Chapter 3

“Jaden, Jaden..” I hear a faint voice as someone shakes me awake. 

When I open my eyes, I see a blurry image of Isaac, and then my eyes finally clear. He is still in his werewolf form, which tells me that it is still night and not much time has passed since I was knocked unconscious by god knows what.

“What happened?” I ask as I try to get up from the ground. The back of my head hurts so bad, and when I try to touch it with my hand, I realize that I am indeed bleeding.

“Someone threw a stone at you, it was one of the humans,” Issac informs me, and I groan. Of course, one of them did.

My team members have all shifted fully, but for some reason they have been able to control their urge to attack the humans, which is unbearably difficult to do.

I know this must be hard for them, considering that all our senses heighten when we shift; so I bet they all can smell the blood that runs through the veins of these people.

“How long was I out?” I ask no one in particular as I dust the dirt off my clothing.

“Just a few minutes,” Asher answers me.

I look around and the crowd of humans has grown so large that even if we wanted to fight our way out, we would either be badly injured or at worse, killed. This is bad, so bad.

They have also placed some sort of boundary between us and them, using White Skull Rocks.

White Skull Rocks are said to ward off werewolves and other creatures. It is made from the dust of human bones mixed with some sort of concoction.

I look behind me, and I can still see the metal fencing behind the crowd. It is not very far.

“Have any of you tried to escape the boundary? It’s just rocks,” I say as the crowd yells profanity at us. Daniel scoffs in response.

“Those rocks are not myths, the closer you get to them, it’s like your brain begins to melt,” Daniel tells me. 

“We tried, believe me,” Isaac confirms, and I sigh. How are we going to get out of this?

“What do you mean by your brain melting?” I ask him, and he gestures towards the rocks. The humans have placed it around us like a circle.

I begin to walk towards the rock, and the crowd of humans begins to chatter loudly. My first few steps toward them reek me no havoc. But as I get closer, a great headache takes over my head, causing me to double over and fall.

Argh!

“Jaden, we told you,” Isaac says as he drags my body away from the rocks.

“We should kill them,” I hear a lady say loudly, without a hint of fear. These people really don’t know who they’re messing with.

“Yeah! We should kill them!” A man answers in response. His voice is raspy and raw.

“We were told to wait for General Ross,” A familiar old man says. He’s the one that started all this, the one that was yelling and screaming, causing the crowd to gather.

“Screw that!” A guy with a rifle in his hand says. The guy lifts up his gun and points it at me. As soon as I get in his line of shots, it’s like all time slows.

My bones begin to bend and twist. At first, it was very painful, but now, I’m more used to it. Fur begins to grow on my body rapidly, and I feel my teeth begin to elongate. I groan as my torso takes on another form as I shift.

“He’s an alpha!” I hear someone yell, and a few people begin to run in the opposite direction. They fear me, as they should.

When I have morphed fully, the glory of my form causes fear to strike in the eyes of the humans. I am not just an Alpha, but I am the largest and most powerful Alpha in Werewolf Territory.

My team members and I have now fully shifted. And though the moon makes them vulnerable in a way; it is the exact opposite for me, it doubles my strength and instincts.

And right now, I hear horses, a lot of them.

“I see horses coming,” Daniel confirms what I hear as he uses his superb vision. “It’s the General.” 

“Crap,” I say under my breath.

In no time, the crowd begins to part, making way for the convoy of horses to pass. There are close to fifty horses with men on top of them. Most of them being guards of the General.

When the convoy draws closer, they stop at the edge of the white skull rocks.

A man with silver hair hops down from his horse and I immediately recognize him. I can never forget that face.

It is General Ross.

I have not seen him in years. He looks a bit heavier, yet still fit.

That’s one of their weaknesses, they age quickly, while we don’t. We age so slowly that it’s comical. 

His skin tone matches the snow of winter. His eyebrows are thick, and a small scar sits on the top of his right eye. That scar is from the war, it must be.

He walks toward us with no hint of fear. As soon as he crosses the White Skull Rocks, the crowd of humans gasps loudly.

I hear Daniel and the others growling lowly, but I grunt once, causing them all to quiet down.

The General suddenly begins to laugh loudly.

“You werewolves claim to be faithful to your word, but here you are. It’s been what? Just a few years since we made the truce?” The General speaks. He sounds as bold as he look.

“A few years is like a few months to werewolves, considering the lifespan of you creatures.” He adds.

Normally, it’s difficult for us to speak to others who are not werewolves when we shift, but I am an Alpha, and that comes with a lot of perks. Or maybe I’m just different.

“General...listen,” I begin to speak, but he stops me.

“No, you listen!” His voice is loud and reeks of authority. “You are in my territory, and you are now under my rule!” He says loudly, causing me to regret why I ever led my hunting team here.

This is all my fault, but I am going to fix it.

“Of course,” I reply to him, and he smirks.

“We all know the penalty for breaking the truce,” He adds loudly as he walks around. It’s like he’s giving a speech, everyone is listening attentively.

“Skin them alive!” A frail old lady yells, and the General smiles proudly.

“That’s right, we are to skin these creatures alive,” He says the words with glee, causing the crowd to erupt in cheerful shouts.

“General..” I say and he looks at me like a child seeking candy. “I need to talk to you in private.” 

“Well, certainly not in that form.” He says and I sigh.

“Okay,” I say the words as I focus on the image of my human form in my mind. It works and I begin to shift back into a human.

“Excellent. Now I can talk to Jaden, the Alpha.” He says to mock me.

“Wait here,” I say to my team and they listen. They lie on the damp soil as they watch me walk towards the General.

“Like they have a choice,” General Ross snickers.

We are now close to each other, and whatever we speak can not be heard by anyone, but the two of us.

“Might I join?” I hear a female ask. I look in the direction of the voice and I see a beautiful damsel. Her hair is silver, which makes me look back at the General.

“Vanessa, this doesn’t concern you,” The General tone becomes much softer.

“Father, I am to take over the Territory when you are old and frail, don’t you think I should be involved in the affairs that concern it?” She asks, a coy smile playing on her lips.

She is truly a beauty. I have never seen anyone like her.

“You are so stubborn. Come over here,” He waves for her to join us and she smiles proudly.

She gets down from her horse and walks toward us. Her dress is not fancy but seems humble.

“Gentlemen,” She curtsies when she reaches us.

“I...I’m Jaden,” I stutter for the first time in years. What is happening to me?

“Now, Jaden. Do you want to talk about the manner of your skinning? I have a great deal, an offer that is rare.” The General says, and I look at him hopefully.

“We can skin you and your men in private, that would help you keep whatever dignity you may have,” He explains, and all hope in me dies instantly.

“Look, General, it was never our intention to break the truce,” I begin, and he stares into my eyes bravely.

He is one of the rare humans that I can’t hypnotize for some reason. And believe me, I have tried.

“But yet you did. And you brought friends with you too,” He points towards my hunting team. “Do you actually think I would just allow you to skip out of my territory after you have blatantly broken the truce that has been withheld for years?” 

“Why did you enter my territory?” He asks me.

“Food. It’s because of food. You should know that my land is in drought season, and all the animals have fled north, which is in your territory,” I explain to him, and his daughter looks at me with a spark of pity in her eyes.

“Our food reserves are almost empty, and we had no choice but to hunt in your territory,” I add.

The General shrugs and then smiles. “That’s not my business. You and your hunting team would be caged tonight, and skinned by tomorrow evening,” He says in finality as he begins to walk away, but I hold onto his shoulder.

And by that small gesture, the General’s guards all advance towards me, ready to shoot my head off with their weapons. I inhale sharply as I watch the hard looks on their faces.