"History has been repeated."

The pigeons fly away from Alpha Rucus' head as father gave them a hard gaze to demand privacy. His eyes softened while looking at our ancestor's face. His lips didn't tremble like our hearts. We had just returned from visiting the tomb sites in the jungle.

"My sons created a War. For good intentions. But it was a War." He said while blinking softly. "They didn't leave home to kill people, Gill. They asked for a discussion. They asked for cooperation from other packs. But deep inside, we all know the truth. No matter if Lucretia and Morwenna are angry too. It is our pack, who is against the Lycans. The other packs don't want the wrath of Goddess. Don't want to commit sins. No matter how much unfairness it causes. The War happened because your brothers couldn't digest that unfairness."

He raised his hand while looking at me. Observing my height passing his by two inches, he smiled through the pain displaying on his face.

"In the history of the packs, it will be written. The four brothers didn't massacre a laughing and celebrating pack like the Lycan brothers did. It was different. They asked other Alphas to contribute. In my wild imaginations, I can manage to see Joran happy somewhere. Alive or dead, we are no Gods to be aware of it. But his brothers knew that his home was here. And he never came back. Such love among the brothers will be written and celebrated through the centuries to come."

I gulped hard while observing the grey hair shining among his Auburn ones.

"Joru suffered the pain of longing until it was unbearable. Day and night, he fought silently. Never asked me to let him go. Never cursed the border. Never cursed the fates." He said while removing his hand and looking back up at Alpha Rucus' stone face. "At last, the deal with Lycans brought some hope. We sent him. Gillian sent him happily. The hope was broken. He never came. He was wronged. So have been us. Your brothers died for his loss of not being able to live or die on his motherland."

"Why didn't the other Alphas help, father?" I asked, looking at him. "They lost their men too."

He smiled sadly while not moving his eyes off the statue. "Some fear the Goddess, despite knowing that some rules are ruthless. Some fear the unfairness and ask the Goddess for the reasons behind this rule. She would enlighten us slowly. Through that learning, some restless souls die. Some stay."

My gaze went straight for the earthen lamp lit at his feet. The wind couldn't blow it away. The flame was high and prideful.

"I failed to stop them," he said while putting hands behind his back. "I failed to stop their mates too. I could have stopped the War."

"You weren't the Alpha, father." I said, giving him an empathetic gaze. "Brother Gillian was. You fought in the War too. You too killed for them. You too suffered injuries. You tried to soften the situation. Brothers are up there with their mates, father."

His throat shook hard. He gulped quickly while staring at the statue. The tears hung at his lashes like a lock meant to be open by a key made of more empathy.

"Innys was yet to find his mate." My old man finally let the tears slide down his cheeks. "The ceremony was just a month ago. They all had just met."

My fists clenched at the sorrow I felt in my heart. My brothers were worried about Joru during the ceremony, while I was busy fucking a female I had just met. I couldn't even remember ever three of the sister-in-laws smelling like my brothers. They hadn't even mated yet.

"Marys and Gregor had common females as their mates from our pack. They used to make fun of Joran's fear of heights and dirt. He was just like your mother. Do you remember it, Gill?"

The name he used for brother Gillian too. I was the red Gill for my hair and irritated behavior while he was called the raven one. For his class and dignity.

"I remember, father." I mumbled while watching him breathing into the fresh night air that mourned with us. The memories were alive in our minds.

"All that teasing was fun. Look what happened when Joran got chosen for a Lycan who lived in the mountains and centuries back."

A War happened.

"Gillian's mate, Mazelina was the daughter of one of the Royal blooded mystic couples," he said, glancing at me. "Both her parents were Mystic. Their lineages were pure blooded with a history of not having mates outside the pack. She was a common wolf but rich with magic."

"She observed that of all my sons, you are the most similar to me in demeanour." He said, making me uncomfortable. "Do you hear me, Gill?"

A week ago, we were father and son with no close relationship. He focused on his four elder sons and mourned for the fifth one. While Robert had Valeria's shoulder to cry on, I had Iago to bunk the trainings and roam jungles.

