Agitation strummed through me from my wolf. He paced and snapped and snarled at the spot where our female once rested. It was empty and cold now, there was nothing there to indicate we had ever had a female. I ground my teeth together and suppressed the rumble that was growing in my chest. Months, she had been gone for months. I knew someone on the territory had taken her away, had stolen her from me. Not just that they had taken my heir as well. She had been five months pregnant when she had been taken.

I had grown more and more agitated and frantic with her missing and then the plague had happened and I had become incensed. My mind had twisted and turned with the worry for my heir, because when it happened, she was suddenly gone from against my soul. In an instant she had disappeared. I feared that she had fallen to the plague, the sickness that killed our children in the wombs. I feared that both she and my son were gone. I couldn't replace her. I couldn't.

I ground my teeth together once more, clenching my hands tighter on the steering wheel. She had been perfect. Submissive, subservient, and cared only about me. I had moulded her into the perfect female to stand beside me. She had been a shining beacon to my pack and the sub-territories we had. A mere common female turned into what would hold the pack's future. She had been everything I had wished for in a female, in a mate. Lilith had made my world brighter and sweeter.

She had been everything to me, to my pack. The sterility plague had come down on us nearly two months after she had disappeared and I hoped and prayed that she had been far enough away that my heir was alive, that she was alive. I knew that if they were both alright, he would have been born by now. A few weeks old at the oldest. My wolf snarled inside my head, his anger at his lost mate palpable. Our future was gone, taken away from us. We knew someone had taken her from us. Lilith never would have left on her own, she had been happy to walk her life with me. She had been happy because she couldn't be anything else. She had been so fucking perfect.

She had never argued, never challenged me, she accepted all that I was and everything I had planned for her. There was no replacing that. I knew no other female could take her spot and I just wanted to find her. I refused to believe she was gone, that her soul was gone forever. With or without my heir I wanted her back. The sterility plague was battering at us but I still needed my female so we could try again. I hoped my son was okay, that the future of my pack was secured but without Lilith I knew that if he wasn't, then our future was gone completely. I couldn't allow that to happen.

It wasn't just the plague that hounded us. There had been a 'blessing', the mother goddess decided to showcase her strength and allowed for a single breaking of bond, a chance to try again. Rebellious females were using it to leave. They had no right to walk away from their lives, from their males. They knew the hierarchy, they knew their place, yet they still ran, the cursed words echoing in the air as they did so. The goddess took our children from the wombs of our females and then took away our females. Not all of them but enough. Six females in my pack alone had ran. It was why I was now heading for Altia.

I had been nominated to speak to the Head Priestess by the coalition of packs I was within. It had been created to preserve our ways of life and I knew it was an honour to be given such a mantle as to represent us all within the heart lands but I felt no love for the goddess. She had taken my future from me and while I hoped and prayed my female was okay, that my heir was secure, she still allowed them to be taken from my reach.

I had spared no expense to bring her back. I had searched and I continued to search. I had even paid off an illegal rogue that had been sniffing around my territory. I had paid him to look for her, to seek out any information about her and where she could have gone. Once the other females had left I had paid him to track them down too. My investment into him had been fruitful and two of the females had been returned to their punishment. They had betrayed their males and the pack and that required punishment. However he had not found anything about my Lilith. There had been no sign, no trace, nothing about her. He had come up empty handed where she was concerned.

He had mocked me for it too, laughing as he derided me.

Funny that you claim to be the strongest when you can't keep hold of a single female.

I had wanted to strike at him. I wanted to take his throat between my jaws and snap his pathetic neck but I knew I needed his help in tracking down the other lost females. I still looked though. I sent out flyers, spread the word to all the packs I could about my lost female. She would be returned to me, just as the two runaway females had been returned. There was no other option that was available.

I slowed the truck as I stared stone faced at the buildings that came into view. I despised Altia. I despised all it represented and all that it meant. Mene had shown no favour to me with taking Lilith and my heir from my grasp and then cursing us with that damned 'blessing'. Our healers had left as well, shortly after the sterility plague. They had told us they had no answers and then left us with the cold grief of our lost futures. We couldn't keep the moon touched shifters within the coalition. They were too close to the hunters and having those bastards sniffing around with their fucking census was bad enough. We couldn't force the healers to stay, so they had left and taken most of our hope with them.

