Chapter 1: The Beginning of Humanity's End

            Peeking out of the rear window of the house, he found a mysterious-looking old man in black and gray robe, sitting at the boulder near the dense pine cone forest. The gloomy, scary, and lightless forest made the North Mountains notorious from numerous missing hunters to wild animal attacks, which is located at the back of their house.

            Someone is tagging the hem of his shirt and he turned around to see his younger twin brother, Leo, looking up to him.

            “What are you doing, Luke?” the younger one asked.

            “Looking outside. There is an old man sitting near the forest.”

            Luke informed him with a hint of worry within his tone. Leo knew what he was going to do.

            “Don’t go out, Luke. It’s dangerous out there and mom isn’t home yet.”

            Leo disputed while tagging his shirt harder while tightly shutting his eyes, to stop his brother from going out the door. He fell on his butt on the cement floor when Luke suddenly faced him.

            “Leo, he looks weak and exhausted. He might need water and food.”

            Stating on what Luke saw earlier with full seriousness plastered on his face and determination to help the old man. Leo said nothing back but only held out his left hand which the older one grabbed to make him stand. He gently dusted off his shorts and sighed.

            “Let’s lock the front door and windows before heading out. Then, we will bring the small bottled water from the refrigerator and the remaining sandwich we had for snacks.”

            Luke stated the steps of the plan and Leo followed every single one of it. The two held hands before heading out from the back door. As they slowly reach their destination, the intimidating atmosphere of the forest gives Luke goosebumps that he tried to shake it off.

                                                                                                                                                

            When they arrived at the old man’s foot, Luke could not help but feel scared and uncertain of his decision to help him as the man was quiet and they could not see his face because his long frizzy hair was covering it.

            Leo squeezed his brother’s hand and Luke looked at him, that he is not the only one who is scared. The younger one’s eyes were wavering and rubbing his right arms. So, Luke gathered his courage and faced the old man who did not move at all.

            “E-excuse me, grandpa. We are here to give this. Water and sandwiches, so you will have energy. Go-goodbye. Take care.”

            He said in a small voice while tremblingly handed him the water and Leo handed the sandwich. Sweating and on the verge of crying due to fear, the old man took it and met both of the youngsters' eyes simultaneously.

            “Thank you. How can I repay such kindness? How about a story?”

            The old man said in his low husky voice and a gently grandfatherly smile plastered on his face. The fear Luke had vanished to thin air and nodded to his payment. He did not know Leo's expression nor decision but he sat down to listen to the story.

            “It is all about the first werewolf that lived on this very land. Listen well, young pups.”

                                                                                                                                                           

            Thousand years ago, in the country of Vooke, an endemic hit its people so much that the future seemed so bleak. It first struck the old people at the Northern Mountains who have the most knowledge and mastery of their current profession and the next in line cannot even be in par nor even half of the masters’ skills.

            The spittle houses were full and most of the time,  it was overcrowded as people were trying to save their loved ones or to let the doctors see and check on them despite belittling them before that crisis, as ‘magicians’ and ‘sorcerers’.

            The symptoms were diverse and differed from one to the other but the common denominator was high fever that reaches 103 degrees Fahrenheit, small but itchy red rashes, convulsion, salivation and grinding of teeth.

            Some were so severe that they needed to be tied down because they started to bite people that they laid their eyes on, and on a few occasions, killed them in the process.

                                                                                                                                                           

            “Biting people? How can they die from it?” 

            Leo butt-in in an innocent and curious tone.

            “Because their teeth are sharp from always grinding.”

            The old man brightly answered him and he continued.

                                                                                                                                                           

            When it affected the new born babies, new symptoms emerged. The changing of eye color, growing of thick brown hair all over the body but high fever remained. It was said that before that, the ancient Vooken citizens respected the wild animals residing in the great mountains such as bears and foxes but what brought them down on their knees were the wolves.

            It was believed that every full moon, people would leave freshly cut meat and cow milk at the base of every mountain of the country and they would be inside their house before sunset or they would be killed by the wolf god residing in the mountains. It goes berserk when his mate leaves him due to the beauty of the shining full moon in the sky. 

                                                                                                                                                           

            “Is the wolf god still living here?”

            Leo suddenly interrupted and Luke nodded at his question.

            “Some still believe that he still lives here but at the very top of this mountain. Where snow touches the land and air are as thin as spider’s web to fully train in protecting oneself and their mate rather than being praised by cruel and heartless humans.”

            The old man amusingly responded while pointing on the top of the mountain.

            “I’ll continue, okay?”

            Informing them and they nodded simultaneously.

                                                                                                                                                           

            All rituals were eventually forgotten when the surge of unwanted pregnancy for two decades meant that the elders were not able to keep up with their warnings and reminders for the new stubborn generation.

            Although, what pushed those gods to the edge was the unnecessary killing of their kind that lessened their number and their offspring every year from ten to five then to two when their mates were killed for fun or for their furs. The surviving pups learned to be more aggressive, cautious, and sly when encountering humans. They will attack first when humans enter their territory.

            Word of mouth from the elders within the community believed that that endemic started when the wolf god planted a mysterious tree in the middle of the base of the Northern Mountains, where most of the people lived and will be visible by the morning.

