32 – CLAWEDSTEPHAN“That’s odd,” Claude commented.He was saying out loud what I was thinking.I looked at him, “I have been thinking the same thing.”“What’s odd?” Flint asked.He and Claude banded together when I told the group to split up and they went searching left.I had remained in front of the main tent, a part of me thinking that there was some secret bunker or something here and that any time soon, witches would pop out of it and attack.Nothing of sort happened and time passed and finally Claude and Flint were back.Claude looked at Flint, “Are you an airhead?”Flint frowned, “That does not call for insults man, just tell me what the fuck is going on.”“Can’t you smell?” Claude yelled. “What do you smell?”“Nothing!” Flint protested.“Exactly,” I chipped in, “Nothing.”“When we came into this hideout, we could smell the witches, their stench, their sweat and even to some extent, their bloodlust but now… now we are in front of the leader’s tent, there is no scent whatsoever
33 – SOLEMN VOWSTEPHAN“This does not make any sense,” Claude said, leaning down to take another look.“Wait… does that mean that the witches have a wolf on their side?” Flint asked.“Shut the hell up!” Claude screamed at him, “How can you suggest something so preposterous?”“How else would you explain this?” Flint asked.Yes, how else could I possibly explain what I was seeing. Wolves killed by another wolf.It was one thing when packs fought and killed each other. That was normal and acceptable but for a wolf to kill another wolf for witches?That… that was unheard of for decades, since the war began.“What are we going to do?” Claude asked me.“I’m thinking…” I replied.For some reason, beads of sweat were forming on my forehead and my whole body felt hot. How would my dad handle this situation if he were here?“We bury them here.” I said.“What?” Flint sounded shocked, “Trent and Danny are the sons of high born wolves, we cannot bury their corpse out here in the middle of nowhere
34 – DISTURBING WORDSREBEKKAI had forgotten all about the scary conversation that I had with Dr Purcell yesterday in his office.How did all that escape my mind?Right now, seeing him standing before me, demanding for an answer, I was short for words.“Sir?”“Don’t Sir me and answer the damn question,” he snapped at me.I jumped in shock, Dr Purcell was not usually like this.Sure he was not friendly but he was not aggressive either. This must be a really big issue to him.“From today, Sir, you don’t have to worry about any more drama of such sorts,” I said.Even as I spoke the words, I knew it was a big fat lie. What power did I have to make such a promise?I just needed to get Dr Purcell off my back.He eyed me seriously, “It better be,” he walked off.I breathed a sigh of relief.Even though I didn’t mean a word of what I said earlier, I still needed to come up with a way to make it happen.How would I get Stephan to stop coming to the clinic to meet me?What about Damon?It is
35 – EMERALDDAMONThis was going somewhere that I was not expecting it to go.Something that started out as a ploy to frustrate Stephan was now turning into something else.Wordlessly, I followed the coven leader and the rest of her subjects as we made it through the rough mountain terrain.Some of the people with us had stayed backed and said they would deal with any of the attackers who accidentally came this far.I didn’t care about any of them at all, all that was running through my mind was how I was going to handle this opportunity that was being presented to me.Being taken to meet the supreme mother, the head of all witches was a very big deal, I could not let such a chance like this slip through my fingers.While I schemed for possible avenues of opportunities, I was not blind to the dangers either.When I walked into this witches’ hideout earlier, I was confident that if things went badly, I could fight my way out of it and come out in one piece.The same could not be said
36 – UNINVITED GUESTDAMONEverything about her was mesmerizing, from her deep alluring green eyes to her head dizzying hip movement.I growled and gnashed my teeth, this was the meaning of enchantment, I was not going to fall for the spell.I looked away with much difficulty.“Supreme Mother,” the grand warlock said and bowed.All the witches and warlocks that had gathered bowed down too.I was the only one left standing upright.“Such disrespect, get down on your knees!” the grand warlock yelled at me.I gave him a side eye and stood my ground.“You vile creature,” he started towards me.“Enough!” her voice echoed round the cave causing the place to shake as if an earthquake was about to occur.The voice was so disembodied that it sent a chill down my spine.The grand warlock dropped to his knees, “Forgive me, Supreme mother.”I tried to meet her gaze but those green eyes were too off putting, it was as if they were searching the very recess of my soul. So I broke eye contact.“When
37 – THE GODDESS OF CHANCELADY CECILE“How could you be so dumb as to bring a wolf to our sacred headquarters?” I yelled at Willow. She shrieked away from me, “Forgive me supreme mother but I didn’t have any choice.”My eyes narrowed, “You didn’t have any choice? What the hell does that mean?”I was back in my chamber now and Willow had been brought before me by the grand warlock.The encounter with the wolf was not at all what I was expecting it to be.When Willow told me that there was a wolf here requesting to see me, I was curious and alarmed at the same time.It took someone incredibly dumb or dangerous to make a move such as this.That was no ordinary wolf, he was able to resist my thought probes, not only did he resist it, he remained conscious and pain free after doing such.“Supreme mother, if not for that man, we would have all been killed. If anything, I am regretting not listening to him earlier.”“How can you call that vile animal a man? He is not fit to breathe the sam
