Finding You, Again
Again 3 - Ally Encounter

The sound of thumping, blaring in the field that was beside Manor.

The Werewolf Farkas who had fallen due to Duke's punch landed heavily on his stomach, shrieking in pain. While dragging his body, he retreated to the sidelines.

Farkas' abilities are pretty decent, as it turns out that he and Ivalio received training from Alpha Owen before this. But clearly he was not an equal opponent for the Duke.

"Is this all you got?"   The duke scoffed not only with words, but also his eyes.

All the wolves in front of him, were eager to dismiss the taunts, but they were all busy groaning in pain, as well as managing a messy breath.

After completing all the preparations for the meeting-*t*and without rest-, the Duke immediately visited the special forces training ground he requested.

When they got there, they were actually tired, because of the unreasonable training Roan did.

When the Duke came, the spirit of the troops rose again, because practicing directly with Alpha was an extremely rare opportunity.

The spirit they quickly regretted, as it turned out that Duke was much worse than Roan when providing training. His mouth is much sharper. All ridicule should they receive with reddened ears.

At first, they were a little hesitant, when the Duke had them attack, while still in human form. But it turns out that the concern is the act of *****.

Duke opponents were extremely formidable, even in human form. They can't touch him at all.

That training of course ignited their irritation, how could defeating someone with a human form be so difficult?

"Remember!! Your opponent will be mostly human. Vampires are much smaller. But they're more agile, and the poison scratches on their nails will affect your nerves. Don't feel like winning just because you're bigger!" The Duke exclaimed, while brushing off the snow that was stuck on his body.

He rolled over in the snow a few times.

A low growl that meant understanding, came from the entourage that was staring at the Duke with unblinking eyes.

Roan who was standing in the corner smiled satisfiedly. He was of course happy, for doing what he loved all day, fighting!

The long howls of the warriors in the distance made them all turn their heads. It was a howl that meant warning.

"They came Roan. Get ready!" exclaim Duke.

Roan growled in response yes. He tells Dey to follow him. Then the two of them ran towards where the howls came from.

Roan would act as a guard for their guests. Not to keep them safe, but to keep them from acting as soon as they enter the pack area.

"You who are off duty today, rest. Tomorrow you will only return to training with Roan, because I will be very busy" said the Duke, walking away from the field.

The wolves were complaining simultaneously in their hearts. They couldn't decide which was worse, Roan's hellish training, or the humiliating fight with Alpha like that earlier.

Both torturing.

-----////-----

The Duke walked slowly towards the main door of Manor, when he heard the group walking closer.

From the foreign scent that it smelled, it was definitely their first guest. El stood up nervously following behind him.

This was the first meeting of Blackmoon's pack with another pack other than Moonrise, of course they were tense.

The group consists of Myra and El. Lui should have accompanied him as Zhena, but that situation would be impossible at this moment, then Myra was the next most reasonable choice according to the Duke.

One by one guests began to emerge from the main door of Manor.

From El's description, these three guests are from Badira's pack. Their tanned hair, eyes with wide dark irises and even tanned skin signify where they came from, western asia.

Their clothes consist of a mixture of coats, cloth trousers, as well as t-shirts and scarves. The clothes came from here, because they came running as wolves. They were just carrying a small backpack that was currently held up by one of them.

The new duke was about to give a welcome, but their eyes were still busy looking around the Manor. That invalidated Duke's intentions. He politely waited for their focus to return.

But the time it took him was far longer than Duke had anticipated. It took about two minutes, before finally one of them looked towards the Duke with widened eyes.

Duke put on his best smile and reached out, "Welcome to the Blackmoon Pack, I am Duke Theobald" he said, in a firm yet friendly tone.

The tone he used to use, when signing a contract with a new singer.

The front man, did not directly welcome the Duke's hand. He looked and sniffed slightly with his nose, before finally smiling slightly and grabbing the Duke's hand.

The usual suspicious attitude. Duke might not even want to shake hands with another Alpha, if not for this particular situation.

"It's nice to meet you Alpha Theobald. I am Aygul Seperhr, Alpha from the Badira pack and this is Zhena Arana" he said, with a heavy voice and thick accent. His English skills are pretty good.

Then he pointed to a young man behind him "This is Akhtar Neelima, the younger brother of Arana" he said as the final introduction.

"Call me Duke, and this is Myra Theobald. Eldred, Beta is in this pack" Duke said quickly.

Aygul hands are warm, very typical of werewolves. The aroma consists of a mixture of sand and roses. A scent that Duke had never smelled.

Arana has a very strong aroma. The smell of the rose was very piercing the Duke's nose.

Did he bathe in the sea of roses before coming here? inner Duke with wonder. He had to reduce the strength of his nose to breathe normally.

