With a swift turn, Crystal attacked the person at her back, causing blood to bloom on his hand as he moved back at the unexpected attack. However, after the initial shock, he smiled as he looked at the ferocious woman.
Looking at his comrade, he spoke," You caught a feisty one. The alpha may just reward us after he has had his turn with her." But the other man was not smiling anymore. He pointed at the blood that was turning black on the arm of the new werewolf and gulped," Darius. We need to run. Let's take you to the healer."
The new man, Darius frowned at the sudden change in his friend but could start to feel the changes within him immediately. It felt as if his insides were being torn from within. Shocked, he looked around trying to find something but shook in pain, before falling on the ground -writhing and turning unconscious. The other man ran away after seeing this scene while Crystal thanked the Moon Goddess in her heart. They had been spared. Though she did not understand why this werewolf had suddenly turned and run while the other one had fainted from a mere cut. She failed to notice that the man was not healing as he should have as well as that his blood was turning darker and darker. Her attention on her friend, she knew she needed to go check on Lashley.
However, Lashley was not behind the tree! How was that possible? Worried, Crystal tried to smell for her but the girl seemed to have disappeared. Maybe she had run away towards her home.
Crystal threw one last glance around the forest before walking back towards the village. The silly woman had actually raced back to her death?
As she walked, she tried to think why would these rogue werewolves come to this quiet sleepy town? Usually, werewolves, the rogue or the sane ones tended to steer clear of the human villages lest their identity is discovered.
But these two and the ones she had seen had actually burned her village to the ground.
As Crystal stepped into the village boundary, she could feel the oppression that had been placed on this place. These people were here only to wreak misery or were they looking for something?
Her heart ached at the carnage that she witnessed. Had she been cursed? The place that she dared to call home had once again been turned to ashes. Even as her hand clutched at the pommel of her blade and her gaze searched for her best friend, the tears continued to slip out of her eyes. She had never gotten close to these humans, for fear of discovery as well as putting them in danger. And yet all this had happened.
Soon, she was in the middle of the village square and right there surrounded by three men, was her only friend, Lashley. And her human parents.
She watched as the noses of the three men twitch, trying to smell her and make out whether she was a human or a wolf. But she was not yet eighteen, so her wolf would not show up now and thus, she was a mere human with some extra strength that they were unaware of.
Standing in front of the men, she spoke in a clear voice," Who are you?"
"Are you a Snowheart?", the nearest man growled and she could see the wolf inside lurking just under the surface. His wolf was getting testy.
Raising her chin, she spoke," Why do you want to know?"
The three men looked at each other and Crystal knew they were communicating amongst themselves using pack telepathy. This meant that they were not rogues...Suddenly the one who was holding Lashley grabbed her neck and placed a rusty blade on her neck," If you want to save the woman and your human servants, then come with us, Snowheart."
Crystal looked down at her unconscious parents and frowned. "They are protected by the laws of Alpha of the Bloodshadow pack. By breaking the law, are you trying to rebel? Tell me why you have come here and what do you want?"
The werewolf laughed and spoke," The Alpha of the Bloodshadow pack is no more as powerful as he used to be. And we want the heir of the Snowheart pack to deal with him. After all, you are the Luna of the Snowheart pack..."
Crystal nodded in acknowledgement, aware that there was no point in denying it. "Very well, give me a blood promise that none of you will attack or cause harm to these three people in any way and I will come with you willingly."
The three men once again looked wary. They dare not make a blood promise to a Luna. While the three men once again discussed everything, Lashley bit on the hand of the nearest werewolf who held her captive and raced forward towards Crystal. Seeing that her friend had finally shown some bravery, Crystal hurriedly opened her arms to catch her best friend only to have her throw her arms around her and push an injection into her shoulders.
Pushing away her friend, Crystal staggered back and stared in horror at Lashley who now stood there calmly with a smirk on her face.
She had been betrayed by her best friend...was the last thought that Crystal had as she felt blackness engulf her.