38 – HOOKEDDAMONThere was the sound of water dripping from somewhere up in the roof and the cell smelt of decaying matter.I sat there on the floor, feeling the small pool of water slowly gather at my feet.Should I have fought back? I pondered to myself. I gambled on the fact that the Supreme Leader of the coven might have actually been testing my resolve and so, it would have been a bad idea to run.Running would not only have given that bastard grand warlock the opportunity he needed to try and kill me but it would have also effectively ruined any chance I had of forming this alliance.The wetness I could easily endure but the stench?I was sure that he put me here intentionally, knowing how keen our sense of smell is as wolves, this was a means to torture me.I looked around the cell where I was put, was there a possible escape route? In case things went so bad that it became necessary?Stephan and the rest of his team (What was left of them anyway after the death of two members
39 – SURPRISE PULLREBEKKA“The med supplies in the alpha’s pack house are running low, when are you going to restock?”My eyes widened in a pleasant surprise when I heard the voice.Dr Purcell was in the office talking to one of the alpha’s emissaries and his door was slightly ajar so their conversation filtered out into the hallway that I was mopping.“Honestly Wilbur, we are pretty pressed for supplies here ourselves,” Dr Purcell was complaining.The emissary sighed, “Ever since the incident… the Luna has been adamant about having, basically, a fully functional clinic in her pack house. Wheeling her son all the way down here almost cost him his life, you know?”“I appreciate the Luna’s sentiment but right now, things are tight. We are expecting a shipment of supplies to come in soon enough, maybe then…”“You don’t understand what I am saying, do you Purcell?” the emissary cut him off. “All these excuses would not fly with the Luna. You know how she can be. Besides…” his voice dropp
95 – STEPPING IN FILTHDAMON POV“Where the hell do you think you are going?”I walked briskly after her and grabbed her arm and turned her around roughly.“Do you think you can just walk out on me?” My eyes were wide and darting around searching her face.Where was Rebekka getting this false confidence from? Did she think her life was just something that she could just throw away like that?Under my watch? That was not going to happen.“Let go of me, Damon.”Sneering, I let my fingers curl around her arm and held her more firmly, “You are not leaving here until I have talked some sense into that thick skull of yours.”“I don’t have time for this, people are dying, Damon.”“Let them die, the fuck do I care?”Rebekka gasped in shock as she looked at me in disbelief.“Yes, does that surprise you? Huh?”She looked up at me with hurt eyes, “How can you be this callous? Can’t you see how much suffering is going on around you?”“So far as it is not you, I could not give a shit!” I yelled at
94 – CLASH OF CONVICTIONDAMON POVAs I walked down the back entrance of the clinic, I felt a knot in my stomach. I didn’t like the feeling. I knew that I should have come back earlier, as soon as that pretentious dick, Vane, stopped me from using the Elite Guards, I should have rushed back here.The truth was that I was scared of what I would find, a Rebekka in a coma with red sores running down her spine.A part of me didn’t want to see that, to admit that I had failed her, that I had failed in general. Coming this morning was just routine I told myself.With how fast her own case was progressing, there was no way that she would still be alive now. She surely was dead. It was better I met her corpse than to meet her suffering and feeling helpless in her presence.I smirked as I walked into the clinic, the smell of disinfectants was so thick in the air that I could not distinguish her scent from anything else.Finding her in this mess would be a pain, “Hey…” I grabbed a hold of a wi
93 – A DEADLY CHOICEREBEKKA POVI was still caught up in the heat of the moment, I still could not believe that what I had done had worked.It was not until Luna’s Gwen’s voice had replayed in my head like ten times that the implication of what she was asking for dawned on me.Mass Produce it?The excitement vanished from my eyes and I blinked as reality hit me hard. I looked at Luna Gwen, she was not facing me again, she was smiling with Dr Purcell as they celebrated the medical breakthrough.When Luna Gwen finally turned to look at me, I had to force a smile.“Whatever you need Rebekka, just let me know.”I nodded sheepishly with my hands in my lap.As soon as Luna Gwen walked away, I ran straight to Kami’s brother. I had to see and feel for myself that the vaccine had worked.He was blinking and looking around in confusion, “Are you okay?” I asked him?“Kami,” he muttered and then his face contorted as he fought back the tears that were building up.I could not control my own emot
