Forgotten Magick

Chapter 2: Destiny. Pt, 1.

The Alpha's Duties.

Seth had returned to his pack not too long afterwards, he took his time as he walked back in his human form. He had so much on his mind. His heart and soul were unified under the understanding that his mate was witch, his emotions were already wrapped around his little mates pinkie. The sound of her laughter was ringing in his ears, and he allowed the sound to absorb him entirely. It felt like he was walking on air when he did that, it felt like all of his senses just left him. So much so Seth didn’t realize that he had gotten to the pack house, only when his second in command came and placed a hand on his shoulder was he able to wake up from his dream.

Seth jumped, looking around wildly until he saw Arys standing behind him. Arys was looking at him with concern as he spoke “you alright boss? You look off man… Did she get away again?” He asked cautiously. Seth shook his head grabbing Arys by the shoulder quickly taking his friend inside, Seth could feel every ones eyes on him as he acted oddly. He could feel the pack link, all the whispers trying to figure out what was wrong with him. Some were on the right track, postulating that he had found his mate but couldn’t claim her. Others were talking about the theory he didn’t want them too, that the witches had bewitched him some how in order to weaken the pack but they also saw him as fighting off the bewitchment. That’s why he was sometimes himself and other times looking ill and acting erratic, their valiant leader was so strong he was able to fight off curses and hexes; or so the whispers told.

They were all so close to the truth, but no one wanted to think about the fact that maybe just maybe his mate was a witch. It was the one factor that made the most sense, his symptoms and his behavior, it would all be explained by an incomplete mate bond to a non-wolf person. Though no one wanted to entertain that idea, no one wanted to insult the stature of their Alpha by stating his Luna was a weak non-wolf.

The attitude enraged him. Just because Celeste was a witch didn’t mean she was weak! Seth huffed strongly as he ushered Arys into his office, once the door was shut Seth let out a rather aggressive roar. Both of the men shut the pack link, not needing the uninformed jabber of the lower ranks to disrupt their conversation or anger Seth any further. Once the pack link was shut out Seth instantly calmed down, he was sweating profusely, pale, and exhausted. Seth plopped down in his office chair and put his face in his hands, letting out a long and deep breath. His mind was in a state of deep agony, and Arys knew it well.

“Seth, come on man whats going on? Talk to me.” Arys said from his spot on the couch in the corner of the room, Seth didn’t look up he just replied “I found her Arys… I found her, and, she is beautiful. She is elegant, intelligent, her laughter is a musical masterpiece… and she’s a witch..” Arys nodded as he took in the news, he leaned back on the couch as he crossed his ankle onto his knee. Arys looked at his friend who was distressed and asked "What happened this morning?”

Seth went into great detail about everything that had transpired, it took a while to describe everything; her face, her scent, the ritual she was doing, Regal’s reaction and words. Though as he came to the end of the story Arys was on the edge of his seat, elbows on his knees, and eyes glued on Seth. He then got up and leaned against his desk, arms crossed over his chest as he looked down at Arys and said “and her name is Celeste… When I was leaving I heard this little guy call her Prime Celeste..”

Arys quirked his eyebrow, taking a moment to think, before saying “Prime?.. Missy’s been reading a book about witches lately, don’t ask me why you know how she gets when she has to chase the dopamine. She’s been reading this book, and last night she got up to the chapter on their hierarchy and if I remember correctly Prime means she’s like the personal assistant to the Supreme?” Seth furrowed his brow at Arys “personal assistant? Really? Go get Missy and the book!” Seth chuckled as he waved his friend out.

Seth took the 10 to 20 minutes it would take Arys to find his mate and bring her back to the office. He took the time to settle himself, to calm down and collect himself. He would need some patience to deal with Missy, on a good day she was well organized and shared the Beta responsibilities like she was born for the role. Clear, concise, and in charge. On other days however she was easily overwhelmed, busy minded, and all over. She could still get her work done on time, but it was done in an erratic order, Missy was an enigma to every one in the pack but she was a good person who did good work.

