Rhys’s P.O.V

"Connect," I said, shoulders tensing. This couldn’t be good news.

Zyane booted up the laptop that sat on my desk and connected it to the large plasma screen on the opposite wall so that I was facing the screen directly. After adjusting the webcam and sound devices he proceeded to make the call. A few short seconds later, the screen divided into two parts and the faces of the two Alphas came into view.

Devon was fare skinned with what we liked to call "pretty boy" looks, completed with blond hair and blue eyes; while Aiden had mocha skin and black hair and dark brown eyes. But both were equally powerful, dominant male wolves and they were also the only two packs present in China. Separately, their packs didn’t come close to my strength, but if they ever joined forces, they will become the strongest pack in the planet with almost six hundred wolves under their command. Fortunately, they were too egoistic to submit to one another, so those two uniting any time soon would be out of the question.

"You wanted a conference?" I asked with my eyebrows raised, waiting to get this over with as soon as I possibly could. Part from being power hungry and cunning, these two also loved to bicker like a married couple and it as the most unpleasant thing I’d ever had the pleasure of watching.

This time I had no doubt there was a female involved. Both were also equally big man whores and the competition between them was endless. But they usually complained to me separately; never together like they’re doing now.

"We...well...we have some news to share…" Devon said hesitantly.

I frowned. This was definitely not going to be good. "Go on."

"You know we have our spies on the China border, to make sure there are no rouges hiding in unusual places?" Aiden asked me.

"Yes" I said, "I left that for you to deal with. Don't tell me you’ve failed in your mission?” My temper rose at the thought. We have enough roughs around already; we don't need more from India to cross over through China.

"No," he hesitated so Devon took over for him, "We had reports of a few wolf sightings in the Middle Himalayas...so we followed them."

"Wolves in the Middle Himalayas? But wolves are usually found in the southern or Lesser Himalayan ranges, not the Pir Panjal," I said confused.

"That's why we followed them by sending some of our best spies after them. We even kept a mind link so we would know what they found, but…" Aiden said and then, "…but out of the eight wolves that we sent...none returned. We lost total contact with them a few minutes ago." Devon finished.

A sense of dread settled in my stomach. Spies are specially trained to endure any kind of hardship. Typhoons, tornados or avalanches…they were trained to survive them all. The fact that eight of them were missing at the same time without any hint of a natural calamity was no joke.

"But," Devon said, "The last image we got through the mind link…before they…God I don’t even know if they’re still alive...the link holds complete silence!” He chocked. I could understand what he was going through; spies were outstanding fighters, but more than that, it was the loss of several packmates that hurt the most. Pack was family. Pack came above everything else.

“What did they see?” I urged; this wasn’t just about curiosity; it was about detecting any new threats.

It was Aiden who finished that sentence. “The last things that our spies saw before the bond was terminated…was a white wolf."

*

*

White wolf:

Red.

Under its paws. On the ground.

Liquid red.

Heat scorched the snow, although it wasn't enough to melt, it still obscured the purity of the grounds the wolf stood on.

The human side would have wanted to question the intruders, but the wolf didn't understand reason, it believed in the most severe kind of judgment. It knew only to kill. To protect its own.

Dead.

Before they could even understand what was happening, all eight of them were lying on the ground drowning in their own blood.

The temperature chilled. Snow began to fall again, heavily.

Within a few hours, there will be no trace of the blood and gore, or the bodies.

All that will be left would be clear, unadulterated, snow.

And a wolf, just as white as the ground it stood on.

The white wolf, the most feared wolf in the world.