Although Melinda had me smiling like a five-year-old, I still found it hard to sleep. I was still wallowing in depressive thoughts. The scene where I put an end to the life of my father was still playing and replaying in my head like a broken record, and I couldn't do anything to stop it. The guilt and fear that followed the thoughts of my father's death were overwhelming, and I struggled to come to terms with my actions and their consequences. I couldn't shake the feeling that somehow, I was being punished for the terrible deed I had committed.But I asked myself again, ‘Was this what the moon goddess meant when she said, “death must be earned, as much as life?” Have I been cursed to keep wandering the earth without a certain purpose, like Cain, who was cursed to be a fugitive, wandering the surface of the earth, because he slayed his brother?”Yeah, maybe I have been cursed, maybe I have not been cursed, but the reality is that I’ve had to wander the woods, like a fugitive. Althou
AUTHOR'S POVMalik drew in a deep breath, sniffing the alluring scents of the intruding party, and for a second, he was amazed at the rate of the speed at which they moved, but he remained calm and undisturbed.His mind was still at ease, calm, and also calculating. He was trying to estimate the strength of the somewhat strange enemy that seemed to be approaching his pack before he made any move. 'Or is it those fools who looked to attack us during the day?' Malik mumbled under his breath, 'well there's only one way to find out…''Wait, why am I not hearing any sounds of distress? How are they even able to evade all our traps? It's already night, for fuck's sake.' he wondered.The watchman for the night, patrolling the border, also noticed the unusual movements around the pack, and when he couldn't make sense of it, he rang the pack bell. The other warriors, in the pack, were alerted, and they trooped out of their houses to defend their pack.Malik stood up from the edge of the mount
"Oh, oh, you can't move, either. What are you gonna do, if I keep calling you blind, huh? Ha-ha-ha.” Ubuntu let out a cocky crooked smile. “… Folks, your Alpha is fucking blind, and as you can see, he is also powerless."The warriors of Mountain Dew Pack, were fuming with intractable anger, they were infuriated that Ubuntu was berating their Alpha to their face, and they badly wanted to strike Ubuntu dead, but they were still waiting for Malik's order.Ubuntu moved closer to Malik, and Malik's claws extended at the instant. Malik wanted to attack Ubuntu, but Ubuntu dodged the attack, and Malik fell to the ground. "Wow, I love your audacity, Alpha. Well, I never expected less, but I just want you to know that it's madness to think that you can defeat me and my warriors, but I am not here to wage war with you. I'm here on an assignment and if you comply, no one is going to lose their life.” Ubuntu voiced out with intensity. "If you do not know, a werelion, named Zora trespassed at my p
The werewolves collided, and the sound of howls filled the air; their claws and sharpened fangs clashed in a frenzied dance of death. Malik was not for once deterred by the cries of the wounded warriors, or by the pile of dead warriors he was stepping over. Ubuntu's hypnotic sounds, backed up by Malik’s sheer determination and skill, drove him forward as he sought to overcome his own loyal subjects.The warriors charged at each other, and the battle was intense. The ones who had shifted to their wolf form used their claws and fangs to tear into the flesh of the warriors still in their human form, while the warriors in their human form countered with precise strikes from their Spears, swords, and arrows. The ground was stained red with blood as they battled it out, neither giving an inch of ground.As the battle raged on, Malik began to gain the upper hand. His claws were sharper and his movements were faster, allowing him to dodge the other werewolves' attacks and strike back with dea
Melinda swiftly ran towards me, she bent down to examine my pups, running her hands through their chest to feel their pulse, checking if they were still alive. “They are not dead.” She squealed.“What??” I yelped. “They are not dead??" I said in a curious tone."Then why are they covered in blood?” I questioned. I bent down instantly, and I grabbed the pups, looking to confirm Melinda's assertion.“Only one of them is dead. The others survived. He only managed to kill one, and I guess the blood splashed onto the others.” Melinda added. I heaved a gloomy sigh, and I just looked up to the moon, swaddling the two living pups, in my arms.At least, in spite of all the tribulations and hardships that I've had to go through, there have always been bountiful reasons to be thankful; the fact that I didn't lose all my pups in one night was a solid reason to be thankful.Melinda sat down, and from the expression on her face, I could sense that she was lost in thought... in fact, we were both
Melinda cut the sprig of the mistletoe into four shorter bits, and she gave me one bit. She tucked two bits into my pup's hands, and she held the last one in her hand."Right now, I need you to focus your mind on being invisible. We want to be invisible, right?" Melinda quipped."Yeah. Ain't that your plan all along??" I retorted."Yeah, I know… but to achieve that, you must first believe that you are already invisible. So, as you hold the mistletoe in your hand, you have to believe that you are already invisible." Melinda stated. "Okay. That is not a problem." I drew in a deep breath, and I breathed out."...also, on your pups' behalf, you have to believe that they are also invisible. Okayyy?""Okay. I get it." Melinda, the pups, and I held the mistletoe in our right hands, and I focused my mind on the desired outcome: becoming invisible for not only myself, but also for my pups. Melinda then sprinkled a pinch of the shiny whitish stone powder over everyone's mistletoe, allowing i
Malik's POVI stood amidst the carnage of my once great pack. The bodies of my fellow wolves littered the ground, and their blood stained the earth beneath me. I burned with intractable anger, as I took in the destruction around me, with the scent of death heavy in the air. I felt the weight of my pack members' absence, heavy on my shoulders, and the intense feeling of this groundbreaking loss seemed to be weighing my body, soul, and spirit down into an endless pit of grief. The blood of my fallen pack warriors still stains the earth, and the stench of death hangs in the air. I cannot even begin to process the horror of what just happened. My heart is heavy with grief, and my soul is consumed with a burning rage that threatens to tear me up.I was losing it, and I wasn't myself anymore. I fell to the ground, and I kept hitting my fists against the rigid earth repeatedly, till my hands got scarred. But I didn't stop, I was undeterred. I wanted to let out my angst one way or the other.
