“Maddie! Maddie, what happened to you?!” Steve was the first to act, as he rushed to Maddie’s side once more, holding the girl close to him.
“S-… Something… hurts…” she spoke in a strained voice. “My chest… My heart…”
As soon as those two words left her lips, a thought crossed her mind, as Maddie glanced at Ellie. Like her, she saw her now-worthless sister was also experiencing some kind of pain in her chest, only she was toughing it all out. Not that that mattered; what mattered most was the fact that the pair seemed to be experiencing the same pain, at the same time.
‘Don’t tell me…!’ Maddie grew enraged when another thought came to her mind.
“It was you… wasn’t it…?” she began. “As some last ditch effort to get back at me for taking what was rightfully mine… You casted some kind of curse on me, didn’t you?!”
Ellie- fighting through the pain still- was baffled by the accusations. “Excuse me…? What are you talking about? I don’t know any sort of witchcraft, unlike you,” she managed to say.
“Playing stupid this time, too? Enough of this! Steve! There is no mercy for that bitch. We must end her!”
“And that we will. Along with some nice dose of humiliation,” Steve suggested, looking at Ellie with great ire. “Not only for somehow causing you pain, but also so we all can vent out our frustrations in having her in our presence!”
At those words, the werewolves around them let out howls in agreement, clearly wanting to let out some steam on Ellie. The outsider had thought she would not get any more shocked by what goes on in this pack, but was proven wrong at the sight of it all.
‘I truly meant nothing to them, was I?’ she thought.
Be it because she saw how lively her packmates were by Steve’s suggestion, or simply because she was all for the thought herself, Maddie smiled and turned to Ellie. “Yeah… Okay, let’s do that,” she said, still feeling that questionable pain. “Lock that mutt up at once! For her crime of casting whatever forbidden witchcraft on me, the stray werewolf Ellie is to be tortured and humiliated for the next three days. On the fourth day… we will make that a public execution!”
Many werewolves let out howls and cheers of excitement at the announcement. Ellie, on the other hand, glared at Maddie for the twisted call.
“Hold it right there! Just because you’re in pain doesn’t mean you can take it out on me!” she shouted, only to receive a knee to the gut and a kick to the back by two werewolves in the sidelines closest to her.
“Shut up, you outcast!”
“No one cares about what happens to you, stray. Now act like some dog you are and stay on the ground where you belong.”
As much as Ellie wanted to get up and scold the two for attacking her like so, her body felt far too heavy for her to event attempt to lift herself up.
“Whoa there, you two. I like that enthusiasm, but there’s no fun in attacking her now,” Steve spoke. “We need to give her time to rest and recover from undergoing all those rites. Once she is well enough, then we all can have our fun!”
At that, the other werewolves around them let out howls in agreement, making Ellie feel frightened by what was to come for her.
******
How right she was to be frightened. After everything that happened that day, Ellie got dragged by a couple of mutts to her cage. Once she spent a night’s worth of recovering, as Maddie had announced, it was time for her to take her position in the plaza, and allow her former packmates to do what they wish to her. Some mauled her, some whipped her with various objects, some sexually assaulted her. Many times, Ellie tried to fight back, to break free from her prison, but because her wolf was taken away, swapped with a much weaker wolf, she could barely muster any strength, and was always overpowered by the other werewolves.
As for Maddie, ever since the Wolf Swap Rite was complete, for some reason, she was not as happy as she should be. It was not that she was unsatisfied with her strength, but more because of her relationship with Steve. For some reason, rather than be happy with him, all she could feel was agonizing pain around the guy. No one could figure out why that was, but the two lovebirds claimed that Ellie must have done something to put a wedge in their relationship.
For the past three days, aside from the constant torture, Steve and Maddie both demand that Ellie undo whatever curse she had placed on the latter, in which the victim werewolf had exclaimed that she knew nothing about what they were talking about. Alas, neither they nor anyone else believed her, and often stepped things up a notch in the many ‘sessions’. All that time of being caused pain by the people she saw as friends, Ellie continuously wondered why they would treat her so horribly. Was it really because she was a stray werewolf? Because she was not truly a part of this pack? Quite the petty reason for the cruel treatment, especially since Maddie’s parents were the ones who picked her up because they knew of her origin. Whatever her origin was.
