Chapter Seven

Amante POV

               The deafening silence of the forest contests with the calmness of my winter breaths. The thick forest is dark with snow fog, gloomy, and chilly without any living things around other than the frozen podocarp conifers and southern beech trees. It is a wonder how those gigantic, sturdy, and massive hedges withstand in this frigid region.

“Incredible, isn’t it?”, I mumbled, smirking boastfully at Maziar conscious of his awe of a lifetime.

               He stands awkward, anxious about the phenomenon he is witnessing in front of him. It took him a while, then, a huge grin flashes on his face. He grasps his balding hair incredulously, sending me an impression of astonishment and glory. He turns his naked butt around and maniacally laughs while running and bouncing like a madman.

“Whoah, Amante! This is insane, I mean terrific! I have never seen anything like this before! It is great! You look…magnificent!”, his handful of statements boost up the narcissism in me. I love the attention and I want more!

“Listen, we have to go back to the pack now. I need a hot shower, you know.”, I put an act of disinterest and slow pace myself out, still carrying my drowsy mate at my back.

He freezes.

“You’re bringing her into the pack? She is a human!”, he utters in despair.

“Ow, never mind. Everybody in the army knows, and I have the Alpha King's permission.”, I said. “Where were you? I thought the news must have germinated like a pandemic already!”,

              I am walking my way through the slanting nothofagus when he whispers, faintly that it almost missed my ears.

“She will be your downfall!”, he said it like he meant no harm, but those words are poisonous in my prudent mind.

               It stops me in my tracks. My blood boils subconsciously and glares at him. How dare he? I feel Amaltheo growls in annoyance as well.

“Tell me how, then!”, I demand, securing a threatening tone in my implied voice.

“You know sufficiently how everyone perishes in the hands of those wretched beings. Humans are our utmost adversary for a lifetime now. What most of us wanted is revenge against her race, that’s why we have the onslaught just a few days ago. And that won’t stop, no, it should never be stopped for any other reasons there may be.”, he insists on, “We had long-delayed the vengeance for our decayed families. Your human mate will be a complication somehow.”, he finishes his litany as he used to when we were having our short-lived training in the grasslands of our fallen kingdom.

               I keep silent during the course back to the fortress. My mind is in commotion with my heart. And my spirit wolf is being a nuisance for grunting incessantly inside of me. His debate weigh as much as hard as the slap of factual truth Maziar embedded in my confused mind. I can see the towering peak of our fortress in the distance. Maziar, now in his blackish form of a wolf, walks side by side with me. I can feel his awkwardness, but I continue the noiseless walking on top of the frozen Ross Gyre Sea. The glacial ice cover at its thickest averages 2,160 meters thick in a 1,460 km wide range. I see some potholes used for fish hooking by the stock hunters for an additional poultice to the hungry appetites of thousands of pack members. Astonishingly, there is an abundant quantity of winter fish available under the chilling depths. Werewolves are meat-eating creatures, but in this bleak environment, hot-blooded animals are scarce and almost impossible to find. Our meals mostly consist of penguins, seals, albatross, and if lucky a chunk of whale meat. Saying so, I am getting tired of this cold-blooded, stinky, and nasty-tasting flesh of a water animal after twenty, long, and miserable years. I miss the tender, juicy, and savory taste of a warm-blooded bison for my meals.

               I didn’t notice that I am salivating while having thoughts on dietary sustenance. I crinkle my nose in irritation. Yeah, it has been long since I had an appetizing meal, and it’s all because of humans. Those despicables! The ineradicable hatred for people responsible for my dreadful life returns with a torch of animosity, oozing with so much hatred and wrath for my enemies. With my distorted resolve, I jerk my sleeping mate awake. We arrive at the front gate and it opened widely for our group to walk through. I ignore the pleasuring gestures of my mate on my golden fur coat. I look at the expressions on my packmate's faces. As expected, they are in awe of my unusual transformation. A small number of people start to flock around us and follow in caution at the clearing in front of the Alpha King's building. There, more have come to alleviate their curiosity of the ginormous, golden wolf and his human mate. The place is crowding in an instant. My mate stands rather imposing beside me despite the growing hostility the werewolves are throwing in her direction, a complete contrast to the admiration I see in their eyes when gaping at me.