Crystal opened her eyes slowly before shutting them down quickly as the glaring light hurt her eyes. Trying to recollect what had happened, she slowly thought back to everything that had taken place and her surroundings.She tried to move her hands and legs and could feel them tied up. The faint sound of breathing told her that there was someone next to her as well as the smell of excitement that lingered in the air made her know exactly who it was.She tried to open her eyes again but they had somehow turned sensitive to light making her let out an involuntary moan of pain that caught the attention of her captor. Lashley looked sideways at her best friend and spoke in a gloating whisper," Unable to open your eyes? Don't worry, this is a common side effect of the drug that I gave you. It will wear off soon."The careless gloating, made Crystal's fingers itch to slap her face. But first, she needed to figure out a few things..."Why did you do it, Lashley? I slowed down for you. I did
"Alpha! Please forgive me! I never meant to betray you!"Ace Hunter looked down at the man kneeling and begging for forgiveness and sighed! He hated, absolutely hated when he had to kill people when he was on vacation. But betrayal was something that he took seriously and whether he had meant to or not, this man should have known better than to have leaked his whereabouts to the rogues. Because of him, he had lost two of his warriors. And because they had died, this man had to die too."Stand up!" Ace commanded. This weak man was the Alpha of the Appleby pack where Ace was a 'guest'! It was no wonder the pack had been dying slowly at the hands of rogues and their own neighbours. Who would want to ally themselves with a weakling Alpha like him? All Ace had to do was growl for the grown man to start snivelling. And he hadn't even used his Alpha voice yet!The man stood up at once, relieved that he had been forgiven. He was about to bow down and thank Ace when the mighty Alpha spoke, "
Juan reluctantly checked the girl's pulse and sighed. At least she was out of danger. Or else his own life would have been on the line. Turning back to his Alpha, he muttered, "She is fine. The only reason she isn't waking up is that her body needs to heal internally."Ace looked down at the girl he had rescued two days ago and nodded. He did not know why but when he had seen her collapse, his wolf had almost gone crazy. For a minute he wondered if she was his mate but he would only be able to find that out after she turned eighteen.Before that, there were other things to be puzzled about. The fact that she smelled human but her healing and the way she fought with those rogues made it clear that she was not a simple human. There was also the extreme reluctance in Juan when he had ordered him to treat her. Juan was someone who would do his best to treat anyone with the slightest sickness and this was the first time he had actually refused to help without a direct command from him.As
Crystal opened her eyes and sucked in a breath as she found a man leaning over her, staring at her intensely. Hurriedly, the scene of her being saved by a wolf came to her mind. No. She needed to escape from here! Her eyes darted around and in the next moment, she pushed out one hand to move the man's arm and pushed at his shoulder with the other, quickly turning them so that the next moment the dark-haired man was under her while she straddled him. Breaking the bottle of water, she held it near his neck and questioned," Where are my things? You were foolish to not have tied my hands when you had the chance."For the first time in his life, Ace Hunter found himself under an unexpected attack. Ace had become an Alpha at the age of seventeen when he had challenged his birth father for the right to rule the Moonhunter Pack. And even though his father had been a ferocious warrior, he had been unable to defeat Ace.The only reason he had been able to win, Ace acknowledged even now, had bee
Ace looked into the eyes of the girl who looked wise beyond her years and accepted the promise with a nod. The girl was indeed smart. She had pledged her life to the pack and not to him. While Ace and Crystal stared at each other, Juan was not happy."Ace! What are you thinking? Giving her shelter would mean inviting every land-hungry pack to come after us. Even if you are the strongest pack, your first priority should be protecting your pack. There is no need to invite more violence to innocent people! And did you not see the rogues she was fighting? There is a rumour among the people that all the rogues have started banding together looking for someone. Who do you think is that 'someone'? And what Luna? To be an Alpha or Luna, you need to have land and a pack! Even though the land of the Snowheart Pack is protected by ancient spells, your pack has been extinguished! What is your life worth against our pack members! They already are hot on your scent, are they not? So, they just have
