Chapter 20: Stranger

Charlotte.

I finally felt like I was part of the pack. I could finally shift, befriended my inner wolf, tapped into my magic-manifesting as a mystical fire and I used that power to defeat Iris, the toughest girl in the pack. Kali was talking to me again as well. I don't think I've ever felt this happy since leaving the Blood Moon pack. I felt like nothing could go wrong. I passed by the village, greeting all the women, and finally stopped to say hello to our guardian squirrel. "Good morning today, Squirrel. I hope all is well," I said with a grin. The furry critter, however, was more focused on staring vaguely into the forest. "What is it, do you see some nuts over there or something?" I said jokingly, but the squirrel didn't even move an inch. I was beginning to get scared and decided to tell the queen immediately. The queen had the same worry on her face that I did. For the squirrel to act this way when it didn't even flinch when Nicholas attacked was something else.

 Iris arrived some minutes later and asked, "My Queen, could it be more warriors from the Blood Moon pack?"

" 'Giggles', If they want another bout, I'll be sure to wash them up," Kali appeared from behind Iris, who looked at her with annoyance.

 "No, if it was just that, then he wouldn't react in such a way. This is something else, something I've never seen before."

 I was taken aback by that statement. The queen was the most knowledgeable in the entire pack, for her to be completely blind on this matter scared me. "What do we do?" I asked.

"We're going to check it out, of course. If it's a danger to our village, then we kill it," said Iris as she clenched her fist.

"Yep, especially now that you've awakened, the three of us are unstoppable!" said Kali, more enthusiastic than usual.

I took a short breath and replied. "Ummm, alright, I'm with you. Let's go see what's out there."

The queen was hesitant at first, but she let us go anyway. The three of us took a few supplies, including some food and water, and some herbs in case of emergency. We ran straight towards the forest. Kali and Iris shifted into their brown and gray wolf forms, respectively, but I stayed as a human. I wanted to exercise my legs a bit before merging with Leah again. The path seemed normal; the girls ran ahead, but I stopped as I saw a strange flower I had never seen before in my life. "What is this?" I said as I picked it up. It had purple petals, and the smell... Oh, the smell was horrible, like rotten eggs and burnt firewood. I immediately dropped it and continued to follow my sisters. 

Kali was humming a strange tone as she said, "How should we beat the intruders if we find them out here? I could submerge them in water."

"No, or maybe we can try and combine our magic and increase the damage of my lightning with your water," replied Iris.

 I felt kinda strange hearing them talk about that. I should be all in for taking my revenge on the Blood Moon pack for what they did to me, but I felt like a tiny part of me was in conflict with that. 

"Hold up, I smell them, Blood Moon wolves and... something else," Iris said as she turned to the right. Kali and I followed behind her as we stopped at a barren path in the forest-no trees or grass grew here; it was like a bald spot.

I could recognize three out of the six wolves present. The one with red hair and a scar over his cheek was Vance, who I assumed was the new beta after I killed Nicholas. Harmony had raven hair and wore a green shirt over a gray skirt; she was Vance's mate. She never liked me because she prefers to eat her meat raw. And finally, I recognized Tim; he was in his wolf form, but I could never forget the strange pattern he had on his pelt. The other three, though, I couldn't tell. Next to the six, however, was a strange being. It wore iron armor, and its helmet covered its entire face. It had a sword around its waist and strange bottles with purple liquid hung from its belt. "What is that, is it a wolf?" I asked. We hid behind some trees close to the barren area.

"I don't know; I've never seen a werewolf wear that sort of heavy armor before," replied Iris.

 "Maybe he wants to stand out," said Kali.

Vance decided to get closer to the stranger and said. "Are you part of the women Pack? Where are Nicholas and his men? Answer me, and I won't kill you here." He sounded intimidating, but the stranger didn't flinch. 

"I'm no beast. Instead of wasting my time, how about you take me to your Alpha."

 "Haha hahaha ha hahaha hahaha haha haha!" Vance and the others broke out into laughter. It was actually funny; I couldn't imagine a sane person walking up to pack members and saying such things. It was like being a soldier and asking to see the king. Even Iris and Kali couldn't help but snicker at this.

One of the guys there walked over to the stranger and put his hand on its shoulder. "We should take this guy back with us, Vance. Adonis would get a few laughs out of this imbecile hehehe." The stranger then grabbed his arm and said, "Don't touch me."

Vance and the others' expressions suddenly changed as the stranger reached for his sword. "Heh? What's that, you think the Blood Moon Pack would be afraid of a little guy like you, don't make me laugh." Vance's man attempted to punch the stranger and knock him about, but in less than 3 seconds, the fist he used was cut clean off by the stranger.

 "Ahhhhhhh!" He fell to the ground in pain. Vance and the others were in shock; the speed they had just witnessed was outrageous.

The stranger took a stance and pointed at Vance, "I forgot to introduce myself, I'm a werewolf hunter.