Myra took them into the Manor, where she had a lavish dinner for guests. The pleasantries at dinner were pretty good. They were impressed with the equipment at Blackmoon.

Badira is not a big pack, but they are quite advanced. Aygul said he would learn a lot while he was here.

After that familiar dinner, they all moved towards the lounge in the middle of the Manor. Only Duke and Myra remained to accompany him, as El had returned to his post.

"Where is your Zhena Alpha Duke? I haven't seen him since" asked Arana, looking around.

"Yes. The news that I heard, you just got crowned as Alpha" Aygul continued with more relaxed. He had left his manners at the dining table.

"He's on top, but I'm sorry. He is sick so he cannot welcome you" the Duke said with a forced smile.

"Oh.. Forgive me" Arana said in a sympathetic tone, while putting her cup on the table.

"What pain?" aygul asked in wonder, not a presumptuous question, because werewolves rarely get sick.

"Hmmm. For sure he should take a complete rest" the Duke replied, reluctantly.

He was lazy to explain Lui's condition to them. Wh-wh-what for?

"Why do you keep humans here?" Akhtar suddenly cut sharply. His eyes were fixed on the Duke's tightly shut room door.

"Oh, did you kiss her too? I thought it was my wrong nose" Aygul laughed at his own jokes, because his nose could be sure it wouldn't go wrong.

He then took a deep breath, confirming the scent he had been smelling from earlier.

Myra and Duke glanced at each other, trying to find a reasonable answer.

But it's not Duke's skill to lie. He had already given Oscar a potion to dispel the body scent, but clearly Lui's scent was still smelled by them.

"Since that human being is my wife, that scent you smell is Zhena in this pack" the Duke said defiantly, preparing with all the bad words he would hear.

The three guests were shocked. They looked at each other before Aygul finally spoke.

"You married a human?" he said, still not believing.

"Yes, and she is an incredible human being" This time Myra also replied in a defensive tone.

"Ah.pardon us. I hope you're not offended by my question. It's just that your relationship is very unusual. I'm certainly interested"

Aygul apologized while raising his hand, when he noticed the change in Myra and Duke's face.

"Yes, this is very interesting. I didn't know the relationship was possible" Arana looked towards the closed door with widened eyes.

"Of course it's possible. We are the proof" replied the Duke shortly. His tone clearly implied if he did not wish to discuss this further.

"Can I meet him?" Arana apparently very bad at reading a sign of reluctance from the Duke.

"Maybe, if things are better. But for now not. I'm sorry" The Duke still tried to answer politely.

Aygul squeezed his wife's hand to stop the follow-up question. He reads the situation better.

"Oh, okay. I wish I could see her before we got home" Arana gave up and went back to drinking her coffee.

The conversation about Lui made the atmosphere a little clumsy. Myra finally invited them to rest in the room. For the werewolves, Myra put them in Manor. The ten rooms would be filled if they all came.

As if knowing the Duke had finished entertaining guests, his phone suddenly shook carrying news. The screen gave rise to the name El.

"They came" El immediately said the point, without greeting.

"Who? isn't there still a while left before the vampires arrive?" ask Duke.

"Werewolves, from Levana's pack. Two werewolves" El replied with an exasperated tone that could not be hidden. He hates the most something that doesn't go according to plan, as it is today.

Duke frowned, Levana should come tomorrow.

"They came running, not with the car as planned" El explained, reading Duke's silence as a question.

"Look...." Duke hissing doesn't like.

"And I'll tell you, their representative is not an Alpha, but a Beta who is also a Damsel. You know what that means, right?" El gave him a warning.

The Duke's grunts grew louder and louder to hear El's explanation.

Duke knows what that warning means. Beta who is also a Damsel is not surprising, but it means you will meet Damsel who is very accustomed to power since childhood and most likely spoiled.

It took more patience to deal with such a trait, and Duke was not having much patience at the moment. As usual.

Not yet had time to answer El, the aroma of mixed werewolf between the sun and also fire gave him a warning, the guests he was waiting for came.

So the Duke disconnects the call, and sees two werewolves with curious faces entering the Manor. Myra who had just appeared from inside, was shocked. But quickly, Myra changed her face to be polite.

The duke could immediately tell who the werewolf was meant by El, as he was the only siewolf in the entourage.

Her face was very distinctive, with a unique beauty, long black hair on the braids behind the head. His skin was tanned close to black, shiny with exotics under the light beam.

Unsurprising appearance as Levana pack is located in Africa. And one thing is very clear, the scent of power emanating from it is simply not to be underestimated.

The scenery will invite astonishment if there are humans who see, because his appearance looks like a beach volleyball athlete stranded on a snowy field.

