Chapter 2

"W-What do you want me to do, Your Highness?" Rachel asked seriously. As she told him before, she was willing and ready to do whatever Zarion ordered her to do. It's not just because she's a soldier of their pack, it's not just because they're childhood friends, it's because Zarion is occupying a special place inside her heart. Although she knew that it was just one-sided love and it was forbidden in the pack for a lowlife member like her to have a relationship with royal blood. "I-I'm always at your service."

"I want to sabotage Father's plans. But I can't do it alone. I need your help, Rachel," Zarion said and he even held Rachel's hands while speaking. He knew that what he wanted her to do was very dangerous. She is a soldier in their pack and he wanted her to betray the ruler. She could be sentenced to death if caught sabotaging his father's plans.

"No problem, Your Highness. I will do whatever you tell me to do," Rachel answered seriously but she immediately moved Zarion's hands away from her. She didn't want her feelings for him to grow more. He's special to her, but it's better if she will just keeps it inside her heart.

Zarion was happy to hear the answer of Rachel although he did not expect her to immediately agree to what he wanted.

"Don't worry, Your Highness. I'm always on your side and my loyalty is always with you," Rachel continued.

"Thank you very much, Rachel. This is very important to me, so I'm so glad you didn't hesitate to help me," Zarion answered seriously. He tried to touch Rachel's hands again but she immediately avoided him.

"I-I have to go back to my position, Your Highness. The other soldiers might be looking for me now," Rachel said immediately. "Just call me and give me the instructions on what to do."

Zarion noticed Rachel's actions as if she was avoiding him. He couldn't figure out why, as she wasn't like that before. Does she really think about her responsibility as a soldier of their pack or does she have other reasons?

When Rachel didn't hear an answer from Zarion, she then turned her back on him and quickly walked away.

Zarion was surprised by what Rachel did. He hasn't finished speaking yet. He only stopped for a moment as he thought of the reason why she seemed to be avoiding him.

***

It was ten o'clock in the evening, and all the participants in the selection process organized by the ruler of the Night Stalkers Pack had gathered. It was attended by different groups from different packs. They immediately went through the preliminary screenings and were checked if they had potential and deserved to be Zarion's mate.

Lio Zoler gave them trials and tests until only twenty-four of them were left. They are members of the Blue Moon Pack, Morning Warriors Pack, Dark Blood Pack, and the group called Survivors because it includes members from different packs.

Then, Lio Zoler invited the twenty-four participants and accompanied them to their respective rooms. They will stay at the camp of the Night Stalkers Pack until the selection process is over and Zarion chooses who he wants to mate with.

In the southern part of the camp, there is the Morning Warriors Pack which includes two female alphas, Mariz and Julie. There are also two omegas, Ria Chet and Adriana, and two betas named Rona and Sammy.

Ria Chet is a quiet-type omega and doesn't socialize much with others. She grew up with the idea that omegas shouldn't socialize with others, especially with alphas. All her life, she spent most of her time hunting and helping their pack to survive.

She knows that by participating in this event, her life will change, especially since she needs to communicate with her team because they came here to fight as a team. Each of them entered this competition not because they wanted to be mated to the son of the ruler of the Night Stalkers Pack but because they wanted their pack to achieve something. They wanted to give life to the Morning Warriors Pack that the world seems to have forgotten. No one pays any attention to them and when their pack is being discussed, they hear a lot of contempt and insults.

In the western part of the camp is the Dark Blood Pack, the mortal enemy of the Night Stalkers Pack. Despite the conflict between these two packs, Lio Zoler still welcomed them into the selection process without fear of what might happen. He was even happy when he heard that the Dark Blood Pack was interested in joining the event.

"Aren't you worried about the Dark Blood Pack's participation in the competition, Your Majesty? Aren't you afraid that they might cause trouble that will turn into a war?" Xander, Lio Zoler's long-time right-hand, asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, Xander. Everything is under control," Lio Zoler answered with full confidence in his voice. "You seem to have forgotten that I planned all this and they are here at the camp of the Night Stalkers Pack. My game, my rules, Xander."

Xander just nodded as he understood what the Lycan King meant.

A few moments later, Lio Zoler opened the four large monitors in front of them and revealed to Xander the video of four groups that consists of the twenty-four finalists of the selection process. There are cameras in each room of the four groups and from the monitor in front of Lio Zoler and Xander, they can see what they are doing and what is happening inside.

"And to get rid of your fear, Xander, watch carefully about what will happen next," Lio Zoler continued while pointing to the monitor of the western part of the camp where the members of the Dark Blood Pack were.

Meanwhile, the members of the Dark Blood Pack named Rose, Lucy, Irene, Sonia, Wizzy, and Maribel are currently talking about their plans. They are talking about what they will do while they are inside the camp of the Night Stalkers Pack. They came here not because of the opportunity to become the Lycan Prince's mate but to overthrow their long-time enemy, the Night Stalkers Pack.

