I walked through the crowded field, taking cautious steps as I tried to evade the feet of the people around me. The bright moonlight above me should have illuminated my path but the entire place was so filled that I could not even see the ground. My dress, a dark blue gown that Caroline had picked out for me, flowed down to my feet, hiding the flat soled shoe that I had worn so as not to stress my ankle. It occasionally caught on people's feet as I made my way through the crowds, making each step stressful to take. Frustrated, I lifted the dress up and continued, searching the sea of people for any familiar face that I could interact with. I caught sight of Caroline across the field, standing close to the refreshment table. She held in her hands a small tray stacked neatly with drinks. I was a little bit surprised to see that she was dressed in a flowing red gown and not a servant uniform like I had seen in Alaric's pack. "Caroline," I called, my voice barely audible in the chatter
The sharp blade pressed against my neck and I felt it's tip begin to tear through my skin. A stinging pain hit me and I winced as I felt a warm liquid rolling down from my neck into my dress. My breaths heightened even as I tried not to panic. Different thoughts raced wildly through my head as I tried to figure out who the man behind me was and how I was so easily led into his trap. "Don't make a single noise," the man behind me said as his grip around my waist tightened. "We don't want anyone looking for you now, do we?" I swallowed hard as the man slowly began to lead me further away from the party. I made to turn my head but then he pressed the knife harder against my neck and I froze. Suddenly, a thought hit me. Where was the little boy? I glanced down without moving my neck and saw that the hands that had clasped mine were now gone. There was no trace of the little boy anywhere. It was like he had disappeared into thin air. "Looking for the little boy, eh?" my captor whispe
Alexander stood in the middle of the chaos, his wolf form tall and menacing. His face was still visible within the cluster of failure and his fangs now bigger, gleamed in the moonlight. His golden eyes were fixated on the rogues as a low growl escaped his lips. I looked down at hus hands and saw that his claws were now shot out and bloodied. "You terrorize my kingdom and now terrorize my guest," he growled with a deep voice that causes even me to shiver. "I killed your brothers and let you guys go as a warning but you deemed it fit to come back, disrupt my party and try to kill the one under my protection?" He snarled loudly. "Touch her again, and I will tear every single one of you apart."The rogue who had ordered the others to kill me walked towards Alexander, his face squeezed into a frown. He brought his blade to Alexander's face and traced it's edge from his neck up to his chin. "You protect a stranger whom you have no knowledge about," he said in a voice barely audible as he
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