After the three days of everlasting pain, it was finally time for the end of it all… The day of her execution. Tied with her hands bound to her back, Ellie was dragged to the plaza once more. Her body was now so full of bruises and injuries, and she barely had any strength left in her. All around, werewolves shouted out various insults to her, but she lacked the ability to care of the words being said, or even of the various items being thrown at her. With all that happened, she no longer cared about anything.
‘It’s soon, isn’t it…?’ she thought. ‘The end of my suffering…’
Upon arriving, her escort kicked her calf, forcing her down to her knees. Even though a bone broke from the harsh kick, Ellie did not let out even a gasp.
“Welcome, brothers and sisters of the Hermit Pack! The time has finally come… for us to witness the execution of a filthy stray!” Maddie began. “Not only is she a stray; she is also nothing more than a traitorous werewolf! For her to cast a curse- no doubt from a witch- onto me, your rightful Alpha heiress! And all because I wanted to maintain my right as Alpha, and be with the one I love most. Tonight, she will have her final judgement!”
The werewolves all howled in agreement to the declaration, wanting to see retribution come already. Hearing their reaction to her coming death, being reminded for one last time of how little she truly meant to them, Ellie could not help feeling more despaired.
“Then, without further ado… Since she has so much feelings for a mate who does not share the same sentiment, it is only fitting she get a poetic ending,” Maddie said, turning to Steve, who approached with a silver sword in hand.
“It is my honor, oh great Alpha,” he said with a bow. He turned to Ellie, and approached her with the weapon. “You know, Ellie. It doesn’t really have to end this way. Just simply undo the curse you put on Maddie, and maybe I can talk her out of killing you.”
Ellie said nothing in response to the proposal, in which Steve shrugged off.
“Yeah… Killing you is faster.” He raised the sword up over his head and swung it down on Ellie’s neck.
No thought came to her mind as she waited for the blade to cut through her. No desire to live, no thirst for vengeance, nothing. Just wait for her death in peace.
Just before the blade could even touch her flesh, though, a set of screams resounded.
“What’s going on?!” Maddie demanded, enraged that something disrupted what would’ve been the next best thing to happen in her life.
As if to answer, a frightened werewolf frantically rushed towards them. “Alpha! It’s terrible! A trespasser has entered our territory! He-” Before the reporting werewolf could finish his words, a figure suddenly came and struck him, knocking his head cleanly off his shoulders, much to the shock of many others, as blood spewed out of the corpse.
Next thing anyone knew, the figure charged towards Steve. The guy was taken aback by the action and stumbled back. While he managed to avoid death by his assailant, as the latter swiped his arm at Steve’s, not only did the sword get knocked out of his hands… but his arm also got torn off his body.
“GYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!” A terrifying scream escaped Steve’s lips, as he flailed along on the ground, clutching his now-armless, bleeding shoulder in great pain.
“Steve!” Maddie cried out, rushing to him in worry. She then glared at the intruder- who undid Ellie’s binds and picked her up in his arms- and shouted, “Stop him! Stop that damn outcast this instant!”
As soon as she gave her command, the figure turned to her. “I would like to see your pitiful mutts try.”
Maddie glared at his insulting words. “Who the hell do you think you are?!”
Unlike her, however, her parents and several others flinched when they saw who this werewolf was. “W-Wait a second… Why are you here?! Your pack should be far from here!” Aiden gasped in fright.
Maddie and many others looked at the pair in confusion. “Huh? Dad, you know that mutt?”
Lila widened her eyes in shock at her daughter’s question. Specifically at what she called this newcomer. “Maddie! You should know better than to call him that! That’s Alpha William!”
