Chapter 173 - 172

Everyone took their own path. The wolves traveled deep into the forest finding a compound that had been left behind by another pack. Hidden by the tall trees, the sound  of a creak clear in the distance the compound existed in secret in a clearing that  was beautifully hit by the sun every morning. 

It wasn't as luxurious as the hotel and not even close to where they used to live even before going to the city but Hans decided that this would do. Reina could understand very easily what he was trying to do. He wanted to hide the pack, from hunters and from vampires who could be looking for revenge now that the crazy Alpha was gone. At the same time he wished to humble them, all of them who had been blinded by Mikain's greed for cold. The philosophy in their pack hadn't been like that, wolves were not like that. They belonged in the forest, living in harmony with nature and Hans acting as the new Alpha wished to return the kindness and free spirit in his people. If he would succeed or not, it would be a mystery since not everyone was pleased with his decisions. 

The compound was almost like a camp. Small little wooden rooms with two windows aligned next to each other. They were few, a lot less than them so they would have to stay in a few people in one, three or four, sleeping in bunk beds while for the families of the compound a new construction was happening with houses, in the same manner as those they lived in currently, simple, so they could live all together. The only difference would be that they would have two rooms inside, one for the couple and one for their children. Except for the little wooden houses there was a huge dining hall which also had a very big kitchen. As it seemed they used to have their meals all together, a long table with bench like seats placed in a wide room with a tall ceiling while the kitchen was attached to it. There were also bathrooms and showers, two buildings that were probably separate for women and men. 

It needed work, the wolves had been working on it for days to bring it into a condition that would be suitable for living but since there were a lot of them it went on faster than Reina had calculated. She lived in one of those houses, close to the Alpha's room since she was a wolf warrior together with Mika and Philip. They slept on bunk beds, Mika on the bottom one and Philip on the top while she slept on the other side of the room on a normal bed. They had hung a curtain in the middle which she pulled every time she needed to change.

She had heard many men who had found the chance to make easy money with Mikain's schemes to complain and that worried her. She liked what they were doing here, she always preferred the forest more than the city and she agreed with Hans that the pack needed to find its lost sense of unity. She didn't mind sharing a room, yes she liked her suite, she wouldn't be a liar but it was fun that way too, talking with the boys, being able to stay up till late joking. 

"Hans will make an announcement today." Reina said as she fixed her pillow. 

They had been there for about a week, Philip's birthday in just four days and the werewolf looked a bit calmer now. He had tried to occupy himself with working on the compound, spending many hours building, moving piles of wood and cleaning just so he wouldn't think. He could joke a bit now and actually have short conversations but if he stayed alone with his thoughts for too long his eyes would start staring into the void, his expression blank as he brought back all the things that hurt him. That was why Mikai and Reina were always stuck to him as if they were siamese trying to help him take his mind off of things. 

"Yeah, are you done? We need to go." The red haired werewolf asked her when she placed her folded bed sheet in the end of her bed, straightening it and nodding proudly of how neat her bed was in comparison to the men's. "Philip?" Mika asked.

"Coming." he responded and changed his greasy shirt in a hurry. He had just returned from doing some work with the new cars they had brought in. Everything had changed, it was almost as if a new era was starting. 

Their room was not far from the huge dining hall, some even called it a pack room. Many different names for their room they usually met from one to three times a day. Philip had forgotten how many people his pack had until he saw them all gathered in one place, eating and talking. Old to young. He had smiled to himself, seeing the faces and the people he considered family. Even if he didn't like all of them this was where he belonged and he was going to get used to it, forget the pain. He would work on the pack and numb the pain, the thoughts that kept him awake and sighing at night. It was all he could do.

Many people had gathered already, seated on the wooden benches ,their eyes towards the tall man who scanned the room. When he spotted the wolf warriors he signaled them to sit on the front. As it seemed Hans wanted the hierarchy to return, meaning more responsibilities for them. 

The three werewolves sat on a table that had been left vacant, their attention on Hans as he realized that everyone had gathered. 

There was slight whispering, questions as to what happened, why could they be gathered here traveling all over the room. The scarred man coughed, getting everyone's attention and a deadly silence suddenly drowned all the noise.

"Good morning. Thank you all for finding the time to come here even though we have a lot going on right now. Before I get to the main point I would like to announce that your hard work is paying off and the compound will be complete soon. Also in the afternoon the Wolf warriors will come by your room and write down things you might need, every three weeks we will be sending out people into the city to buy necessities. That means if you want to decorate your room a certain way, things like a TV, personal hygiene products tell them and they will bring it to you." he said and Philip noticed a few happy faces. This place was slowly going to feel like home, he thought. "Now, for the main part of our gathering. As you all may know with Mikain's death we lost our Alpha. The investigations are still ongoing but I am afraid it will take time. The pack though should move on and that means we need a new Alpha. I can't take on that role since I was the previous Beta but I can recommend a new candidate. So I am here today to announce that I will be recommending Philip, the leader of the wolf warriors, as our next Alpha. The males of the pack that are over eighteen years old have one day to think if they want to challenge him. If there is no one by the end of tomorrow morning he will be the new Alpha." Hans said with a faint smile. "That is from me, you can have your breakfast now." he simply said as if he hadn't just talked about the most important matter in their pack. 

Philip stood up, his eyes wide wanting to go after him and find out what the hell was this speech about. He hadn't been informed about anything, he hadn't even been asked if he wanted to be the Alpha and Hans had thought that announcing it in front of all the people in their pack was a good idea? It was too soon, Mikain had just died, the mourning period had not ended yet, choosing a new Alpha was improper. 

"He is doing it because of the treaty celebrations." Reina said, stopping him from running after the Beta. It was as if she had read his mind.

"What?" he asked her, sitting back down. A sigh escaping his lips as his fist landed on the table. The sound was covered by all the talking in the room, all eyes on Philip, he could feel them. Staring. 

"The treaty celebrations are soon. From what I understand the pack got off this mess with Mikain easily since he is dead but still we have to travel for the celebrations of the treaties. We can't go there without an Alpha." Reina explained.

"When you mean travel?" Mika asked her, raising his eyebrows.

"I mean what you're thinking. BloodBound."

"Fuck." Philip swore, his palms landing on his face as he tried to release his frustration. "Why me?" he asked, not talking to anyone.

"Who else honestly?" Reina asked him back. "You're the next strongest person after Mikain. Hans likes you, he sympathizes with you so he probably recommended you for that reason." 

"He didn't even ask me if I wanted to be the Alpha." Philip whined.

"Being the Alpha is not something that you must necessarily want. It's about who is the strongest, more suitable and Reina is right. It is you. You can go and talk to him but I doubt he will change his decision." Mika told him and Philip stood up.

"I will. I can't go to BloodBound, not now, I can't handle it." he mumbled and ran off, leaving his two friends alone.

"Do you think anyone will challenge him?" Reina asked, seeing a few wolves that were on kitchen duty put the food on their table. 

"No way in hell. Unless they have a death wish." Mika answered her.

....

Hello everyone. Here's a little sneak peek of what is happening on the pack. I want to focus on the main characters Kai and Philip for a bit individually since I want them to grow and focus also on their powers and strength so their meeting will be epic! Let's see what will go on between them when that happens! 

I hope you liked this chapter. If you did please leave a nice comment and a vote. Also, it was my birthday yesterday so be nice please!

Thank you for reading.