Aliana spent all her time in the guest room with Luz. The quinceañera only left the room to sleep in her own bedroom, leaving an Omega maid to watch over the green-eyed girl during the night in case anything happened to her. But in the morning, Aliana quickly returned to the unconscious woman's room.
After the incident with the young creature, there were no changes in the daily lives of the rest of the pack. Both the Alpha and the Beta were concerned about the invasion of their forest's safe area and the inexplicable installation of the silver trap. They were organizing field trips to assess the existence of more traps and any clues as to who was behind this. They felt it was a clear aggression against their people, enough to declare war on the culprits, so they had to be cautious and gather evidence of the facts.
The order was given to contact all their spies on the continent and to be on the lookout for any useful information.
Alpha Caspian, Beta Xioma, Gamma Cristian, and the captain of the warrior guard were gathered in the war room, where the Alpha spent much of his day making important decisions.
In the center of the room was a large, beautifully carved mahogany round table with several matching chairs.
The Alpha's chair was obviously larger and more majestic, with a leather cushion for his comfort. The Beta always sat to his right and the Gamma to his left. Any other visitors could sit anywhere except those three seats.
Inside the room, all the men were large and strong, as all werewolves should be, but in every pack, you could always distinguish the Alpha, as he always had a dominant and intimidating aura and was also the largest man in the entire pack.
"Alpha, we have found twenty more traps in the forest," reported Alle, the captain of the pack's guard.
"We haven't found any signs of black magic on them," said Gamma Cristian.
When the meeting was over, everyone left the room, leaving only the Alpha and his Beta.
"How is Aliana?" asked the Alpha.
"She's been locked in the Creature's room for two days," reported the Beta.
"Have you seen her?" He was worried about his sister.
"I saw her briefly when she left for her own room, which is next to the creature's," said Xioma. 'She's really upset with us about the situation."
"Did you see the creature?' asked Cas.
The Beta sighed. "No, Aliana forbade me to see it. In fact, she specifically said that neither I nor the Alpha were allowed to see it."
Cas frowned as his eyes darkened.
"No one can forbid me anything. I'll have to put that brat in her place," he snapped angrily.
"Cas, calm down," the Beta said, dropping the formalities. He was the Beta and Caspian's right-hand man, but they had also been friends since childhood. "Give her time. She's still distressed about the child. She told me that the woman is a special being and she's scared because she hasn't yet recovered from the beating you gave her. The healer treated her wounds, but she hasn't been able to wake her up."
At that moment, Cas remembered the wonderful green eyes he saw in the cell, huge and full of terror. The Alpha came to believe that the creature would hypnotize him, so he was even more brutal in his attacks.
"I won't bother Aliana for now, but bring the healer before me. I want to hear from her what she saw," ordered the Alpha.
After a few minutes, Roxi entered the war room with her head bowed in submission before the Alpha.
With a cold expression, his eyes darkened, and without raising his voice, the Alpha spoke. "Speak! I want to know who my sister is protecting so jealously."
Roxi sighed and began to recount what had happened, raising her head without making eye contact with the Alpha.
"Alpha Caspian, I don't know what kind of creature the woman is. She's definitely not a shapeshifter, witch, elf, or anything I know of. I could also feel a great energy emanating from her body."
"Energy? Explain yourself, please."
"It's difficult to describe, as it's a perception we healers have. It feels like a white, pure energy, something that gives a feeling of peace and harmony, it's..." Roxi paused, cupping her chin in her fingers and staring into space. After searching for the right words, she continued, "It's like a pure soul, something intense and out of this world. I can't explain it fully, but her energy is definitely too good. I don't think she's part of the enemy."
Her words surprised those present, who looked at the healer in disbelief. Despite her words conveying that it was something positive, they would take precautions against the green-eyed creature.
Roxi also explained all of the girl's physical characteristics, commenting that no one else on this planet had those features; she was definitely one of a kind.
She finished by describing her terrible wounds and the possibility that she might die despite their efforts.
For a few seconds, the Alpha showed signs of concern. Remorse, perhaps? But life had hardened him too much, and he returned to his dark and insensitive countenance.
"Thank you, Roxi. You may leave."
As the woman left the room, the Alpha picked up a jug of warm water that had been served during the meeting, drank it in one gulp, and left the room, determined to see the creature in question. He couldn't deny his great curiosity; his sister's orders didn't matter. After all, he was the Alpha.
Cas was forced to take command of the pack five years ago, at only nineteen years of age, after his father and former Alpha was killed alongside his mother, "the moon," in an ambush. Aliana was only ten years old when this happened, and Cas became her brother and father. He loved her, protected her with overprotectiveness, and despite being a dominant 24-year-old man and the Alpha of the strongest pack on the continent, he was still condescending and affectionate toward Aliana in some ways.
On his way, the Alpha detected a faint scent of honey as he walked to the room where the creature was resting. The scent was very faint, but strong enough to awaken his appetite.
In this world of beasts, honey was considered a luxury food, and despite being his favorite treat, he only consumed it on very special occasions, as did the rest of the pack, due to the great difficulty in obtaining it.
Many shape-shifters had died over the years trying to obtain it from hives with bees the size of baseballs. These bees were very aggressive and territorial, overly cautious in protecting their hives.
Cas thought to himself that his sister's distress might have led her to take some honey to calm her sadness, and he would not stop her from doing so.
Six steps from the room, a door suddenly opened, revealing Aliana, who quickly closed it behind her.
"What do you want, brother? I smelled you coming."
Shapeshifters not only have excellent eyesight, but also a spectacular sense of smell.
"Aliana, I haven't seen you in two days, and that's strange for you. I want to know how you are, and I also want to see the green-eyed creature."
"I'm fine, the creature is almost dead, and you're not allowed to see it."
"Aliana!" snapped the Alpha in a stern voice, but he didn't quite shout. He clenched his fists and his jaw as he frowned, sending a piercing glance at the teenager. To tell the truth, he didn't use his dominant aura, which caused submission in anyone in front of him, as he had no intention of subduing his little treasure.
"I won't change my mind, brother. You almost killed her, and I still don't know if she'll survive. I pray every day to the Moon Goddess for her wounds to heal, but she still hasn't woken up. Her body isn't like ours; she doesn't heal as quickly as we do. The healer visits her twice a day and keeps telling me to be patient and have faith."
Aliana's eyes showed concern and sadness as tears rolled down her white cheeks.
Caspian felt a twinge of regret, but it wasn't for the young girl who had been attacked, but rather for his sister who was suffering because of him.
"All right, I won't go in until you give me permission." Cas wrapped his sister in a fatherly embrace as he tried to comfort her. After that, he left and as he headed to the training yard, he felt an uncontrollable urge to eat some honey. After all, the subtle smell coming from the room made the idea of eating it irresistible. He diverted his path to the kitchen and guiltily asked for a spoonful of honey. He is aware of how difficult it is to obtain, but it will only be this once, right?