While Ace left Crystal to recover, Juan was once again pacing outside the cottage while Mateo stood still, seemingly deep in thought. Watching the Alpha come out, Juan muttered again and spoke, " Ace? How could you offer her asylum? Even if she can disguise her scent, it's not like we can simply show up at the pack with a girl and have no explanation? And then what happens when a girl with an appearance similar to what the rogues are looking for appears on our doorstep out of the blue? Ace, you are being foolish for a bi**h!"Suddenly Juan was hit with a force that caused him to stagger and knee. He looked up at Ace with horror. Ace had actually used his Alpha power on him!"Juan, you are my friend since childhood and that is why I let you get away with a lot. But that does not mean you can go around challenging my decisions and disrespecting Lunas of other packs!."Being hit full force by the Alpha's anger, Juan looked away, baring his neck to the Alpha. "I apologize, Alpha Ace."Wit
Ace felt like a dam* perv. He had raced into the room, expecting a rogue to have attacked her and instead, here she was staring at him as if he was the rogue. Her big eyes almost seemed ready to fall out of her face and she was clutching the blanket with a panicked face.Her eyes, if possible widened even further as she gave him a look all over. In his haste, he had only pulled on his sweats leaving his upper body bare. "Uh... Could you please put on some clothes," she squeaked.After seeing that she was pale-faced and shaking he guessed the reason for her scream. Ace walked out of the cabin without a word to get back his T-shirt. She must have had a nightmare. She had had those in the past two nights and it had usually ended in her holding his hand tight enough to stop blood flow into the appendage and if he were a human, break his bones!Crystal stared at the perfect V-shaped back of the man as he walked out. Her eyes however continued to flit back to the small tattoo on his shoulde
Two Weeks Later:"Who is that girl?"As Crystal followed Alpha Ace and beta Mateo into the training grounds of the Moonhunters Pack, she could already feel the power in the air. So, what she had learnt from Beta Mateo during her recuperation period, about this pack was all true. Alpha Ace was truly a well-respected and honoured Alpha. It was clear from the warriors that he commanded. Even when they were training, they had a fierceness that could be matched in a real match. And such warriors had pledged their alliance to the Alpha so he was worthy."Who Cares if he is not worth it? All that hot a**! We can enjoy him and then once I have come ito power, we can tame him, worth or not..." Erin, her wolf, whispered in her ear. Even providing images of the ways in which she could 'subdue' the alpha!Crystal rolled her eyes mentally at her wolf and tried to ignore the gazes being sent her way. As a human student, she had been used to merging into the background but as she walked among the wo
"My baby?" The first thought that came to Crystal when she woke up and felt her stomach that everything had been a dream and her baby had been stolen by Indiva. As tears of agony came to her eyes and she tried to move, her hand was held by Ace. Tears in her eyes, she tried to speak when he placed a small kiss on her forehead. "Our baby is safe. She was just too small so Juan has taken her to a makeshift care unit.""She? We have a baby girl?"With a loud exhale, Ace spoke," Yes sugar. We have a little baby girl..."Crystal frowned at the weary tone of voice and questioned tentatively,"You are not happy?"Once agian, he leaned forward before placing reassuring kisses all over her face. "I am very happy. Just worried about the future...""Why? Is there some other villain posing as a threat?" Crystal asked wth a trace of fear."No! Sigh! Crystal... our daughter..." As Ace left the words hanging, Crystal widened her eyes, all thoughts of negative thoughts running through her...She held h
The silence in the night continued as scene after scene continued to change showing the siren's plan to kill the Goddess by luring Luna Crystal. A strange murmur raced through the crowd as everything continued according to the plan of the siren and Luna Crystal was separated from the battle by Ace and the siren. They watched from his eyes as he gazed worriedly at his wife who was suffering discomfort and seemed to be rubbing her belly continuously. Because the siren had been made with Indiva's magic she was well aware of the magic and easily led them to Indiva. But instead of engaging in a war, they had not expected that Indiva would disappear into the woods followed by Aenora. As Crystal would have followed them, Ace summoned Doyen and spoke to Erin with their mind link.”No. Wait here. And fight with me. Our people have already spread through the forest, she won't be able to disappear easily." They watched as the Luna Queen immediately stilled and followed the black wolf’s bidding.