"Well, look what we got!" he exclaimed in a high tone, instantly upon seeing the figure of the Duke standing upright welcoming him.

His eyes were a sharp gray glanced at Duke and Myra. He was wondering what the relationship was between them.

"Welcome to the Blackmoon Pack, I'm Duke Theobald" greeted Duke with the exact same tone and courtesy, to the extent that Myra thought it best if Duke would have prepared the tape from the beginning.

The duke ignored the eager exclamations from the woman, and chose to be official, as it was easier to do.

"Thank you, Alpha, My name is Kamaria Cynzia, Beta from Levana and Damsel" he explained with an eye view not separated from Duke.

He obviously liked the sight before him. An Alpha is very handsome, with a very seductive scent of strength.

"This is Shashi Ahmose, Delta of Levana" he continued, pointing to a bare-chested figure beside him.

Muscles that stood out, the magnitude of which was not inferior to Duke, his tanned eyes looked at the interior of the Manor from earlier. His face showed that he was much older than Kamaria.

"It's nice to meet you Beta Cynzia, Delta Ahmose, I'm Myra Theobald" Myra introduced herself as she reached out.

"Your mother? Ah... You still look very pretty for a mother's size"

Kamaria instantly decided to take a casual look at the Duke without being asked.

"Oh... Thank you for the compliment" Myra smiled happily.

Duke frowned, not disliking Kamaria's casual attitude, but he felt Kamaria was too imposing on them to be close.

That fact now looks a little unimportant now, as the phone is again vibrating. As a sign the vampire troupe is coming soon.

"Sorry, but we have to welcome another guest. I hope you don't mind if one of the omega's gonna take you to the room" Duke said.

This doesn't have to happen if you come on schedule, her mind. El's frustration rubbed off on him.

"Ah. it's okay Alpha. We were the ones who should have apologized for coming early" Shashi lowered his head in apology.

But Kamaria still looked towards the Duke with interested eyes.

The duke began to be uncomfortable with eyes that continued to follow his every move. Fortunately the Omega called Myra came soon, until the uncomfortable atmosphere quickly ended.

But because the Duke could not see from the back of the head, then the actions of Kamaria who kept looking at him while walking away were missed by the Duke. A determined look was once again cast by Kamaria before disappearing in the hallway.

"Blood is coming" El's voice rang out from a cell phone that Duke could finally answer.

"Alright, take them to Manor" the Duke said briefly.

Myra's face turned agitated upon hearing Duke's words.

"Are you sure you'll bring them here? They would immediately smell Lui's scent" he said, anxiously.

They had hoped Lui's scent would be disguised by the many werewolf scents in Manor, but it had been proven wrong.

Werewolf Badira may not have been too concerned about Lui's whereabouts after their explanation. Levana shows no signs of knowing, but vampires are completely unpredictable.

It was risky to invite him into Manor.

For the vampire guests themselves, Myra had prepared a special place for them to stay. Myra's gonna put them in El's new house.

As a Beta and being a gentry faction of course, El gets one big house next to the Manor. That house was Egon's former home. Myra had completely remodeled it, and the building now looked completely new.

El hasn't occupied it until now. Because of his busy life, he did not have time to clean up the business. Myra was overjoyed when she found out about this, without hesitation she asked El to borrow the house for a while, and El agreed to it instantly.

She has not had any ties to the place yet, she would not care if vampires would occupy it for a few days.

The house needed some adjustments before the vampire guests came, and Myra had already made quite a decent change, especially in the window section.

Myra ordered to close all the windows and vents with tarps so that no sunlight could enter.

He also considered providing the coffin as a bed, but Duke managed to prevent it. Because obviously it's all just a myth, Vampires don't sleep in coffins. Duke was pretty sure they were sleeping in an ordinary bed.

"How about we greet him at the front gate of Manor, then directly bring him to the house of El? They don't need to go inside the Manor" the Duke suggested, after a moment of silence.

Myra immediately nodded excitedly. "Good idea, come on!" he said as he walked out of the Manor in a hurry.

Unlike Badira and Levana who still seem wild, the vampires come in style. Two luxury MPV cars docked at Manor gate.

"I'm so grateful you stopped me from buying a coffin" Myra whispered, sounding relieved.

Looking at the car, it would be ridiculous if they were to sleep in a coffin. Duke just sighed hearing that.

The car door shifted open and the scent of blood spread all over. Maybe because of intuition or what, unlike when meeting a vampire outside the pack, Duke's hair stands up automatically. His instincts were immediately on full alert, and all his senses were maximally active.

And not just the Duke, as a low growl sounded from various angles.

The growls coming from the warriors guarding around Manor. They were also affected by the vampire's appearance.

