I sat on a small bench outside the meeting room, listening to the soft mutters inside. Alexander and the pack elders were having another meeting and I could tell that they were discussing about me. Occasionally, I caught whispers of my name but I could t grab much to piece together what I was doing in their conversation. After what felt like hours, the mutters finally stopped, signalling the end of the meeting. I heard the shuffle of footsteps begin to approach the door and I quickly composed myself. One by one, the elders walked out of the meeting room, their eyes glancing in my direction before they walked away. The last elder finally walked out of the room and I immediately rose from my seat and entered. Alexander sat on a large throne at the far end, his eyes scanning a scroll in his hands. His brows furrowed as he read through the content, and I could tell that whatever it was, it seemed far more serious than the question I had to ask him. I concluded on asking him later and
Days turned to weeks and I soon grew accustomed to Alexander's pack. Not wanting to seem like a burden to him, I decided to join the hunters, taking up the role of the prowler as being light helped me to be stealthy. Alexander didn't take the news to well. "You want to join the hunters?" he asked, a small frown forming on his face as he turned from his food to look up at me. He let out a slowly chuckle that slowly disippated once he saw my expression. " You're being serious?" he asked and I nodded. "But... why would you want to do that?" "I really am not the indoors type of person," I said as I cut out lifted the bread on my plate and stuffed it in my mouth. After I was done chewing and swallowing, I continued. "Besides, hunting isn't something that's new to me. I hunted a lot back at home, even though my father was always against it.""That doesn't mean you should take up the role now," Alexander said, his tone filled with concern. "I understand that you feel left out and want to
Azreon's eyes remained on me as the frown on his face deepened. His reaction to my words was a mix of surprise and confusion. For a moment, he didn't say a word, his eyes occasionally glancing at the boiling pot as though it held the answer he was meant to give me. "It looked exactly like mine?" Azreon muttered slowly, more to himself than me as he ran his hands over the table in front of him. His body stiffened and I could see that he was filled with unease. "My type of magic, Elora, isn't one that can be attributed to just one person," he said, his tone measured. "I was taught by one of the greatest mages to ever live-my father-and he taught many other students too. But..." he paused for some seconds, his eyes traveling down to the table, "... that fact that the spells the rogues used and the smoke they left behind stands out to you that it seems so much similar to mine, it... it is troubling, to say the least." Azreon was right. I recalled seeing the healers in my pack perform ma
"What was that?" I whispered as I stood up from my seat and slowly walked over to Alexander. "W-where did the voice come from?" As if mocking my question, the voice came again. "I'm everywhere." Azreons face went pale and my voice caught in my throat as a dark must suddenly began filling the room. I looked down and watched as the smoke seeped out of the cracks in the rug under us. I reached out for Alexander but my hands caught nothing. Panic began settling within me as I slowly turned my head to the right. Alexander's seat was there but he was nowhere to be found. My lips quivered and I felt my legs begin to give way. Where was he?"Zora," Azreon whispered, his voice laced with pure fright. I turned to see him standing in the middle of the room, his eyes fixated on something in front of him. I followed his gaze to see what he was staring at but I couldn't find anything. Suddenly, the air grew cold and the light in the room began to dim. I feared something terrible was about to h
I crouched low, my senses high at alert as my eyes scanned the area. The undergrowth in front of me rustles softly, signalling the arrival of my prey. I took a deep breath and slowly began to crawl towards the noise, all the while muttering to myself. "You've done this before," I whispered, my voice barely audible even to myself. "You've don't this before, Elora. You've done this be--" Before I could finish my sentence, the rustle in the undergrowth grew louder and suddenly, bout of it jumped a little brush rabbit. I paused in my steps as our eyes met. The forest seemed to stand still for some moments and my heart began pounding loudly against my chest. This was my first hunt in the pack and I had to take back to my group a prey before I could get accepted. This was my chance to get it and and my lack of patience was already causing it to spiral downwards. "Stay," I muttered softly as I took small steps towards the rabbit. "Stay still--" My words were immediately cut short as the
I winced softly as Caroline poured the content of the small bottle that she held onto my feet. My wince turned to low grunts as she gently rubbed the ointment around my ankle, apologizing every time her hands came in contact with my wound. "It is too strange a coincidence that you hurt the same ankle two times, Miss Elora," she said as she looked up at me. "You really should try to be--" Her words were cut short as I let out another low grunt. "Sorry, sorry," she muttered as she turned her attention back to my feet. "I didn't know being chased by the hunters was a part of the test," I murmured in frustration as I leaned back into my seat. "I thought they were rogues sent by Zora to come attack me.""Zora?" Coraline asked, confusion etched in her voice as she looked back up at me. "Who's that?" I bit my tongue, cussing myself inwardly at my slip of tongue. Alexander had been discreet about Zora's return as he didn't want to spread panic, and here I was, babbling it out. "Oh, it's no
"Again!" "Again!!" "Again!!!" I slowly stood from the floor, coughing as I tried to grab on to my staff. Dirt and mud covered my entire body and my vision blurred. I lost count of how many times Alexander had brought me to the ground but each fall was painful than the last. "Go again," I heard Alexander say as I struggled to stand on my feet. "But this time, try not to attack me blinded. The staff is an extension of your body. Use it as such." I nodded slowly, coughing as I used the staff to push myself up from the floor. I then stood in the fighting stance that Alexander had showed me as my mind raced with thoughts. I had tried everything that I could but still could not land a hit on him. It seemed like his teaching wasn't working at all. "Tell me when you're ready, Elora," Alexander said, his voice pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked up at him and found him crouching lazil
"It's actually always been like that with Azreon," Alexander said, chuckling softly as he wiped his mouth with the napkin on the table. "I wouldn't blame him though. When you're six hundred years old, you've seen a lot."I almost choked on my drink as Alexander's words reached my ears. Dropping my glass on the table, I looked at Alexander with wide eyes as I muttered, "seven hundred years old?" "Mmm mmm," Alexander muttered with a small nod as he shoved a piece of meat into his mouth. After chewing, he took a small sip of wine from his goblet and shifted his gaze to me. "When Azreon tells people his age, not many believe him, but it is true. He's actually been here even before my ascension to the Lycan King of this pack. His wisdom is what guided me and that was why I took him as the packs healer once I became Alpha.""Whoa," I whispered as I leaned back on my seat. "When I heard Zora say that she's been in the under-realm fo