"Alpha, please! I have been waiting for 3 years to find him!" Amora exclaimed, slamming her hands on the desk.

"Stand down Amora! I will not tolerate any form of disrespect," Alpha Lincoln growled, his eyes narrowing in on her retreating figure.

"You are not to leave this pack under any circumstances. Is that understood?"

Amora bit back a growl but refused to reply, she kept her gaze trained on the ground.

"I said is that understood?" Alpha Lincoln yelled as his irises turned a deep yellow whilst his hands clawed into the ends of the wooden desk.

Amora paused as she bit her lip harshly, "No Alpha it is not understood. You don't understand, my wolf is craving her soulmate. I feel myself slowly going insane, I need to find him, please Alpha," she begged.

"Cellars, now."
___________________________________

Epiales huffed in annoyance as he pushed aside a mountain of paperwork that was occupying all the space on his mahogany desk. He groaned as he signed yet another form that meant nothing to him.

He was the Alpha of his pack, he was responsible for the well-being of over 900 werewolves, he had to ensure they were always healthy, got the care they needed, were well looked after and most importantly he had to make sure his pack members always made it out of war alive. Realistically, he had lost pack members during wars in the past, but not many. But now, now it was different, his pack was becoming weaker and it was all because of one reason. There was no Luna.

"Alpha, a member of the council, Ofelia Lockhart, is here to speak with you," Henry, the pack's Beta called.

Epiales grunted in response and motioned for him to let the council member in. Epiales knew who she was, she went from pack to pack droning on about the importance of having a Luna. Epiales was tired of hearing about how the pack needed a Luna, he knew that, he'd been actively searching for his mate for 2 and a half years before giving up.

"Alpha Epiales," Ofelia nodded, her gaze trained on her shoes.

"Please, take a seat," Epiales murmured, signing one last form before giving Ofelia his attention.

"I am sure you know why I am here, you are almost 24 years old and you have been Alpha since you were 18," Epiales pretended he was not affected as she spoke, "you have done an excellent job but the hard work is catching up to you, you are faltering, you cannot possibly continue to lead alone, I'm assuming you are currently searching for your mate but unfortunately if you do not find her soon, a Luna will be appointed to your pack."

He did not care about finding his mate, but that didn't mean he wanted the council interfering with him or his pack.

"Ofelia, are you trying to tell me that you would replace my mate's rightful job as Luna?" He spoke slowly and deeply, knowing it would intimidate her. He gained his power in the werewolf community by becoming someone people fear.

"No-no of course not Alpha...it's just my job to ensure that every pack is at its peak," she mumbled.

Epiales leaned back in his chair, stroking the light stubble on his chin in mock concentration, "It certainly sounds to me as though you wish to replace my mate."

Ofelia shook her head frantically, her lips sealed tightly as she shifted nervously in her seat.

"Is that all? You can go now," Epiales muttered, completely disinterested as Ofelia composed herself and sprinted out of the room.

From across the hall he could hear his Beta chuckling as he guided Ofelia to the door.

Epiales sighed and stared at his half opened notebook, a list of only 5 packs remained in England that he hadn't visited, he could only hope his mate was in one of them, he was becoming annoyed at the constant begging for a Luna.
___________________________________

"I'm sorry Alpha!" Amora yelped as another whip was brought down on her back, of course she wasn't actually sorry, but she'd say anything to stop the constant hits falling upon her.

He hummed, "I'm not sure that you are Amora but my wrist is aching from holding onto this whip for so long, so the rest of your punishment is to stay in your room until tomorrow night. I do not want to see you anywhere in the pack-house, is that understood? Or do I need to use the whip again?" Alpha Lincoln snarled as he looked down at her with disgust.

Amora only nodded, biting her tongue hard to keep herself from lashing out at him. Lincoln was not a good Alpha, he believed violence was the only way to make a person obedient. He didn't care about respect, he only cared about having every single one of his pack members bend to his will.

He slammed the whip across her back once more before storming out the cell, not even sparing Amora, who was bleeding and trying not to cry, another glance.

Amora pushed herself up and walked to her room, not daring to make eye-contact with anyone, it wasn't uncommon for the pack members to be punished but Alpha Lincoln almost never used the whip, he preferred his fist.

She flopped down onto her bed in exhaustion, careful not to turn to lie on her back like she normally did. She huffed and screamed into her pillow, pounding her fists on the bed. Her wolf's emotions were a constant reminder that they were mateless, and would probably never find their mate, as long as they were a prisoner inside their own pack.

Amora held back her tears, the last time she really let herself cry was her previous Alpha's funeral, everyone cried that day. That was 5 years ago.

Now she just let herself wallow in sadness and dream of the life she could have with her mate. Would he be kind? Rude? Would he love her? Hate her? Would he have blue eyes? Brown hair? The possibilities were endless and it only made Amora more adamant on finding him.

She tried to relax and tilted her head so she could look out at the stars, and without bothering to change her clothes she drifted off into a restless sleep.

___________________________________

"Alpha, the carriage is waiting and the horses are becoming restless," Henry called, his voice annoying Epiales as he growled and grabbed his large black coat off the back of his chair.

He was heading to the next closest pack, wanting to just tick the last 5 of them off the list. At this point he didn't care if his mate was there or not. If he needed to just appoint someone as his Luna then so be it. The only thing that mattered was power. He craved more power and to get that he needed a Luna.

He grumbled as he climbed into the small carriage, he would be making the journey alone, his personal guards followed soon after as it was mandatory that an Alpha and his mate ride alone. If he even found her.

Hours later he approached the gates of the Thornewolf Pack, he eyed the pack grounds, no one seemed to be wandering around anywhere which was strange but Epiales paid no attention to it as it was around mealtime anyway.

The large rusty gates opened and the horses treaded inside, neighing softly. Once the carriage halted Epiales climbed out and immediately walked to the pack-house. He didn't want to waste anytime at all, he wanted to go in, search for his mate and leave if she wasn't here.

"Alpha Epiales," Alpha Sebastian nodded in respect, shaking lightly. Epiales smirked ever so slightly, pleased with his reputation.

"I trust all your pack members are in this building?" Epiales questioned, growing impatient, the next pack was so close to here that the journey would take no time at all.

"Yes Alpha, you can wander around, I will be in here if you need anything."

Epiales gave him a curt nod and walked out of the office, his senses on high alert, he was almost nervous, waiting to be hit with his mate's pungent scent felt like waiting to be shot.

After 10 minutes of wandering around the pack-house, Epiales gave up. He walked back outside and climbed back into his carriage, not bothering to tell Sebastian he was leaving.

The moon was glowing in the sky, shining brightly down on the Earth, lighting up the darkness that surrounded him. He grew increasingly tired and he had a reputation to uphold. He did not want to show up to a pack like this, so he called the coachman and told him to pull over to the nearest pack, which was one he had recently visited, to stay for the night.

The Alpha reluctantly agreed to let Epiales stay and he was guided to a spare bedroom, bidding him goodnight. Epiales nodded and wordlessly shut the door over and climbed into the cold bed and fell into a sleep full of tormented thoughts and dreams.