"Here, we are. Together at last. It feels as if I have been given punishment for ignoring you, son." He said, staring at the lamp. "I had been a bad father to you and Robert."

"Brothers needed you more than us, father. I have no complaints," I said, moving my jaws in the discomfort I felt. "I do not want to be an Alpha. But I will not disappoint you and my brothers. I will do my duty. For me, brother Gillian will always be the—"

Father turned his face to look at me, his cheeks shining glossy under the moonlight. His lips trembled as he took a long breathe and released heavily. "Hear the wind, Gilbert. Hear the trees swinging at your words. Hear the owls watching us. Hear the faint snores of your pack members. They have accepted you as their Alpha. Gillian lived his life and reached the moon."

He looked in my eyes and nodded. "Never think that this title is a consequence of tragedies. You are not a last resort. The title was always yours. You were meant to be an Alpha. You were meant to lead this pack."

He looked away while saying, "Deep in my heart, I look at the signs. Lycan's four males died centuries ago. Our four males died too. The determination in the females were so strong to accompany their mates. This is how Moon Goddess plays, Gilbert. She doesn't let it happen unfairly. She has given us a wonderful and powerful female like Mazelina to be our Luna. Perfection. And she dies."

My eyebrows furrowed while he stared back at me blankly. "A pack made from bitten human would have been ruled by the pup of a powerful Mystic Luna. Clearly signs, that Luna Severa doesn't want us to get famished so easily. She wants us to keep begging for a Luna like she could have been to our pack. Keep your mate safe when you meet her, Gilbert. Perfection is always jinxed. Thus, your mate's flaws would be your biggest weapons."

I blinked in blankness.

He glanced towards his left, staring at jungle behind the open street. "The balance will be there forever. Gillian left without a heir. I can only wonder what is happening on the other side of the border."

He gulped hard. "They are gone, now. It is you and Robert. . ." He stared at me in blankness for a moment. "A father loves all of his pups equally, Gilbert. He cannot choose his favorite. Or maybe, he can. He manages to pick their strengths and weaknesses. He knows what they are good at individually. They will always complain that you love one more than the other. You will deny."

I lowered my eyes.

He chuckled sadly. "You don't believe me. When you'll become a father, you will know."

Faint gust of wind passed us.

I looked at the lamp that would go off any moment from now. It didn't yet.

"But there will always be one of the pups saying the truth, Gilbert. Somewhere in our lives as fathers, we miss to acknowledge one of the pups or two or more. Just like how deep in your heart, you feel that you have been neglected. Then, I might have truly been less sincere in filling all the gaps in the parenting. Sometimes, parents do not praise one of their pups knowingly. To not bring the arrogance and save the pup from overconfidence. To keep her or him humble. To make her learn how pain feels like. To remember that ignorance doesn't mean you are any less. To realize that the real praise comes after you get worthy of it."

He hummed at his words. "Robert wouldn't go a day without my pat on his shoulder. It keeps him going even when I know he didn't do anything better than yesterday. Because I know the truth would lower his morale. I know, which son of mine has the strength to digest truth and not. We must do all we can as fathers. Thus, even when deep inside I want to die in mourning. I don't want to leave you alone without seeing you finding your mate, thriving as an Alpha, seeing our Robert grow. Seeing my grand pups."

I nodded while sighing heavily. The flame was fighting against the faint wind.

"There must be always be harmony among the family. Among the brothers. Sisters. There must always be love."

He was looking at me with the adoration in his eyes after a long time. I had been a reckless pup.

This was the time to improve.

"Our pack was made from a human, Gilbert. Remember that," he said while glancing again at the jungle hiding us from the Lycans. "Better than not being born from the womb of a woman who was not Alpha Rucus' mate. Lessening the heartbreak matters. Even by one less bad news."