“That’s Alpha William!”Ellie- fighting against the wave of exhaustion the moment she was saved from her execution- widened her eyes when she heard who her savior was. He who was none other than that injured, delusional werewolf she found in the woods. Well… She wasn’t sure if she could call him her savior now. Not if he’s really that Alpha William of the Devorare Pack.The Devorare Pack is a pack consisting of the most vicious werewolves ever known. Any living being said to enter their sight will die in the most gruesome manner, be they prey, werewolf, or otherwise. Why, even the omega werewolves- normally incapable of combat and rather spend their days fooling around- can hold their own against other non-omegas, or so rumors say. And out of everyone in that pack, their Alpha is especially the most dangerous. He who is said to be most especially brutal and cruel to his enemies.While she knew exactly who Alpha William and his pack were, Maddie was purely clueless, if her confused exp
With the greetings done, Jen brought his attention to Ellie. “Alpha. This werewolf…”“Call her our guest. For now,” William simply said, his tone stating no further talk about the topic. Though his tone brought more worries to Ellie about her situation, Jen bowed in respect.“Yes, Alpha. Ah. About the werewolf who brought that group of intruders into our home…”The moment the Beta changed the topic, Ellie could sense the air around William grow heavy, sending a horrible chill through her bones.“I assume you have them hostage?” the Alpha questioned.“Why yes, Alpha. In fact, because we had sensed you coming earlier…” Jen looked past the crowd behind him, where a pair of werewolves brought over a heavily injured, scrawny teenage werewolf towards them. The scrawny boy struggled to get out of his captor’s grip, only for his efforts to be in vain, for neither one of them budged an inch. One of the ‘guides’ tossed the captive werewolf down, before their leader.William knelt to the downed
Ellie was left utterly speechless by the words that came out of William’s mouth. Did she hear him right?!“You brought me here… just so you could have an heir?!” she questioned.“Or a heiress. So long as the pup is strong,” he practically confirmed, much to her increasing bafflement.“No! You might as well have left me for dead back there! What makes you think I would ever agree to this?!”“How about the fact that I am offering you a place to stay?” Ellie looked on in slight puzzlement at the offer. “You’re a smart werewolf. I’m sure you know that no pack would ever take in a stray like you. Much less a stray with two scents. Even if you do leave, there is nowhere for you to go.”The female werewolf gritted her teeth when he pointed that out. While she was not sure about her having two scents, she was well aware that there was not a single pack sane enough to take in a lone werewolf like her, at the very least. However, that was more of a reason to just let her die back there!“You th
“He is also my lover.”Ellie felt the world stop at those words- the confirmation of her suspicions- as a wave of emotions rushed through her, mainly hurt and disgust. While she did not know why she felt hurt by those words, she knew she was disgusted. Not that she was seeing a real same-gender couple, but more that one half of that couple thought she would be okay in baring his child while he was in that sort of relationship! What in the world was he taking her for?!“If you already have a lover… why bring me here? Calling me your mate?” she unknowingly asked.While Jen seemed a bit surprised by the questions, William bluntly answered, “I believe I already told you why. Unless if your hearing is even worse than an Omega’s. I need an heir slash heiress. A next-in-line for the Alpha position with my blood. Someone I can trust to lead the future generation of the pack. As much as I love Jen, sadly, we are both men. We cannot have a pup.”“The harsh truth of reality…” the Beta sighed in
The next day, training was far worse than Ellie had imagined. She did not know if it was because she grew weak, because she was recovering, or if the training was naturally this harsh in this pack, but training with Jen had to be the hardest thing she had ever done. Ever since the early morning, the pair had undergone a number of sessions. With each trial performed, whenever Ellie showed even a bit of exhaustion, or lost a bit of momentum, Jen practically whipped her back to shape, paying no heed to any injuries that were still healing. Ellie couldn’t even catch a break in between all this training, and she was way past her limit.It did not help that they started their training so early in the morning, with a light meal for Ellie. Thus, she did not have much stamina to go through the regime. To make things worse, just when they thought she was done with training for the day, as it would turn out, all she had done were supposedly ‘simple warmups’, in preparation for some sparring sess
With each word that came out of Ellie’s mouth, Jen felt more annoyed by the female before them. Before he could even do anything, though, William- already anticipating his boyfriend may say something to retort- brought a hand up to stop him, causing the Beta to reluctantly stand down again.“Very well then. A deal is only done from two ends, after all. I may have offered food and shelter and medical assistance, but I suppose those are more considered as necessities any werewolf should have. Especially for one who is to carry my child,” he reasoned. “Alright, since you wish to be treated as a member of this pack, I will do just that.” To Jen, he then said, “Jen, after we have some time together, is there any chance you can gather up all the werewolves tonight?”“Yes, Alpha. As you wish,” Jen accepted, already having an idea as to what the gathering will be for. Despite wanting to protest against it, since it was his Alpha’s wish, even as his boyfriend, he had no right to change his dec
