Prologue
It will be approximately two million years since the ancient kingdom of Licans was destroyed. Formerly, the kingdom of Licans brought together werewolves and Lycans. The Lycans, being stronger, were the leaders and the king of the kingdom was one. One night when everything was calm, a band of werewolf rebels attacked the Royal Palace and one of the rebels lunged at the king before killing him. The Lycans declared war on the werewolves and emerged victorious. But as the Lycans wanted to pay homage to their king, they decided that from that day on, half of the kingdom would belong to the Lycans and the other half would belong to the werewolves, who would have to divide it into several parts for each of their packs. The Lycans also decided that each alpha werewolf must swear an oath to King Lycan otherwise he would destroy the entire pack.
Time passed and everything was going as planned: the Lycans were still the leaders and the werewolves were at peace. The two kingdoms were very distinct and no one heard about the Licans kingdom anymore which even became a taboo word. All books about him had been burned except those in the royal reserves of the Lycan library.
Lycans had their own rules and so did werewolves. Werewolves were more of the “slave” and “master” variety while Lycans were more of the “servant” and “wage” variety. The Lycans and the werewolves gradually became friends again, even if sometimes small arguments broke out. And even though the Lycan King ruled over the Lycans and the werewolves, the alpha werewolves had their own authority in their packs.
In exchange for their obedience, King Lycan offered protection from the vampire kingdom and the dragon kingdom to the werewolf packs. And if a pack ran out of money, the Lycan King was obligated to give them double what they needed.
Every year, King Lycan had to be invited to each alpha’s birthday. If an alpha did not invite the Lycan King, the pack was also decimated.
But the Lycan kings were not monsters. Whenever a pack disobeyed, the children were sent to other packs and the adults were first put to sleep before being killed.
About a million years ago, werewolves went to war with dragons. King Lycan, instead of going to help the werewolves, went to ask the Dragon King to stop the war. Of course it didn’t work and the Dragon King killed the Lycan King. So it was the son of the Lycan king who ascended the throne and he also went to see the dragon king, this time to kill him. But against all expectations, the new Lycan King just threatened the Dragon King and, unlike his father, he made one condition. He told him that if he didn’t stop the war, he would kill him. The Dragon King reluctantly agreed and while the dragons were going to win the war, the Dragon King stopped the fighting. The werewolves were very happy but the dragons were so angry that they closed the borders of their kingdom before assassinating their king. No one ever heard of them again.
***
Eighteen years ago:
-My alpha! My alpha!
A soldier runs at full speed into the castle and reaches the council chamber and without knocking, he enters. A young man gets up from his golden chair and turns to the soldier. Old people sitting at a table follow the young man's gaze. The guard kneels in front of the large council table.
-What's going on, soldier? The young man's voice is cold and filled with anger.
-My...my alpha, the guard is shaking, two...two slaves...they...they managed to remove their collars...we didn't see anything and...
-And what?! The young man now seems angry.
-And...it's a little girl, my alp...
The young man growls with rage and transforms into a huge black wolf. He doesn't give the guard time to finish and throws himself on him. A horrible cracking noise and an unfinished cry of pain rang out in the council room before everything became quiet again. You could hear a pin drop. No one dared to move, barely breathe.
The young man slowly resumed his human form and quietly sat down again. The old councilors knew their alpha's temperament very well but they still shivered and saw the blood on his clothes and hands. The alpha calmly placed his hands on the table and his eyes clouded over with white and a transparent and opaque eyelid covered them. He made a mental link. Five minutes later, two guards entered the council room. One carefully retrieved his comrade's body and the other went around the table and respectfully knelt before his alpha.
-Speak.
-My alpha...I did what you asked. The newborn has been transported to District No. 60,200. Two other soldiers are tasked with bringing him the collar and clothing.
-Good. Withdraw.
The soldier stands up, bows deeply, and leaves the room.
As soon as the door is closed, the alpha slowly turns to the rest of his council.
-My dearest advisors, (his voice is calm and slow: a bad sign) what do you advise me to do? I could obviously kill these two miserable slaves who have failed to follow the rules…
The advisors look at each other. None of them wish the death of two slaves who were probably supposed to be companions.
