Ties

Taking the direction that José- the bartender had given him, verifying with the bodyguards standing by the door, and after having passed through other processes, Alphonse found himself sitting in an intense room that seemed like a gang head office with pairs of eyes glaring at him.

There were at least six people in the room other than himself, and they all shared the same hostility as the couple that sat in the opposite couch to him. They all seemed to be on their guards, as though they were facing a threat.

" The stench on you doesn't belong from around here. You smell like a wild rogue!" The middle-aged woman who sat with one leg crossed over the other while folding her arms and glaring dangerously at Alphonse, twitched her nose in a show of disgust as she said.

The man who sat beside her seemed to nod his head at her words, sharing the same thought as her.

' From what I can tell, they're both at the head. The man is probably the leader of this pack and these other people are betas' Alphonse made a quick conjecture as to whom this couple were.

He was shocked to find out that a pack ran Yoldes' palm as a local pub in disguise. While on the other hand, they served to provide werewolves who needed a safe place to hide their heads in the city a safe haven.

Alphonse had thought as much. He didn't believe humans would be willing to dabble in such business, considering the disadvantages involved.

' Although, it's not too far-fetched to say they were involved. Afterall, without humans, things wouldn't have worked out the way it has'

Alphonse thought it was quite smart the way things were organized at Yoldes' palm.

The humans were the face of the business while the inner circle was run by the pack. That way, they could escape suspicion on the surface entirely.

" You're quite correct, ma'am. I'm a rogue and my life is in danger. I'd be glad if you'd be willing to grant this fellow a place to hide." Alphonse calmly explained with his head lowered when he saw the look of perturbance in the couple's face. As a polite mannerism at portraying good intent for Werewolves, Alphonse bowed to show his good will towards the pack.

Werewolves were extremely prideful beings, it took a lot for them to bow their head to people other than their superiors, therefore it was quite surprising for the couple seeing Alphonse bow his head like this. However, cunning and deceit was more of the prevalent characteristic these days, and the couple knew this.

" What sort of danger?" The man asked almost instantly. Even though he bowed his head and all, it was obvious that Alphonse was doing so to curry favor from them. It wasn't that they were discriminant towards a werewolf like themselves but protection of their pack came first.

Who knows, he might be a spy pretending to be helpless to infiltrate their ranks.

Alphonse could sense the doubt in the man's tone and he understood. He knew he needed to give a genuine enough reason or the leaders of this pack would just kick him out.

" My pack," Alphonse said with an honest smile.

Hearing this, a small gasp was heard all around as everyone else in the room expressed disbelief.

It was a known fact. There was only one thing about being in danger that came from your pack. You had to be a betrayer!

The man who seemed to be the pack leader stood abruptly, his hands shaking beside him as he ordered with gritted teeth " I knew it. You should leave this instant!"

" I didn't betray my pack!" Alphonse said with a serious gaze instead. He stared straight at the man.

The man frowned at Alphonse hearing his words, he stared confusedly at him as if to challenge his honesty.

However, Alphonse didn't back down. He maintained a serious expression, which left the man to look towards the woman who stared at Alphonse the same way.

" I didn't." Alphonse reaffirmed, this time he looked towards the woman.

He'd realized his mistake in thinking the man was the leader. It was the woman, she was the Luna of this pack.

The woman expressed a brief moment of surprise seeing how Alphonse had easily figured out she was the leader, however, she couldn't help but frown right after.

" W-what do you mean by that?" The man asked, his whole body furiously shaking as he stood demandingly.

Alphonse looked at him for a second and then reverted his gaze to the woman as he said. " I shall explain myself. My Alpha had gone mad and mistreated his pack members. He killed whoever dares to even utter a single word against him and does so without the slightest empathy..."

Alphonse paused, seeing the lady's frown deepen and hearing his description of Jason. He, however, continued right after.

" I was his gamma, and I tried to usurp his position as the leader... Things didn't go well as planned, and I failed to save my pack." Alphonse's last words were full of regret and remorse. He looked down as his pride as a warrior wouldn't let him escape the guilt of leaving his own pack members in such a state.

He felt like a coward!

Silence befell the room for a while as everyone took in Alphonse's story. They could very well understand just what this meant to him.

It wasn't after a long while that a sigh was heard.

" Hah!"

Alphonse looked up to the woman who had just let out a deep sigh.

" To be honest, we could sense your strength and didn't know how to deal with it..." She stated in an apologetic tone while signaling to her betas to lower their guards.

" Hearing your story, I think we can consider your situation" The woman reclined in her seat, folding her arms once again.

" Nicole!" The man exclaimed unwilling to believe it. " We'll be going against a wild pack if we let him stay!" He voiced out his concern.

" Yoldes..." Nicole, the Luna, lowered her head in thought for a second. Yoldes was right, they didn't have enough manpower to do that.

" Don't worry, I only plan to stay for so long." Alphonse interjected.

Yoldes gritted his teeth in frustration. He wanted so badly to kick Alphonse out. However, before he could not say anything nor do anything about this. Nicole had already made a decision.

" So be it then. However, during your stay here, you shall help our pack grow" She demanded.

" Anything you want" Alphonse nodded, staring seriously at Nicole.

Nicole seemed to flinch at his words but was quick to regain her composure.

" T-then... Yoldes, show him the sanctuary" She ordered afterwards.

Yoldes stared at Alphonse for so long that it seemed he would pounce at him anytime soon.

" Yoldes!" It wasn't until he heard Nicole call his name that he clicked his tongue and rose from his seat.

" Tsk. Follow me!" He said as he walked out of the room towards a door at the rear end.

" Thank you, ma'am, Nicole" Alphonse rose and expressed his gratitude towards Nicole before following behind Yoldes.

As for whether he wouldn't be ambushed by Yoldes, well, Alphonse was confident in his strength.

Nicole stared at Alphonse's back as he followed behind Yoldes. Her resplendent gaze seemed to contain certain thoughts.

...

Kyley's POV

It had been hours since I had dinner. I had laid on my uninjured side on the bed to watch the lit lamp on the bedside table, while I wandered in my thought.

The conversation I'd had with Darren earlier was still stuck in my mind, and I couldn't help but wonder whether I really should have asked him about the Moonblood pack.

I felt it was quite a dangerous thing to do and I feared for my own safety now than I ever did before. Darren was just too mysterious, and there was a lot about him left unknown to me.

Not that it matters anymore right?

The only thing I can do is to ensure my safety until I was healthy enough to escape. I reached towards my wounds to check for progress.

The wounds on my sides were closing up fast but I could tell from the stinging pain that they were still quite lethal. Those on my chest had become mere scratches and didn't hurt anymore, same for my legs and arms. Although, the latter still stung whenever I moved too much.

Those gooey medicines were something else, it's only been a few days since he started applying them on my wounds, and there's considerable progress already. I was certain it'd take me months to heal completely, but at this rate, I could be completely healed within two-to-three weeks.

Incredible!

But... just what and who was Darren to possess such potent medicine? Could he be a herbal doctor?

The thought of him concocting potions occurred in my mind and It felt awkward and funny. So much that I almost blurted out in laughter.

However, I truly wanted so badly to know just who he was.

A sudden thought occurred to me.

I contemplated for a while but didn't hesitate to push myself up and leave the bed.

It was hard standing on my feet after I hadn't done so for a long while, but I managed to maintain my balance.

I slowly and stealthily moved towards the door while gently creeping out of the room.