Everything was falling apart. It had started with Lilith and I knew that once I found her and brought her home that it would be fixed. Everything would be set to right once she was back by my side. I knew my brother wanted me to give up but he didn't understand. He had yet to train a female for himself. He could never understood the significance and perfection that Lilith had been for me. Once our parents and I found him a suitable female and he could walk the traditions with her, train her to be the perfect female, he would understand.

I parked the truck as I narrowed my eyes at the large statue of the veiled female we called our goddess. She held a staff in one hand and a sword in her other. There was no justice within her actions. If there was, Lilith would never have been taken. I ground my teeth together and gripped the steering wheel tighter before I rolled my head on my shoulders, pushing all my aggression back. I had come here to represent the packs, to represent us all and ask the Head Priestess what was causing the sterility plague, what was causing our females to lose our futures.

It was like their wombs were toxic, unable to hold life within them. Stillborn after stillborn had been born. None had been born alive, all of them had died and come within a mere two weeks. Death piled on death. Futures taken away and left to rot in the ground. Now there was nothing. No pregnancies, no continuations. Even the females' cycles had stopped. It was like their ability to create and house life had been forced to a grinding halt. It needed an explanation, there needed to be a reason, a why.

We deserved that much.

I shut off the truck and got out. I hated how the territory made me feel. I felt like I was being watched with an intense sort of hostility. I rolled my shoulders and my head once more before I looked around. I couldn't see anyone so I scanned the buildings. My eyes caught sight of a dilapidated building, the paint was peeling but I could still read the big letters that spelled out bar. I headed for it, running my hand through my hair as my wolf gave a dark snarl, pacing aggressively as he brushed against the spot that Lilith once occupied.

I shoved open the bar door, it hit a bell with a hollow clank. The inside was dark and there were faded posted and beer bottle labels all over the walls. I could also see beer caps pounded into various wooden spaces around the interior. It looked like the worst kind of dive bar you could find.

"I'm just saying, Tara, what if she is out there like sprouting about curses and things dead people are talking to her about?" A large blond male was wiping down some glasses as he laughed. "You have to admit she's totally like a non-high version of the Oracle of Delphine." He gave another heavy chuckle and I spotted another male as he lifted his head from his book.

"Delphi, Tim, not Delphine." At the rumbling correction the other male snapped his towel at the front of the book as he grinned.

"I'm glad at least one of you is well-read." A female came out from a swinging door near the back. She carried a tray of glasses that clattered together as she set it onto the counter. "That being said, Ambris said she's doing alright and that's enough." She wiped her hands on her apron with a firm nod. I dismissed her with a faint sniff, she wasn't important enough for me to take notice of. It was the males I was interested in. I would bet good money on them being ranked members, either Beta or Alpha at least. Which was curious that they were in Altia of all places.

The blond male let out a slight sigh as he picked up a glass from her tray. "I kinda miss her. Not gunna lie."

"Oh please." At the scoff I turned up my lip. Too many females outside of the packs had no understanding of propriety or hierarchy. They were loose lipped and had no self-respect. They should have been taught better by their mothers, by their packs, they needed to know their place.

"I'm serious! She brought a bit of much needed chaos to the territory. You miss that after it's gone." The blond male set his glass down before grabbing another one.

"Chaotic females cause problems." I couldn't help the sharp tone that I took as I said it. It was the truth, chaos was abhorrent but a chaotic female was worse. There was never a good type of chaotic female. All issues could be attributed to chaotic females, females who refused to follow the natural order of things.

He looked over and met my gaze. His eyes narrowed slightly before he gave a small smile. "Bit early for drinking." I could feel his entire countenance turn icy as he looked at me.

"What female are you talking about?" I walked towards the bar and I became aware that the dark haired male was looking at me over his book.

The two males looked at one another before the dark haired one set his book down. "A walk through. We get a fair few of those, hard to keep track of names." The words were clipped and cold as he crossed his arms over his chest.