The Dark Blood Pack immediately grabbed the opportunity when they found out that they were welcome to join the selection process and they sent their strongest members. And at this point, they are indeed the strongest of the four groups. Out of the six of them, only one is an omega, it is Wizzy. They were also joined by one of the strongest female alphas in the world named Maribel, so from the very beginning, the other groups were already afraid of them. But in the middle of their conversation, something happened that they didn't expect.

The six of them inside the western part of the camp were surprised when their room suddenly locked and the windows suddenly closed as well.

"What's happening?" Rose asked surprisingly.

Maribel immediately checked what could possibly be happening and only one thing immediately came to her mind.

"They set us up," Maribel said seriously. Her voice was firm but there was still a sense of calmness. She wanted to show her members that as a leader, she can handle any situation that they will face. "They locked us up, which means they wanted to control us."

"What are we going to do now?" Wizzy, Maribel's partner in crime, immediately asked.

"We will play along with them. We will fight them using our brains and I'm confident that we can outsmart them," Maribel answered with full confidence in her voice.

In the Eastern part of the camp, there is a group of survivors that includes six members who came from three different packs. Hilda and Alexa are finalists from the Full Moon Pack, Carla, and Ruby are from the Valley Stone Pack and Eden and Silvia are from the Spirit Walkers Pack.

Right from the start of their sharing in the same room, there was immediate tension between them as Silvia got into a verbal fight against Hilda. This was after Hilda joked with Silvia that she was her type.

Silvia didn't like that as she felt that she was being insulted and she almost slapped Hilda.

Eden immediately intervened to stop her colleague Silvia and she succeeded.

Alexa also approached them but Hilda did not show any aggressiveness. She just wants to annoy Silvia as she was happy when she sees her cheeks turn red because of anger.

A few moments later, as they started to fix themselves, they also experienced what happened to the other groups. The door of their quarters and the windows were also locked suddenly.

In the northern part of the camp, the five members of the Blue Moon Pack are currently waiting for their sixth member.

"It took a while for our sixth member to arrive," Luza said impatiently. "Can't we go to our quarters first?"

"That's not possible, Luza," Honey immediately answered, who was next to Luza. "The King's instructions state that we must be complete when we go to our quarters. So we have to wait for her no matter how long it takes."

Luza's face was full of frustration. She just sat down and chose to remain silent while waiting for their sixth member who they didn't know yet.

Their group consists of three female alphas, Luza, Honey, and Alice who came from the same clan with the bloodline of the rulers of the Blue Moon Pack. Hanna and Katherine, on the other hand, are omegas who came from a considered low-class clan of their pack.

They still waited and after a while, they saw a woman approaching them. She looks strong and looks like a man while walking. They stood up except for Hanna as they noticed that she looked like she was skilled in fighting.

"Am I late?" The woman's voice was sarcastic as she approached the five members of the Blue Moon Pack.

"At last, you already arrived. Do you know that we've been waiting for you for an hour now?" Luza said with an annoyed gesture.

"Wait, are you a member of the Blue Moon Pack or just an impostor?" There was doubt in Honey's voice as she turned to look at their sixth member.

"I'm Rachel. From the Quintana Clan at the far end of the camp of the Blue Moon Pack," the newly arrived woman formally introduced herself. "I'm an omega but I'm a soldier and I'm an expert in hand-to-hand battle and also, I've already mastered archery."

"Really? Is what you're saying really true or you're just lying?" There was also doubt in Luza's voice. She was still not convinced as she looked at Rachel from head to toe. "I'm sure you just forged your documents to enter this event. And you're not really a member of the Blue Moon Pack."

"The Quintana Family is a family friend of ours but I have never heard the name, Rachel. I also never heard of a soldier in the Quintana Clan." Alice, who had been just listening, also spoke.

"Because I'm their long-lost princess that's why you don't hear anything about me," Rachel answered with annoyance in her voice. She was so taken aback by what the three female alphas of the Blue Moon Pack were saying, that she was able to answer them with annoyance in her voice. Yes, it is true that she is not really a member of the Blue Moon Pack, but she feels that they did not welcome her properly. She doesn't deserve this kind of treatment as a soldier of the Night Stalkers Pack.

Hanna and Katherine, who had been ignored by the three female alphas, immediately approached Rachel as they noticed that she was already annoyed because of what she was hearing from their three colleagues.

"Don't mind them, Rachel. That's what they really are since they are alphas of our pack," Katherine whispered after she got close to Rachel.

"What did you say, lowlife omega?" Luza shouted as she barely heard what Katherine said. Her eyes were glaring as if she wanted to eat her alive as she slowly approached her. "Do you think I didn't hear what you said? But I want you to repeat it in front of me."

Katherine didn't answer and just bowed down to Luza when she got close to her. Luza was about to hit her but Rachel immediately blocked her.

"Go ahead!" Rachel shouted, challenging Luza as she met her glaring eyes. "If you want to start fighting right here, right now, go ahead with what you're planning to do."