****Author's POV****King Zora Leondros, walked towards the large wooden table in the center of the room. He stood tall, proud, confident and regal, with his golden mane shining in the light of the torches.Alpha Menelik, the Alpha of Lakewood pack, also made his entrance into the room. Months ago, his father, Alpha Barak Maximoff kicked the bucket, and Menelik succeeded his father as the Alpha.Alpha Menelik decided to toll a path different from his father's. He decided against going all-out to wage war and hunt the werelions, instead he set a pact, and made peace with them, and they became his trusted ally.King Zora Leondros took a seat at the head of the table, and Alpha Menelik took the seat opposite him. The room was silent as they both looked each other in the eye, sizing each other up, with their eyes locked in a stare of determination. As they took their seats at the large wooden table in the center of the room, the air was thick with tension, and Zora, the werelion was the f
"Malik!!! Malik!!!" I yelled, trying to dissuade him from attacking the Lakewood warriors all by himself, but he wouldn't listen. I didn't want him to get hit again, but it seemed like he was utterly enraged, and nothing would stop him, from releasing all rage he had bottled up inside of him."Everyone, get into the pack, and burn it to the ground…" I could hear Menelik's voice faintly, from the distance, even amidst the heavy battle cries. "And Hammy. Finish her now!!!" He growled.Explosions ripped through the air at once, reverberating with a bone-shaking intensity, sending shockwaves through the pack. The deafening blasts echoed off the surrounding trees, creating an atmosphere of chaos and danger.The battle raged on, explosions continuing to rock the surroundings, I could still see arrows flying all over the place. And as I was still surveilling my surroundings, breathing haphazardly, an explosive was thrown, at where I stood, and I instinctively picked it up, and threw it back,
Malik and Melinda chose to be put in chains and cuffs, ready to be taken back to Alpha Menelik, against my wish, and I had no choice but to lead them out of the pack, to the battlefront. I walked behind them, as we neared Lakewood's pack camp outside our pack.There were several tents in their camp, but there was one big tent at the center, and I automatically assumed that that would be their Alpha tent. So we sauntered in that direction.And as we got closer to the tent, the Lakewood pack warriors trooped out of their tents, and the gazes of some, who were parading the pack, stretching as far as the eyes could see, shifted to us as we sauntered forwards. Some of them were jeering and making mocking gestures towards us, as we walked, but that didn't faze me one bit, I was only focused on the task at hand.A number of the Lakewood pack warriors formed a wall outside the big tent, with each of them wielding heavy metal weapons, pointing them in our direction."Stop there!!!" A gruffy
Ramsey and I were joined by the other Alphas in the bunker.The other Alphas made us know, that the Lakewood warriors had surrounded the pack, and they didn't give chase, nor did they pursue our own warriors into the pack as we retreated. The Lakewood warriors were only standing round, successfully putting the pack under siege.And that made me question their motive — because if the Lakewood warriors are truly here for battle, why can't they just waltz in, and finish the battle? Because it was crystal-clear that we were losing the war to the Lakewood pack, and it was glaring, even to the blind, that we were on the back foot, even in our own backyard.I was fed up and frustrated, and it scared me to the bone, to learn that the face of battle, that the face of warfare had evolved, beyond fists, claws, and fangs, to now explosives, and speedily moving silver bullets.The warriors reported, that with these new innovations, the Lakewood pack outmatched and outwitted them, annihilating and
"Ok. The pack is all clear now!" Melinda breathed, her heart pounding in her chest.Melinda, Ramsey, and I stood in the middle of the pack, gazing round at the empty structures, save for the scanty warriors who were holding their grounds inside of the pack. Melinda, Ramsey, and I had escorted the young ones, and the women, who couldn't volunteer in the battle to safety. "Ok I'm going to join the warriors in battle…" Melinda let out a low growl, her eyes booming with intensity. "I have to go, even the scores…""No…" I boomed with authority, holding her by her hand. "You ain't going, nowhere, Mel. I don't want them to capture you again, or even turn you against us, as they did to Kieran…""I gotta go, Mom." Melinda retorted, her face entwined with worry. "I know Kieran would surely be out there. And um, I don't know, I have to…""But you said, he was all out of control, and he doesn't recognize us anymore…" I said in a curious tone, my voice laced with sorrow, as I gazed intently at Me