I copied the gesture, making my posture straighter as I looked at him. "The name Lilith mean anything to you?" I watched them carefully and the blond one bared his teeth slightly.

"Never heard of her and if I had. I wouldn't fucking tell you." He looked me up and down, a feeling of apparent disgust radiated off of him and I scoffed.

"You don't even know me." He was clearly a male of decent blood, the fact he was judging me of all people was irritating.

"Exactly. I don't fucking know you and our business and customers are none of your fucking concern, you arrogant old way prick." He spat the words at me with a heavy amount of vitriol that I was surprised at. He was an Alpha male, he should have respected my own position.

I narrowed my eyes at his blatant prejudice. He was just another coward who had turned his back on the natural order of our world. It was no wonder he was living among the useless in Altia. "That is Alpha-"

"Alpha I don't give a shit about your fucking name and title. I'm Alpha Henderson, he's Alpha Briston, and we don't smear that shit around as if it entitles us to shit we don't deserve." He sneered as he gestured to the black haired male who gave me a cold smile.

"Welcome to Altia. Your title means jack shit here." A heavy rumble erupted from his chest as he narrowed his eyes at me "You should probably leave before our patience runs out." He lifted his chin, curling his lip up to show his canine.

"I have a feeling you have seen her." Their reactions were all that I needed. I was positive they had seen her and I wouldn't leave until I had every bit of information I could on her. My wolf snapped and snarled, urging me to kill them for hiding Lilith from me, for daring to lie to me about it

"We see a lot of people but a Lilith has never come through here. Some Lilys, some Liams, never a Lilith." The female crossed her arms over her chest and my jaw twitched at her audacity. Females were not permitted to speak unless they were addressed.

"You speak when spoken to, female." I allowed my dominance to shove at her, demanding she bow down and realize her place. She was not permitted to speak in my presence.

I was aware that the two males were giving low growls at my statement but I didn't care. If they wouldn't teach her, her place. I would. "Get the fuck out of my bar." The words were dark and rasping and I glanced over. An older female was moving towards us from what looked to be a staircase. A horrific scar twisted up her face, clearly making her blind in one eye and a cloud of smoke erupted from her mouth from her cigarette.

I bared my teeth at her. This is what happened when our traditions were tossed aside. Rebellious females who dared to go against the natural order. "Do I need to repeat myself?" I shifted my feet, staring at her intently. The other female reached for her but the older female shoved her hand away as she pulled the cigarette from her mouth.

"No, I heard your sexist bullshit the first time. This is my damn bar and if you don't get out I am going to make you wish you had as I shove a broken pool cue through your skull. Test me, male, I fucking dare you." The female pointed at me as she stubbed out her cigarette, her voice cold and brittle. "I have killed more males than you can possibly imagine. I have watched them explode in my rage and you are testing that right now." Her voice was low and controlled and I scoffed. Fucking pathetic old bitch. She had nothing to back her up and she believed I cared about her threats.

"She is my employee, underneath my protection, and you are treading on that." A rumble came from her chest that had my wolf snapping his jaws and letting out a predatory rumble. Females were not permitted to threaten me like she was. She needed to be tuned in.

"She, like you, is a rebellious bitch that needs-"

"Shut your fucking mouth, male, before I close it personally." She stalked around me in a wide circle, as if trying to get me to shift my position and retreat to the door.

"I'd like to see you try." As if she could do anything. She was a pathetic female bitter about her damned face. No male would ever want her and I could tell it was grating on her.

She reached the beat up pool table and grabbed a pool cue. She snapped it over her knee with a sharp crack, the wood nearly splintering before she pointed a jagged end at me. "I fucking warned you." She advanced and her eyes were steely with something that unsettled me and I found myself backing up. She was intent on doing what she wanted and she wasn't entirely predictable.

I stopped my retreat and narrowed my eyes as I set my jaw. "Fuck you, you crazy bitch." I would put her in her place, unpredictable or not. She would be shown where females belonged.

"I'll show you fucking crazy." I could nearly see her hackles raised as she advanced on me, the two halves of the broke pool cue in her hands. I could see her knuckles as they went white and I shifted my feet, ready to meet her head on.