He clenched his jaws and gulped hard. "Every act has a consequence. If you do good, you will be saved. If you do bad, destiny will slap you in the unexpected ways. You won't be able to save yourself. I did bad, Gilbert. I was prideful for having five Alpha blooded sons. I was arrogant. I sang it around the packs. Around the. . ." He sighed heavily. "Never be arrogant. No being is less."

We both looked at Alpha Rucus' face. He said, "Moon Goddess watches everything. Be aware. Be prepared."

I lowered my eyes.

"She knows our deepest and darkest secrets." He said blankly. "Mazelina might have called you similar to me. Don't be, Gilbert. Be different. Do not repeat the mistake I did. When the stars seem rightly aligned, you do what you feel is right. Even if you do wrong, it better be for the right intentions."

"Yes, father."

We stood there silent then until the flame was gone.

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_____

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The sudden voice pulled me out of my thoughts. Father's words would always be at the back of my mind, ready to come in the front whenever required.

"The duties are allotted simply. But with a hidden purpose," said Iago while staring at the jungle. "I never thought that I would be given a patrolling duty again, Alpha."

"I am only Gilbert now, Iago." I said, watching the mist spreading through the rows of trees. "And we haven't aged enough to not patrol the borders, yet. Your brother will still stand up beat the shit out of me if I call him my Beta for fun."

He smiled while I breathed softly.

"Would it be disrespectful to say that Pete is more than you were?" He asked, making my heart swell. "You were burdened all of a sudden. He learned throughout his upbringing. He has that advantage but he is gentle. You were not, Alpha. Even though I know, you have been like no other. You always will be."

I hummed, remembering the fear on the faces of males. "Times are changing. He does it by improving the wrongs that he did, rather than being unapologetic."

Iago chuckled. "You were unapologetic helplessly." His smiled faded as he sighed. "I still don't understand why he would want to bring her back. When we all know that it is impossible. He is putting lives in danger. Himself too. He won't be able to come back if he smells her again, Alpha. Stephen says, our future Luna might suffer the heat."

I gulped, listening to the faint yellings and roars from around the pack. The pups were writhing in the pain.

"Should we just conclude that Alpha Pete didn't let Moon Goddess down by sending Misty away?" Iago asked, coughing slightly. "Giving her a choice now would be fair enough. But what if Misty chooses to come with us? Won't the Moon Goddess be angry then?"

There was no foreign smell in my reach. There was no Lycan near the borders tonight. They might be celebrating the full Moon well. The happiness of her arrival in their pack.

Was she even fine and happy?

"She can only come back if she is untouched, Iago." I said, feeling my chest tightening. My eyebrows furrowed in disturbance as I added, "Respect for Moon Goddess has always kept us from not experimenting. Now, thinking out of the box, a plan has been made. The human pup would be upset if we don't even try to reach her."

Iago looked at me with a sad smile on his face. From my peripheral vision, I knew that he was feeling helpless to say something.

"It wouldn't be abandoning her if we don't make a plan at all, Alpha. She is safe with her mate." He said lowly. "Wouldn't she be? You know her nature. She grows on the people easily."

"Just like Valeria?" I grumbled, making him look down. "Your assumptions couldn't bring optimism to Stephen's heart. Even when he is the one who knows everything. We are supposed to be pessimistic whole our lives if we don't see the human pup through our eyes, Iago. Valeria was a wolf. At the end of the day, she knew that she was meant to be on that land. She'd be happy. But if human pup realized this, she would break. She can think more than anyone judges her casually."

"Would there have been a plan if it had been your daughters?" He asked straightforwardly.

An itch came upon my heart as if he said something wrong. I writhed to correct him. But I let it go for I myself couldn't know this misery of my heart properly.

"No," I said firmly. "The human pup has been wronged. Giving her a choice is the good way out for Pete. Rest is the option she chooses. If she chooses to come out, it won't be our pack suffering Moon Goddess' wrath. It will be her mate lacking the charms to stop her from doing so. But that only will happen, if we manage to bring her across the border."

"Have you thought over why she has been chosen?" Iago asked faintly. "She is not bitten. No genes. You had her checked by Stephen in the beginning. Everything happened clearly. I was there. Brother said that she was purely human just like her father."