Seth had just finished fixing himself up a bourbon on the rocks when Arys and Missy made their entrance. Missy was a shorter, fuller figure, woman with a big voice. Arys quickly moved around Seth and took the bourbon from him, Seth rolled his eyes and started to pour himself a new glass as Missy stomped her way to his personal bubble with her hands on her hips she demanded “Seth Rannulfus Lycagrus! What are you doing taking up all of Arys’ time?! Then you send him my way, here I am thinking I’m finally getting pups but nooooooo! ‘The Alpha needs you and your witchy book, come on!’ he says! The Alpha needs us he says! The Alpha this and Alpha that! But he’s my mate and you need to pull yourself together so I can have pups!”

Seth stood calmly as he took his verbal lashing, he understood her frustration and in part Missy was right. He did need to pull himself together, for weeks now Arys had fulfilled the Alpha’s duties and Missy had taken on all of Arys’ responsibilities. The little ball of fury that was the beautiful Missy had settled, crossing her arms over her chest she looked up to him and asked concerned “Seth, the hell is going on?” Seth nodded towards Arys who got up and handed the book to Seth, then Arys gently wraped his arms around his mate to bring her over to the couch with him.

There on the soft couch she sat in his lap and curled up, she looked up at him with pouting yet adoring eyes. Arys sighed briefly before chuckling, he reached down to her round face and moved her dark silky hair out of her eyes. “My sweetness, don’t do that to Seth. You can’t chastise a man who is in agony, I would have been just as troubled as him if you gave me the trouble as his mate is giving him..” Missy instantly perked up and looked towards Seth and muttered “Mate?… Our Luna?..” Seth nodded as he flipped through the book. Signalling Arys to keep talking.

“Here’s the TL;DR; a few weeks ago Seth caught scent of her, thats why he upped security around the border. We thought she was a lost rogue roaming on or between our land and the witches land, we wanted to find her before the witches but as you know there haven’t been any developments on that end. No rogues or rogue sighting for miles. Earlier today however I took over training because Seth caught her scent again. This time he found her and saw her. Eveen spent some time with her.” Arys explained calmly. It seemed like Missy was having an off day because she wiggled out of her mates arms and started to get antsy, she fidgeted with her fingers and clothes as she tapped her foot and asked exasperatedly “So where is she?! Is she in your room?!” she looked at Seth hopefully. Seth shook his head and motioned to Arys to continue, Seth was speed reading through the book wanting to learn everything in it.

Arys pulled Missy back towards himself, sitting her on his lap so that he could use the mate bond to sooth her “she isn’t here sweetness. Our Luna is a witch. That’s why Seth needed your book, he heard some one call her Prime and we needed to know what that meant.” Missy’s face was a roller coaster of reaction as Arys spoke. It went from disappointment, to disbelief, to skepticism, and lastly to delight. “Prime?! Arys…” Missy turned her eyes to Seth as she finished her thought “Seth is going to be the next Alpha Guardian…”

Seth dropped the book in his hand as Missy finished her sentence, he looked at her with a serious eye while Arys looked simply confused. Missy sighed exaggeratedly, getting up and picking up the book from the floor. She then ushered Seth to take a seat and handed him his drink as she started in a mater-of-fact voice “according to this book the way the witch system works is totally different from ours, imagine if the Alpha role wasn’t tied to blood. Imagine that part of Seth’s job, the most important part, was to scour the whole of this continent to find his successor. Some one who is just as, if not more powerful than himself and take them and raise them basically. That is who a Prime is. She is the successor to the Supreme, the one who rules over and runs the whole witchy shindig. How old did she look to you Seth?” Seth bobbed his head left to right for a minute before scrunching his face and answering “my age if not maybe a little younger.. So like 20 to 25, why?”

Missy nodded and considered the age, she then flipped through the book before saying “I could be mistaken, I’m not too entirely sure if the Supreme has to die first or not, but if not then she should be coming up on her coronation soon.” Seth seemed to perk up at the explanation. So much so that his stood up and almost celebrated while saying “I knew it! I knew she was special, she was too calm and comfortable when she was in the river. Goddess I’m glad that I didn’t approach her! I would have gotten my ass kicked! HA!” Seth then composed himself as he saw the confused looks his friend and Missy were giving him. Seth cleared his throat before adding “the uh… the pack link… Some people put the pieces together that I might have found my mate, but they think it’s some one weak, but when I saw her.. She was so close to danger but she acted like she was the thing danger needed to be afraid of.”