"Enough, Tulip." At the sharp and strong order the female stopped, her eyes flicking to someone behind me.

"My territory, priestess, my employees, my rules." She spat the words out, her hands shaking as she held the broken pool cue. I sneered at that. Pathetic female. She was probably scared, she was all bluster and no actual action. "You agreed to that." She stared at me, her nostrils flaring that scar of hers making her face look twisted. I couldn't imagine what male would ever want to look at her with her face like that.

"I did but this male is not for you to destroy." The words were cold and a harsh prickling cascaded across my skin as a female moved around me. Her eyes were cold and her expression was harsh as she looked at me. She was dressed in a dark grey robe before she pointed to the door. "Out." The order was grating and I narrowed my eyes at her. I was not to be ordered around by a female. I opened my mouth to respond when she grabbed my jaw and wrenched my face down. "Do not test me, whelp. You came here seeking me, remember? Now get out." She shoved my face away before she moved passed me, heading for the door. It was clear she expected me to follow her.

I didn't want to but I knew that I had to. I had come here for a reason and sadly that was to speak to the Head Priestess. It was my job to get answers. I threw a dark look at those that lingered in the bar before turning on my heel and stalking after the Head Priestess. I shoved through the door to see that the blue sky was no clouded over and deary looking.

The robed priestess stared at me, her hair swirling around her as that prickling once again rolled over me. I stalked to stand in front of her. "This is not your territory, male. You do not get to come and go as you please. This is Altia. You come here seeking an audience with me you wait until it is granted." Her eyes flashed with power and thunder rumbled ominously overhead. I lifted my chin looking down at her. I didn't care about her rules or if she felt I had slighted her. Just because she served our goddess it didn't mean she was more than me.

"I come for my own reasons." I had learned that Lilith had come here, that she had been here and I would find out where she was and then I would collect her, as was my right

"I know very well why you come." Her eyes narrowed further and the thunder rumbled loud enough that it had me a bit wary to be standing out in the open like we were. I glanced upwards but the dark clouds didn't seem to be keen on dropping rain on us like they were threatening to. "Yes, your female was here. She came bleeding and at death's door." Her words had me snapping back to look at the Head priestess. Her expression was severe but there was a heavy truth to her words. "Your heir is dead and your female is too. She died with him." The words were blunt and I narrowed my eyes.

"I don't believe you." Females were spiteful and petty. She hadn't liked my breach of her etiquette and she was retaliating for it.

"Of course you wouldn't but that doesn't make it any less true. Your female died shortly after she arrives here. She is no more, she is gone. Your own soul knows this." She tilted her chin upwards as she looked at me. There was a harshness to her voice that had my eyes narrowing. "She is gone and Mene has made sure you will never have another female to... train. That blessing will never touch you, Adam. You do not get a second chance." Her mouth twitched upwards into a rather emotionless smile. I didn't care about that. She was lying. I could feel it. Lilith was still alive.

"As if I would believe you." I scoffed as I looked at her, not able to hide my sneer. This territory was a waste of time and energy. It was better to be wiped away completely.

"It matters not to me if you do or don't. The truth is the truth." She snapped it out right as another rumble of thunder shook the air. "As for your questions. I cannot help you with your 'sterility plague'. Things happen for a reason and perhaps you should look inwards for a cure. Mene has provided me with no information and no reasons. Perhaps you are asking the wrong person for answers." Her abrupt position on the sterility plague had me bristling. I hadn't asked about it so there was no reason she should have known.

A low growl rumbled my chest as I leaned towards her, letting my dominance wash out from me to slam into her. "Futures are dying." Babies were dying, nothing was able to survive our female's wombs. There was an answer and her casual dismissal of that pain was not acceptable neither was her casual disregard for my position was just as bad.

"You say it as if I care. You do not care for Altia, my lands. Why should I care for yours?" She tilted her head as she looked at me, slowly crossing her arms over her shoulders.

"You are a spiteful bitch." I spat on the ground at her feet and her arms slowly uncrossed as she looked at me.

