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Wolfariane Daminor Throne was pacing the floors of his meeting Hall. He is in rage.

Alphose sat like an invisible figure in the room, waiting for the Alpha King to talk. He knows that a volcano is building inside their King, but he has no idea what could be the cause of all these.

He watched the way Wolfariane clenched and unclenched his hands, gritted and ungritted his teeth, flexing and unflexing his claws. Eyes changing from blue, to amber-gold, to green. The silence was deafening

Finally, he turned and faced Alphose. "My ring has been stolen."

"The one given to you by your mother?"

"Is there any other special ring I have that I'm unaware of, Alphose?" Cold angry eyes met the cougar Alpha.

"No, of course not. Forgive my insolence." Man, is he on edge. "Do you have any idea how it happened?"

Wolfariane bared his teeth angrily, "It was in the nightclub. I have an idea who it might be."

"You do?" Relief filled Alphose. If he does have an idea, that means the ring will be rediscovered.

"I saved a woman from two attackers the night before. I did not associate with any other non-changeling, so, it has to be one of those two attackers."

"Should I send out the wolf warriors or the lion warriors? We will go back to New York City and—"

"Do not worry about it. I will hunt them myself." He stated baldly.

That's bad. Very bad.

"What about the basic rules?" Alphose felt he needed to ask. The basic rules that holds every changeling that steps out of Naturiah;

1. No sniffing humans.

2. No fucking females unless they gave their consent.

3. No attacking or hurting non-changelings unless attacked first.

4. Only shift forms when it's ABSOLUTELY necessary, and do it away from human eyes...unless she's Mate.

5. Curb your basic instincts no matter how driving they become, for a better coexistence with humans.

6. No matter what you are doing, no matter how busy you are, come home before every full moon.

With a few other rules....

"The basic rules do not apply here. They stole what belongs to me. These men dare to take something that belongs to me. I will hunt them and I will rip them apart after I have my ring back." He laid out in a calm, deadly voice.

"Should I book a flight for you?"

"No. I have a meeting with the Betas tonight, those who desire to be lieutenants, and the night of the morrow." Wolfariane stopped and faced him, "In two days time, I will go hunting."

Alphose wanted to ask him for the details of the events of the night before; Why did he cut short their business appointments? How bad what happened was for him to tether on the very edge of losing all control so badly that he had to take his animal forms alternatingly and run all the way from New York City back to Naturiah? A forty hours journey by flight?

But, one look at him made Alphose swallow his concerns down. If the black mood is a person, that will be the Alpha King right now.

But, who will dare to take his special ring?

Two days later, Ismena laid on the hospital bed while the doctor examines her.

"Your heart rate is surprisingly normal, even without the catheter to keep your arteries open, the blood flow to your heart is better." The doctor was looking surprised, "I will say it's more improvement than I expected."

"Really!? I'm recovering?" Ismena leaned up hopefully, "Am I getting better, doctor? Does it mean I'm no longer gonna die?"