Chapter 4 - Trick or Treat

HERMES

I SETTLED ON the couch in my living room with a glass cup of orange juice in my left hand to wash down my throat, and a photographic print of Sarah in my right hand that was placed on my thigh.

“Everyone wants me to find a mate Sarah, and honestly, I don’t think I’m ready for one. But this evening, I could feel that the moon goddess has provided me with another mate and she is nearby,” I mumbled after dropping the glass cup on the table before me as I stared at the photo in my hand.

The act of speaking to Sarah’s pictures as if she could hear me had fast become a habit. I didn’t care, as far as it brought me relief.

After coming back from work, I would pick a picture of her and highlight my day, and events that made my day. At times, if I was feeling infuriated by something or someone, I spoke to the picture and a feeling of calmness would wash over me.

The only thing I didn’t say to the photographic print was the business of the pack. I never felt relieved, speaking about it to the photos. It only made me feel guilty.

They were not just photos to me, but they were a representation of Sarah which gave the feeling that she was around me.

My right fingers traced the surface of the photographic print, wishing I could reach out to my already dead mate, while my left hand held onto it.

“I really wish I could reverse time and prevent all of it from happening,” I said, referring to the incident of her death and having to be mated to another werewolf.

The sudden buzz from my phone startled me.

“Damn it! Michael, it’s not midnight yet. What do you want?” I yelled over the phone that was held up close to my right ear.

Michael was another beta of my pack. We were not supposed to be in contact till midnight. In fact, I was not supposed to be in contact with any member of my pack until midnight since we had no lingering issues. I wondered what troublesome Mike wanted.

“I know Alpha, but you need to listen to me, there’s a very important piece of information I need to share that would be of interest to you,” his light pitched voice rung over the phone. He gossiped like a female, and he sure possessed the tone of a lady.

“Alright, spit it out,” I said subtly while sinking into the couch.

At least, he was our most reliable source of information, it’d be reasonable to give him a listening ear.

“Unknown sources says that the Silver Moon pack are on their way to Westwoods and would be approximately here in the next two hours.”

“WHAT?” I exclaimed, amidst jumping to my feet involuntarily, with my face a little bit squeezed.

I wondered what prompted me to jump that way, disbelief or thinking I had not heard him clearly.

“Hold it Mike, I need you to come again slowly,” I said, flitting my gaze to the wall clock that stood above the big screened television hung on the wall few feet away from me.

Michael repeated what he had just told me about the Silver Moon pack without mincing words.

“Reach out to Greg and make sure every Desert wolf meets me at the Cabin in the next fifteen minutes,” I replied, before I hung up.

I stole another quick glance at the wall clock and it read 7:15. Darkness had casts it’s shadows over this part of the earth which made it perfect for an underground war.

My heart was raging and my blood was boiling. Not because of fear, but because I was angry that they had the guts to return to Westwoods after the havoc they’d wrecked on my pack and me personally, knowing fully well that we survived.

My eyes glittered blood red at the thought of slashing the throat of the Silver Moon Alpha and making the rest of his pack plead allegiance to me or better still ending them, the same way I’d end their Alpha.

I kissed the photographic print of Sarah before muttering.

“Wish me luck from the moon goddess. I’m going to get vengeance on your behalf.”

I fetched my jacket and left for the cabin where the Dessert Wolves pack met.

The cabin had been abandoned when I first came across it in the woods. It was during one of my evening strolls I ran into it, sitting perfectly close to a river bank and almost at the end of the woods. It was not a pleasant spot for an ordinary human to live so I suggested the owner left it there.

It was magnificent both in size and quality as the woods used in building it was mahogany. The thought of turning it into a pack house did not occur to me at first since I was still in my depressed state.

I spent few days there, just to get away from the rest of the world and it served me pretty well. By the time I recovered and slaughtered Gerald, I knew my house couldn’t be used as the pack house anymore as we had doubled in number.

Almost immediately, the cabin crept into my mind and it was the best option. It was a secret spot and was large enough for us to hold our meetings.

