CHAPTER THREE-THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

"Are you ready, Miss Mason?" Eliphas stood before the tall glass doors of his home and glanced down to Gretchen as she looked through the bag he gave her.

While she tied the closure, Gretchen sighed and smiled up at the kind old king. "As ready as I'll ever be I guess."

As Eliphas lifted his hand to the glass doors, they slowly parted and opened to the outside. The sunlight hit Gretchen's bright green eyes, and she raised her hand to shield them from the brightness.

When she died her Earth death, Gretchen was transformed into this new body. Although she looked and felt the same, she was now free of the wear and tear of her Earthbound days. She was literally seeing the sun for the first time through her new eyes, and they weren't accustomed yet to the harsh light.

Eliphas put his hand on the bag he gave Gretchen. "This bag of holding has enough food and clothing to last your journey if you keep good pace. Beware of goblins, they sometimes attack travelers on the path, but they should be no problem for someone like you."

As Gretchen gave Eliphas a hug goodbye she said, "Thank you for everything. Please, if you see my parents come through, tell them how to find me."

Patting her on the back, Eliphas reassured the young woman that everything would be alright, no matter how bleak things seemed right now. "I will child. Just keep an open mind and enjoy your adventure. Now you better get moving while you have plenty of sun."

Gretchen walked down the stairs and looked back then waved. When she turned back around, she noticed the path that led to the woods, and she started off on the long trek North. She can travel twice as far per day if she shifts, but she remembered what Eliphas said. What else did she have to do but enjoy the journey and see what she found along the way?

Like all Lycan children, she had learned to hunt and survive in the wild. When darkness fell, she lit a small fire then huddled nearby to warm herself. She was afraid to go to sleep and the nightmares that came with it. She knew what Eliphas had told her about it being better to remember, but she didn't want to. What difference did it make now anyway?

Whether she wanted it or not, sleep eventually took Gretchen over. Instead of a nightmare, she had a dream about a castle built into a mountain side. As she walked through the halls in a beautiful gown, people bowed their heads to her. When she woke, the memory of it lingered for a few moments and brought a smile to her face.

After she gathered her things and stretched the sleep away, Gretchen started off down the path again. She made good time over the next week and a half and was quickly approaching the next territory. Gretchen stopped briefly to look at her map and saw that she was coming up on the Darke Kingdom.

She didn't know much about the realm, but she knew for certain that was one place she did not want to go. Every supernatural on Earth had grown up hearing stories about the murderous tyrant king who ruled there and Gretchen didn't want her presence made known to him if she could help it.

When she made camp again, she got the feeling of many eyes on her. It wasn't something she could explain, just the prickly cold that runs through one's body when someone is in the shadows watching. "Is someone there?"

When no answer came, she pulled her knees close to her chest and leaned closer to the fire as she poked at it with a stick. "Right, Gretch, because Mr. Boogeyman is just going to be like, yeah, here I am, you got me."

Gretchen was hoping fort a few hours of sleep, but her new-found paranoia kept her awake most of the night. When she finally put her head against a tree and dozed off, the dream from the night before returned. This time, she sat on a sofa near a great stone fireplace in the same castle. The warmth of the fire was so real that Gretchen felt it radiate to her skin and chase away the cold of the night.

When she woke, she noticed that the fire she built the night before had been put out intentionally. Someone had kicked dirt over the coals, and she realized that she wasn't just being paranoid because during the night someone had definitely approached her.

Panic set in as thoughts of what could have happened to her ran through her mind. Gretchen quickly gathered her things and started off again.

Gretchen thought about shifting. She'd be able to lose just about anyone following her if she was her wolf, but since she realized without a doubt now that someone was watching her, she didn't feel like it was the best time to strip off all her clothes. She'd save that for an emergency.

As the next setting sun began to fall from the sky, Gretchen found shelter in the ruins of an ancient building. The stone columns and statues towered around Gretchen and they felt strangely familiar. The same sensation of being watched had remained with her all day, but no one ever approached her.

It was really beginning to piss her off. These cowards only wanted to mess with her when she was asleep, but she wouldn't give them the satisfaction tonight.

To keep herself awake, Gretchen sang to herself. The wind began to blow around her and the leaves fell from the trees as an oppressive presence made itself known. As her heartbeat began to soar and her hands trembled, she tried her best to calm her nerves.

"I think it's Sunday, Daddy. I wonder what old cowboy movie you were going to make me watch tonight," Gretchen said to herself as she thought back to the movies she and her father used to watch.

As her fathers favorite movie came to her mind, Gretchen began to whistle the theme from the Good, the Bad and the Ugly only to be answered in the distance by another set of lips finishing the second half of the tune.

Gretchen had enough of this slow torture, so she stood up and yelled out into the eerie blackness of night. "Hey asshole, why don't you be a fucking man and show yourself! I'm done playing games with your dumb ass!"

Deep, throaty, raspy laughter could be heard in the distance. "I like this one, she's pretty feisty. She'll fit in good with this family."

Gretchen's wolf was itching to come to the surface as she sensed two other Lycan nearby. She knew it wouldn't be pretty if she unleashed her true self so she pushed her back down and took a deep breath.

At the very least, Gretchen understood what she was up against. "Either make nice and introduce yourself or fuck off so I can get some sleep."

From out of the shadows, two men approached Gretchen. They both had black hair and dark eyes and appeared to be in their twenties, but it's hard to tell among supernaturals.

The bigger man was clean-shaven and had large ears that poked through his hair and a large nose, but strikingly handsome with an innocence to him. The second man had a short, bushy beard and a face like a god.

The bearded man lifted his chin and smiled an arrogant smirk. "Hey princess, I'm Rhett and this is Jason."

Gretchen bit her lip and laughed as she shook her head. "So you're the fucking pussies who've been harassing me all this time. Jesus, I thought this was going to be a difficult fight."

She didn't honestly want to start a brawl with these two, it would surely get her killed, but you can't back down or show fear to other wolves especially when you're an alpha.

Gretchen unleashed her claws and a low warning growl started in her chest as she squared up to the men.

Rhett laughed his raspy chuckle and pointed at Gretchen as he glanced over to Jason. "I knew she was a fucking Lycan, Jason. I bet you're a goddamn alpha blood too, aren't you honey?"

As the wolf started to make her presence known, Gretchen inched closer to the two men ."I'm not your fucking honey and you're going to find out in a minute when I rip your head off."

Jason, obviously the more serious one, said, "No one wants that, just calm down."

Gretchen looked at him and shook her head. "I wasn't fucking talking to you big guy." Then she looked back to Rhett and said, "If you boys didn't come to party then piss off. I'm tired and you fuckers have got on my last goddamn nerve."

Glancing back over his shoulder, Rhett yelled to the dark presence traveling with them. "Damien, you might want to come say hello before things get ugly."