Chapter 3

Episode 3.

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Cora was done crying as she separated her Alpha from the rest of the rogues, by yanking his lifeless body deep into the woods. 

The sky was clearing up and she could almost see in the dark. She huddled some arid logs which she arranged around and on top of Creed's frigid corpse. 

She walked back to where the deceased bodies of the rogues were, took three wooden fire torches, and withdrew to where Creed was. 

"Goodbye, Creed" she threw the fire on the logs and watched it burn up. In a few minutes, the entire body was on fire as a drop of tear rolled from her eyes but she was fast enough to dab it off.

The corpse was still burning down as she covered her hoodie and dashed out into the woods.

She had no motive for going back to Mountain Howl Pack as she knew not who the Traitor or Traitors were. 

Being very troubled, she started thinking quickly as time was ticking. Eventually, they would require the Alpha and if he does not show up, a new Alpha would be crowned, and it might be the traitor.

No one knows the Alpha was dead except the rogues and of course, the traitor. And the traitor would not just bring himself out by pronouncing the alpha dead because he killed him.

But she was certain about something, she was going to get to the root of everything, even if it means pledging allegiance to the witches, who have been banished for over a decade.

She moved deep into the woods, haphazardly, without hope or a proper plan.

Once mated to the strongest wolf of her time, now, Mateless and without purpose.

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3 Days Later.

The Pack Council were gathered as Max, Alpha Creed's step elder brother, who is also the beta of the pack addressed them.

The pack has been flummoxed without the alpha and the Luna has been missing after the coup.

Kira, Cora's handmaid stood at a corner as she observed what was going on from afar, they did not permit her to come close or say a word as she was only a slave.

"Today marks it three days and two nights the Alpha and the luna have been missing. How long would we stay without an Alpha?" He stated.

There was silence in the council as no one said a word, Max observed this and proceeded.

"What kind of Alpha flees when the pack is under invasion? I know Creed is my younger brother, but I have this itch for saying the truth," He turned and looked at Kira who bowed her head and looked elsewhere immediately.

"Max is right, the Alpha might be dead and we might be waiting in vain. The rogues might attack again if news gets to them that Mountain Howl is vulnerable" A gamma uttered. 

"But we concurred to wait for three days and three nights, if the alpha does not return, we would have no choice than performing the rite, isn't it?" Cohen, the oldest wolf in the pack pointed out.

"Then, let the preparation begin! I am the bata of the pack and the second in command" Max boasted.

"I think we should mourn the alpha before any ritual is taken place. That should be his last respect at least!" A wolf said.

"Last respect?! Last respect for an alpha that left his pack when they needed him the most?" Max cried as the wolf ebbed like a tide.

"He does not even merit a funeral! How many wolves died in the pack?"  He barked.

"Max is right, Alpha Creed does not deserve a funeral!" An Elder in the pack expounded.

"The least we could do is__"

"The Alpha is alive!" A voice was heard from the door, no one knew how the dirty-looking lady in a hoodie found her way into the fortress without other wolves getting hold of her strange scent, since she was an intruder, she was supposed to have a foul odor.

The whole wolves in the council stood on alert as they watched the lady on a shroud. Max saw this as his opportunity to exhibit he was fit for the position of the next Alpha of the pack.

"And who are you, intruder?" He barked at her as she brought down her hoodie.

"It is I, Cora Creed, Luna of the only true Alpha of Mountain Howl pack, Alpha Creed" she proclaimed as the pack murmured. 

They could barely recognize her as her voice was weak, her face was dirty and her hair was unrecognizable.

"The luna is alive?!"

"Luna!"

They all bowed as Max only saw this as a drawback between him and the throne.

"You said the Alpha is alive?" Cohen asked.

"Yes, he is" Cora said confidently.

"Then where is he? Why isn't here with you?' Max asked.

"If the Alpha is alive, where has he been all these days?' Another wolf asked.

"Give her a seat, she must be exhausted!" An elder yelled as Max looked at her with eagle eyes.

Some wolves rushed to help her, but she declined and sauntered straight to the empty seat that belongs to the Alpha and sat next to the one that was meant for her, the luna.

"Get the luna a cup of water! She must be wearied and thirsty" Cohen yelled as Kira rushed around to do the bidding.

None of them have recovered from the shock.

"No! I'm fine" Even if Cora was very much thirsty, she rejected the offer as Creed's last words came to her. 

TRUST NO ONE

"Are you sure, Cora?" Max asked.

"I'm fine" she repeated as Kira who was halfway with the water, withdrew with it.

Cora gazed at them in contempt as she did not know who the Judas really is. Which means she was to treat all of them as traitors. 

For the past three days, she had dwelled in the woods in her wolf form, Cee, roaming about, thinking and strategizing her scheme.

This was the prime phase of the plan and she hoped it works because the fate of Mountain Howl rests on her shoulders now.

They kept giving her questioning stares until she opened her mouth to speak.

"The Alpha is alive"

"Yes, you said that before, what else?" Cohen was impatient.

"Alpha Creed did not run away. He was badly injured and had to escape through the back escape door of the fortress" She cleared her throat and observed how the scattered fortress was slowly being amended by the wolves in the space of the three days she was absent.

"He left the fortress just to lure the rogues out of the fortress because he noticed they were just after him" she lied and looked around.

There were no facial expressions of anyone that could be read or found culpable, and it was sickening to her.

"Right there, we were besieged by the rogues, Alpha Creed saved me by pushing me into the woods, far away from the battlefield and I passed out" she stopped and took her time to observe their faces, they were all frightened and it was really hard for her to tell who the traitor might be.

"When I regained consciousness, I retraced my steps back to him and saw he had killed a lot of rogues. They left him because they thought he was dead. They stabbed the alpha with a silver sword!" 

The wolves gasped in shock as she smiled inwardly, she purposely omitted the part where Creed told her it was a member of the pack. At least with the revelation of the silver sword, the traitor would think he is really alive and there was nothing to doubt.

"A silver sword?"

"What?"

She also skipped the part where a member of the pack sprayed wolfbane in the morning of the day of the attack to mask the scent of the rogues.

"I thought we banished the Witches who could make such swords a decade ago?" Cohen spoke in surprise.

"I thought so too. It seems the rogues have been visiting them" She said, even if she knew it might be the traitor that has been visiting the witches.

"How would the rogues attack the pack without the wolves getting hold of their scent?" A wolf asked.

"Wolfbane was squirted that morning to mask their scent, that is the only way scents could be hidden, we all know that" she replied.

"Who squirted the wolfbane? There is no way a rogue would sneak into the fortress to do that without the pack noticing its offensive odor" An elder spoke.

"Unless there is an insider! Someone that did it before their arrival. The wolfbane was sprayed in the morning, and they attacked in the night" Cohen said as Cora smiled discreetly.

It was all coming out bit by bit.

"What? Who would betray the pack? No one would!" Max barked.

"They came for the alpha, not the pack" Cora corrected.

"That is not important right now, what is most important is that they failed, and the Alpha is alive" Max said to change the theme and the other wolves supported him.

"Since the Alpha is alive, where is he? We want to see him" He added as Cora gulped down nothing.

She never visualized things would get this entangled so promptly.