The Headmaster Alpha's Mate
The Headmaster Alpha’s Mate Chapter 121

As the sun began to set, Faith and Luke hugged Peter, as they made their way through the secret underground tunnels, that let from Peters quarters to beyond the borders of the council pack lands.

“Good Luck.” Peter whispered.

He would never be more grateful to anyone as he was to the Beta’s of the Crescent Moon pack. They had risked a lot to come to the Council to warn him about the impending attack. The corridors of werewolf power were never more dangerous than they were right now. Spies hung around every corner, ready to give information to the highest bidder. Peter hardly trusted himself, let alone anyone else in this place. The only way to survive was to try and be one step ahead, along with the dissemination of false information, and hope that the things he wanted to remain secret would do so, keeping valuable information away from Amanda Bines. He, of course, had his own spies located in the enemy packs around the UK, feeding back valuable information to him, and those who were stood with him on the side of equality and justice for all. However, even then, he was not sure who he could or could not trust. Who of their number actually wanted change, and who were just playing l*p service to it biding their time to see who would be the ultimate winner of this war?

Gaining this new information from Faith and Luke, brought from the girl Liane, proved that his spy’s were not privy to a lot of decisions, which made him suspicious about the information he had been given and the authenticity of it. The big question in his mind, was simply, was he being deceived by his own people, those he had put the upmost trust in? Or did they genuinely not have the intel to give him?

He let out a soft sigh, he would need to be even more cautious, playing his cards close to his chest, trusting nobody, who worked in the council, whether as a member, or even those who cleaned the place, even those who said they supported the cause.

Lifting up the collar of his thick black wool coat, Peter walked through the dark cold, narrow tunnels, back towards his own quarters, he could not accompany Faith and Luke to the exit, he could not be away for to long without drawing suspicion. Above anything else, Peter believed that he must keep their enemy’s eyes focused elsewhere, he could not afford to show them, that he knew what was planned, or that he suspected any sort of attack on him. He needed the Ullswater sympathisers, to think they had the upper hand, until he could formulate a plan to ensure his own survival, thus maintaining the road to a free and fair election. If he moved to quickly, or reacted in anyway to this news, he would alert those who wanted to destroy him, along with the King and Queen, and this would bring the whole war forward, and they had precious little time as it was.

Peter reached the doorway, that led into the rear of his closet in his bedroom, and silently entered, removing his coat, he grabbed a hand full of clothes, just in case anyone was waiting outside, then entered his bedroom.

Peter let out a sigh of relief, nobody was in his room, and everything was just as it was when he left, he quickly changed for dinner, then headed down to the council dining hall, and joined the rest of the members, hoping that Faith and Luke were free and clear, and well away from this place, under the cover of dusk, where eery shadows would help cover their presence , as they made their way back to Crescent Moon under the cover of darkness. Settling down for his meal, Peter kept his face a stoic mask, hoping that the intruder alarm would not be triggered, indicating that Faith and Luke had been discovered. All he could do now was wait, and hope they got away safely, and should the alarm go off, try and create a diversion, or ensure that his personal guards go investigate, to ensure that Faith and Luke escape, but that would never be a guarantee.

As Luke scrambled out of the underground tunnel, up through a trap door that exited in the thick undergrowth of the surrounding woods, that circled the council lands, he knelt over, and took Faith’s hand helping her up. Faith scrambled onto the ground, she quietly closed the door, then pushed leaves, and snow over the trap door, to keep it hidden from view.

The biggest problem, that was presenting itself was they were now in fresh snow, so they would leave footprints behind, a trail that would lead any tracker directly to them.

“Luke, we need to climb the trees, and attempt to jump from one to another, for at least a few miles.” Faith mind linked her mate.

“Agreed, I will go first and help you up, grab that fallen branch, and sweep the floor, to cover our footprints.” Luke informed her.

Faith silently nodded, as Luke climbed the Scot’s pine tree, then grabbed the branch and as she begun to climb the trunk of the tree, she reached over, Luke holding her hand and did a quick sweep of the snow-covered ground, praying it would snow again that night, to help fully cover their tracks.

Dropping the branch to the ground, Faith grabbed the rough bark of the tree, with her arms and legs and proceeded to climb to the middle. They could not go to high, as the branches became thinner, the higher they went, and would snap off, or worse, not hold their weight which would cause them to crash to the ground, drawing attention. Thankfully, the woods were dense, and the trees close together, so they were easy to navigate. It was slow progress, jumping from tree to tree, as silently as they could, as they made their getaway.