            The tree was as big as a five-story building and as thick as an adult size elephant while it had a silver white twisted trunk and branches. It was leafless but it brightly shines when it hits by the moonlight and it is full of fruits hanging on its branches. It has various colors and sizes – white, black, gray, brown, amber, and the mixture of it then the size ranges from a peanut to a volleyball. 

            The stunning tree stayed in the area for two days to let all citizens pick up every single fruit of it to be consumed then disappear the next day. No one chopped it down as it was durable as diamond and surprisingly, the fruit has no seed.

                                                                                                                                                           

            “Maybe the wolf god took it back.”

            Leo spoke out loud and his twin was pissed off because he cut off the old man’s story. Luke took that chance to ask the old man.

            “Why is there no seed?”

            “Because the fruit is the seed and it was the beginning of humanity’s end.”

            He answered in a mysteriously manner as he slightly raised his left hand while his eyes followed it. He continued without any further ado.

                                                                                                                                                           

            At the end of the second year of the endemic, it spread throughout the country of Vooke that eradicated eighty percent of the population while the remaining Vooken were waiting for their death while chained up on their sturdy house column before their symptoms got worse.

            Dead people were everywhere and the rotting smell was dense and severe but the surviving and uninfected people were staying away from the carcass of their own kind and self-preservation was prevailing rather than being compassionate.

            What changed that faith were the lives of an alpha and omega male, allegedly, identical twins, living in the far tip south. Left to console one another when all their relatives died from the same sickness. They were straining themselves at the different corner columns of their house.

            They confessed that the love they felt for each other was beyond siblings and that their world is not ending, it is better to become mates and love each other until the end of their lives.

            That night after they chained themselves up, there was a super blood moon and the symptoms of the disease escalated pretty fast but instead of minding all of it – they were focused on thinking that that is the end and there will be no more tomorrow for us.

            The omega went into an intense heat which affected elder person that went into a rut. With their calloused hands, they made love with one another after the alpha bit the omega’s neck and continued for straight seven days.

            Throughout that week, the infected people were screaming in pain and slowly dying while those two youngsters were screaming in pleasure, slowly dying from desperation of expressing their love to one another, but still alive despite experiencing the same disease as those dead people.

                                                                                                                                                           

            “How can they make ‘love’? Can it be even made? It is supposed to be felt, right?”

            Leo bombarded the old man with innocent questions but all he could was move his eyes from left to right then above. He was so unsure of what to answer.

            “Love is being felt, young pup.”

            He hastily answered and was sweating heavily then proceeded with the story.

                                                                                                                                                           

            Weeks passed by when they noticed the disappearance of the endemic symptoms within their body. The alpha decided to break the chains off their necks by sheer strength as they were famished and the strong rotting smell circulates within the area that causes the omega to be nauseous and vomit.

            He was constantly looking for chilis and red apples, and suddenly got dizzy. They knew and patiently waited for three months for their miracle.

            When the time arrived, the child was born but was greatly ill with their previous symptoms. The couple did their best to save their child but on the full moon, he stopped and was convulsing so hard that the omega didn't know what to do until it ended. Their child turned into a wolf pup and was stunned by what they saw. 

            Years passed and the pup turned into human for the next eleven years until on his birthday, he shapeshifted into a huge dark black werewolf with crimson red eyes and followed a scent to Vooke’s west coast where he met a young omega girl.

            Returning back to his human form, he built a family with her but drought and fish kill happened after his omega went into labor. The remaining townsmen casted him out without the omega’s knowledge, as they believed that he caused all of those misfortunes. He backed off as they were ready to kill his family when he wouldn't leave the town.

            He reached the south east, fell in love with a new omega woman and had a family after five months living together. Although, he was accused of the massacre that happened in the next town as he was a new face and no one personally knew him, other than the woman he lived with.

            He was out of their house when his omega gave birth. The neighboring townsmen heard that his child was not a human child but a wolf pup, and came to the conclusion that nomad killed their friends and family. They killed the mother and child inside the burning house and harmed the shocked father when he approached them. In rage, he retaliated back.

                                                                                                                                                           

            “The lands he walks to become a hill of the dead and pool of blood.”

            The old man ended his story with those words. The twins were just staring in awe and in respect to that man who was packing his things up. He smiled and the older brother got shy out of nowhere. Luke turned to Leo when mother was looking for them despite, she was on the other side of town.

            “Here, you are.”

            They suddenly got goosebumps when a gray with short thick fur werewolf behind them and the intimidating atmosphere it brings but they knew that they needed to explain as soon as possible or it would be an endless nagging for them.

            “We are sorry, mom. That old man, over here, told us a story about werewolves history and it was really interesting – ”

            “Yeah, and we didn’t notice that it was late already.”

            “What old man?”

            Their mother asked them through a mind link and they tilted their heads in confusion when the old man was literally behind them. Leo and Luke told her in synchronization while pointing behind them.

            “Behind us. Right there, at the bou – ”

            When they turned their heads, the old man disappeared and there was no scent nor any trace of him. Such a mystery and years passed by since that day. The young pup, Luke, could not still forget the old man sitting on that boulder on the mountains, a few meters behind their house.

            It was like yesterday when he told them the story.