CHAPTER 7

~ Ava ~

Because of the rumors about the rogue pack, I never ventured a lot in the forests. I always stayed inside the compound, which my father preferred to call Black Moon City. He had gates erected to keep non-pack members outside the city, but the side of the orphanage house was still incomplete. I felt like he either intentionally did it or construction just became turtle-paced.

I never really minded about the unfinished gate until the incident last night. But I doubt such a construction would deter the Silver Moon Pack from attacking. They were werewolves like us, after all, and maybe even better, lycans, with higher intelligence, strength, and speed.

I think gates only gave a false sense of security. I think if the Silver Moon Pack really wanted to attack us, they would have done it years ago already.

Finding Kitty's stuffed toy in broad daylight helped a lot. If I did this during the night, even with my heightened sense of sight, I would still have difficulty. The forest was rich with vegetation. The shade of green and brown covered almost all spaces, so my tac was to look for the odd color of white and gray. Kitty's stuffed toy was in these colors, thank goddess. They were easier for me to spot.

In addition, the toy had Kitty's scent, so using memory and my sense of smell, I retraced the place where she ran off and fell.

After a few minutes of walking and tracing the hill slope, I finally found it, but to my surprise, it was inside a hole in the ground. I stooped low, examined the cavity and found it to be of cathedral size, about fifteen to twenty feet easily from the base to the ceiling. It was a massive cave, and because of this, I was truly thankful Kitty didn't fall right here.

I stood and stared at the stuffed toy simply lying on a slab of rock on the cave floor, illuminated by the light as if beckoning me to save it.

I twisted my lips and placed my arms akimbo.

Bea was right when she said my search would be easier if I shifted into my wolf form. I could just jump into this hole and retrieve the stuffed toy without a problem. However, I didn't want to shift, or more like, I couldn't shift. This was the reason why I was demoted to an Omega. My parents saw me as a disgrace because of it.

"There must be another way inside this cave," I muttered to myself, looking around for traces of an entrance.

I walked down the slope to the place where I found Kitty injured. Shrubs and vines were everywhere. Massive boulders and uprooted trees were present, too. Luckily, with thorough checking, I noticed an opening a few meters away from me. It was covered with boulders, but I was certain it was an entrance to the cave.

I neared it and realized I could easily fit inside.

"Alright, here it goes," I stated to myself as I passed the opening.

The passageway evoked a sense of fear in me; fear of enclosed and dark spaces, but my promise to Kitty grounded me and pushed me forward. I clenched my hands and steeled myself as I advanced into the inner cave.

There were times when I needed to pick a pathway. I used the stuffed toy's scent to help me choose the correct path and probably about ten minutes of walking later, I found the cathedral cave.

"Oh, goddess, thank you!" I exclaimed when I saw the stuffed toy now within my reach. I ran to it, crossed an ankle-sized canal, climbed up a few rocks stacked like irregular pancakes, and picked up the toy as soon as I reached the top.

"Goodness, you are a handful, huh? Your owner is excited to reunite with you!" I said as I looked at its black button eyes. Milford said Kitty was talking to this toy, which was weird, but understandable since she was still a child, after all. She could put life in all nonmoving objects to her heart's content if that could lessen her loneliness and grief of losing her parents.

However, a strange feeling ran through me as I continued to stare at the toy. I didn't expect it to answer my earlier question, but I felt as though it was speaking to me...speaking to me telepathically with its innocent look.

'Finally...you're here...' An ethereal, nonthreatening voice suddenly filled my head. I couldn't tell if it was from a man or a woman's. It was too hushed for me to make out.

In response, my brows furrowed, my hands turned cold, and my knees shook a bit, but then I scoffed. "Goddess, I must be lacking sleep. I'm imagining things now." I whipped my head to the opening where I just came and muttered, "Ok, now to get out of this cave..."

As soon as I stepped forward, though, a sudden striking sound of a bell filled my ears. It was so strong, so ear-splitting that I covered my head with the toy and my palm.

"Ahhh!" I shouted.

Unable to hold my balance, I kneeled on the rock and formed into a ball. I couldn't bear the sound. It was just too much for my poor head to take. Was there a bell inside this cave? My thoughts quickly questioned. If yes, then who was hitting it?

It rang and rang and rang. I rode the distressing sound, shouted in agony and grimaced, until it halted.

Breathing heavily, I looked around but saw only rocks, plants, stalagmites, and stalactites inside the cave. No bells. But how? How was it possible?

Slowly, I straightened to my full height. I stared at the opening again and saw it not only as my exit now but also my escape. Whatever this cave was, it sure had a magical element to it. I didn't want to get involved with any of it, so I ran; my feet flying out of the slabs of rock like a gazelle running for dear life.

However, before I could cross the canal, my heart ached like a lightning hit it.

"Ahhhh!"

I clawed at my chest as if it could lessen the pain. With the lack of oxygen, dizziness filled my head. My balance left me once again, and I fell to the ground.

"What's—what's happening to me?!" I cried out as I stared at the stuffed toy now wet with the water. "What's—ahhhh!"

The cave shook like there was a magnitude 9.5 earthquake. A beam of light appeared underneath me and enveloped me. Whatever energy this was, it pushed me up and made me hover ten feet away from the ground.

