Chapter 4

Thyra let out a gasp when she noticed the dangerous red eyes that stared at her as if he could see through her. She could dictate the anger from the expression of the man. But what did she do to receive such a deadly stare?

Wait! Red eyes! Thyra internally screamed as the realization hit her. The man she had been admiring was an Alpha. They were the only ones among werewolves with that eye color. At least that was what she knew from the research and discoveries she had made.

Thyra couldn't believe she just saw the Alpha of the pack. They were almost invisible and were not always seen anywhere. But now, she just saw him. She saw him with a dangerous glare in his eyes directed towards her. What did she do? She questioned herself in confusion before her eyes widened in surprise.

Could it be because she saw them kill their pack members? Was it a pack rivalry? Things like that were always done in hiding and she had just witnessed it.

Oh no! She needed to get out of sight before she became the next one to drop dead. Thyra thought and hastily bolted from there deciding to head back to where she left her family, unaware that the reason why she was being glared at was because she was going to be prey to the Alpha of the Dark Moon Pack.

Without wasting another second after giving his orders, Alpha Ryker turned on his heels with Beta Alvan trailing closely behind him as they began to walk away from there and towards the direction of the forest entrance.

There was silence between the two men as they walked on, the only sound that was heard was the crunching sound of their footsteps as the ground was now covered in snow as every minute that passed the snow also increased its pace it fell.

The sound of a notification sound coming from Beta Alvan's phone disrupted the not-so-calm silence between them. Bringing out his phone from his suit pocket, he saw it was a message from Alpha Aziel.

Alvan's eyebrows considerably rose in surprise and curiosity to know what the message was about. As he tapped on the message, a little hope spiked in his heart that perhaps Alpha Aziel had considered his request.

"My Alpha," After reading the content of the message, Alvan called to get Alpha Ryker's attention. He went on to speak, "Alpha Aziel from Red Moon Pack has requested you to join his pack tonight to celebrate the winter moon and also strengthen the bond between the two packs."

The grim expression on Alpha Ryker's face darkened in annoyance. He replied, "Inform him that I have a better way to celebrate it with my pack members. Include that he should watch over his pack than to celebrate with me."

"Yes, My Alpha," Beta obliged with yet another order which he couldn't do anything to object it. This meant that the little hope brewing in his heart was being squashed each time by Alpha Ryker. He let out a deep breath and began to type Alpha Ryker's response.

Done sending the message, Beta Alvan continued to speak, "It will soon be the time for the appearance of the full moon, what are your plans from here, My Alpha?"

"Have you gotten everything ready?"

"Yes, My Alpha," Alvan responded.

"And the mountain ash? Has it been released?" Alpha continued to question as they were now a few meters away from the forest entrance.

"Yes, My Alpha. It has been released just as you instructed." Beta Alvan answered as they came to a halt at the entrance of the forest.

"Good," Alpha Ryker's cold voice came again where his heart bore nothing but hatred and how to claim all powers that come from tonight's ordeal. He added, "No human leaves and no wolf enters."

Beta Alvan stared ahead of him, hearing the distant voices that came from the humans who were soon going to experience havoc.

Mountain ash a substance which being inhaled by humans will cause hallucinations, causing them to be confused about where they are and also where they are going. It would also hinder them from leaving the forest as what they were bound to do was go in circles until they were hunted one after the other by the Alpha and pack members who were thirsty for blood. 

This substance was not only harmful to humans but also to werewolves. For lower-ranked werewolves, they would almost have a similar effect to that of the humans, while for the high-ranked werewolves, the mountain ash would hinder them from coming inside the place where it was released. Using this method, it means that no human would leave the forest and the possibility of any werewolf coming in to intervene would be futile thereby crushing the hopes of Beta Alvan in reducing the mortality rate if Alpha Aziel decided to intervene. 

More than anything, he was more worried about what the existence and history of werewolves would become if this night and Alpha Ryker's plan eventually came to pass. The imbalance that would be caused and the consequences of what was going to happen would be massive.

"Make sure no one enters till I am done with my hunt." Alpha Ryker continued to list his instructions as they now made their way inside the forest where several humans were scattered awaiting to catch the werewolves change to their wolf forms unbeknownst to them that they were the ones going to experience the long-awaited change.

At the same time inside the forest walked Thyra in search of her family. Her brows were knitted in a frown at what had occurred earlier. Her mind was still occupied with the thoughts of what she had done that could have warranted that ferocious glare from the Alpha of the pack.

Thyra continued down the cliff in search of her family, unbeknownst to her that the path she had taken was not the same as the one she had taken earlier while going up.

When it dawned on her that she had walked a great distance more than before, she paused in her steps with her brows furrowed in confusion. She turned to observe her environment, but everything looked the same. The trees and the moonlight serving as the only source of light as it slipped through the gaps of the branches made it harder to recognize where she was going or where she was coming from.

The howls coming from the werewolves scattered around the city brought an eerie feeling that crept up and made Thyra's body cold with an unknown fear. She tried to get rid of the ominous feeling and decided to continue looking for her family with the thought that everything was going to be fine.

Thyra's feet continued to take her around the forest while her eyes scanned everywhere hoping to catch sight of anyone. A bone-chilling scream that can turn one's blood cold which undoubtedly belonged to a human suddenly echoed around the forest making Thyra's feet halt in their steps. 

The ominous feeling came again, this time gnawing on every nerve in her body as they turned jittery with fear. Her heart skipped a beat as her heartbeat now drummed loudly in her ribcage, silencing every other sound around her.

Everything went silent once more causing Thyra to quickly run off towards a clearing she saw that looked like a slope, wanting to catch sight of what had caused the scream. And there before her eyes were werewolves gathered in their tens. From her view, it looked as if there was something precious they were all engrossed in on the ground, and her suspicion was confirmed when one of them shifted to the side, and there beheld the most gruesome view she had ever witnessed.

Thyra let out a gasp and in shock her feet knocked out a small rock that fell towards the werewolves, hitting one of them on the back. Immediately, the werewolves snapped out of their trance, and their eyes simultaneously looked up in Thyra's direction.

"Oh my God, what have I done?" Thyra whispered in shock as her eyes now fully got to see what the werewolves were feasting on. "A human?!" Thyra let out another not-so-low shriek. Her eyes widened in fear as they stared at the blue eyes of the werewolves.

"Blue eyes?" Thyra questioned herself and if it were possible, her already wide eyes would have fallen and rolled down the slope at the rate at which they widened more than they were before as the reason behind the blue eyes of the werewolves dawned on her.

They just killed an innocent human! A werewolf's eyes would change from gold to blue after they had taken an innocent human life.

They killed a human! Thyra couldn't stop another gasp that escaped her lips as the beating of her heart drummed loudly for both her and the werewolves to hear.

The werewolves licked their bloodied mouths, revealing their sharp and elongated fangs that couldn't wait to tear Thyra into pieces, but they couldn't do that even though their cravings for blood were beyond the thought of being rational. They couldn't and wouldn't dare go against the order of their Alpha. Alpha Ryker Donovan.

Without wasting a second more, Thyra quickly took a picture of the werewolves and quickly dashed out of there, her legs doing what they had been trained to do in times of danger.

Thyra ran, obviously not aware of where she was heading. The only thought in her head was to escape and also find her family so they could quickly leave the forest as the signs of them getting killed tonight were as bold as the moon now shining in its full glory.