I put hands behind my back, looking around the dense trees. "In the end, she belongs to the Werewolves. By blood, by heart. By soul. She had to be chosen, Iago."

"Would you be different with her if you knew that this would happen?" He asked quietly.

I shook my head. "No," I whispered softly. "She wouldn't have been what she has become, if I hadn't been like that to her."

Iago sighed heavily.

"The plan. . ." He hesitated. "Alpha, do you believe that risking the lives for Misty is morally right?"

"If it is possible, it is." I said, glancing at him. "She has given others more than she took. She deserves this from us. It's more than a family matter, Iago. You know, she has grown on Stephen too. She wasn't trained. The pack needs to be thankful to her. Don't you think?"

Iago smiled at me sadly. "Stephen says that Misty won't be able to return easily. Valeria didn't," he said lowly, churning my stomach. "Though, we must encourage the idea of entering the land if an Alpha has decided to think so."

"Why won't she return?" I asked quietly. "I know her, more than your aged brother, Iago. She will come with us."

"Bet. A bear hunt?" Iago asked teasingly. "She ain't coming back. Her mate is a Lycan. Much much powerful than all of us. We haven't even seen them in their furs from centuries. This is the terror, Alpha."

"I will hunt a bear for you and family if she rejects my hand," I said through clenched jaws while nodding at him in determination. "The ambitious human will forget all the bonding and return for her grandmother. She might be emotional. But not an emotional fool, Iago."

"Some praises are meant to be heard too," said Iago while looking at me. "I am sure, she misses you the most of all."

"Curses me the most," I corrected while coughing sideways. Breathing hard, I shook my head. "Praises fulfill the thirst for achievements sometimes, Iago. I saved her from losing her curiosity. Her biggest weapon."

"Her main ambition was to get praised by you, Alpha." Iago said, making me look away.

The wolf inside me rolled and writhed for mercy. I wiped the sweat off my forehead.

"Who knows what torture they do in that land?" I grunted while shifting my weight on other foot. "Traumatized? Hurt? Tortured? Memory loss? The way she was thrown twice by our sons, makes me think of worse. There is no wolf inside her. No senses. Only her conscience and smartness is her advantage. But that too must be affected by the intimidation. We know it, Iago. All of it. We still hope for her to be fine. We are delusional."

Iago's smile faded. "Declan was there. Alpha were there. Beta were there. In the process of snatching her from any of us, they would have hurt her brutally before eventually throwing her in that land. There was no time to escort her. We know all of it. They are horrors. But we can hope. Luna Elsie did say that she is not hurt yet. Stephen doesn't know magic. He believes the logic. He says, her mate won't touch her. They know that she is fragile."

I stared at the trees. Gulping slowly, I thought about his words deeply.

"What brutal fate she has, I wonder." I said absentmindedly. "The Lycans who have horrified us wolves our whole lives are now her family, Iago."

"By force or will, Alpha. But she is theirs now. Nothing can be done. The plan might give her an option," said Iago in agreement. "But crossing the border is still impossible in my psyche."

I wiped the sweat from under my eyes with my finger. Bringing out the phone that was vibrating in my pocket, I stared at the screen.

"Luna Anne." My eyes narrowed and heart straightened up. "Is Eva okay?"

Iago nodded firmly. "Taria is allotted the duty of contacting all of them tonight. Nina? Alia? She is keeping a check on all of them, Alpha."

I swiped to the green and placed the phone against my ear. "Luna Anne."

Iago moved five steps away, sniffing around properly and checking the area surrounding us.

"Alpha Gilbert, I hope I am not disturbing you." The feminine voice was sharp and edgy. Yet she sounded calm like always. Confident and clever. "Before you get worried, I must tell you that Eva and Leo are doing fine."

I blinked in relief. Stepping ahead, I replied, "Alyssa is good here too, Anne. She is. . . Good enough to perform duties. She is guarding one of the places."

