Chapter 1
Anair
Positioning himself downwind, Anair Wagner silently crouched behind the thick base of a fallen tree, a few yards away from the rogue pack he had been tracking for just over a year now.
He sighed in frustration as he watched the pine trees around the clearing ahead of him, their spindly leaves swaying rhythmically as the heavy dark clouds and wind were threatening to bring a storm that night.
The howling wind had been making it difficult to hear anything that was being said by anyone in the pack all week. He had to keep a safe distance from them if he hoped for his presence to remain a secret. He’d been successful at it so far. There was no use in blowing his cover now, so he remained where he was.
Even with his finely tuned wolf ears, he was desperately trying to make out what they were discussing. Something was definitely brewing though.
He could tell by simply observing their behavior, as he had been familiarizing himself with their movements, pack dynamics, and hunting strategies over the long time he had been following them. Stalking and learning as much as he could, so he had become pretty good at reading them in any case.
They were surprisingly skilled and determined for a pack that was supposed to be rogue. Especially the pack Alpha, Cornelius Sherwood. Cruel and unpredictable as he was, Anair admired the militaristic discipline he enforced. All his pack members, even the young ones, were drilled and trained intensively each and practically all day.
Anair had come from a similar background. Back home, if he ever dared to call it that, in Norway, he and his five older brothers were trained by the best. Stringent and merciless, their personal trainers and bodyguards were called Watchers, the most efficient and deadliest of werewolf warriors.
Tradition demanded it that even as pups, like their parents before them, those destined to become Watchers were sent away to some secret monk monastery to be reformed, conditioned, and trained. No one really knew what went on there or what these pups had to endure, but it was believed that it was nothing pleasant.
Once they completed their time with the mysterious warrior monks, or let’s rather say the few that survived, they were sent back to Europe, tasked with the protection of the Royal Bloodlines spread across the continent, which Anair partly belonged to.
‘Partly’ because - heaven forbid - his father, Henry Dietrich, the great Alpha of Norway and a Royal of one of the most ancient bloodlines slept with a regular werewolf girl, a common servant in the castle, who gave birth to a half-breed pup.
His mother, Anne Wagner, died giving birth to him. Anair had been allowed to live and train in the castle like a Royal but was constantly reminded of his ‘impurity’ and worthlessness to the Bloodline. He was not even allowed to call himself a Dietrich, hence he was left with his mother’s family name.
His father’s wife, Merris, had always been especially condescending towards him, constantly throwing his tainted lineage in front of his face, which caused his brothers to treat him with disrespect and contempt as well. Except for William. He was different.
William was his oldest brother and first in line to become Alpha of the entire Royal Bloodline. William had always spent time with him in secret, going on hunts and constantly indulging him with all kinds of folklore and mythical tales of werewolves and all that was supernatural. Studying their history and unraveling the related myths of their ancestors was a passion of his, which he got scolded for as he had ‘more serious’ responsibilities and tasks he needed to apply his attention to in the present affairs of the Royals.
He carried on studying in his free time though, as he believed that it was important to learn from the mistakes of the past, otherwise, they were doomed to make the same ones in their ignorance of it. His big brother only shared his findings with Anair, who patiently indulged him with all his ramblings, but to be honest, he only sat through it all because he admired William so much and cherished the feeling of being accepted by someone so wise, noble, and important. No one else in the castle gave Anair the attention he craved, not even his father, so he took what he could get.
“Tonight we attack,” Cornelius, whose voice he came to know so well over the past months, called out to his pack. If it hadn’t been obvious to the silent stalking wolf that a battle plan had been brewing the whole time he watched them, he had his confirmation now.
Anair must have missed the entire speech before that, as lost in his thoughts as he was, and with the wind not helping things much either. He just couldn’t stop himself sometimes. He didn’t have the best of upbringings, always catching himself thinking back on everything that made him angry, but he was determined to use this anger as fuel and motivation to change his fate.
Even after they basically threw him out of the only home he had known when he turned eighteen, saying that he had come of age and had outstayed his welcome in the castle, he would prove to them that they had been wrong about him.
I will show my family, once and for all, that I am worthy of the Bloodline. Even if it takes me the rest of my life, they will regret the way they have been treating me. In fact, they will beg me to go back…
Anair, smiling despite himself, determined as ever, knew he would do anything to surpass his brothers. Even his father. His brothers were still living under the protection of the Watchers, having never even tasted battle, but he on the other hand will return home more experienced and higher ranked than any of them.
He will return to them a warrior, one that has solved a plaguing problem for the Royals. But most importantly, he will return to them as an Alpha to one of the most vicious packs they haven’t seen the likes of in centuries. A rogue werewolf pack that had been attacking witch covens all across America for reasons no one was certain of.