The confusion still lingered on their faces, Seth could see a bit of fear sneak its way inside Missy’s eyes, so he explained further “sh-she wasn’t violent, or training, or anything scary but even though she’s as important as she is; you know being prime and all that and not to mention the fact that I’ve had security ramped up to a 10! She was alone this morning, and she was alone for hours with the possibility of anything happening to her! And when some one was sent to get her it was just this little guy, no older than 16 I think. So either she’s incredibly powerful OR they don’t give a flying f**k about their next commander-in-chief. Which is the more likely answer?”

Missy then relaxed and nodded, understanding Seth’s position and reaction completely. Missy settled in her mates lap again, she was much more calm now that she was in on the conversation. That seemed to be the biggest pet peeve of hers, that up until this point Seth’s office had more or less been a boys club. Her excitement of having a friend on the same level as Arys’ friend was understandable, Missy clicked her tongue and asked “so… when are you going to get her?” Seth and Arys looked as though she had just grown a third head which made the girl laugh. “You do realize, you’re the Alpha right? It’s as simple as sending an official letter to the coven asking for an audience, say its a matter of great importance for witch kind and werewolf kind alike. It’s not even a lie either, we’re literately talking about reawakening the ancient tradition of the Supreme Luna and Alpha Guardian. If that isn’t a matter of great importance I don’t know what is, I mean it literately redefines the political atmosphere of our entire kind! Not just witches and werewolves. I’m talking big picture, I’m talking about reuniting the Blessed. Closing the great divide!” Missy then sat back and watched as realization dawned on the two men in the room.

Missy laughed loudly as she crossed her arms over her chest and snuggled into the chest of her mate saying “I swear you boys need to include me more often in these conversations, you guys miss so much when I’m not around! Big picture people! BIG. PICTURE!” Arys chuckled and ruffled her hair before wrapping his arms around her waist “yes my dear, you’re right. No one sees things the way you do with your big beautiful eyes.” Arys said as he nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck.

Seth smiled as he watched his friend dote on his mate, soon he would be able to the same or so he hoped. There was still the political matter of everything, and suddenly he grew very sullen. “What if.. What if our pack doesn’t accept her?..” Arys snorted and replied “what? Who’s gonna challenge you? Like put away the fact that you’re Alpha okay? Like that’s not a factor here. You’re still the biggest, baddest, wolf around my guy! You’re still the best fighter our pack has, you’re the most ruthless, and we’ve all seen how you’ve dealt with hostile rogues. No one would dare challenge you.” Missy nodded supportively towards Seth, but Seth shook his head “you may be right about that Arys, but just because no one challenges me about it.. It doesn’t mean they accept her as Luna, it just means they’re all too chicken s**t to say anything about it…”

The room suddenly grew cold, Seth was right and it wasn’t unheard of for a Luna to just be completely disregarded by their pack. She would just be pushed to the shadows, ignored, or is simply confined to the Alpha’s bedroom and treated like a concubine more than a Luna. Seth didn’t want that for Celeste, if she was as powerful and incredible as he believed her to be she wouldn’t do with being reduced to the status of a concubine. A powerful woman such as herself deserved the respect that her station was due.

Seth was starting to grow a headache, how was he going to navigate all these politics? He was 25 for goddess sake, all he wanted was his mate… He just wanted everything Arys had, the happiness, the closeness, the companionship. He saw how the mate bond worked magic on all of the couples in his pack, and the loneliness was starting to eat at him.

Seth had dismissed Arys and Missy, told Arys to take the rest of the day to attend to his mate. Missy was grateful, jumping on Arys’ back and hugging him tightly. She was so energetic, it was a mystery as to how such a laid back man like Arys could keep up with her. Seth only hoped that Celeste wasn’t as excitable, even if she was he would make sure he could stay by her side.

Seth had some work to do, and after having had his conversation with Missy and Arys and a quick shower Seth felt worlds better. Seth’s mind was mostly made up at this point, he wanted Celeste. No, not just wanted, he needed her. There were still so many unknowns, especially when it would come to her reaction when he would eventually have to face her. So he turned to Regal, asking for advice, “so… let’s say I do the thing Missy said, I send a letter asking for an audience, let’s say I get granted that audience, and I actually end up on the steps to her front door. W-what do I do?! What do I say?!”