92 – GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWSREBEKKA POVWhat if, just what if my blood could be used as some sort of vaccine for the plague?That was the only common denominator between Lord Stephan recovering from a fatal WolfsBane poisoning and me surviving a plague that no one else seemed to have a cure for.I was dead certain that it would work but also scared, what if it didn’t? I would just be wasting precious time and sharing unnecessary hope.No, I would not tell it to anyone, I would keep it to myself and I would put it to the test and do it quickly. The sooner I ruled it out, the better.“Rebekka?”I spun around to see Miss Caitin staring at me with surprise.She was looking at the hospital gown I was putting on, “Are you sick?”“No,” I almost yelled. “Just ran out of fresh clothes.”She sneered, “Get dressed into something proper, there are more people that need those gowns… and what are you doing just standing there? The left wing is not going to take care of itself.”“Of course, right away,
91 – AN OLIVE BRANCHDAMON POVVane!I didn’t have time for that bastard yet, what the hell was he doing telling men that I ordered to get ready, to stand down?I frowned and my eyes narrowed, I still did not turn or acknowledge his presence, “Are you deaf and dumb? Grab your lances and spears and follow me!” I yelled again.The men stiffened and looked at each other in confusion.“Yes sir!” they echoed.“I said, Stand down Damon!” Vane’s voice was much louder than mine and even more forceful.I sneered and turned to look at him, “What is it that we have here? The chief of the Elite Guards? No, the right hand to the alpha? No… that’s right, you are nobody to give me commands!” I yelled back.“You are all dismissed!” Vane yelled at the guards present.They shuddered and began to shuffle away.“If any of you take another step, I will have his head!” I commanded without even looking at them.Everyone came to a halt and stood very still.My eyes were on Vane and they were not happy eyes.
90 – A CRAZY IDEAREBEKKA POVConstriction, that was what it felt like, it was as if something was pressing my throat on both ends and stopping me from breathing.Even the oxygen mask that I was given did not seem to totally alleviate the problem.My eyes kept darting back and forth in my socket as I was looking at the white coats taking care of me and the other patients.They did not seem to know what they were doing, they just hung an IV bag overhead and put the drip in my arm – the same drip that they had been administering to all the sick patients and not one had gotten better.I lay there on my bed, panicking, unable to talk or gather the strength to move. I doubted if Dr Purcell knew what happened to me, he must have been so busy dealing with cases that I doubted if he even knew that I went out with Damon or that I was now infected with the plague.This could not be the end of me, I refused to believe it. I had promised Kami’s brother that I would save him – I could not die wit
89 – BLOCKADEDAMON POV“What the hell is that?” Rebekka gasped in shock.I squinted as I stared at the massive coiled beast that was just under the surface of the water. It must have been about fifty feet long, I could not really tell seeing as it coiled into itself.The scales were reddish and black all mingled together, large like a bronze shield and by the looks of it, just as hard.“What do we do?” I could hear the panic in her voice and I wished she was not so agitated, but at the same time, I did not blame her.So this was the cause of the outbreak that had been decimating the pack? A part of me was relieved that it was not the black stone dagger but damn it… that would have been far easier to destroy than this massive creature.I looked at Rebekka, “We retreat,” I said in a low voice that could barely be heard above the rushing water.“Retreat?” she yelled back.I winked at her to try and signal her to stop shouting but she was not getting my point.“We cannot retreat Damon,
88: SERPENT OF SCALESREBEKKA POVMy jaw dropped when I heard that and it felt like someone smashed into my chest with a hammer.I staggered back and looked at him, my eyes were mingled with the hurt that was burning in my heart.Damon sneered, “Oh don’t give me that, you didn’t seem to care about him when you were pleading for me in my bathroom.”I gasped.A wave of guilt washed through me and I didn’t want to be there right then. What made me think that seeing Damon was going to be a good idea?“Exactly,” he chipped in when he saw that I was silent. “Hey, look at the bright side, if he never comes back, you never have to deal with the guilt of whether to tell him or not about our little… adventure.”He grinned at me, his blue eyes staring at me with an intensity that made me uncomfortable.I sniffled and looked down to the floor, looked like everywhere I went, it was bad news, “I am glad you are alive,” I said in a downcast tone and turned back to head into the clinic.Damon sighed,
87: THE CONTAGION REBEKKA POVI blinked twice to make sure that what I was seeing was correct. Scales?Reddish black for that matter, a color combination I had never seen before.A mixture of excitement and panic shot through me as my eyes stayed glued to the microscope as I peered into it.I could not believe it, I was operating under a weak premise that the disease might somehow be water borne and now that premise was paying off.I could not wait to let the Luna know.I jumped down the stool and sprinted out of the lab, back to the lobby.The chaos momentarily threw me off again, so many new faces and sick people were littered all over, coughs and cries were coming from all over the place.Without even knowing it, my eyes went in search of the little boy from earlier. I had promised him that his sister would be alright but she died, right before our eyes.I could not find him in all that chaos and I started to panic a bit. It took a bit of time for me to calm myself down, he still