"Why did you let her escape?" an eerie voice in the dark asks.
"I'm sorry My Queen," a woman who looks be be in her early twenties, dress in all black, who have bandages place around her neck, and also a crescent shaped necklace falling to her chest.
She kneels before the strange woman in the dark, the Queen of the witch clan Sharona.
"Will sorry suffice for your carelessness?!" You know the rules Ericka, 'Once your face is compromised...."
There is silence.
"Answer it Ericka. Do not be a coward! You know all so well that there are no second chances. Witches as us do not have this luxury".
Walking to Ericka, Sharona bends low, taking her chin in the tip of her hands, she kisses her farewell. She then turn facing the Eastern window, she repeats:
"Once your face is compromised....."
"My life is..And we give our lives so she may live on to wreck havoc on the son's of Lycan," she completes. And as if one that is possessed, she takes out the crescent sliver blade and slits her own throat.
Queen Sharona, walking over to the now still body, she bends over it again, using her palms she cover the still open eyes muttering a prayer:
"May mother Gaia welcome you to her bossom, and may Moriggan find you worthy of her cycle".
With that she cut the locks of Ericka's hair, as a send off rite to their ancestors.
She mutter beneath her breathe. "I won't forgive you Alessia for daring to bring your Hybrid blood as a source redemption to the Lycans! None of the children of Lycan shall find redemption till I wipe you all from the surface of the earth and send you to Selene to forever wander on the moon!! You have been cursed and cursed I shall make you remain", she let out a cruel laughter, which shakes the entire building.
"Mother!" comes a voice behind her.
"Yes!" she snaps.
"You have a visitor."
"Who is it?"
"Alpha Derek's Beta, from the Greenwoods pack".
She smiles devilishly.
"Welcome him. Wait, on another thought, I'll welcome him. Get rid of Ericka's body".
With that she walks out of the room. Going to welcome the Beta.
*************
"Welcome! To our humble abode Beta. How may we help you? We haven't offend your Alpha, have we?" she smiles sweetly.
"No. Not at all, my lady! Alpha Derek wishes to be at peace with you. He asks for a favor, that you grant him audience with your wounded daughter, the one, one of ours mistakenly hurt".
She smile again, holding her two palms together, she says, "I'm afraid we lost her this morning Beta".
"You said, she survived the wound."
"Yes she did. But we found her dead this morning. She killed herself. It appears she had been depressed all this while and finally sought death as the only option to her".
Darren stares at her. He knows she is lying, they had killed her to cover up their tracks.
"Please accept my condolences on behalf of my Alpha and pack".
"Thank you Beta. Now if there isn't any other business to discuss again. I will have one of my daughters escort you back to your territory." she offers warmly.
"No. I won't have you go through the trouble, my lady. I shall leave then. Selene be with you!"
"And with you Beta ".
After the farewells. Darren head back to his pack, with his two escorts, the strongest Gammas, to inform Derek of the new development. While Sharona deliberate on her next scheme evilly.
"What on earth is Sharona up too?" Why is the girl who survived Alessia's wound dead? Alessia, The children of Shanti, The Witch Clan, Waterwoods pack? There must be a connection to all these."
The mountain pack - That is Alessia's place of birth according to her uncle, and that pack was also annihilated!
"What is the thread Sharona is trying so hard to break?" Darren thinks out a loud.
All this thoughts, swirls round Darren's head, he's eyes shifting from it usually grey color to his wolf's eye, a searing blue and back, he and his wolf Kael, are in sync, as they head eastwards toward the raising sun, back to Greenwoods.
