packs in the kingdom.

I had always believed that our environment was part of the problem, especially since we were surrounded by hills and mountains and the land was difficult to cultivate and we produced less than what could feed our ever-growing population. We doubled in size every year, my mother always joked that we were blessed with fertility by the moon goddess.

As soon as I took over from my father, I introduced new methods and techniques I had learned in the city which we used to cultivate our land, rear our animals and increase food production. This helped us become less dependent on other territories. We also started selling our products to other packs and made income from it. Before becoming Alpha I used to serve in the Army in the city and rose fast in rank using my wolf abilities to my advantage.

With my military experience, I got our men and women together and trained them to become as skilled as I was with swords, ammunition, archery, and any kind of weapon available to us. I also introduced modern gadgets to our security team.

And created different offices and made them all answerable to the alpha. That way there was a division of labor and specialization.

I stopped the pack from getting involved in the archaic ways the other packs did their things. We stopped attending the Luna celebration and Thargelia rituals when the gods were worshiped. I found the rituals archaic and believed that there was no god. Whatever we needed or wanted to do we did it in our pack, we were self-sufficient.

However, even with all my achievements the pack elders wanted me to find my mate according to them and would make my reign better.

I did not believe in the mating process. The werewolves believed that you scent your mate and you fall in love instantly and live happily ever after. I called that being naive.

I had a girlfriend Fiona. She was a human and I had already told her about me being a werewolf and she loved me more after finding out. So I proposed and married her in the city before coming home. My mum was not happy with my decision especially getting married without her in attendance.

Being human, made it more difficult for Fiona to adapt to living in the forest but she was determined to learn and adapt. And even though the elders were skeptical, they learned to accept my wishes following the success of the new things I have introduced and how successful the pack had become.

As the days progressed to months my pack members fell in love with Fiona, she was lovable, kind, and a great listener.

A year after our wedding Fiona fell pregnant and we were all thrilled with the idea of welcoming a new pup into our family. I was happy and celebrated with the members of the pack in attendance.

However, the pregnancy was tough for her, she struggled with her health but we were hopeful that once she was due and delivered the pack midwives would help nurse her back to health.

On the day of her delivery, everything was going smoothly until it was time to push but Fiona was too weak and had no strength to push.

When it became obvious that she could not do it, a cesarean was suggested but she gave up before the operation would be performed.

I was numb for months without Fiona, my wife, and the love of my life. I wanted nothing and there was no joy left for me. I put all my energy into building the pack and within three years of my reign as Alpha, my pack, the shadow pack, became the strongest pack in the kingdom, and even though I knew the other packs resented us to an extent, they dare not challenge us.

**********

Today, I was well aware of the lunas celebration going on, but as usual, my pack would not be attending. Rather I used the day to go for a hunt in the forest that bordered the twelve wolf territory. It was a sacred forest, according to my father. It was where our ancestors were buried and where the first generation of the werewolves started life.

Hunting was my favorite sport and one which I used to relieve tension. It was better to kill an animal than to kill my kind especially when they infuriate me.

I was hunting when I smelled her, I did not know who it was but the smell was heavenly. Vanilla is my best flavor.

My wolf awoke to the scent and wanted to find her. Even though I resisted at first, it overpowered me and I went in search of the lady with the scent.

Amanda's POV

I ran as fast as my feet could carry me, ignoring the pleas of my father and friends to come back. I was a fast runner and soon outran them and went straight into the woods. I usually find great comfort here and today was no exception, I also knew they would not want to enter the forest because it was regarded as sacred land.

Thankfully from here, I was separated from what was happening in the pack. I lay under an old oak tree and curled myself up. I had no more tears to shed, I was broken, and crying never seemed to help.

The sadness that enveloped my heart was overwhelming. I thought of my late mum and wondered if she was still alive, maybe things would have been different for me.

Maybe I would not be burdened with being the alpha, because that would have gone to my late brother.

My father's injury also contributed to the situation. He was good with his gun, just a miscalculation and everything went south. He needed extra medical care and could not perform his alpha duty in such a condition.

When he suggested I become alpha I vehemently refused, the elders were not so sure either but my father was able to convince them. He also told the elders that he would be there to guide me every step of the way.

For two years I followed the guidelines and my father's advice, when I mated with alpha William the pack was happy. It meant that both packs would form an allegiance which would boost us both as an individual pack and as a collective pack. Until William decided to cancel the mating ceremony till next year because of his first mate.

He probably underestimated my reaction and felt I would agree as I always did to most of his suggestions.

As I contemplated the woes that had befallen me, I heard a twig snap and my senses jumped up. Then the sweetest scent of damp Earth and cinnamon filled my nostrils. I always loved it when it rained and this scent pleased me a lot.

Just then a cold wind swept past me, making me shiver. Then a lone figure stood before me. I have never witnessed a werewolf with such speed.

"Alpha Blake." I stuttered. "Wh..what are you doing here?"

He looked me over, his face was devoid of a smile that was typical of him. "I should be asking you the question. What are you doing here? Are you not supposed to be celebrating your Luna ceremony or whatever it is called."

I grimaced and before I could speak he continued.."This wood is dangerous, especially for women."

"I can take care of myself thank you." I glared at him.

"Can you." He smirked.

"Typical male ego." I grimaced at him. Against my better judgment, I looked him over, he was dark and handsome. At 6'5 tall he had the body of a Greek god. His well-muscled and evenly toned body complimented him well and made him more attractive. He had a straight face, short dark jet black hair, and pink sexy lips. I felt so attracted to him more than I felt to William, that I was lost just looking at him.

When I looked up his emerald green eyes met mine and I saw his lips curve in a knowing smile. I must have stared at him more than I was supposed to, I flushed a bright red.

"So what brings you into the woods." He asked

He sounded nice and I felt drawn to him and told him how Alpha William had canceled the wedding and I in turn rejected him as my mate.

"Good on you, no one should make you feel unworthy," Blake replied.

I agreed with him, I also wondered if he felt what I was feeling. Has the moon goddess blessed me with a second chance mate? My wolf seemed to agree with me as she kept screaming in my head.

"I will leave you to your business." Alpha Blake said and started walking away

I watched him leave, but my wolf was restless, she pleaded I meet him. He might be the savior we desperately needed.

How could he save us? I wondered.

"Just talk to him, he is our mate after all." My wolf Sienna pleaded.

"our mate, are you sure," I asked even though I had a feeling that he was.

"yes of course," Sienna said with assurance

"Excuse me." I ran towards Blake and bumped hard at him, nearly tripping over but he caught me on time and broke the fall. I felt a spark course through my body and with the way he forcefully removed his hand I wanted to believe he felt the same.

"What do you want?" He scowled at me. He sounded harsh but I was too desperate to allow it to bother me.

"I need your help," I replied, sounding bolder than I was feeling.

"With what." His eyebrows twisted as he watched me.

"I want you to train me as a warrior," I reply.

"Why? The training you had before with your father, was not enough." He asked.

"I want you to train not just me but also my warriors."

"You must be kidding me." He made to walk away.

"Please". I begged

Blake pinned his eyes on me. " And what would be my reward for training you and your warriors? What would I benefit from the deal?" He questioned me

"I will become your Luna," I said without batting an eyelid.

"Hahaha..and what makes you think I want you as a Luna." He replied.

I was angry at the way he sounded even more furious that I was the one asking, but my honor and that of my pack were at stake in the wolf kingdom.

"You need a Luna for your pack, and I am an Alpha female. You can not get a better deal than this." I said.