Together with the pain in my heart, I felt a burning sensation on my back. It started on my spine and ended on my right shoulder. Something was seared on my skin. I could feel the symbol appearing like it was a part of me all this time.

Then the ache in my heart stopped as quickly as it came. I finally could breathe properly again.

I felt myself lowered to the ground with my head still foggy...still filled with a lot of questions. What just happened? What symbol appeared on my back? What did this mean?

Wanting to get answers quickly, I picked up the stuffed toy and left the cave. I ran through the passageways all by memory, but I soon realized I was lost. The walls looked all similar now. I couldn't tell which was which.

With panic slowly building inside me, I raced forward and let my intuition guide me. I picked the paths where I thought were safe. Luckily, they were. I walked and walked for minutes, heaving and wincing, until I saw a small light.

Hope.

Finally.

But just before I could reach the outside of the opening, my mind blanked out. I staggered to the ground just as my consciousness left me.

****

~ Darius ~

My boots hit the marbled floor as I entered my balcony. On this side of my chamber, I could see the buildings and the central plaza below my packhouse. Usually, in early mornings like this, the plaza would still be empty. However, it was full of my men now, and I knew exactly why.

Carlos and Briggs, in their lifeless and bloody form, were visible for everyone to see. Their hands and ankles were bound by ropes, while their torsos were tied around two black poles. I had Phillip do this for me. It was a reminder for my men not to cross with me or break my rules.

I could smell the stench of blood in the air as fresh as it was last night when I gutted their stomach. This should have disgusted me, but reveled in it. This was the smell of my revenge served well.

After a quick look at the outside, I returned to my bedroom, pulled a dark blue trench coat from my walk-in closet, and wore it before I left my chamber.

Two new guards bent their heads as they saw me enter my study room. They were Carlos and Briggs's replacements, chosen by my Gamma, Richard, specifically based on their performance and psychological tests during training and not just on some random assignment.

I closed the door behind me and went straight to my desk.

'Phillip,' I called out as soon as I sat in my executive chair.

'Yes, alpha?' he was quick to respond.

'I need you to investigate about this rumor circulating around the packhouses. I want to get to the bottom of this.'

'You have always given it a cold shoulder, alpha. Do the rumors worry you now?' he asked. He already knew my stand regarding these rumors. I didn't want to bother myself with it, and I even took advantage of it in order to discourage any visitors—especially women—from entering my territory. Now, because of that woman's words, I felt the need to investigate it.

'It does,' was my curt answer. 'Maybe not now, but in the future, I want to put an end to these rumors.'

'I understand, alpha. I will investigate it and I will update you as soon as I get information,' he finalized.

I drowned myself with work after that; with paperworks and reading reports, all that would benefit me and my pack further.

I finished everything by afternoon, but it exhausted me. "Urgh..." I released a deep sigh and relaxed back in my chair with my eyes closed.

"Fuck," I muttered as soon as my balls started to ache once again. It had been doing so since last night; since that stupid woman hit me. Groaning, I used my hand and I gave it a massage to soothe the ache away.

It wasn't my intention to and it definitely was unwarranted, but my thoughts lingered on her and how she threw glares at me. Since a child, I received nothing but praises and direct lewd looks at women all around me, so I found this woman's cold treatment refreshing and favorable.

Fuck. I'm thinking of that woman again.

Angry about myself and this development, I marched out of my room—surprising the two soldiers on standby as a result—and morphed into my lycan form. Nothing and no one stopped me when I ran past the grand stairs, the main foyer, the courtyard, and the north gate. My men were used to me going for a run on my own. Plus, nobody dared to stop me when I was in my beast form.

I ran past hills, rivers, and fields of my territory until I arrived in a place I always considered my sanctum: a rock cliff where my father always brought me and my brother when we were young.

Here, we used to start bonfires and roast our kill of the day. Here, our father always embraced us and talked about stories about the 'First Alphas' like him. And here, he showed us an entrance to a cave; a cave, he said, was where they were created.

Wanting to see this magical area once again, I neared the rocky wall of the cliff and searched for the opening. I hadn't been in this place for years now. The last time I came here was after my brother and I buried our father.

Grass and trees had certainly grown so much in this area. Vines and roots had covered most of the opening, so I brushed them all away. However, as soon as sunlight hit the path to the cave, I knitted my brows.

There was someone inside—a woman—and she was lying on the ground just a few meters away from me. Her face was down, but I could tell she was still alive, judging from the slow rise and fall of her back.

When a rush of air from the cave passed through me, I stiffened. There was no denying it. With her scent, I could tell immediately this was the woman from last night.

The fuck.

Why is she here? Why is she unconscious? Why is she holding that dog stuffed toy? And why is the cotton in her dress looked burned?

A number of questions filled my head at that instant.

I resisted the urge to near her. Whatever the reason why she ended up here, in this cave path, in my territory, I didn't want to burden myself with it, but curiosity won me over.

My feet moved forward before I could stop it.

Damn it.

By the time I was inches away from her, my eyes widened. From the burned holes of her garment I saw a brownish mark—a symbol to be exact; a symbol that my father used to draw in his journals, and a symbol that haunted my dreams.