Chapter 204

204 Chapter Two Hundred Four

Drake was silent for a moment trying to take in the information he’d just been given. Pieces of his memory strained to grasp the full meaning of what he’d just been told, but none of them seemed to fit. There was too much that was rumoured about this particular chapter and he hadn’t particularly thought he would ever need to know what it was, “Can you elaborate more on the Origin? It seems to have slipped my mind.”

The two alphas looked at him in disbelief. Noticing how he didn’t care what they thought of him, they let his ignorance on the matter slide and proceeded to explain, “The origin is where the two friends, Sirius and Lycaon...”

“Were granted the power of the werewolves and given the orders to tear down the human race,” Drake finished the sentence almost mechanically. It had all come rushing back to him the moment the two of them had started explaining. His mind gave him far more information than he wanted to know. The Seeker was capable of finding that same place and now that he thought more and more about how something like that could be dangerous, he began to understand why the presence of the Seeker was kept a secret from all werewolves, “Oh my... You have quite the mission on your hands, now don’t you?”

“Does that mean you understand how important it is that this remains hidden from the rest of the world?” Claire asked him.

“Yes, that is what it means. Now does this chef that you hired take all the time in the world to prepare food or am I the one who’s simply too hungry from my four-hour trip?” Drake asked, clutching his aching belly.

Lionel looked about and summoned one of the guards seated around them, “Would you go to the kitchens and find out what’s keeping that girl too long?”

The delta nodded quickly and rushed out of the dining hall to find the girl that was supposed to be delivering the food they wanted to have... Once again, the prince’s mind wandered, “So, you’re telling me that Madeline has the power to find the Origin?”

'

“She doesn’t have the right training to achieve such a feat. Her mother, however, has the power to do such a thing. She’s far more talented than that runt and the girl shows no interest in learning how to use the power that has been passed down through generations in her family. Honestly, I don’t know why father tolerates how lightly she takes her gift,” the man sighed.

Just then, the double doors opened allowing a crew of women dressed in aprons and a general white outfit through to the dining halls. Madeline led them with a trolley in hand. She walked up to the prince’s table and began to set it up for them to start the meal. This all took a while before they were set to eat.

.....

The girl was asked to stay behind such that the prince might judge her cooking before she proceeded to the next thing on the menu. Waiting for this proved to be more trying than hearing the results of all her hard work combined, for the prince seemed to be enjoying himself, tasting every bit of the spread in front of him like he had all the time in the world.

“Oh, if it isn’t the Giant Crab that the Golden moon pack is famous for,” he would say and spend his time savouring the food in front of him. Lionel found this entertaining and couldn’t help snicker at the girl’s nervousness. The prince was halfway through his food before Lionel realised he was going to finish it before passing his judgement.

“Well, what do you have to say about the girl’s cooking?” Lionel said, his voice going up even though he was speaking to someone that was clearly more important than him and in every way more powerful.

“Well, it’s better than most I have tasted here in the golden moon pack. She has real talent. I was enjoying my meal so much that I forgot she was still standing there. There is still room for improvement though which is not a problem considering she is so talented at such a young age. How old might you be, girl?” the prince asked.

“I... I’m only sixteen, your highness...” the prince blanched at the answer.

“Lionel... you set me up with sixteen-year-olds...” he said, turning back to the alpha on the other side of the table.

“Oh, I wouldn’t want you to find your mate later on and blame me for not showing you girls that young, in case she came from this pack. It’s not unheard of for a girl to feel the mate pull by the age of sixteen,” Lionel replied.

“If she’s a Seeker though, doesn’t she know who her mate is? Why would you still show her to me?” the prince asked as though it was very obvious.

The room fell dead silent, “It’s complicated for the sake of the Seeker. They won’t receive a mate that easily. They can’t tell who their mate is, but they can tell who everyone else’s mate is. The painful part is that their mate can tell that they are the one, but the Seeker can’t tell. The mate pull can only be realised after the male that claims to be destined for her has proved to be worthy of her. In a way, they are gems that must be fought over.”

“Oh, I didn’t know...” Drake said thoughtfully, “Wait, fought over? Do they ever have more than one mate?”

