Chapter 4

Lyra’s POV

The next morning, I made my way over to Calla’s house, the small house sat at the end of a narrow dirt road. The paint flaked from the years sun and storms. My boots crunched softly over the gravel; it was silenced as soon as I stepped onto the front porch. The town wasn’t far from the house it was walking distance. Questions filled my mind; Why where the kids doing at the woods? Why were they so far away from town and their homes?

My heart race as I raised my hand to knock on the front door. When it opened, the mother stood there, calm but there was an underlying fear. “Miss Monroe?”

The woman nodded, “Yes? Can I help you?” She said softly, clearly tired from the lack of sleep she probably got last night.

I smiled softly, “I’m Lyra Hale. I’m from Moonvale News, I was wondering if I could ask you and your daughter some questions? About yesterday?”

She hesitated; gaze flicked towards the hallway behind her. “She’s resting. The doctor said she should get a lot of sleep.” Her voice broke slightly. “But… You can come in, I’ll go and see if she’s awake.”

I nodded, she stepped to the side, and I stepped through the doorway. The house was cosy, but there was a lingering smell of smoke in the air. Mother was probably a smoker. The girl’s dad died three years ago in a car accident; it has only been her and her mother since.

“Please, have a seat.” She gestured towards the living room.

I nodded with a soft smile. “Thank you.” I made my way into the living room. My eyes scanned the area; there was a fireplace perfect for winter times. Moonvale was known for its cold temperatures, I noticed a photo on the bookshelf. Probably the father. The woman returned after a short while.

“Calla will be out shortly. Tea?” She handed me a cup; the steam faded into the air.

“Thank you.” I took it and sat down on the couch. “Miss Monroe, can you maybe tell me why the kids were at the woods?”

She held onto her cup tightly, “They were visiting Alice. They were only supposed to stay at her house; they were supposed to go out to the woods.”

Nodding, then Calla stood in the doorway, her eyes red a puffy, clearly, she had been crying. Yes, Lyra people cry when their friends are killed, I really need to work on my trail of thoughts.

“Calla honey this lady wants to ask some question.” Her mother spoke softly, tapping the spot next to her gesturing for her to take a seat.

“You’re the woman from yesterday?” Calla asked softly.

“Yes. Lyra Hale. Is it okay if I ask you some questions?"

She nodded and sat down. “I know what you’re going to ask. Why we were out there. We wanted to see if we could see the animals that had been talked about, to know how they looked. But Alice decided to go into the woods. We didn’t plan on going in, but Alice insisted, and so we did.” She took a breath. “Then I heard growling. I thought I was just a stray, but when I turned…”

“What did you see?”

Calla hesitated, her voice barely above whisper. “Its eyes were bright green. It was so fast, faster than any animal I’ve seen, and massive. It wasn’t your normal wolf.”

“A wolf?” I raised my eyebrows.

“Yes. It wasn’t like anything we ever seen, it was angry like we stole something from it. Its eyes locked with Alice and went straight for her, we couldn’t…” She started crying again.

I exhaled, then looked at the mother, “Thank you for telling me that. I’ll take my leave.” I made my way to my feet. “And Calla, this wasn’t your fault.” She looked at me with puffy eyes and nodded. “I’ll show my way out, thank you for your time.”

As I made my way out of the house my mind processed everything Calla had told me. It wasn’t your average wolf, if I didn’t witness it myself yesterday, I would have never believed her. But something didn’t make sense, there were wolves in the forest, but what made these ones so big and different? I had encountered wolves when I went for runs but they don’t just attack for the fun of it.

Combing my fingers through my hair, I got into my car and made my way back to town. My stomach growled, I didn’t have lunch yet, its better late than never. Arriving in town, I stopped at the little take-away shop and ordered myself so food.

“Excuse me ma’am?” A voice came from behind me. I turned and saw a handsome, muscular man.

“Yes?”

“Kade Vance. I was wondering if you would be able to assist me, I’m new in town. I was wondering if you could give me some clarification on why there is a curve?” His voice was low and commanding.

“Lyra Hale, nice to meet you.” I stood and felt very small next to him. I guessed his height at six feet. He was very attractive, but I quickly pushed that thought aside. “Well, I don’t want to scare you off or anything but there have been wolf attacks.”

“Wolf attacks?” He seemed surprised. “That’s concerning. What makes the people think it’s wolf attacks?”

“Wolves are common around these parts, but they haven’t attacked just because, but lately…” I trailed off remembering my own parents. “Anyway, don’t think too much about it, you’ll be fine just as long as you stay away from the woods and are in your home at the set time.” I gave him a reassuring smile.

He nodded, “Noted. Thank you. Oh, and Lyra please take care.”

He left leaving with my own thoughts. “Here you go ma’am.” The waitress snapped me back to reality; I took my food from her and headed home.

At home I sat at my desk, my laptop open and I opened g****e. One thing I enjoyed about my work was that I worked from home most of the time. I only went into the office once or twice a week. My fingers glided over the keyboard, ‘wolves bigger than your normal wolf’ I pressed enter waiting for g****e to do its work. I took a bit of my sandwich and only two results popped up.

‘Werewolf sightings’ & ‘A ancient bloodline lost forever?’

“Huh.” I clicked on the first result, reading through it: ‘There had been resent werewolf sightings in two town in the past year. These towns will be left anonymous to keep tourists safe. Werewolves had been spotted in these town and deaths have been determent as ‘ongoing investigations’ this is not something the police force can stop. With the Bloodmoon that is soon to make its appearance, these creatures will go mad and attack anything and anyone in their path.’

“Mad? Bloodmoon?” I murmured to myself.

‘These creatures aren’t bound to the full moon. These creatures can shift when it suits them, they can also roam between us humans and become your friend and you wouldn’t even know that they are werewolves. Their wolf form is bigger than your normal wolf and their eyes glow various colours. Be vigilant and stay safe.’

“Well, that was helpful.” I said sarcastically.

Clicking on the other result, there was a picture of red eyes at the top of the page. I shifted in my chair before scrolling down hiding the picture from site. Then started reading, ‘The ancient bloodline has been extinct for over a thousand years. No one knows what that bloodline can do, all that is known is they are the only wolves with blood red eyes and paper white fur. It is said that they can control or destroy Alphas, but these are all speculations, and none has been confirmed. They are the ones that are bound to the Bloodmoon and cannot resist it. They are drawn to it even when their wolf has not awakened yet.’

I closed my laptop and leaned back in my chair then sighed. “All speculations. This might just be someone who was bored and had nothing better to do and decided they wanted to make up stories. Werewolves don’t exist they only exist in story books, fairy tales. Yeah. Fairy tales.”

Making my way to my feet I noticed it was almost six. I let out a sigh and made my way to the kitchen I made a cup of coffee, and I went outside and sat on the porch bench. The cool night air brought the scent of rain, pine and freshness through the air. I continued reading my book ‘The Name of All Things by Jenn Lyons’, just as I opened my book I heard growling.

My entire body froze turning cold; I took a big breath and looked into the direction of the growling. I met the eyes of a wolf, glowing green eyes. “So… I assume you’re the one who attacked that girl.” I said as I slowly made my way to my feet and moved back toward the door. Then the wolf leaped and I stumbled tripping; I fell back hitting my head and everything went dark.