CHAPTER 3

Otis's POV

“I'm not in the mood for your games Ryn, as you can see, I am yet to touch my lunch”

“Yeah, about that” she turned and passed a signal to Mila who was already standing behind me as she grabbed my hair causing me intense pains. At this moment I let go of my food, the sound of the plate and the contents pouring away all added to my anger as I held her hands bruising it with my fingers trying to make her let go off my hair.

“I hate for my hair to be touched, can't you all get this little information into your shrinking skulls?”

“Huhhh…Mila she said we have shrinking skulls, why don't we pull her hair out to see the size of hers!” Ryn said with a mocking tone. My strength was no match for theirs but I won't let them go scot free for this, I used my elbow to hit the sides of Mila as she let out a painful gasp, on seeing this Ryn rushed to my side and gave me a powerful kick on the stomach that sent me crashing to the ground.

“Let's go Mila before daddy shows up, I don't know why he loves defending this little brat,” she spatted these words as they left my side.

The pains In my stomach grew as hunger made my belly growl. I picked myself up from the ground and ran out of the hall heading to the forest, with the current rate of my speed, I soon reached the forest in no time.

I stopped by an old bent tree, though the tree is old and bent, it still bears flowers. This is my spot and it looks so beautiful. Here in the forest I could be myself, feeling my senses coming alive, I turned to face the old tree which I named grandma.

The anger still lingered in my heart as I turned to hug this grandma tree, allowing her absorb all the negativity In my heart, I stayed there for a couple of minutes before disengaging from the embrace.

“Peace at last!” I said to myself, my stomach grumbling as if to remind me that I haven't eaten all day.

I strolled around trying to remember the particular area where I last spotted a blueberry bush. I hadn't wandered far off when I spotted it not too far from where I stood, on reaching there, I saw large footprints that were left maybe by a larger person, a male to be precise.

I bent down to observe the prints, and I sensed they were still fresh, the person must have passed by not too long ago. I didn't read much meaning into it as I pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind.

I picked some berries and held out the rim of my shirt to be used as a carrier for the berries as they were too many for my tiny hands to hold.

I quickly went back to my spot to sit and enjoy the quietness while eating my berries. As soon as I finished eating them I laid down to have a short nap on the soft grass near my grandma tree.

***** *****

I woke up to the feeling that someone was watching me as the sun had already gone down beyond the mountains, it was getting dark and I was having a very eerie feeling, so I hurriedly set out to return back to the group.

On reaching there, everything seemed normal as everyone was going about their duties preparing to retire for the night.

The moon was already out and instead of me feeling the peace and easiness it always brings to me, I felt greatly troubled.

Is something bad about to happen? I had no one to tell my feelings to as I was treated like an outcast in this pack, I discarded the feeling as I went to join them by the bonfire, there I spotted Ryn and Mila I could feel their eyes looking at me with malicious intent, I shifted my gaze and my eyes met with that of Commander Ryan who nodded towards a chair for me to sit down.

Rogues do not have Alphas, only commanders and trainers and Commander Ryan made it a daily tradition for the pack to sit by the bonfire to eat dinner before retiring to their various houses.

Dinner was served and everyone began to eat quietly, Commander Ryan hates noise while eating, he always talks about good table etiquette, so we avoided provoking him.

"FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!!” Just then I heard someone shout from the back as a hut was being burnt, the whole place broke into commotion as the reason for the fire was unknown, just then a torch of fire landed on another hut, another torch flew in, and another and even more! “We are under attack!” one of the trainers voice broke out.

No wonder I was getting this troubled feeling, if I had just listened to my instincts, I would have told the Commander and all these could have been avoided beforehand, though I doubt he would take me seriously.

“Am I about to lose another pack? Please moon goddess, please don't let this happen, save us!” I prayed silently in my heart but my prayers were never answered as a group of powerful werewolves emerged from inside the forest.

Confusion was evident on Commander Ryan’s face as he ordered his warriors and trainers to form a barrier to block them from reaching the rest of us.

They immediately transformed into their werewolf form as they stood closely together to avoid the barrier from being breached; there was no way to escape as these werewolves already surrounded the forest.

“Everyone to the safehouse now!” trainer Bardulf’s voice could be heard giving instructions from the back.

Chaos broke out as everyone was running to avoid being caught by the enemies. The safehouse wasn't too far from the bonfire ground as the first set of people already entered into the safehouse and was to escape through the secret passage if they were discovered, I was among the third and last set, looking back I saw the barrier was already being penetrated as many of the warriors had been killed.

Commander Ryan was still fighting to hold off the strongest of them but I knew he wouldn't be able to keep it up for long.

On nearing the safehouse a group of powerful werewolves suddenly appeared in front of us as everyone scattered to save their lives, the whole place was already burning to the ground, the bright burning fire made it hard for anyone to find a suitable hiding spot.

With no much time to think I hurried over to the nearby bushes to hide there. A loud cry suddenly broke out as this werewolf who seemed to be their leader used his claws to penetrate Commander Ryan's abdomen, I could see blood gushing out from his mouth, the ground were already soiled with the blood of our warriors as none of the werewolves from the enemies side was injured, they had the upper hand!

Commander Ryan’s body fell to the ground with a loud bang, as he transformed back into his human form, the insides of his stomach was pulled out by the strong werewolf from the enemy's side and I knew he wouldn't last much longer.

The safehouse was immediately closed as they couldn't risk the enemies coming in. Those of us who were blocked by the enemies were left out to fend for ourselves.

“D*mn you Beta Cedric” Commander Ryan's voice cursed with a weak tone.

“Your pack is no match for ours and you know that Ryan!” Beta Cedric said before using his hands to tear apart the remains of Commander Marsh.

The rest of the werewolves set out to kill anyone they could find around, once again I could hear the familiar voices, the voices of people I considered family pleading for their lives to be spared while I could do nothing but hide.

“Gather any valuables you can lay your hands on and let's get moving!” the Beta's voice sounded commanding the warriors. “I'm saved, once again I'm saved!” I whispered to myself hugging my knees tight and thanking the moon goddess.

“Hey, what's that white thing over there behind those bushes?” one of the warriors said, alerting the others.