Chapter 1

The leader nervously shifted his gaze from the wall clock to the door of his study, convulsively checking in his memory to see if he had missed anything. His son is not stupid. Not stupid at all! Who is he trying to underestimate?The man did not hold back a mean smile, mentally flattering himself - Arthur obviously did not inherit his mind from his mother. All in the father went! And if earlier this fact caused only a feeling of pride, then in the current situation it made the head of the wolf community noticeably tense up.Leaning his head back on the headrest of the massive leather chair, Arseny exhaled tiredly, glancing briefly at the papers on the desktop, once again concentrating all his attention on the door. Arthur is already here, on the territory, the man, as befits the leader of the pack, immediately felt it, as soon as his son crossed the invisible border. So he'll be here in half an hour at the most. During this time, it would be nice to take on a slightly mournful look, after all, not too good news will have to be voiced by the son. Remembering that due to the reckless decision of his offspring to declare himself a couple with this stupid girl, Arseny had to kill one of the best guards of the pack, the man could not restrain the roar of his beast.No, well, it had to be thought of! To declare myself a couple with this ... yes, even mentally calling her a she-wolf did not turn her tongue! Weak, and as useless as her whole family! Everyone knows that the strongest children in couples are born first. The second offspring inherit less strength, but the first ones are more or less equal. And she is fifth! Fifth! She and so the whole family - weaklings. Neither parents nor older brothers are wolves, but simply a laughing stock. There is no speed, no strength, instincts ... yes, too, not very developed. You can’t put such wolves on guard, hunters among them are also not very good, to settle conflicts with other packs - and even more so you won’t take it! Ordinary artisans. Repair, patch up, keep the garden - everything. Like wolves, in the truest sense of the word, they do not bring any benefit to the pack. And the girl is the fifth! It's scary to even think about what could have happened. if the leader did not do anything, and Arthur declared the girl his mate. And it was necessary for his son to drag this girl into bed! Are there few others? How many times was he offered the daughter of an alpha from the Yaroslavl region? He just turns up his nose! Well, nothing, now he will not have a choice.The crazy idea that Arthur was so attracted to this girl due to the fact that it could be the Veles Pair - the leader swept aside. No, stupidity creeps into your head! Rare couples God blesses them, but the madness of thought is not in this. In such pairs, the she-wolf is herself an alpha, and can be thrown at will, without being tied to a dagger. The last time this happened was about 500 years ago. More precisely, the man did not remember, but to specifically go and raise the archives would be a waste of time. Well, which of this girl is the alpha?! In her family, the wolves are all gray, small - ordinary, in a word. And it's even good that he banished her before the initiation, so Arthur will definitely never find her. Unless, of course, he decides to search, after the leader gives him a slightly corrected version of events.The man grimaced in disgust, catching himself in a lie. Yes, well ... The version has been completely redone. And it's good that the orders of the alpha are not discussed and are executed unquestioningly, otherwise problems could arise. And so...Even if Arthur has doubts, he will be able to find out the truth only when he becomes the leader himself. And by that time he will forget about this girl!- Hello, father! - Lost in his thoughts, the leader missed the approach of his son to the door, and shuddered as soon as he entered the office.- Arthur, - nodding to his son, Arseniy pointed to one of the two chairs standing on the other side of the table, - how was the meeting?Four days ago, having heard from his only son the decision to declare himself a couple with a girl, the leader decided openly against all this, not to speak out. Youth is stupid. And given the character of Arthur, the son would have been smart enough to run away with this girl to spite his father. Therefore, the leader approved his choice, but asked to wait for the initiation of the girl. And he himself was sent to a neighboring pack, with a hastily invented reason - to check the boundaries.- As I thought - well, - the son answered, making it clear that initially he did not believe his father's doubts about the violation of the boundaries of their community by the Vologda werewolves. - Anton did not resist the check, and in two days we went around the border. As expected, there are no violations.