FIRST QUARTER Chapter Fifty-Six: Expedition That night, inside the Alpha’s chambers. A pile of papers was on his desk, and the ink slightly splattered messily on the wood, the lamp flickering in every slap of the wind. Alpha Ragnarr sat on his chair, and after having the same posture for some time, he leaned his back on the chair and then stretched his muscles. His trusted aid who was silent all the time, walked up to check his condition. “Alpha, it’s time for bed.” He said softly. “In a bit,” the alpha said, then thought. “Do you have that thing I’ve asked you?” “…” The trusted id sighed in his head. It seems like the Alpha has no plan on resting just yet. He dug the papers from the compartments of his clothes and presented them to him. “Here, Alpha. Just like you asked, I have here the list of the participants of the expedition.” The alpha took the list from his hands and took his time reading. Then, his eyes came across a familiar name. His eyes flashed in a thought, and he
First QuarterChapter Fifty-Seven: Bad Premonitions“Alpha Leofric, the traces end here.” His subordinate walked next to him and stated what the scouts discovered.He felt his subordinate eying him from behind. Afraid that he would read the letter in his hands, Leofric indifferently folded it and stuffed it in his pockets. Although he did this, the subordinate can guess where it came from.It was a letter from the pack. Even with him away, he’s being updated with letters written by the head servant.His subordinate feigned ignorance, and waited for the Alpha’s reaction to the information he brought.Leofric furrowed his brows and stopped his steps. His subordinate similarly stopped and looked at him standing in the middle of the forest, his eyes sharply gazing in all directions, wanting to see the traces of the blood-sucking creatures.But just like what his subordinate said, the traces ended here.“Go on,” Leofric urged him to talk more.His subordinate didn’t dare to dally, he went
First QuarterChapter Fifty-Eight: CyrilA week later.A guard dozing off on top of the wooden gates jolted awake from the sound of the hooves of the horses. He stood up alertly and used his enhanced senses to look through the woods. Since his Blessing was seeing far away, greater than their wolves’ eyes, he was assigned as a lookout at the gates.The guard squinted his eyes, and then widened them when he recognized who was riding the fastest and leading horse.He ran to the edge of the gates, then looked down at the idling guards and yelled. “The young Alpha is back! Prepare to open the gates!”His loud, booming voice echoed throughout the area, jolting everyone awake. It didn’t take long for them to pull on their gears and pull the chains down, opening the gates just in time for Leofric’s squad to enter.Horses and wolves ran inside, rustling clouds of dust on their trail.As the last person entered, the gigantic gates closed once again.The expedition squad, which supposedly had a
First QuarterChapter Fifty-Nine: PreparationsFew days ago…Mallory led Cyril and Oddny towards the tent of the leader of the expedition squad.They bypassed a lot of werewolves who were furiously chatting about the training. Excitement was clear on each of their faces, and they were brimming with energy. However, they did not forget to greet the Luna when she passed by them.The Luna, however, was in a rush. She had a grim look on her face, making the others nervous as they looked at her.They can’t help but ask themselves, what happened?Cyril and Oddny almost couldn’t keep up with her, almost losing her every time she took a turn. Fortunately, their eyes were fast enough to catch the edge of her hair or clothes.When she arrived in front of the tent, there were guards standing outside. They saw her approach and stepped forward to stop them when Cyril opened his mouth first.“How dare you get in the way of the Luna?” He said sternly, his eyes looking at them in cold glint. “Let the
First QuarterChapter Sixty: Western TerrainThe morning came creeping in without anyone noticing. They were all exhausted from the settling they had done yesterday, from building the tents, building campfires, make-shift chairs and tables, cleaning the surroundings out of weeds and insects, and snakes.Everyone was snoring away except for the guards on shift.Mallory woke up earlier than she had expected. When she opened her eyes, the unfamiliar ceiling brought her defenses up until she remembered that she was outside the forest. She stared at it before standing up.As she stirred, Oddny, who she made to sleep on a bed inside her tent, also stirred. Mallory paused her movements. Then when Oddny went back to sleeping soundly, she sighed in relief and stepped out of her bed.Mallory grabbed a coat from the hanger. She knew how biting cold it was outside at a time like this. She also took a thick blanket. Then, after wrapping herself up, she went out of her tent.“Good morning, Luna.” C
First QuarterChapter Sixty-One: The Hunting GroundsThe next morning, they met at the end of the camp. Mallory saw her group flocking together like a bunch of excited animals but then scattered the moment she arrived. Mallory ignored the blatant rejection in their eyes and stood next to them. Cyril, who was standing far away, looked at her anxiously.Mallory smiled at him, reassuring him that everything would be fine.It’s been the third day. All these days, she’s been on guard as she doesn’t know if something would really happen, but fortunately, just like Trevon said, nothing did. Maybe it was truly just her imagination, and she had nothing to worry about.Soon, their instructor arrived.“Let us wait for the other to get completed before heading off.” Their instructor is a female beta. She had short hair, almond-shaped eyes, and a powerful, intimidating aura. “We will be exploring the forest at the best we can so you’ll have a better gist of where to hunt and to settle for the ent