Even though he had been trailing and spying on them, Anair could not even figure it out completely. His father had sent many agents out to America to inspect the situation, but none have returned, so he knew that he had to be careful, bide his time and only execute his plan when the perfect opportunity presented itself.
And that opportunity may come that very night, as they were planning to attack another witch coven, and by the snippets of conversations he could pick up on, these witches were powerful and formidable magic users.
What he had not been able to figure out though, was why this pack had gone rogue with the sole purpose of wiping out the existence of witches and warlocks in North America.
He himself had never exactly been a fan either, as the few witches he had actually met before were very arrogant and thought they were superior to the werewolves, but it was hardly reason enough for him to want to commit genocide.
Anair knew which witch coven was next on the agenda, not because he heard the rogue werewolves say it, but because he knew some witch history and was aware of where all the covens were located.
This was all thanks to a book and a map he grabbed from William’s study before he had left the castle so many months ago. From their location at the moment, being somewhere in the forest between the towns of Bethel and Stoneham, in western Maine, Anair knew that the Rose Coven was next.
The Rose Coven, from what he was able to gather from the book he stole from his oldest brother’s desk, called The History and Locations of Witch Covens, was that this coven was larger than most. It was actually more of a witch school than anything else, where they trained some of the witches and warlocks considered to be particularly talented in their magical abilities. It was an institute that Willa Rosendale started many years ago, and she was still in charge of it apparently. From what he read, she was a powerful but highly devoted Servant of the All-Mother.
These were witches that basically worshipped ‘Mother Earth’, as they called their goddess. They sought to keep the Natural Balance of the world, which was technically just a way of saying that they were peaceful witches.
This made Anair curious. Why would the rogue pack in the clearing be busying and preparing themselves for a battle against these witches? What did these witches do to them? Or were they just aiming to wipe out all witches, regardless of what they’ve done?
He watched from afar as they were setting up tents and making fires for their pre-battle feast. He knew Cornelius allowed this to boost pack morale and to make sure they had the energy and strength for the fight to come.
They had been working up to this battle for a long time. After tracking the murderous pack through most of the forests of North America, he had heard hints here and there that their ultimate goal was to weaken the witch number first before attacking their target coven, the Rose Coven so that they can’t call upon their allies for help.
Other than this coven providing training and teaching for young witches and warlocks, he couldn’t seem to figure out what made them such formidable enemies to these werewolves and why they were so set on eliminating them.
For what felt like the gazillionth time, he opened up the witch book again, it fell open to the correct section by itself, either from overuse or from Anair simply being so practiced in finding it after so many times.
The Rose Coven it read at the top, with a picture of the university campus-like buildings and facilities. The buildings appeared ancient, but the strangest part of it was that it was clearly a near identical duplicate of Oxford University. Or was it rather that the buildings in England might have been copied from this one? Either way, it was impressive and achingly beautiful.
There appeared to be a few townhouses located around the University, but Anair was certain that most of the coven would be living and going to their classes inside the ancient buildings.
Strangely enough, the pack haven’t even gone to scout out the place. Not even once. In fact, they kept a good distance away, but most likely a necessary precaution, as witches tend to put up wards around their communities and living spaces to be sure to be warned when any living being crossed into their territory.
No doubt Cornelius had his sources, as he always seemed to know everything about the witch covens they had been attacking so far, without having to do stakeouts or anything of the sort. Every single time they had somehow caught the covens off guard, or exactly when their wards and defenses were compromised for some reason.
Anair knew that the pack must have been working with someone else all along. But who? Maybe another witch?
He couldn’t be sure, as he never actually saw Cornelius meeting with anyone else outside of his pack. Maybe the information was sent to him electronically, or he might only have done secret phone calls with someone? However they did it, he intended to find out.
Tonight might be his chance. Every single battle with the previous covens, Anair was unable to find the opportunity to attack the rogue Alpha. He’d been waiting, watching from the shadows, for any opening to attack, but it never came up.
The opening ideally is when the Alpha gets injured in battle, giving Anair the chance he needed to take him out and become the new Alpha to his pack. But the guy had been freaking invincible so far!
It was not surprising, as just one look at the Alpha was enough to make anyone shrink back in terror. He was a very impressive bulk of a man, looking like he was descended from the biblical Goliath, and sporting a scar across his face which made him look even more terrifying and brutal.
But tonight might present him with the perfect opportunity he had been waiting for, as the Rose Coven seemed to be their first real challenge so far.
He will be waiting for his chance to strike as the battle ensues. Smiling wickedly to himself as he watched the feasting pack, he had a good feeling that it will finally present itself this time around.
The chance he needed to show his brothers, and Merris, that they had been so wrong. Tonight he was going to prove his worth to everyone. He will then be allowed to return to Norway and take his rightful place by his father’s side…