Dusk turned to darkness and surrounded them like a thick blanket, their human eyes unable to see in the black if night. The thick black clouds above, covered even the light of the moon, the only way they could continue was to give partial control to their wolves, so that they could use their sight. The progress was slow, and in over two hours, they had only covered one mile of terrain, as they headed southward, but filled with determination, Faith and Luke continued to push on.

As dawn broke, the sun rising from behind the mountains in the east, Faith saw the outline of the tarmac road, that cut through the highlands, heading towards Fort William, the town that lived in the shadow of Ben Nevis, and owed much of its prosperity to the UK’s highest mountain. However, in the bleak winter months, the road was seldom used, only the large HGV’s than transported supplies to the area would use this highway, some tire tracks had forged an ice packed path, but still fresh untouched snow covered the majority of the road.

“Do we join the road, and risk being seen by humans or wolves, but will help us cover more ground quicker? Or do we continue through the trees?” Luke asked his mate.

“At this time of day, it would be suspicious to be seen walking down the road, maybe we should continue through the trees for a little bit longer, then shift, and make a run for it. We have covered around three miles, one or two more, should be enough distance from the council.” Faith suggested.

“Okay my mate, let’s do that.” Luke agreed.

They scrambled down the thick trunk of the tree’s and made their way over the road, before climbing another tree. Looking at the ground below, Luke let out a low growl of frustration.

“s**t, there are footprints.” He linked with Faith.

Faith looked back over the road from her position, there was no time to cover them, all she could hope is that an HGV or two would soon make their way up towards Fort William, and cover the tracks for them, or that the grey clouds would release snow. For once though, the large clouds held onto the precious snow, that Faith and Luke desperately needed them to release.

“We need to move, Luke, we are still to close to the council lands for comfort.” Faith sighed as she linked her mate.

Together they began the slow progress, jumping from tree to tree, hoping that now it was daylight, they would not be spotted.

Alpha Martin crouched low to the ground, he had left his beloved Shetland pack just two days previously, he had a plan, and the less people who knew about it the better. He had left his pack in the capable hands of his beloved Luna Pat, the only other person other than his beta Jim, who knew exactly what he was planning.

He could have removed the whole pack, to the relative safety of The Crescent Moon pack, but that would not stop the tyrants from Skye pack attacking their homeland. He knew all to well, that faced in a battle with the larger pack located on the Isle off the west coast of Scotland, he would not be victorious. Shetland had remained neutral for hundreds of years, they were not fighters, more thinkers, much like the Ronsay pack. Preferring to live in peace, and the quite life, rather than be involved in battles for land, or more power. He had been forced to make a choice, a one he had been loathed to make, until King Zander and Queen Chloe had without a second thought, offered help and supplies to his pack during the freak storm that had ravished their lands.

Alliances were made, but more important to Martin was to secure the safety of his pack, to avoid them heading into bloodshed, and so the choice was made. Defend his packs interests at all costs, irrespective of any alliance with other packs.

The humans had built the Skye bridge, connecting the island to the mainland, a way to improve connectivity. As a result, a lot of the residents of Skye had given up the small boats, they used to transport visitors, and tourists to their Island. The bridge also made Skye a bigger player in the pack war than they needed to be, as the highway led them straight to where the war would take place.

Martin was all to aware, once Skye had won an easy victory against his own pack, and Ronsay, they would move southward towards Crescent Moon. With Berwick pack moving from the east, Ullswater from the west, Tynedale and Jorvick from the south, Crescent Moon would be surrounded, at the time of the battle. This was a risk, Martin could not take, and so he had begun to make his plans. Under the cover of the bushes, Martin and Jim waited patiently, they had to execute the plan many would think heinous, the human casualties would be huge, if they did not orchestrate his plan to perfection, a crime punishable by death. But it was a risk he had to take, and a price he was willing to pay, to keep his own people safe, breaking his newly forged alliance, and doing what was right for him, and for Shetland.

Martin looked at his beta, and without a word, he nodded, the silent indication that they were mission go, and headed towards the large bridge, ready to do what he believed to be the only option to protect his pack, no matter the cost.