It was night time. Upon William’s request, Jen had rounded all the members of the Devorare Pack at the square, where the two were waiting for them all. Amongst the many werewolves, Ellie was also called to this gathering. ‘Why am I also summoned here…?’ she wondered, for she was practically forced to attend this meeting by Jen when he went to gather the werewolves a little earlier. Going by the conversation she had with William, she had a feeling this meeting was to announce equal treatment towards her, that she would be staying in the pack for a while, but did she really need to be here as well? In fact, did he have to call all of his pack for this? Surely these guys can catch on based on how he and Jen act towards her, can’t they? And besides that, it was practically common knowledge to treat your guests with respect. Something Samantha was shown to be capable of. Wouldn’t the others also be capable of such? “I’m sure you’re all wondering why I’ve called for this gathering,” Willi
In the middle of the night, it was silent in the Devorare Pack. Majority of the werewolves were fast asleep, while the rest were doing patrols around the area. One certain werewolf, though, was doing neither.Ellie carefully snuck around the pack, hiding from one shadow to another to avoid being seen by William or any of his patrols. After what happened earlier, the female werewolf felt as though some part of her finally opened her eyes. Truly… what was she thinking? Agreeing to carry a successor in order to go through training to be the strong werewolf she once was. To become a puppet she did not want to be again? Regardless of the reason, she should’ve known better than to agree to that part in the first place. Even more so… when the reason for her lost strength was because her wolf was taken away from her…Before Ellie went through with that Wolf Swap Rite, she had seen the sort of training Maddie had to go through to get stronger. Yet, no matter how much training she had done, it
“So that’s what he’s decided…” Ellie could only say, after being told of the punishment William gave her by Raymond.“Unfortunately, yeah…” the Alpha weakly said. “B-But hey. Look on the bright side. You’ll still live. You’re not going to die.”“Not now, at least,” Ellie solemnly added. “William may not have decided to kill me, but making me into a slave? You know as well as I do that that’s even worse than being exiled. And here I thought I wouldn’t be used as a tool ever again…”Slavery amongst werewolves… While it was not something common amongst any werewolf pack, it was still a well-known punishment amongst many. Usually done to werewolves who committed an unspeakable crime as irredeemable mutts, or members of a fallen pack’s Alpha’s family as trophies. Either way, once branded as a slave, no longer would that werewolf be seen as an equal. No longer would they be treated as a person. Instead… they will be treated as a tool they aren’t.Since slavery was a practice that was rarely
Meanwhile, at the Hermit Pack, days had passed since the encounter with the Nex Pack. After getting the time to personally grieve, it was now the day when the Hermit Pack was to move out and merge with the Devorare Pack. With news of Jengo’s passing already well known to all the werewolves in the Hermit Pack, the Devorare Wolves- well aware of their Alpha’s full feelings towards their late Beta- did not want to bother their leader with the preparations, and thus managed to get everything done in time.Of course, the preparations made were not just for the Hermit Wolves’ relocating, as one certain werewolf had just found out.“Alpha William… Tell me you are not serious about this!” Raymond requested.“I believe I made myself clear plenty of times these past few days, Alpha Raymond,” William said, looking over some documents. “Especially when I requested you to make such arrangements. You who is the only other person present at the time of Jengo’s death, in addition to being a fellow Al
It was a cold night at the Nex Pack, as Lyra, Hayden, and the other juvenile werewolves knelt before their Alpha. Most of them were quite frightened being in his presence. Specifically since they gave in their reports about the mission.“Let me see if I got this right,” Drake spoke after taking in a breath. “Not only did you kids find your target and let her go free, you told her everything about herself. In the presence of two other nobodies, no less. Did I get that right?”“Nobodies they may be, Alpha, they are also someone close to the target,” Lyra corrected. She being the only one not fazed by the menacing aura he was emitting.Her casual response only served to increase Drake’s rage, as he personally rushed down to his stepdaughter and slammed her face down to the floor. “Do you really think this is supposed to be funny in any way at all?” he questioned. “You don’t seem to understand how severe the situation is here. In this pack, it is one thing if our target manages to escape