“Well, I’m not sure. None of us can tell, but it’s normal for three males to claim they are mates to the Seeker. Whether they all feel the pull and fight for her or whether one of them feels it and the others merely pretend so that they might win themselves a Seeker is not known,” Lionel sighed, “You can proceed with overseeing this meal, Madeline. You’re forgiven for your previous mistake.”

“Thank you, Alpha Lionel...”

The girl turned to walk back and bumped into a chair, steadied it and continued on her way, making sure to be careful to watch her step on her way back. Drake sighed before continuing his meal, “I heard Katie Chase is in the capital of Sirius.”

“She doesn’t go by that name anymore. You would know that if your information was complete,” the prince scoffed at him.

“Well, it’s what’s written on her hunter’s license and what I prefer to call her,” Lionel replied.

Drake’s mind began to buzz about the real reason he had come to this pack, “Well, just make sure the other royals don’t hear you calling her that. I would personally make sure you didn’t call her that, but I’m currently thinking about different matters... Wait, is that safe?”

Walking through the main entrance was a girl holding a tray of cups filled to the brim with juice. Drake had seen this before... the last time that he’d attended this very pack. The person serving the table was meant to bring refreshments on a tray and this was used to demonstrate their incredible stability. However, this was the first time he found it to be challenging.

The person carrying the tray this time was none other than Madeline. She was ridiculously clumsy and shook with the vigour of a jackhammer. Sweat trickled down her forehead as she walked toward their table. “Oh, that’s part of the meal. A little bit of entertainment if you will as well as the only part of the craft that the girl is ridiculously lacking in.

Drake swallowed hard when he heard this... The girl continued to walk toward them and began to serve them one by one. She successfully served the prince and moved on to her alpha and his sister. It was a task that everyone in the dining hall watched with the utmost scrutiny. The girl was serving them all until... it happened.

Drake turned just in time to see the girl trip. In the corner of his eye, he saw a retreating leg as though she’d been tripped. He didn’t have the time to dwell on it much longer as the girl fell, much less reach out to save her from the terrible fall. The sound of shattering glass filled the hall rousing a round of gasps from everyone but chuckles from one particular table.

Ignoring the obvious sabotage, the prince stood up to approach the girl, “Just how clumsy can...” Drake raised a hand to silence Lionel as he began scolding her.

“Are you okay?” the prince asked the girl, lending her his hand to help her up.

The girl stared at the hand outstretched for her to take. With tears welling up in her eyes, she slapped away his hand and ran out of the dining hall. Drake stared until she’d left the room before speaking up, “Five minutes... That’s all the time I’m giving for the person that tripped her to step up and that’s me being very... very lenient.”

Lionel looked back at the deltas and betas with a look of disappointment, “Your highness, would you let me handle the punishment for the delta.”

“First thing’s first... I want the wolf that did it to step forward,” Drake said. When no one stepped forward, the royal spoke up once again, but quieter, rubbing his temples, “Alpha Lionel, royals aren’t known for getting angry. Would you tell me the two things that can calm down a royal that has gone feral?”

“A beta alpha and their mate,” Lionel sighed before looking through the betas at the table. He walked up to the table, staring at one of them in particular, “Well, what are you waiting for, Victor?”

“What... What makes you think???”

“Would you want to face the anger of the entire pack or just mine... I don’t know how many people would call your stunt funny when you find out just how stupid that was. Are you forgetting the person that cooked the food that you have chosen to call the best in the pack?” the alpha cut him off, trying his best to keep his temper in check.

Victor stood up and walked up to the royal, bowing down low in respect, “Your alpha will decide your punishment. I’m afraid a punishment from me would probably kill you. If I don’t find the punishment you’re given satisfying, I will punish you myself and trust me when I say you won’t like it that... you won’t like it... Don’t let me down, Lionel. Claire, lead me to the Seeker’s house. I have questions to ask of her,” he ordered, turning around to walk out.

“She’s only a runt who can’t even shift... Why must I face any punishment for putting her where she should have been in the first place?” Victor grumbled, however... it was loud enough for the prince to hear every single word... and he was inexcusably livid...