Cyre's POV:I watch her walk away - chest broad and shoulders square, and although she has this air of boldness around her. I notice it all a facade she's putting on. Something she's stitching together just to face the world without shattering.She's trembling beneath it. I can feel it.And then Derek snaps beside me."Why the hell did you do that, Alessia? You just let her walk away with the fucking book."His voice slices through the stillness like a blade. His rage isn't just about the book, though. I can tell. It's about control. About the fact that something ancient just slipped through our fingers - and Alessia let it.Alessia doesn't flinch."Because she needed it," she says, steady. "And she's not the enemy.""Not the enemy?" Derek hisses. "That girl is working for Ryel - ""She's conflict
Raven POV:I'm drowning.No... It feels more like floating.The world is dark - soft and distant, like a half- remembered lullaby. I can't feel my body. I can't feel time. But I sense something.A tether.A voice.Calling me.My fingers twitch, as I feel something rushing through my veins.It's not pain. Not exactly. I feel every surge crawling through every five of my being, like lightning tangled with memory. It feels like power.I feel powerful.Who am I?I try to remember - my name, my pack, the sound of my own voice - but everything I see are eyes. Gold and red and ancient.Then a soft white fur pulls me closer.A fox. And it's staring at me.Nine tails coiled in smoke behind it."Where am I?" I whisper, voice lost in the ether. "Am I dead?"But it grins.Not quite, Child.A scream pierces the darkness.RAVEN! It calls.It's her. The Banshee. Alessia.The sound isn't just a sound, my body reacts to it, lurching forward, and suddenly...I'm falling.The fox wraps it's tail around
Cyre POV: All eyes snap to me the moment I speak."If she's what I think she is..." I say softly, stepping further into the ancient hall, "... we're already too late."The shadows curl at my feet, reluctant to let me go. Maybe, I am reluctant, seeing Ryel's most favored wolf on the table. Raven. But I peel forward, ignoring the weight in my chest.Her skin still hums faintly with energy. The book... gods, that book. It's clutched to her chest like a lifeline, like a promise she made to herself long before tonight.And I recognize the look in Alessia's eyes - curiosity and unease clashing like fire and frost.Derek glares at me, his voice cold. "What the hell do you mean, too late?"I don't answer him right away. Instead, I walk slowly towards the table to examine Raven's body. Dr. Dathan moves aside slightly to accommodate me.Raven's fingers twitch again, but it's not a reflex - her instincts are beginning to kick in."She's not a Hellhound," I say, voice quiet but cutting. "Not unl
Derek POV:The scream cleaves through the air like a lightning strike.RAVEN!Alessia's voice. Sharp. Commanding. Terrified.I am on my feet before the sound even fades, my chair crashing backward, ignored. Every wolf in the hall freezes mid-motion-cups stilled midair, conversations died in throats.Then chaos.I burst through the double Alpha Hall's doors, the wind already bringing her scent to me - smoke, wildness, adrenaline. The scream is coming from the east. The old grounds. Near the damn library.My wolf is already clawing forward, half- shifting before my body could follow."Darren! With me!" I bark through the mind-link, and within seconds, I hear his footsteps pounding behind mine.I didn't stop to wonder what Alessia is doing out there. There isn't time. The scream is tearing something in me - something primal. I can't explain it, I can't also contain it. So, I know one thing for certain:She's in danger. And I can feel it in my bones, in my blood.She must have seen somet
Alessia POV:Let him grow bold, I had said.But now, as I walk alone through the heart of Greenwood territory, I realize the weight of that gamble.Ryel is watching me. Of that, I am certain.His wolves pretend not to. They talk and train and drink and mourn with us like they belong. But I've learned the difference between presence and performance.Today, I wear a white tank top and a faded jean.White, not for purity but for bait.Let's see who Ryel has put on my trail.My steps takes me past the old training yard where I first sparred with Derek. The air is still heavy with smoke from the funeral pyres, clinging to the skin like memory from the four days for burying our dead.I walk with purpose, back straight, chin high, like a Queen who doesn't know her castle is surrounded.Cyre'd been so tensed earlier.Three Hours Ago:Cyre and I walked out the Alpha's office. She paced the corridor restlessly."Derek's not taking this serious enough. He's going to get everyone killed. It's bet
Darren POV:"I want every single one of Ryel's wolves watched and followed. And you, and Alessia report to my office now."The command hits sharp in my head, tight like a wire pulled taut.Shit.I shoot a glance towards the clearing where Alessia still stands with Cyre - her face ashen, silent but steady. Her gaze hasn't left the last pyre whose flame have started crackle lower.She looks like she's seen a ghost.I approach her quietly, boots soft against the soil still soaked from yesterday's storm. A few wolves nod at me in passing - grief-striken, exhausted - but I don't stop. Not until I'm close enough to speak without being overheard."Alessia," I say gently.She doesn't flinch. Both of them. She just lower her head, drawing in a breath that sounds like it weighs a hundred pounds."Derek's calling us," I murmur. "Now. His office."I catch the way Cyre's eyes glow with desperation. "You need to believe me, Alessia," she says.Believe what? Was she telling Alessia something about R