- Well, - the leader nodded, wondering how best to move on to the topic concerning the girl chosen by Arthur and her "insidious betrayal". “Do you remember the story of how I became the leader?”Having considered all the pros and cons, Arseny first decided to refresh his son's memory a little, so that the cover of the expulsion of his pitiful she-wolf would make a proper impression on Arthur. It's a pity that werewolves are not allowed to kill uninitiated wolves - it would be much easier to cut a girl's throat. It would not have been necessary to cover up her expulsion with murder, to force the flock to be silent ... But Veles punished him cruelly and instantly for such a thing - the wolf that killed an uninitiated werewolf died with him. And the leader wanted to live. Highly.- Of course, - without attaching importance to the question, Arthur, his thoughts were already with his little she-wolf, imagining how she would be delighted with the gift brought to her, but answered his father automatically, hearing this story more than once. - When the previous leader died, leaving no heirs, two claimed the role of head of the community in the pack. You and Stanislav. As a result of the duel for the role of leader, you won, and he went into exile.Arthur now had absolutely no desire to listen to his father's nostalgia, but he had to show respect for the leader, even though he did his best to leave Arseny's office as quickly as possible. The man knew that his little wolf missed him as much as he missed her.The future leader of the pack barely suppressed a smile. Little green-eyed ... I wonder what kind of wolf she will have? It is clear that it is small, there are no strong wolves in their family. The man was more interested in color. Ash gray, as she herself wanted it, or will there be darker tones in her color? Arthur's beast itself was coal-black, but this privilege of the alphas, he did not count on such a coloring of his pair.It would be faster to pass the time before its initiation! Just a month and a half, and he will declare her his mate! It will be possible to run together through the night forest, releasing their wolves into the wild ...At this thought, the leader's heir's beast growled approvingly. It doesn’t matter what color and strength it will be - Arthur’s wolf has already made his choice, which the man was only happy about, since their desires with the beast coincided completely.He noticed a little green-eyed girl for a long time, but he was in no hurry to show his interest, reasonably waiting for the moment when she grows up. Gods! Who would have known how much effort it cost him to patiently watch her, and her childish attempts to seduce him!Many girls of the pack ran after him as one of the strongest werewolves in the community, and, of course, his little girl was among them. But Arthur was determined to start showing her signs of attention only after initiation, and he stuck to this decision ... until one moment. Then it was only two months left to endure, when Arthur saw one of the guards rolling up to his future couple. Watching this was beyond his strength, and the man decided to stop hiding his feelings, starting frankly, albeit a little cautiously, to care for his little she-wolf. At first, the girl, who did not believe in the seriousness of his intentions, gave up very quickly. After the first kiss. The man barely kept a dreamy smile, remembering that moment, and looking forward to kissing his girl again when the leader let him out of the office."He's back," his father's voice intruded into Arthur's dreams, dramatically changing the man's mood.- Stanislav? Here?- Yes, - the leader diligently portrayed repentance, carefully watching the reaction of his son. The slightest wrong gesture could ruin everything. - Yesterday Stanislav showed up on the territory of our pack.- Who? - Arthur's first thought was to immediately leave the office and rush headlong to his green-eyed girl, but he managed to quickly pull himself together. If something happened to the baby, the father would immediately tell him about it, because he knows perfectly well how much she means to her son. Therefore, remembering his duties as the future leader, Arthur decided to understand the situation completely.The man's father inwardly rejoiced - Arthur asked exactly the question he expected. A good leader will then turn out of him, you will not say anything. After all, only members of the flock itself can enter the territory of the community. Everyone else is by invitation only, with the exception of alphas, but usually there is a peaceful atmosphere between the communities, and it is not beneficial for any of the leaders to violate each other's borders. But with the exiled werewolves, the situation is somewhat different. To let an exile into the territory, a member of the community must voluntarily give him his blood to drink, and nothing else. That is why the first question was - who. Who dared to betray the flock. Everything else - damage, damage, wounded and so on - this can be discussed later, after the traitor has been identified.