The duke was instantly relieved, the scent of dead fish attached to Crispin was completely absent. Unlike the other creatures, Duke is rarely able to distinguish one vampire from another. They are usually pure blood-scented.

Crispin is a strange creature.

The other scent he smelled, clearly came from the three humans standing behind them.

The eyes of all vampires are red, with hair of various colors, ranging from blonde to jet black. But one trait that makes them similar. All are pale skinned.

And--- there was one figure who was now looking at him with widened eyes stunned.

The duke instantly recognized him back then especially from the wavy blonde ramut feature that stuck to his head. That's Sage Luther--Sal, the vampire he knew while living as David Adalrik.

The duke was close to cussing, but the red-eyed figure that was in front of him had reached out.

"Welcome to the Blackmoon Pack" Duke said, directly in the same professional tone. The vampire who reached out to Duke, looked more mature than Sal and the other vampires.

The vampire could not be said to be old, because like Myra, there were no wrinkles signifying old age. Only the effect of maturity distinguishes it from the rest.

"Thank you Alpha Theobald, I'm Arkin from the Claret family" the greeting came with a smile.

The duke greeted his hand and slightly flinched, as the hand was cold. Not cold as ice, but rather cold as a sign of death, as if the body he held was lifeless.

Ignoring the Duke's shock, Arkin continued. "And this is Oulam from the Roseate family".

Oulam who turned out to be Sal, stretched out his slightly trembling hand. The two female vampires who were behind him, were already busy whispering to each other. Duke could hear David's name being called by them.

"Just call me Duke" he said, casually.

This meeting was unexpected, but it was no big deal. They just have to pretend they don't know each other. Because it was clear Oulam also did not want his identity as Sal revealed in front of Arkin.

"Well Alpha" said Oulam, his eyes glistening at Duke's words.

But then Oulam was acting ordinary. He reprimanded the two women who had just whispered, with his eyes. And they obey immediately. Meaning they were both members of the Roseate Clan

Vampire clans are very different from werewolves, as they are clustered by family, not by pack ties. Arkin therefore introduced the family name in particular.

Arkin brought his sister and two bodyguards. Oulam took his wife and brothers.

If you look like this, they are like ordinary families who are traveling. But unfortunately their food is still alive and breathing.

The three humans stood awkwardly behind. And they look healthy, very healthy.

The Duke had thought, he would meet a thin and pale human lacking blood. But he was wrong, they looked fit. One of them even has a body like a bodybuilder with prominent muscles.

The Duke glanced at them at a glance, but did not say hello. He doesn't really like the idea of being vampire food, and frankly Duke still doesn't get out of his mind, how any human being would willingly do it.

"Your pack is beyond what I imagined Alpha to be, it's amazing"

Oulam who started to look relaxed, looked around excitedly.

He looked at the ice sculptures still standing around the Manor with interest. Oulam started acting like Sal that Duke had known.

"Thank you" said the Duke.

Admittedly, Oulam is definitely not as bad as other vampires, because I've never seen him kill a human. But that wasn't enough to lower his alert.

Behind the Duke, Myra was slightly tensely conversing with Oulam's wife, a red-haired woman with a light voice. This was in contrast to Oulam's heavy voice.

Arkin didn't say much on the way to El's house. But he seemed satisfied with Myra's arrangement, when he saw that the windows had been sealed shut.

"I hope you guys will be comfortable here" Myra said as she nodded politely.

"Thank You Mrs. Theobald, you're an amazing host" Arkin replied to Myra's impeccable courtesy.

"Oh...!" myra exclaimed slowly, a problem appeared in her mind, but she seemed hesitant to say it.

"What's the matter Mom?" asked the Duke while raising an eyebrow.

"Ehm... How many times do I have to bring food here?" he asked slowly, while staring at three humans who were enjoying the interior of the house El.

They did not answer, but looked at Arkin and Oulam.

"If you don't mind, come to Manor when mealtime arrives. We can eat together" Myra continued to see them mute.

That's a bad idea Mom, Inner Duke.

But he could not prevent his mother from doing good, because Oulam immediately smiled brightly at the proposal.

"Ah-that's a very generous offer Mrs. Theobald. They will gladly accept your invitation" he said, bowing respectfully.

"Ah, no. This is just a normal thing" Myra said with a smile, hearing Oulam's praise.

Duke complained inwardly, His mother is too kind.

"I'm happy to have the opportunity to meet you Alpha Duke" Oulam continued, looking at Duke meaningfully.

The Duke simply nodded politely and rushed out of El's house. They don't smell like Crispin, but smell the blood all that long, still making him nauseous.

Duke could imagine how awkward it would be to have breakfast at the big table.

Especially later coupled with other werewolf guests. If only Duke would have wanted to spend the morning with Lui.

But it was an empty hope that would not be able to materialize.