First QuarterChapter Sixty-Two: Start of the HuntMallory rushed through the woods, the bun she made for her hair had long been disheveled. Running through the forest would one way or another hurt you, but the low branches seemed to avoid her, leaving no scratch on her skin intentionally.On her run, she could hear various voices in her head. The plants were greeting her, talking to her enthusiastically with something she couldn’t quite catch.When she discovered she was distant from others, she halted to catch her breath. As expected, their voices grew stronger and clustered.[How long are you staying here?][Are you strong?][Can’t you see? She’s weak if she is already panting after that small run.][Why are you not in your wolf form? It’s faster that way.][Stupid.][Stupid. Did you not hear what that man said? Fair competition.][Fair competition?][Forget it, you won’t understand anyway!]Mallory laughed, finding their bickering funny. Then she patiently explained. “I can’t use
First QuarterChapter Sixty-Three: A PuzzleNothing. There's nothing out of the ordinary.Thinking that they were making a fool of her, she turned to them with her eyebrows raised. “What—”[Shh.][Be patient!][It will be anytime soon!]So, Mallory swallowed her words back in her mouth and looked around again. She held her breath and dusted out the window curtains and used it to clean the chair, then sat on it slowly, trying to assess if it not breaking earlier was just a one-time thing.It didn’t break this time either. Mallory relaxed and waited for whatever was about to come.It didn’t take longer than she thought it would.[Wake up!][Stop sleeping and look!]“I’m not sleeping,” Mallory lied, knowing that she almost dozed off if not for the light that was hurting her eyes. She couldn't contain her amazement at what she saw.When the sun
First QuarterChapter Ninety-Five: RevelationAn urgent meeting was held in the throne room.The elders were present, as well as the two Alphas. Their faces were grim and dark, yet it everyone noticed how pale Leofric was.“How did they know about this place?” Without waiting for anyone to talk, an elder immediately raised his doubts. “How did they break through the barrier?”Another elder mirrored his doubt. “Did they discover it by chance? Or…”He didn’t continue talking, so elder Ester said instead. “Or someone told them.”Her words were like blizzards, freezing the bloods of everyone in the room. They looked at each other suspiciously, their eyes glaring with warning.With the tension in the air so high, the servants and guards held their breaths, wanting to remain invisible all through out the meeting.Alpha Ragnarr sighed. This took their attention, and the tension eased a bit.“Let’s not set ourselves up.” Alpha Ragnarr stood up. He walked down the stairs and stopped just a cou
First QuarterChapter Ninety-Four: FireMinutes before the disappearance of the barrier…Mallory ran like her life depended on it. She never looked back, and before she knew it, the house she used to live in appeared in her eyes. She stopped moving and looked at it when she detected movement inside.Immediately, she frowned. She looked to the west and saw the moon hanging in the sky. It descended slowly, but the morning will surely come.“Is she awake?” Mallory asked herself. After thinking for a while, that was the only plausible explanation she could think of. She looked at the door and finally made up her mind to knock.Knock, knock.The movement inside the house paused, and then after that, she could see a silhouette walking to the door.Then, the door opened.Mallory met Oddny’s surprised eyes. Then, her surprise was immediately hidden. She looked at her up and down, and Mallory couldn’t hide the bags on her side. Just at first glance, one could tell that she had packed up to lea
First QuarterChapter Ninety-Three: Broken Barrier[Mallory!][Wake up!][Pst!]The blessed souls who she talked to earlier to wake her up before the sun rose yelled loudly in her ears. Their voices successfully woke her up.Mallory forced herself to get up. She could feel her body throbbing painfully. She did no strenuous activity, yet she felt like she exercised for a long time before sleeping. But there’s no way one could exercise their heart.Out of everything on her, her heart felt the most painful.Mallory decided to ignore that and forced herself to not think of a certain person.“What time is it?” Mallory asked, her voice slightly hoarse.[Two hours before sunrise.][Quickly, hurry!]Hearing that, Mallory dragged her body out of her bed. She looked below and saw the bag she packed. Mallory took it and then changed into more comfortable clothes. She slipped in h
