Chapter 5

Kael stood at the edge is the training ground watching as Ayla took each step to match her trainer,Since they got back from Lunar Sanctum she had been closed off and sneaking off not that she had not always been doing that but it felt different now,it looked like she now had a purpose behind the sneaking off and all.

“Why are you staring at her that way?” A fellow enforcer walked towards him with a grin plastered over his face.

“Staring at her in what way?” Kael asked looking confused 

“You are staring at her like you want to eat her”

 Kael snorted and inhaled sharply 

“Don’t take about her that way…like she is some piece of meat”

“She ain’t no piece of meat but she got some piece of meat on that ass” the enforcer replied with a smirk

“I said you should stop talking about her that way”Kael said with a snarl

“Ohh shit,you fucked her,that is why you snuck away with her during the blue moon”the enforcer said with his eyes widened like he discovered a valuable information “Tell me does she taste as good as she looks?”Kael snapped and punched the enforcer in the face.

Ayla was now staring at Kael and from the look on her face,it was obvious she had overheard the conversations…her trainer signaled for her to continue training and Kael walked away from the training ground with a clenched jaw.

Later during the day,Kael met with Ayla as they were going for the pack debriefing.

Ayla was walking alone murmuring a tune she had heard in her dreams when Kael fell in stow with her.

“Hi”Kael greeted smiling at her

“Hello”Ayla said,she counting herself not to smile back not after the way he had defended her earlier,it had warmed her heart

“About earlier…”Kael starts

“You do not need to explain”Ayla said and they walked in silence into the woods

“But I have to ask why did you stand up for me like that?” Ayla asked peering at him

“Because I didn’t want him to talk about you like that”

“You used to allow people to trash talk me before you even used to trash talk me. What changed?”

“Well,you hadn’t become  my own then,I protect my own”

“My own…huhhh”Ayla said with a snicker,looking at Kael questionably 

“Like I meant my own people,my friends I meant”Kael said stumbling over his words 

“I get it,take a chill pill”Ayla said and Kael brushed his hand over hers as if he was asking for permission to hold her hands and she held it,unbeknownst to them a storm was brewing.

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Ayla sat down beside Kael when they got to the camp for the debriefing,her youngest sister was seated by her other  side.Everybody was chattering among themselves as they awaited the Alpha’s arrival.

Some minutes later the Alpha arrived with the enforcers,Ayla looked at her elder ones in the other side with the Alpha,she felt her chest resting tighten at the thoughts that she would never be on that side because she didn’t have a wolf,she was not listening to a thing that the Alpha was saying…

She felt the Air change,just like the night she had first met Thorne, her heart began to beat fast…something was wrong but she couldn’t figure it out, she looked around her they were all focused on what the Alpha king was saying

The first scream was soft, a startled howling that went through the forest but then another came, it was sharper and closer. Wolves froze with their senses straining.Ayla gasped 

“We are under attack,” Kael said, his voice low. “Witches.”

The camp broke apart all at once. Wolves howled, fire blasted into the dark, and somebody screamed from between the trees. Ayla’s heart started racing in her chest. She had no wolf form or natural power, only human reflexes and her training. But she didn’t hesitate to help in anyway she can despite her being the weakest.

From the edge of the woods different figures emerged, cloaked witches, moving with  natural grace like they were floating , their eyes glowing faintly in the firelight. They carried weapons that beamed with energy , spells humming faintly in the air. Some launched projectiles while others advanced silently, attacking from between trees and cutting off escape routes. The defense answered fast. Wolves rushed forward to the staggered lines, some were shifting while running, some of them were already bleeding, and the space between them and the witches lit up with claws, smoke, and bursts of spells. The air was very thick with the smell of burning herbs and blood. There were screams, roars, sounds of spells and the thud of bodies hitting earth. It was very ugly.The wolves had not expected the attack 

Ayla hid behind a fallen log with her pulse racing. She somehow found her younger ones Elliot and Elena and grabbed them by the hands. “Follow me,” she hissed. Her mind raced, calculating paths and angles. Wolves ran toward the attackers which was drawing attention, but she knew staying with the pack was a death sentence. They had to get out.

Kael appeared beside her, eyes blazing. “Hey follow me,” he said with a deep wolf voice without waiting for argument. He threw a small smoke device, a training relic which is effective enough to create covers. A dense grey smoke rolled across the clearing,covering their movements.

Ayla and the two younger siblings followed Kael, slipping through the chaos. Another enforcer , Mara, joined them along the way, her eyes scanned the dark for any potential threats. Wolves and witches clashed behind them and roars and spells rang out, but they didn’t stop.

The woods covered them in the dark. Ayla’s pulse slowed slightly once they were under the covering but only slightly.Branches whipped against their faces, roots almost made them trip, and distant voices of the witches whispered, cackled and tracked their scent.

“Where to?” A Voice said cackling,their heads snapped back at once, the witch was floating above them some distance away from them ,Elena began to sob loudly.