Three large bedrooms, a massive living room, sharing space with the kitchen and double bathrooms and toilets. It was perfect.

With a little restructuring and arrangement, we were able to build it into the pack house it was.

It took about forty-five minutes for the whole pack to assemble, instead of the initial fifteen minutes I had planned.

To take down a true blood pack like Silver Moon, every member of the pack was needed, so I had to be patient and control the hot-blooded monster in me.

“It’s going to be an ambush,” I announced to the twelve werewolves assembled before me.

"We won’t unleash the full pack. Instead, we’ll attack them in few numbers.” I stated my plan to the rest of the pack which led to few questions and suggestions before we headed to the end of the town in our various vehicles.

Greg was not comfortable with my idea of attacking the Silver Moon pack. He didn’t say it, but I could tell. I’ve known him for years. He was driving the vehicle I was in and I sat beside him at the front seat.

“You know they are our biggest enemy right?” I asked, trying to initiate a conversation with him.

He stole a glance at me before turning his face back to the road.

“I know. But you need to consider the rest of the pack too. Apart from us in this vehicle, no one really knows what it is like to battle true bloods, they don’t even know what they are up against, they think it’s just a regular pack. Do you think losing them to the Silver Moon because of vengeance is really worth it?” Greg finally let out.

Before I could reply him, Bennie chipped in.

“I just think you are scared Greg. Basically, you are saying the pack that has left us without a Lunar for all these years, we should let them come back into the county and go back like nothing happened? Think about it clearly man. Plus, we are stronger now. You think a pack of five or six can take down a pack of thirteen?”

“Without a Luna, we are not complete as a pack, we are still not strong,” Rosa countered almost immediately.”

We were five in the vehicle. I, Greg, Bennie, Rosa and Martin. We were the original members of the Desert Wolves before the advent of the rest of the pack and I very much respected their opinions.

One thing I respected very much about Bennie was his courage and strength. During our first battle against the Silver Moon, he had sustained a very serious injury but he didn’t stop fighting, he fought almost till death. I was glad he made it out alive and I was more glad he was making it clear to Greg that Sarah wasn’t just my mate but the Luna of the pack, and I wasn’t the only one hungry for vengeance against the bastards that took her life.

Rosa never really liked Sarah because she believed Sarah took me away from her to become the Lunar. She was more crossed that even after Sarah’s death, I wouldn’t still give her a chance. We just had a fling, and that was all.

Martins was the silent killer type. He never contributed to decision making. Whatever conclusion we came to was perfect to him. All he wants is to kill and see blood. He was a very useful weapon and I was grateful for that.

“We are doing this for our Luna, but if you want out, there’s no problem, I’m not forcing you. Everyone has made a point and that’s all I have to say,” I finally said and just as I expected, no one wanted to bail out. We all took our positions for the ambush when we arrived at the demarcation between Westwoods and Palmdale.

It was way past midnight when we realized that our intel, Michael could be wrong. As we were about exiting our positions, I heard something. The roaring of a car engine.

“Everyone, take your positions, they are coming,” I alerted my pack and they scurried back to their various positions.

Instead of the rage my wolf was supposed to be feeling, he was feeling something different, the mate bond. Words couldn’t describe how shocked and confused I was.

When the incoming vehicle was close enough, I relinquished my hideout and stepped out to the road, forcing the driver to apply the brakes.

Five members of the pack that had shifted into their wolf form had surrounded the vehicle howling.

The engine of the vehicle came off, same with the lights emanating from it. The mate bond was getting stronger by the minute. I paid attention to every sound coming from the vehicle and I could tell that it wasn’t the Silver Moon pack. Instead, it was a young lady.

As she stepped out of the vehicle slowly, my wolf tried pushing out screaming ‘mate,’ but I kept him under control.

“Hold it right there!” I yelled at the lady and she froze.

“What’s your name and what do you want?” I asked with another threatening yell, and she was visibly shaken.

“I’m Layla..Layla, Layla Luther,” she stuttered and I frowned.

What was the moon goddess trying to do? No way a Lutheran could be my mate.