“I know what they said… They said I ran away and shook hands with the enemy. I know what they said…They said that I betrayed my mate. I know what they said… They said I fell under the spell of a siren. I know what they said…They said I was lured away by the thirst for magic and power… kidnapped by lust. I know what they said…They said that I would not return to my mate…be killed by the Goddess I was meant to kill. I know what they said…”The small wisp of smoke that had arisen from the witch’s hand slowly took the image of Alpha Ace in the middle of the dark sky. With every word the smoky Alpha spoke, the chillier everyone felt. These were indeed the rumours that had been spreading through the ranks over the last many hours but to hear them from this wisp of smoke in such a voice was way too scary even for the most hardened shifters. It made them think of ghosts.The witch herself trembled and gulped as she uttered a few words, tightening the smooth lock of hair in her palm and spoke,”
Dissent spread through the army as the werewolves questioned Alpha Ace's presence beside Goddess Indiva at the beginning of the war while the foxes fed the fire of rumours. Even as most of the shifters would not dare to question either Crystal or Ace, out of sheer fear, they did not seem to have any qualms about discussing the same and spreading rumours. But nobody knew the truth of the matter as the Goddess had been defeated without any witnesses. Using this momentum the fox shifters questioned Nate," Beta Hunter. The Queen is still in labour. And the others are still in recovery but what about the Queen's consort? What about Alpha Ace? We all saw him standing there right next to that Goddess and whoever that woman was. Did he fight on their side? Has he betrayed his mate? All of us agreed to an alliance not just with the queen but also on the trust of Ace Hunter's mate and the backing of the warriors of the Moonhunter Pack. But now it seems Alpha Ace was not a part of this war. So,
As Crystal struggled to breathe through the contractions, she hoped and prayed that her baby would survive. Tears of happiness escaped her eyes. Her baby had decided to come just after the threat had been eliminated. Now they would be able to live peacefully. She would not have to constantly look over her shoulder in fear. But unknown to her, a certain threat still thrived. The fox clan were known for their cunningness but also their selfishness. At this moment, two red foxes scoured the remains of the dead. Like scavengers, they also looked for something from the dead and did not 'waste' their time in mourning their comrades. "Dam* it! Where is that box? Are you sure it is not there where that Luna buried the heart?" Grumbled the female vixen as she tried to look for the small box which held Indiva's sealed powers. The other fox glared at her and spoke sharply," Keep your voice down! I know it is not there! Do you think the Luna will be so stupid to put it in a place where everyo
As the net was cast and Indiva prepared to disappear, Aenora was not going to be easily defeated. Summoning all her powers, Aenora filled the air with pheromones so strong that the air started to feel sickeningly cloying. While Erin in her wolf form was barely affected other than feeling a bit hazy, Goddess Indiva, with little and now almost exhausted power, was forced to her knees. But Indiva was not going to let go so easily and continued to chant the spells, tightening the hold of the net on Crystal lest the wolf tries to escape or attack her. But Crystal seemed uncaring and unaware of her surroundings. Probably the shock of losing her mate and having to live with his betrayal seemed to finish her will to live. But Aenora- the siren on the other end had gone crazy as she continued to attack Indiva until finally, Indiva was unable to escape and finally lay panting on the floor as their almost exhausted powerful auras glowed faintly around them,. Seeing that she had brought the vill
"Do not forget that I am still a Goddess, Aenora," Indiva thundered. "It still holds the binding power of the heavens!" The siren snorted and narrowed her eyes, "And I don't think that you will find a way to say the words in such a way that the promise would be circumvented? No mistress. You will give me the box." Placing one hand behind her back, Indiva curled her fingers and urged, "The box is of no use to you, Aenora. It is mine. Ask for anything and I will give you." Instead of replying, Aenora let out a shriek and jumped at Indiva who was about to cast a curse at her. Indiva fell to the floor while the box slipped out of her hand. Kicking her in the stomach, Aenora jumped towards the box only to be hit by magic and thrown against the walls. As the Goddess and siren continued to fight, throwing curses t each other, two pairs of eyes continued to stare. A while later as it looked no one would be lost, a loud howl broke through the woods. The wolf's howl was filled with agony an
Aenora hurried behind the tiny bird with narrowed eyes. She needed to see where Goddess Indiva was going. That Goddess wanted nothing more than all the shifters to be eradicated and Luna Crystal to lose her life. And yet, now when Crystal was about to engage in a fight with Ace, the goddess was fleeing instead of staying to help or watch. Aenora searched the sky as the sun's rays hurt her eyes, looking for the tiny bird which had disappeared into the sky. Was Ace correct? This Goddess Indiva had only planned to use them and then kill them. But she had promised that if they succeeded in defeating Luna Crystal, she would let Ace and her leave together so that they could live happily... The beautiful face turned into a scowl and she touched the late trunk of a tree as she ordered," Tell me where the goddess has disappeared."A small hollow appeared in the tree as it spoke," The Goddess has entered the secret cave at the end of these woods. Our Goddess Siren, the Goddess Indiva is in a t
No word was spoken as the rays of the sun fell across the sand. With a single raised hand, Crystal directed her troops to march forward. While the others almost seemed to have fallen into a trance at the sight of Ace Hunter, the calm determination in Crystal's eyes and gestures seemed to re inforce their energy. Yes... Luna Crystal hadn't just spoken words about fighting the loved ones. She was also prepared to fight those she loved.Soon, the silence was broken by growls, howls and the sounds of war. Bones popped as humans turned animals and attacked those who had hurt their loved ones. For the army they fought may carry the faces of their loved ones but in the end, they were not the same instead the undead were reminders of what they had lost.As the silence was absorbed by loud noises, Indiva turned away from the battle, uncaring whether her own army lived or died. Crystal was holding up really well for someone whose mate had just cheated on her. She stared intently at Ace and Aeno