First Quarter Chapter Ninety-Two: Broken “The Luna?” A glint flashed in his eyes before it settled down. “Why?” Leofric pursed his lips. Why? Why indeed? A small smile unconsciously surfaced on his lips. “… She finally let me see her.” He could feel his eyes on him, but Leofric didn’t withdraw his smile. After staring for a while, Alpha Leofric nodded his head. “Very well. Then, I will find someone for you.” Delight crossed his eyes, before bowing his head. “Thank you very much.” “It’s nothing.” Alpha Ragnarr laughed. “Then go. I’m sure you have a lot to prepare.” - Two hours before the ceremony starts. The moon was slowly rising in the sky. The sky itself was dark, and if not for the stars loitered on it, one would think they were staring at an endless void. The pack was lively. No one rested, as they went back and forth in preparation for the ceremony. Far from the lively celebration, Mallory walked through the dense forest. Her mind kept the direction in her mind, and
First Quarter Chapter 91: Full Moon “—It’s necessary!” The first voice was Harper’s. As usual, her voice was calm and collected, the exact opposite of her twin. “I don’t understand!” Even though their voices were deliberately suppressed, Mallory still heard it thanks to her enhanced hearing. “Why must I hide while you—” Mallory then entered their sensing range. They collectively looked at her, one shocked while the other had unfathomable eyes. Look is not the right word. Containing her shock, Mallory stared intently at Hazen. Her eyes were covered with a blindfold. She only knew that Hazen had turned to her in shock as her mouth gaped open. ‘This might be her punishment before getting freed.’ Mallory concluded; her heart can’t help but feel pity. ‘To not be able to see until says so.’ Her eyes are okay under that blindfold, but she can’t take it off until she controls her blessings. It was a great countermeasure. Her blessing is destructive, after all. She looked at the twins
First Quarter: Chapter Ninety: She's Back Somewhere in the middle of the forest. Night had come, and the moon was hanging high in the sky. Thick clouds glided smoothly into the sky, and the cold wind slowly pushed it forward. Inside a cave, Oddny was kneeling on the stony ground, the pebbles digging into her flesh. “Hmm, did you figure out where they put them?” General Mabel looked at her and a small grin couldn’t be suppressed from her face. “No,” Oddny answered curtly. Disappointment dawned on the general’s face. She sighed, and the sigh echoed throughout the cave. This caused the other vampires to shake on their knees. Even if they were not the subject of her disappointment, their hair still couldn’t help but stand up. “It’s been days.” She said, her eyes looking all over her body, and stopping on her neck. Oddny bowed her head even more. “… I apologize, I find them soon.” General Mabel swatted her hand, placing a palm over her forehead. “No matter. I am in no hurry. Go
First QuarterChapter Eighty-Nine: Mysteriously DisappearingA knock interrupted their conversation. Both turned their heads and looked at the wooden door. It creaked open, and a head peeked out of it. “Is physician Manon here?”“Here!” Manon stood up. “What is it?”The door opened wide, and a man and a boy entered. The boy was clutching his hand, his face showing complicated emotions.“What happened?” Manon asked, then took the boy’s hand. “You broke your hand?”“Yes, he was playing with the others earlier, but he had a bad fall.” The older man, who looked like the boy’s brother, explained. He then sighed. “I don’t know what to do with this kid. He has been causing trouble these past few days.”Manon chuckled. “It’s normal. Sit down—ah!”Manon looked at Mallory and spoke. “It seems l
First QuarterChapter Eight-Eight: Physician Manon “I—”“Hush it, I’m not listening.” True to her stubborn nature, she swatted her away like a fly. Then she took a medicine leaf out of her box and applied it on the arm. Then she covered it with the cloth. “If I see you injured again, I will lock you up in the basement. Try me.”“Okay, I’ll try my best to be careful.” Mallory lied smoothly.But she’s no match for a person who had lived for a hundred years earlier than her. Elder Ester gave her a look and shook her head. “Look, I know that you are eager to develop your capabilities more, but you have to take care of yourself not to get overboard… You might not like the outcome if you do.”“…” Mallory was touched, but that’s the whole reason she wants to develop further.Vampires.She knew that they had been very aggressive in the past few days. And that only fueled her desire to learn and develop even more. The treatment continued, and then Mallory asked a question she’d been itching
First QuarterChapter Eight-Seven: Elder EsterA few days later…“In this month, we already had four casualties. We made the guards stop patrolling individually outside the border and tightened the security inside the barrier.” A man clad in his guard uniform reported with a grim face. “After that, no deaths have been reported.”“Damn it, they’re playing with us for sure!” An elder couldn’t help but slam his hand on the table, breaking it. It wasn’t just him who displayed their anger. The other elders couldn’t hide their emotions as well.“They’ve killed a lot already,” one said weakly. “But we haven’t seen even one vampire at all.”"They’re looking for our pack,” someone said with confidence. “And they somehow knew that it’s near here.”“But we don’t have to worry about them discovering it.” Another one chimed in, looking at the person sitting on the throne. “The Alpha’s blessing will protect us all.”In their heart, they collectively agreed. Hundreds of years had passed, and the Al