The next day, Ellie had regained consciousness and found herself in a very familiar room. One she could not believe she was in again. Only much worse than the last time.‘Again…? I’m in a cell again…’ she thought.She reached a hand out to the bars, hoping that the room she was in was not really what she thought it to be. Upon feeling her finger burn on contact, Ellie hastily recoiled and curled up in a ball.‘He… He really believed it all… He believed a bunch of strangers, who are also his enemies… over his own mate… Then again, when has he ever believed me in anything?’To say Ellie was in disbelief of her own situation- of the events that led to her current state now- would be an understatement. Regardless of how much William detests her, how could he easily believe in what other werewolves claim? More so when those very werewolves were part of the pack he insinuated to have a bad history with? She did not want to think what she went through last night was real, but here she was… S
Why was Sheera here…? Why does she have their son- her own boy- in her arms in that condition? Why was she even holding him in a way no mother would hold their child, but in a way a kidnapper or any sort of criminal would carry a kid?! More importantly… why was she standing with the Nex Pack like an ally rather than a hostage…?“Sheera… What’s going on here?” Killian dared ask.Sheera gave no answer, as she approached Clifford with the big werewolf behind her, and bowed to him loyally. “My many greetings, Sir Clifford,” she said.“You took a while to get here. I thought for sure you decided to back out at the last second,” Clifford said.“Nonsense. I just had a bit of difficulties trying to get this thing under control and Big here disposed of Private,” she simply said, tossing William on the ground, raising Killian and the other Devorares’ bafflement towards her and worries for the boy.“William!” the Alpha cried out, about to rush to his son, only to be knocked down to the ground by
With Sheera and William, the pair made it to the gorge, where one of the guards stood waiting for them."Beta Sheera, Master William!" he greeted with a salute."At ease, Private," she greeted in return. "Is it only just you? Where are Alpha William and the others?""They went on ahead down the gorge. We should catch up to them. Best shift into your wolf form; the slope is steep enough, but it's probably because of the rain we had, it also looks really slippery," Private warned."So we're almost at the meeting?" William asked."Yeah. And you can meet a new friend."Sheera smiled at those last words. Only... something was off about it. "Well... Not exactly," she said."What was that?" Just as soon as Private asked that, a heavy thud was heard from directly behind him.He turned to see who or what was behind him... Only to see black.******Killian and his group carefully descended down into the gorge in their wolf form. Thankfully, even with the new moon out and weakening them, they ca
With Raymond now gone with Ellie, William walked over to Jengo’s torn body. As he stared at it, images- memories- came flooding back into his head. All about a certain day in his childhood… when his mother betrayed their pack for the Nex Pack.*FLASHBACK*It was a peaceful night. One with clear skies and lots of stars shining down. The moon was in its New Moon Phase, a time when all werewolves would be at their weakest and most vulnerable. That said, it was also the perfect time for there to be a peaceful meeting between packs.“Alpha Killian, I really need to ask this again. But are you sure about this meeting?” Hugo asked his Alpha.“Hugo, be at ease. I understand well of your worries. But look up, will you? Tonight is the new moon. A time when our kind as werewolves are at their weakest. No matter how dangerous the Nex Pack are, even they cannot do us much harm at this time of the night,” Killian assured. “Their leader asked for this meeting at a time when neither side can do any s
William could not believe what he was seeing before him… He wanted to think he was seeing someone else who looks like Jen lying in the pool of blood, practically torn to pieces. But no matter how he looks at the corpse in Ellie’s hands… No matter how he smelled this scent… There was no doubting it… Lying dead in his fated mate’s arms was…“JENGO!”All heads turned to his direction at his shout. While one Ellie paled at the sight of seeing the Alpha here, the other werewolves around them looked at him with confused expressions.“Huh? Who’s the new guy?” Hayden questioned.“Someone connected to the dead, maybe? He did cry out that guy’s name, after all,” Lyra guessed. “That being said, if he has connection to that dead wolf…” She trailed off there and looked down at Ellie, taking notice of the frightened expression on her face. One look at the expression she had, and an idea came to the juvenile’s mind. One she would have to wait on, as she would like to have one thing confirmed about w
How could this have happened…? Where did he go wrong…? He tried his best to follow their movements, to defend himself against their attacks, and land a hit on them. And yet… They were too fast for him to follow, no matter what he did. Their strength broke past his defense easily. Worse off, not once did they give him a chance to do anything but defend. These juveniles did not even give him the chance to recover from any of their attacks.And now, because of the huge different in their strengths, there Jengo lied… In his own blood with an arm and leg missing from his person. His assailants all stood around him, looking down on him. Some had on mocking expressions, others were cleaning off his blood that got splattered on them during their attack fest.“Wow. Who’d have thought blood from a victim would taste so different compared to animal blood?”“Same with attacking a kill target. It really is different from doing hunts.”“And yet our superiors have been wasting our time away, making