-… But I could also keep them alive. After all, they are not the first and they certainly will not be the last.
The young man falls silent and looks at his advisors. One of the older advisors signals to another advisor. The advisor's eyes turn white and the transparent and opaque eyelid covers them. Mental link. The old advisor clears his throat.
-My alpha, I… we think it would be better to leave the two slaves alive. After all, slaves are expensive and scarce at the moment.
The advisor and all the other people in the room look at the advisor who is in mental link. The latter stops him almost instantly and plants his blue-green gaze in those of the young man.
-My alpha, I got the head of the slave floor and he informed me of the "identities" of the two slaves at fault. They are female slave n°41,234 and male slave n°41,390. Their districts being next to each other, they managed to... well anyway, the two slaves usually clean the kitchens and have always been good. So I think you should keep them. And then... you can just punish them, right?
The young man groans but doesn't answer. He stretches on his chair and looks at the only advisor in the room.
-You, you go get the two slaves. Slave n°41,234 must have his ears and toes cut off. As for slave n°41,390, I think you know what you have to cut off…
-Well… my alpha…
The counselor stands up with a trembling gait and bows deeply to the young man. She turns to the blue-green eyed counselor. He gives her a small, barely visible smile but the counselor relaxes and leaves the room.
The young man turns to the blue-green eyed counselor.
-What just happened?
-I… nothing, my alpha…
-You're lying, you smiled at that female.
The other counselors hold their breaths.
-So? Do you admit to smiling at that female?
-Y… yes, my alpha
-Oh… but what lovely news! Would you prefer her to be decapitated or quartered?
The blue-green eyed counselor gets up from his chair, yelling a loud "Nooooooooooooo!" ". The young man smiles.
-Well, I conclude that it is your companion. But I will ignore it, after all I am a nice alpha.
The advisors look at each other before nodding. None of them think so but they can't say anything. They don't want to end up like the guard. The young man clears his throat.
-Well, now step aside.
It's an order. The advisors stand up one after the other before bowing and shaking the alpha's hand (it's tradition). The advisor with blue-green eyes is the last to leave. As soon as he crosses the door, he almost collapses and the advisors who had remained there support and comfort him.
-And, Mitchel, it's not serious you know!
The advisor with blue-green eyes looks up at the advisor who spoke. He sniffs loudly and frees himself from the advisors' grip.
-And you know... the alpha may not be the best, but at least when it comes to the companions in his close circle, he's less severe.
-Yes... I know, but... that's it!
The advisor pats him on the shoulder.
-Besides, Katherine hates seeing slaves suffer.
-Yes, you've told us that a billion times! Well, you can go wait for her in your lodgings.
-Yes, you're right.
The advisors each give the blue-green-eyed advisor an affectionate pat on the shoulder. Only the oldest advisor and him remain. The old advisor starts to leave, but at the last moment, he turns around and firmly grabs the blue-green-eyed advisor's arm. He leans down to his ear and whispers:
-Listen Mitchel, you know what will happen if anyone finds out what we are up to. Remember, shut up or we will have problems.
The advisor lets go of his arm and leaves. The advisor with the blue-green eyes massages his arm. He sighs and looks at his watch. He checks that no one is watching him and he approaches a wall. He feels the wall until a stone sinks, activating a mechanism. The wall slides and an opening much too small to pass through standing up appears. The advisor with the blue-green eyes rushes into it on all fours. The opening closes immediately behind him. He crawls into a damp and slippery tunnel for a few meters before standing up. The tunnel actually opens into a very small cave. In the center of it, there is a sort of well protected by a stone barrier. The advisor climbs over the barrier and jumps into the well. He landed dozens of meters below, in a cave bigger. In one corner, there is a desk with shelves and there is also a large wardrobe. At the back, there is a rope that allows you to go all the way back. Echoes of voices reach him, as if he were right next to it:
-… well that, the number 41 234 and 41 390. Yes… it’s… alpha… no… indeed…
The heart of the advisor with blue-green eyes tightens when he recognizes the female voice. The voices disappear little by little until he hears nothing more. He takes a deep breath and heads towards the desk. He goes out and throws papers until he finds one. He puts the others back in place and goes back up the rope, the paper in his mouth.
