[Lyander\'s POV]

So their true motive was finally revealed.

I wouldn\'t say that I wasn\'t surprised.

The Black Moon, the largest pact in the south, wanted to take this opportunity to recruit every able fighter into their side. It would be an honor for some to join their ranks, but to the pact they originally belonged to, it would be a tremendous loss.

And who knew? After this war was over, maybe the Black Moon would take up the goal of the White Moon to unite every pact under one banner. At that time, it would be a breeze for them.

If the White Moon were defeated, they\'d become the largest and most powerful pact in GrimHeart.

It was hard not to think that it was their original goal in the first place. In this war, they wanted to accumulate strong fighters and lands for resources to beat the White Moon. They never cared about forming alliances with weaker and smaller pacts. They wanted strong soldiers and resources for war.

If they defeat the White Moon, they\'d be unstoppable for sure.

It was choosing between the two mighty pacts. One would be the loss of our pack, while the other would be the loss of our fighters and lands.

Either way, it was a loss.

Such was the fate of smaller pacts like ours.

My wolf snarled in my head. He wanted to fight and rip the Black Moon\'s representatives\' heads. I wanted to either, but that wasn\'t a good idea.

\'Do you want to make an enemy of the entire Black moon?\'

My wolf growled, and he showed his back on me.

He was too prideful to admit that I was right.

Ripping off the heads of the representatives of the Black Moon would only end up with our pact suffering from our impulsive action. They could easily invade our lands and overwhelm us with their numbers alone.

"What now, old man?" Colm asked Ernst. Sweat was dripping from the side of his face, and the usual grin on his lips disappeared.

Ernst\'s mouth was shut tight, and his eyes were dilating as his veins were bulging from his closed fists. From the looks of it, he was angry and helpless at the same time.

I couldn\'t blame him. All the Alpha\'s present felt the same way. Ana was biting her lips to the point it bled, and Xana was staring daggers at Zargan and his companion. Her dark skin was blurring with furs. She must be controlling her wolf-like what we\'re all doing now.

"If you have questions, now is the time to ask them," Zargan said and added, "We will give you time to think about our offer."

He raised a hand and indicated the days he was giving us. "One week after you received our letter. Within a week, we will send contracts providing terms and conditions of our alliances, and until then, I hope you chose the right choice that could very well save your pack from annihilation."

Not saving it. Postponing it was the better term. I thought. Once the White Moon was defeated, who could say that the Black Moon wouldn\'t invade next?

I was sure that the other pacts also thought of the possibility but chose to remain silent. Even if they ask, the Black Moon would just lie their way out, just like what happened here.

They misled us into thinking that they would form alliances with us without anything in return which we stupidly took at face value.

We should have known better.

"If you don\'t have any questions, then this meeting has reached its end."

. . .

. . .

Eventually, the day ended with all of us feeling frustrated that we couldn\'t even utter a word.

Some were still shocked at the turn of events while the others hurried home to discuss their next course of action. We were in the latter category.

There was no use in staying in Neutral grounds any longer. We had to go back and conduct a pack meeting as soon as possible.

----

[Terishia\'s POV]

"Lyander and the others must be in Neutral Ground by now," I mused to myself as I watched the new she-wolves trained in the training grounds.

In our pact, males and females had the choice of becoming a warrior or doing other jobs to help the pack. Ernst didn\'t discriminate between genders when it came to strength and agility.

As long as the female wanted to fight and showed promising results, we welcomed them into our ranks. Something Reynar was trying to abolish.

He said that the women should just focus on taking care of the pact and that women who learned how to fight were growing arrogant. He was probably pertaining to me since I ignored all his advances.

For the life of me, I couldn\'t fathom how Ernst had a son like him.

Was it because Ernst was more like a father to us than to him?

It was probably it.

But anyway, not having to deal with his advances even for just a couple of days was welcomed.

I stretched my neck and yawned.

I looked over the horizon. It was almost dusk, and the twin moons were visible in the distant sky.

"Okay, that\'s enough," I said, and the newly turned wolves slumped on their asses, exhausted and beaten from the rigorous hours of training. "Get up. Don\'t sleep here."

The wolves groaned and complained, but I turned deaf ears to their plea.

"If you want to become strong and climb in ranks, then train harder until you can land a strike on me one day."

The she-wolves whined as they got up. Some limp towards their houses while others need the support of another.

"Don\'t complain. I\'m sure any dislocated bones and bruises would heal overnight, and you\'ll be up and about tomorrow for another round of beating."

"Egh!"

I giggled as I watched them empty the training arena. They were just teenagers, so I wasn\'t exactly hard on them –– not yet, at least.

There was also another group of newly turned wolves led by other warriors on the training arena, but I opted to return first. Timothy must be home now from playing with the other kids.

Timothy was orphaned like me, Lyander, and Colm, so I took him in and became his big sister.

In packs of wolves, it was common to become orphaned since wolves engaged with territorial dispute and occasional fights and hunts. The death rate was high, and being a werewolf warrior was an occupational hazard. Not to mention that it was not only the humans and our fellow wolves that we needed to be wary about. There were vampires and witches as well.

At the thought, I picked up the pace. The sun was about to be out, and I didn\'t want to leave Timothy alone by that time.

Not this time that Lyander and Colm were not here. Not to mention our best fighters and Ernst.

WhoOsSh . . .

I skidded to a stop when my nose crunched at the unfamiliar smell, and my wolf peered in my eyes when it sensed trouble.

There was the scent of wolves.

Wolves that didn\'t belong in our pack!