The woman gasped in happiness. "Delighted to hear that, Alpha Gilbert. I wanted to inform you that Ellie would be arriving day after tomorrow, means Eva can come to your pack as required. We have no objections. Klynn here knows that you all have been planning ways to bring the Mowgli back."

Iago glanced at me in concern while I looked away. My fists clenched tight and I breathed heavily.

". . . Alpha Gilbert, that night was difficult for all of us. But now, if you want to make an experiment, we will only encourage you. The borders in our pack are not plain enough to get your vehicle an exit. Thus, only in furs, you can cross the border. That way, we can contribute too."

I shook my head. Why didn't she call Pete? He was doing all the discussions until yet.

I bit my lip while wondering if Malina was asleep or not by now. The Moon had risen above. It must be midnight.

"We won't do that, Luna Anne. But we are thankful that you understand," I said, clenching my jaws. The thought of her showing those claws to rip Kate's womb was alive in my mind.

Anne's ripped corpse would have flied directly to the Eastern Hills. Thomas' new mother or not!

I rubbed my back somehow to stop the trickling of sweat beads.

"There is another way, Alpha Gilbert. Just like I have said before. The Mystics are always smelled near the river borders. We have always been suspicious. My daughter-in-law Orina wouldn't say a word to me. But she is talking to Eva about her pack's ways. Luna Elsie has invited her for a day after this full moon passes. Maybe, Luna Elsie has found the way."

Anne knew everything. This bitch knew everything. She wasn't helping. She was taunting about the mystery that Mystic Warriors had been.

"Eva didn't inform you. Thus, I thought I should."

I looked up at the Moon. My blood growing hot. "Okay, Anne. Will talk to Eva. Must I hang up now!"

"Of course—" I pushed the phone inside the pocket of my pants.

Loud gasps reached my ears, making me look at Iago talking to one of the males.

"Jackie." I called out while stomping towards me.

The boy gave me a worried look. "Alpha Pete. He. . ."

Iago watched as I wiped the sweat off my temple.

"He. . . couldn't continue guarding the other border. He said that he is guarding the newly shifted pups in the basement. But he is. . ."

"But?" I asked hurriedly.

A loud roar came from the grounds.

Jackie widened his eyes. "Alpha. . . He chained himself with the young pups. Threatened to kill them if any of them made any noise. It's horrifying. . . Nirvan went to the basement and came back saying. . . Alpha Pete keeps chanting over how his mate is in pain. . . He is burning in fever too. . . The young pups are chained in the same basement. . . He wouldn't let us open neither him nor them. . . He threatens to attack them if any of them groans in pain. . . He is being beastly. . ."

"Let's go," Iago yelled while looking at me. "Alpha, he needed to be given the wolfsbane. Nothing else would work. Brother would deny it. But we don't want to repeat what happened the third night."

My heart dropped in the sudden realization.

If Pete couldn't attend such distance from his mate, how would he handle standing on the same land.

But what about the human pup then? This plan couldn't be cancelled.

Pete or Misty.

There was no choice.

It felt as if I was thrown back in the time. Joran behaved the same way, Iago. The next day he said that he would cross the territory. He did, after two days. He never came back.

I looked at the statue of Alpha Rucus from the far. What was happening?

Pete was getting restless by each passing day. The disturbance reached my mind and heart in bulk. I ran fingers through my hair.

As a father, I couldn't let him have the same the fate as of Joran or Nathan.

As Malina's mate, I couldn't let this plan go barren and forget the human pup.

Could there be a middle path?

I looked up at the Moon with fury rising in my chest. I could imagine the Goddess watching me blankly.

She was warning us.

________

"What do you think?"

Please vote and comment.

____

Because we are going with Misty's point of view in this story. I want you all to still be curious over how and what kind of a man he is. How is thought process goes. Because Misty doesn't know a thing. Thus, I only focused more on what's going on around him rather than what he himself has been going through in between all of this. I skipped the details. For the good reasons. Future will bring us more clear to Gilbert.