She blinked slowly as she met my gaze. "Perhaps you need a reminder as to just who I am, male." Each words came out clipped right before a heavy dominance slammed into me. It wasn't hers, she carried none, but it was too much and I grunted, hitting my knees as it shoved me down further and further towards the ground. The sky opened up and a deluge of rain slammed down onto the ground around us. "This is the land of the goddess and I am her voice. My word is her law. You do not come into her lands and disrespect me nor the goddess." A hand gripped the back of my neck and the Head Priestess lifted my head from the ground before she grabbed my jaw, wrenching my face up so she could look down into my eyes.

"Listen carefully, male. The sterility plague only affects you and your own. No other packs suffer as you do. You need to look inwards to find your cure. You won't find it. I can tell you that now. It will not be you that finds it, you are too far gone. The same for the rest of your coalition." Her words were icy and I wanted to pull my jaw from her hand, wanted to shove away from the dominance shoving me down from all sides but I couldn't. I felt trembling and weak, it was a humiliation to have this female hold me to the ground like she was. "I will state that perhaps it is not your female's who are toxic. Perhaps it is your ways. Fix this yourself. You will have no help from the goddess nor me." She lifted her chin, looking down on me further as rain fell heavily around us. She looked untouched by the deluge and I felt sodden and cold right to my core from the icy rain.

"Get off my territory and do not come back. You have no rights to Altia, not anymore." She let me go and my forehead pressed against the grass as I tried to struggle against the dominance that was still shoving me down. I didn't know where it was coming from but I could feel it burning against my skin hotly. I struggled to breathe as it attempted to crush me into the dirt and I gave a heavy groan as my wolf snapped and snarled, trying hard not to whimper at the pain he was in from the force of the dominance on us.

As soon as it had appeared it was gone and the rain stopped. It felt eerie as I slowly got to my knees. My body ached like I had never felt before and I was soaked through to my bones. I felt like I would never get warm again and I clenched my jaw tightly to prevent my teeth from clattering together. I struggled to my feet, it took several times before I could manage to get them underneath me. I staggered back to the truck, anger and rage rolling through me but I had to leave, there was something within me and my wolf telling me we had to get off the territory or that dominance would come back and it would crush us into dust.

I felt humiliated at the retreat, feeling as though I was tucking my tail and running but I couldn't stop myself from getting into the truck. I turned it on and left, spitting wet gravel as I did so. I wiped at my face, trying to clear my eyes from the rain water that rolled over my face from my hair. I growled low and heavy in my chest as I slammed my hand against the steering wheel. It had been useless and had fallen apart. I had been left humiliated and beaten by a female. No one could ever find out about that.

My cell phone rang and I grabbed it, answering the call quickly as I ground my teeth together. "What?!" It came out like a snarl and I shoved my wet hair from my face.

"Someone found her, Adam." Steve's voice was even and the bottom of my stomach dropped out.

"Are you sure?" I couldn't help how vicious the question was as it came out. I refused to get my hopes up, I refused to be taken for a fool again. This wasn't the first time someone had claimed to have Lilith. I wouldn't entertain the idea unless they were sure.

"We are about ninety percent sure it is her." He said it evenly and my wolf snapped in my head. I knew that bitch had been lying!

"Where?" I snarled as I said it, unable to help the sound. She was alive and I wanted to get her. He needed to tell me where she was so I could retrieve her.

"You need to come home and plan this out before I tell you anything." I hated how he kept his tone so even and calm. I always hated that about him. He never got rattled, never showed any true emotion. He was the perfect Beta but at times I wanted to take his throat between my jaws.

"Steve, do not fucking test me right now!" That was the last thing he needed to do. I was not in the mood. I was still tinged with humiliation and rage at what had happened on the cursed territory. No one would ever know what that fucking priestess did and I would make sure of it. However, my brother needed to tell me where the fuck my female was and he would tell me.

"I don't want you running in blind and dying. Come home and we will make a plan." He ended the call and I threw my cellphone. It cracked against the other door and I knew I broke it as U gave a snarling shout of agitation. I grabbed the steering wheel, narrowing my eyes as I pressed my foot down heavier on the gas.

I would get home and then I would go and get my female. I narrowed my eyes to slits as I ground my teeth together. And I would kill anyone who dared to stand in my way.