Regal chuckled at Seth, the old wolf found him amusing most days, “Stay factual. Always remember that witches are NOT modest people, I made that mistake once… It took a week for the hair on my back to grow back… They are proud, intelligent, and hierarchal people. Respect must be shown at all times, and the proper level of respect to. You don’t want to show the same amount of respect to a High Priestess as you would to the Prime or Supreme.” Seth scrunched his face as he attended to his paperwork “it seems like a lot of social dodge ball to me, how do you know the difference between everyone?” “It’s simple really young Alpha, simply let the witches take the lead. Watch them and mimic them. A Supreme and her Prime will always be at the front of the room, they will also most likely be the most silent and reserved of the bunch. They have a saying ‘Those who speak the most, often times, know the least’” Regal said.

“Okay but that still doesn’t answer my question, when I get there what do I do? What do I say?!” Regal mentally shook his head at Seth before answering the anxious Alpha, “you will be honest, formal, and respectful. When you get there, introduce yourself. Start with your title and station, then your name. After that you will state the purpose of your visit, keep it factual. I know how the mate bond makes us wolves primal and erratic but for the love of the moon goddess do not jump on her! Do not make any quick movements, and do not attempt to claim her in front of the whole coven! If anything, and this may seem old fashioned to you younglings, when you get there kneel. Don’t knock on the door, don’t make yourself known, just kneel in front of the house and do not even look up until you are called upon.”

Seth quirked an eyebrow mentally at his wolf, chuckling lightly Seth said “it sounds like you’re talking from experience old man” Regal laughed and answered “yes, I do! My friend, when I was young, was mated to a witch. We all knelt before the coven house, but my friend struggled. His mates scent encircled him, she was right there in front of him with a door as the only barrier. He shook, sweat drenched his face and the ground, but he stayed knelt and his eyes transfixed to the ground. Eventually the witch grew impatient, in the before times witches who were tied to the mate bond were affected by it as we are, and she did something dangerous to take his attention and force him to break formalities.” Seth nodded as he took note of what Regal said.

So many things were different between the two groups, the packs he knew all shared the same laid back attitude as his. Were-wolves let nature do most of the talking, their societies were simple in nature and relaxed. Every one had a role to play to keep things functional but beyond that their packs were more like families. Witches on the other hand, there was more to their society than just keeping things functional. From other conversations he had had with Regal it seemed their society was so much more complex than that, he wondered what was going to happen if they integrated their societies. Were the witches going to chill out or would his pack have to pick up the pace?

Seth put the matter in the back of his mind, he had other things to get done. An Alpha’s duties were far more than just paperwork, and since he had been out of it for a while now there were things he needed to catch up on. Seth got up to leave his office, as he did he called for his Delta Rudy. Rudy was only a year younger than he and Arys, 24 years old but with a lot he felt he needed to prove. Especially since his older brother Buddy was unimpressive to put it politely, Rudy had to work twice as hard in training and school just to be able to separate himself from Buddy. Still with all that hard work it impressed Seth and so when Seth had taken over the role of Alpha, he appointed Arys as his second in command, Rudy as his third in command, and a boy named Mason as his fourth in command.

Seth had told Rudy to meet him in the kitchens first and to bring some stationary, they were going to go to each job at the pack house and Seth was going to get the details of what was lacking during his brief period of insanity. They started with the domestics; kitchen, laundry, cleaning, and maintenance. Most of the Omegas worked in these stations, since a majority of the pack lived with in the pack house it needed a large staff to keep it standing. By the end of their tour of the main house the list had already grown quite large, but they still had others to speak to. Next were the medical stations; the clinic, the hospital, and pharmacy. Typically these positions were for those of relation to the Alpha and Beta bloodlines, Arys’ uncle was the top surgeon of the hospital and Seth’s Aunt was the top OBGYN. They also added more than a few items to their list. Lastly however was Seth’s second home, the barracks and security.

Arys may have been able to keep everything together while Seth was absent, it was evident that Arys did pay more mind to the barracks. They had very little to add to the list, perhaps some new training equipment but they were due for some replacements regardless of Seth being absent or not. “Well I’m glad Arys prioritized security, everything else can be dealt with and resolved but if we had been attacked.. That would have been a disaster..” Seth murmured to himself as he and Rudy finished up the last of their conversations.

