Chapter four

[Avira]

Alpha Demian continued to speak , once the murmurs had died down. It was no surprise that the others had been surprised or had not heard the strange cries at night since they lived far away from the Alpha and the Beta.

"There will be a general hunt come tomorrow night, and it will be carried out by every werewolf that has attained the shifting age. Only infants will be exempted." Alpha Demian declared, and I sucked in a breath. A general hunting will be a dangerous turn of event for the Beta. Unless he is hunting too which I doubted. Otherwise he would shift during the search tomorrow night, and be identified as the rogue Wolf. But what would happen after that, I wasn't sure.

"The rogue Wolf, when found will be executed. I want complete order before the mating ceremony." Alpha Demian declared, and his declaration was followed by a gasping sound made by the crowd. Obviously no one was expecting a mating ceremony anytime soon or for the rogue Wolf to be killed.

Although Beta Maverick hasn't been the best guardian but he was a sweetheart on his good days, and even if he wasn't, I still wouldn't want him executed for a crime that wasn't his doing in the first place.

"We'll hunt in groups of five." Alpha Demian declared, capturing everyone's attention once more. "Each group member will be determined by the rite of the moonfire sorting." He added, and motioned on Kyle who brought out an old wooden box which I guessed contained the items for performing the rite.

My wolf whimpered in fear as Kyle stepped forward with the old wooden box in his hand. The way he walked slowly, as if in fear showed that whatever was contained in the box was sacred.

It's alright, I tried calming her down but it wasn't working because I too was afraid. It was the first sorting rite I'd be experiencing since I was brought to the pack two years ago.

Kyle dropped the box carefully on the chancel which housed sacred items. He stepped away from the it once he was done, leaving Alpha Demian to take over from where he had dropped off.

Alpha Demian left the podium, and moved farther away into the forest. On a wide space, where trees did not form a shade overhead, he drew a large circle with chalk after which he returned to the chancel, carefully lifted the box, and took it to the space where he had drawn the circle.

After placing the box outside the circle, Alpha Demian unlocked it, and carefully brought out the items which was inside it.

There was the moon crystal, which stores and channels lunar energy. There was also the Alpha's moonbrand, a sacred item used by the Alpha to channel and control the moonfire. Alpha Demian also brought out the Spirit Dust, which were ashes of ancestors, and used to invoke spiritual connection. The Silverfire candles were brought out as well, and lastly, the Lunar Incantation Scroll which contains the ancient chants that activate the moonfire was also brought out.

The whole assembly was utterly still as we watched Alpha Demian place the items in their right positions.

He placed twelve Silverfire candles evenly around its edge, representing the lunar months. At the center of the circle, the Moon Crystal was placed, and a fair amount of spirit dust was sprinkled.

With the moonbrand i in Alpha Demian's right hand, he chanted an incantation from the Lunar incantation scroll which was immediately followed by a loud rumbling in the sky.

Young children immediately screamed in fear, and clutched at their parents, who were quick to hush them up. I was scared to the bones but had to put up a brave face especially when I still felt myself burning under the stranger's gaze. He wouldn't stop staring, would he?

The cloud shifted as the Alpha's incantations became more intense. On its own, the moon crystal slowly raised from the middle of the circle where it was placed until it was in the air above the chalk drawn circle. This was followed by a shift in the clouds as the once bright and sunny day suddenly became dark and windy.

Loud cries followed immediately, from every corner of the shed as the adult werewolves dropped to their knees in readiness to shift. To perform the sorting rite, the Shadowing rite had to be performed as it was only possible to sort the pack into different hunting groups while we were in our wolf's form.

Their muscles twitched and rippled beneath their skin as bones cracked, and clothes ripped open, following their bodies which was taking a different shape. Claws bursted out of fingertips just as furs sprouted from their skin. Eyes that were once human now glowed like flames, and as usual the process was painful as hell, hence the loud cries.

Alpha Demian was the first to fully transform, and I couldn't tell who was next because at that moment, I felt myself shifting, reaching desperately for my wolf.

As much as I tried not to scream, the pain was just too much to bear silently. I screamed in pain as my body rapidly but with due process shifted from my human form until I was a complete wolf. My cries of pain soon became a whimper, and instead of my wolf being inside me, my human was.

"Come," Alpha Demian commanded with a growl, gesturing to every last one of us. His growling was low but it carried every trace of authority. Beta Maverick went first, chewed a mouthful of Spirit dust and stepped into the circle. Once his hind limbs crossed the circle, a silver spark ensued, and for a moment I thought something really bad had happened to hi until the spark subsided, and the Beta stepped out of the circle.

This was followed by Delta Alora and his family. Each of them were sorted into a hunting group, which was dependent on the colour of their sparks. There was the silver, the black the red, the blue, and the green spark.

Gradually, the assembly reduced in number, with every wolf standing with the other members of his hunting pack. The more the numbers reduced, the nearer it got to my turn, and the more my heartbeat increased.

Which of the hunting groups will I be sorted into? What if I am sorted into a different group from the Beta's. What will become of Beta Maverick if he's discovered as the rogue Wolf?

"Step forward!" Alpha Demian howled, dragging me out of my thoughts. I didn't realize it was my turn to be sorted out until I looked around, and realized that I was the only one left, that was yet to be sorted into a group.

Fearfully, I took a step towards the chalk drawn circle, ignoring the voices I heard both inside my head and the whining I heard from the assembly who were now standing according to their groups.

I placed one of my fearful rear limb inside the circle, and lifted the other in fear. I hesitated alittle before stepping fully into the circle. Once my other hind limbs hit the ground across the line, I felt a strange sensation of heat which was instantly followed by a sudden coldness. My human stirred a little within me, like me, she had no idea what was going on.

The strange sensation stopped as abruptly as it had started, and my human sighed in relief. The spark appeared right after, and much to my horror, it was green, and not the same hunting group as Beta Maverick.