2- Vengeance

Maera 

Voices. Murmured voices. That's all I was hearing. I wondered if I was in the afterlife, not until a sharp pain registered in my mind. I groaned as I struggled to move a bit. But the movement was impossible. I felt like a lump of stone.

“It's a miracle she is still alive,” a lady voice said.

“Vile wolves in these parts,” another said. “One should be careful where they venture into.” The voice sounded old, but was a woman's voice.

“The Alpha's upset. He says we've exhausted the pack resources on an outsider,” said the other woman. 

“What do we do?” She added.

“If she doesn't wake, we'll take her and leave her outside the pack,” the old lady responded. 

“Poor thing. I guess there's nothing more we can do,” the lady said.

I opened my eyes to them.

“She's awake,” the lady said.

“Better,” said the old lady. “She can leave. Alpha Brodi does not accept strays.”

I brought my hands up to my stomach, but it had been stitched up.

“I'm sorry, woman,” the old lady said. “We could not save the pup.”

Tears escaped my eyes. I could feel stitches all over my body. From my jaws to my limbs. Everywhere felt tied together. I had lost my pup.

“I'm with you, Maera,” Astari said to me. “We'll get our revenge.”

“You will have to leave before the day is done,” the old lady said. 

“I know,” I replied. “I heard you the first time.”

“Good,” she replied. 

“Thank you,” I said. “Thanks for the hospitality.”

They left.

Tears poured down my cheeks as I remembered how brutally I was attacked and almost killed. Mostly by the one I had loved.

“Derek.” 

His name kept registering at the back of my head. His words. Their attack. All came back to me in flashes. 

They all left me alone to regain my strength before they kicked me out. The second they left, I picked up myself with all the strength I had left and walked.

I kept moving, dragging my feet along the ground. The trees provided support whenever I got tired. I kept moving, wanting an explanation from Derek for why he had to take away the last joy I had. 

“If he did not want me anymore, why did he not ask me to leave rather than destroy my pup.” I paid no second to my thoughts. I would see to it myself. 

For days I kept walking, eating whatever garbage I could find. Drinking whatever had liquid in it. I mostly walked in the darkness, to avoid meeting any wolf. I was in no condition for a clash. 

Finally, I got closer to Ulfsang. It was dusk. It gave me a perfect moment to move through them without being caught. My father was a hunter, so we had always moved by stealth. Moving through them was easy. They were celebrating, so it was perfect.

I moved closer to my former home before Derek chased me out of it. I wanted to see him. Anger grew within me. I did not just want to see him, I wanted to have my claws ripping his flesh. More than anything, I craved the taste of his blood on my lips and in my mouth.

I pulled up the stairs, careful not to make any disturbances. I got to the door, then I heard him and another. I pulled my ears closer to the door to hear what was going on in there.

“Yes, Derek,” said the voice in the room with Derek, moaning. “Tell me I'm better than that whore you called your wife.”

“You're far better than that thing my love,” Derek replied, his breath ragged from the action both were undergoing.  “How long I've waited to finally come open with you. To fuck you on this bed.”

They were having sex on my marriage bed. The sounds of the flesh clashing against each other. Their ragged breath. “Who was that woman that had taken my place?” I thought to myself. 

I could not wait and hear them anymore. I pushed the door open and saw them naked, with her on all fours, and Derek's hand on her waist, fucking her from behind. They stopped and turned their faces to me. I was shocked.

“Selene!” I yelled.

“Maera,” She returned the call, shocked to see me standing in front of her.

“Maera,” Derek said. 

The expression on his face had said it all. His eyes widened, and his jaws dropped like he had seen a ghost. What was most shocking was seeing my stepmother on all fours, like a dog. I knew my father had chosen wrongly when he decided to take up another mate after my mother had passed away.

The shock had turned into anger and rage. Before they could get off the bed, I shifted immediately and lunged straight at them. Astari's fury—my wolf, knew no bounds. Rage had overcome us. We attacked them with all the strength the goddess had given to us, slashing and ripping both of them apart.

Before I could take a grip of myself, Derek's head was rolling on the floor while the rest of his body lay on the bed. Blood had covered almost everywhere, splashing too on the walls. I had killed their Alpha. 

But Selene’s body was missing. I searched through the broken windows and found out she had fallen through, I had pushed her through. She lay there without moving an inch. Something told me she was dead.

But trouble stirred. The screams from them and the broken windows had alerted the rest of the pack. They stood by Selene’s body wondering what had happened to her, not until they raised up their eyes and saw me staring down at them.

“Murderer,” one of them yelled. Soon others joined as they all made their way up to the room. I knew of the fate that awaited me if I got caught and did not wait to see the end of it.

I quickly jumped through another window, shifting mid-air, as I ran straight for the woods. I would leave this pack and never return. Not that I had a choice in the matter. Killing the Alpha only meant death for me, and I would rather die somewhere else than on these cursed grounds.