There was peace and cheer in the pack link, now that Seth had spoken to every one and they were all able to see he was fine. Seth was thankful, the whispers about his mate had stopped. Now they all talked that he must have simply been ill with a nasty flu, everyone was well aware of how volatile Seth could be when he was sick. This set him at ease, he didn’t need his pack rejecting their Luna before she even knew they were mates. Seth took the list from Rudy and sent him away, the only part that not having a mate Seth was thankful for was that he could work the long nights guilt free. Which to tackle everything that needed to be done and ordered, he was going to have to pull a very long night.

It took some time but by sun down Seth was done with his work, were-wolves were far more comfortable with human society than the other blessed, Seth had multitude of connections with the outside world. A lot of the money the pack had access to was held in stock trading and real-estate, most of the actual work to maintain and acquire the income was done by humans since most of the business was done in their world. Not to mention their seemed to be quite a few humans who were happy with handling the large sum of generational wealth that belonged to a mysterious man they had only met a handful of times.

Regardless Seth made sure to keep everything legal, he made sure the taxes that were due were paid in full and that any one in his employment was compensated well to avoid any potential criminal thoughts or behaviors. The only instructions Seth had for them was to make sure the wealth increased, and to do it legally. Through that he was able to make sure his pack had everything they needed; modern medicine, modern technologies, food, clothes, everything. All was done discreetly as to not arouse the suspicions of The Order.

Later that night Seth had taken the night patrol with Arys, he needed this time to talk it out with his best friend. Alone. Seth was leading Arys to the clearing where he had spent hours in the presence of his mate, separated only by a harmless stretch of water. "Okay, so now that we’re alone and we don’t have to be Alpha and Beta; you are actually trying to sell that your MATE, which might I remind you is a WOLF thing, is a witch?!" Arys exclaimed as the two boys got a substantial distance away from the pack house. Seth laughed exasperatedly as he scratched the back of his neck "I know! I thought I'd be elated to finally meet her , which don’t get me wrong I actually kinda am, but.. Things are just complicated now. Or I feel like they are at least. And I mean Regal has been trying to give me advice but, I don’t know man.. Like he’s not trying to get me to reject her, actually it’s the opposite but thats the thing; he’s only trying to get me to just get it over with. He seems happy that our mate is a witch, but this is also like a huge nostalgia trip for him right now.”

Arys nodded and sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair “I get it… Lonan’s been the same to be honest, I mean they come from the same time right? So it makes sense, they just don’t get it… This is massive and our wolves are treating this like it’s normal…” Seth laughed a little as he thought about what Arys said. For a second he thought like Regal and said jokingly “maybe we’re the ones, who just don’t get it.” but his joke was soaked in stressed melancholy.

Seth lead Arys to the spot where he saw Celeste, they walked up to the river edge as Seth played through the scene again. He showed Arys the movements she made in teh water, which rock she used to place her things and even pointed to the spot where she had her picnic set up. Then Seth led Arys to where he had laid in hiding, though he was met with an unexpected gift. Arys furrowed his brow and took a step in front of Seth "watch it Alpha, it could be hexed.." Seth looked at the whole scene before saying “why would she cross the border? Why would she leave this? She didn’t know I was here.”

“Unless she did, unless this is what she planned for. I know all this mate talk has been fun Seth, and I know you’re lonely but don’t forget we are dealing with witches. Anything is possible.” Arys said his words with caution, he didn’t want to anger Seth but he felt as though he needed to be the voice of reason. It was his job, as his Beta and his best friend. Seth let out a deep breath before stepping forward and reaching out for the blanket and vial of thick yellowish liquid, nothing happened. Regal spoke to Seth “witches are intuitive people, they are sensitive to the will of destiny, and though they are not slaves to it they will take the advice of the divine from time to time..”

“Regal, that one was straight up cryptic. For once can you be clear with me?” Seth pleaded out loud, Seth then opened the bottle and cautiously took a smell. It was her, but only three of the four scents from earlier. No, the fourth scent was there but it was on the blanket. Seth smiled to himself as he thought about how he had been right, it almost made it all feel like this was his prize for solving the puzzle. “No, it’s okay Arys. I don’t think it’s hexed. Based on what Regal has told me, she might not have known I was here but she felt the mate bond. She felt me leave at the very least, and thats why she left this here but not knowing the true reason why… Come on, lets go back.”

Seth and Arys then made their way home, but as Seth hugged the blanket he had stuffed in his jacket he started to become excited about the idea of getting a proper nights rest.