“She is a human!”

“How could there be a human mate? It’s crazy!”

“Is this even possible?”

               These are some of what I heard from the crowd. It is all about her. They simply adore my evolution but they are talking more about my human mate. How could this be? I am supposed to be the center of attraction! I mean, it is not ordinary to see a silver wolf, isn’t it? How come they are more likely to comment on this impertinent human besides me? This is unacceptable and I feel the jealousy of my mate's fame begin to web its way on my darkened heart. I watch in stillness. Serenity is visible in my face, but deep down inside is the raging fire of anguish and grief I am hardly in control of exploding soon.

               Alpha King Henrik and his gentle Luna Shelley join the commotion And are closely followed behind by Beta Emir, Lead Warrior Aeron, and the two Alpha survivors that serve as part of the council, Alpha Mayor and Alpha Vincent. They all look grim and unfamiliar making me feel like I forgot, lost, or missed something important. On top of it all, a glimpse of amazement at my mystical appearance is all I got. Marina, I have forgotten about her, comes to me with a pair of clothing and shoes for me to change into. She blocks Allyssa from following me to the change room near the end of the lawn. I think I imagine my mate being pissed off of my sudden departure with a pretty she-wolf as my lookout. I quickly change into human form and put on my signatures, a large pastel-colored pullover and tight-fit chinos layered up with an overcoat with the final touch-up of a sturdy pair of Chelsea boots. This fashion statement characterizes the image of the casual impression I portray as an easy-going, carefree idler of the pack. I dislike its tackiness but it is an important detail for my plans to be overlooked.

“Now that everybody is here, it is time to announce the outcome of the attack to Murrietta City.”, Beta Emir’s thundering voice echoes and everything becomes quiet.

                Everybody's attention is on him. I sneak in between Allyssa and Marina. They look awkward together and me being with them, gets worse. We all look upfront, with a feeling of heaviness on our chests for our crisscross fates.

“It was a victory and we brought home lumps of meat as a reward for our triumphs. We shall celebrate later and feast to our heart's contents.”, he declares.

               Contrary to my expectations, there is no applauding from the crowd. The feast of meat from warm-blooded animals that I thought everybody misses does not sound appetizing to them right now. Something is wrong and there is more to come.

“We sympathize to our dead warriors, their families will be provided and protected as long as this pack exists. Especially Delta George's whom we all know perish the most.”, his now broken voice creates a domino effect to the populace. I hear several sobs from left-behind mates and their children.

“What happened to him? How did he got beat up so badly like that?”, someone from the crowd called out.

“He got caught up in a trap made by humans. They strangled him with silver chains and fed him with poisonous wolfbane. We found his headless body gripped in a stone boulder near the end of the field and his head stuck with a stick pole behind the rocks. He wasn’t able to change into his human form which means he was tranquilized before capture.”, the long, agonizing explanation of the Beta, and he collapses down the ground.

               The place is filled with wailings of the pack members. Even strong, defiant he-wolves are shedding tears to the tragic announcement. I, myself, observe in alarm. I instinctively look out for the Alpha King's response. I need to verify if he had noticed anything odd about the incident. The trap was supposed to be for him, that was what I originally planned to. He is mourning with his Luna in his arms. He looks innocent but I keep on scrutinizing his behavior. I have to make sure, so I can pursue more. The solemn mood is an opportunity for me to snatch the momentum. I glance at Allyssa who looks uninterested and bored with all drama. Her coldness sparkles a fire inside of me. I step forward and announced my intense resolve.

“I, Amante del Fuego of Irati Nardus Pack, proclaims my human mate named Allyssa as a prisoner of war. She, at all times, be confined in my room and prohibited from engaging in any sort of communication with the pack members. She will serve me, not as her mate, but MY sex slave until the end of time!”