The shadow warriors sprung up to action at the nick of time, and they caught Cassandra in the air, just before she could attack Ubuntu. They knocked her to the ground, they cuffed her hands, and they made her sit back in her seat.The hall was booming with silent tension, and the rest of the congress watched in silence, as their Alpha was being disgraced by her own warriors."Y'all see, she's a nuisance…" Ubuntu smirked. "But this is a serious allegation, Ubuntu." Adonis Graham chimed in. He was the Alpha of Woodbury Pack."He's lying…" Cassandra yelled, her face crumpled and distorted with rage. "Tell them, he's lying, Calista.""His words are true…" I muttered. "I can confirm that it's true. Alpha Cassandra herself, narrated the true version of the cause of the destruction of Ridgewood to both Ubuntu and I before she tried to murder Ubuntu...""What!" Cassandra bellowed. "You're taking sides with this traitor!!!" "No, I ain't. I'm just done playing this delicate game with you." I
******CALISTA'S POV*****"So, was that all that happened???" I quipped, sighing deeply, a great sense of weariness sweeping over me."Yeah, Mom," Melinda responded, her voice laced with subtle fury, as she laid her head on my shoulder.We were both seating on the bench outside the room, where Malik was being treated in the pack's clinic.Melinda just narrated the gruesome, heart-wrenching, and calamitous chain of events that happened, after we were separated from each other, and I just couldn't help but feel a great wrench of sadness. My spirit was heavy, and my heart ached with unspoken agony.I was close to tears, but I tried to hold myself together. I tried to picture the sleepless nights, the grueling events, the pain, the agony — that my family had to go through, all because of me, but I just couldn't. It was so hard for me to process.I thought about it, back and forth, and the fact that I brought Kieran and Melinda into the world, only for them to go through tribulations upon t
Malik tried to defend himself, but the energy remaining in his frail muscles was only a tiny fraction of Hammy's, and there was nothing he could do, other than to lie there, and humbly receive death blows from the boy he raised from birth.Melinda was shell-shocked, and for a second, she found it hard to believe, that her own twin brother, would viciously go up against her, and their Papa — Malik. For a second, she wondered why he won't even answer to Kieran anymore, but Hammy. Melinda was so shocked, that she couldn't even retaliate to Hammy's brutal blows.The Lakewood warriors aimed guns at Melinda but they couldn't shoot, because of the crowd, at the square. The scene was chaotic, and the warriors were trying to take control of the situation. The junior officers tried to disband the crowd, but they wouldn't leave.The whole of the Lakewood pack was stunned and thrilled, by the recent turn of events. and they wanted to stay at the square, to watch the showdown. It was as though th
*****AUTHOR'S POV*****The whole of Lakewood Pack stood at the pack square, all gloating and murmuring amongst themselves, as they stared down at the helpless Malik, with some pups even throwing stones and specks of dirt, at Malik who was kept in a silver cage fitted to the center of the stage for all to see.Malik was weak and almost powerless. He had withstood vicious attacks and beatdown, from Menelik's puppets, all week long since he arrived at Lakewood pack. They didn't stop the assault for a minute, save for the occasional moments, they'd stop to force some food and water down Malik's throat. Malik often rejected the food, and sometimes he'd try to summon his fangs to stop the warriors, but the warriors had to find a way to boycott Malik's defense. They had to use any means possible to see to it that Malik was fed, that he ate something, for it was all on Menelik's order.Menelik also made sure Malik was bruised, battered, tortured, and manhandled at Lebron Dave's abandoned c
"I won't harm you, kid," I resounded, placing my left hand on his shoulder. "...but that's only if you'll answer my question. You're a guard, and I know you hear rumors that even the whole pack does not get to hear about. So, you ought to know Malik's whereabouts; the fellow question is the Alpha's brother, and I wanna know, whether he's still…""Ooh, that's even who you're talking about…" He chuckled, and sat up slightly, looking me dead in the eyes. I was amazed at how his once fearful guise suddenly turned to a confident one, in a couple of seconds. "Well, he is on the stage at the square right now, and he's about to be executed… just like you are…" he groaned. And the next thing I saw was the bruised guard suddenly raising a gun at me. And before I knew it, he pulled the trigger, and a bullet came running at my head, but I dodged it, at the nick of time."Waoh," I exclaimed. My face turned red, a solar-red-hot fury streaming from me, and I unleashed all my anger upon him. Befor