3. The Mysterious Charmer

He was being chased by something.  

Something very large, very fast and very strong.  

 His legs were tired and were beginning to shake.  

The creature howled loudly and it was clear that it was very close to him, closer than he had thought.  

It howled again and for the first time he noticed that the sound came from him.  

As he ran shakily, he staggered and fell down on the wet muddy ground with his face looking at the ground. He stayed like that for a while and he didn't hear the creature anymore. 

He raised his head up and was as still as a rock as he found himself in a blood pool surrounded  by hundreds of people. 

Carefully, and slowly he looked down at the blood pool and with a high cry, screamed as he saw himself as the BEAST.

Reven woke up screaming and shaking with fright. His father was seated on his bed and his two brothers were by his door, looking at him. It took Reven a couple of minutes to get himself back, and Demenicus waited patiently.  

    After giving Reven water, Demenicus asked, "Is it the same dream?" 

   "Yes, but this was worse." 

   "Is it still the same Beast pursuing you?" 

Reven looked at his father for a few seconds and then lied, "Yes, I was just pursued." He didn't tell Demenicus about the blood pool or about him seeing himself as the Beast. 

       "OK. You have some things you have to do this morning. First of all, you'll go feed the horses, we'll need them to ride to the Passwaywhere the Alpha will be buried  and after you'll meet me in my room because i have something important to say to you. So hurry up, time waits for no one."

Natalie was getting dressed when she sighted Reven from afar feeding some horses. She didn't know who he was or where he came from or less she would have been more cautious of her heart.  

     He was the most amazing person she had ever set her eyes on. His sturdy-looking body reflected the golden morning sun. His gentle occasional laughter rang like sweet music in her ears. She couldn't help herself from smiling sheepishly at him.  

        She was still wondering about who he was when she heard a knock. To her own surprise, she was annoyed by the interruption and with a clear impatient voice she asked about who the interrupter was. 

        "It's me, Natalie. It's your father." 

   Natalie quickly shut the windows and closed the curtains, giving one last look at the stunningly handsome man before rushing to open the door for her father. 

       "It's quite shocking for you to lock your door." Handogan said as he studied his daughter's weird composure.  

     Natalie had locked the door so that she could stare at the charming man without being caught by anyone. "Umm…well, I…I was just, you know… frightened." Natalie regretted her words immediately she spat them out. She knew that Handogan will take it hard on himself and she didn't want to add to his problems. 

        Handogan sighed and gave her a huge hug, "I know, it's totally alright to be frightened, but I want you to know that I'm here for you and I'll always be here." 

      Natalie felt like a jerk, she was lying to her father and making him more emotional for nothing. She couldn't bear it anymore, so she backed away as quick as possible, staggering from the shocking force which she had used to disengage from her father. 

     Handogan was completely startled. "Natalie, are you alright?" 

   "Yes, I'm really sorry, but I just didn't feel like it. I'm sorry." 

    He reached out for her hand and covered them in his. His massive hands gently massaging her fragile palms. He sat her down on her bed and sat beside her, and with a soft and calm voice, he said, "There's nothing to be sorry about. Natalie, we don't control our feelings, it's okay to hurt sometimes. It's okay to feel bad at times like this, you don't have to be so strong every time. I know how close Yvonne was to you and I can't imagine how bad you're feeling right now…" 

       Natalie was feeling ashamed. She couldn't believe that she had been staring lustfully at a man on the morning Yvonne was to be buried, or that she had locked herself in her room to watch a man who she had no idea of a few hours before Yvonne was buried. She felt like punching herself in the face but instead she silently gave in to tears. The tears flowed down her eyes without control. She felt selfish and stupid for what she had done.  

        Despite Handogan's encouragement for her to cry out her grief, her tears stopped after some seconds, and just like that her face was dry once again, leaving no sign of tears or pain.  

     In a firm voice, Natalie asked her father," So why are you here so early? Has any other problem arose? " 

      "No. But I came here specifically to warn you about a set of people." 

      "What people?" 

     "The Skull pack." 

     "The skull pack? Dad, I've heard more than enough to keep away from them, so trust me enough to keep the hell away from them." 

     "What I meant by the Skull pack, is the Darke family, Demenicus and his bastard son, Reven to be more specific." 

     "Well no problem, Father." 

     "Please stay as far away from the both of them." 

     "I have heard, okay? I'm not a kid, I know who to stay away from." 

      "That's good to hear because right now, I have so much on my plate and I don't want you to add to it." 

       Natalie jokingly stood up and saluted him. "Aye aye Alpha." 

      Handogan managed a smile and gave Natalie a big hug before he left her room.  

      As Handogan left, Natalie fought the urge to go back to the window to spy on the mysterious charming man.

Delia was seated on her large princess-like bed, almost chewing off her middle finger in anxiety when Heathrow walked in. She stood up immediately he stepped foot into her room and hurriedly dragged a long sheet of paper from his hands. 

        "That's your speech, Delia. I made it perfectly soothing to their ears. I added a lot of fabricated sweet stories about you and your mum, so you're going to practice more on your crying skills." 

       Delia was too focused on the script to listen to anything Heathrow had to say. 

      Finally, she spoke. "Oh No, this speech is just too long, Heathrow." 

       "Well, you can take the paper along with you if you can't memorise it. You could just fold it in your gown and bring it out during the speech. No one would notice…" 

     "No, that's not the point." 

    "What's wrong?" 

      "The speech is so damn long, okay. You need to shorten it." 

       "Why?" 

      "Because it's so damn long!!!" Delia raised her voice. 

        "Delia, the longer it is , the more they all will believe that you are truly hurt. Trust me, Delia. The fact that you rushed the burial is already raising eyebrows among out own pack." 

    "Damn!! I just want the burial to be over faster than it began. I want that old witch to be stuck under the earth forever." 

        "Yes, I promise that she will, but you'll have to trust me on this one. So try to memorise some of the fabricated stories in the speech and give them one hell of a show." He patted her shoulder and walked out of the room.

They were all dressed and ready to  mount their horses when Demenicus dragged Reven back, and told him to ride along with him. As much as Simion hated it, he had no other option but to excuse Demenicus and Reven.  

          "Have I ever told you about a Sword called 'The Phoenix'?" Demenicus asked. 

         "No, Father." 

         "Well,it's the greatest of swords. History has it that it belonged to the last True Alpha centuries ago, and it is that sword we came here to take." 

        Reven silently listened to his father. He knew Demenicus was a man of wisdom and was a very cunny person too, so he absorbed every word with precaution.  

            "And you will help me in acquiring the whereabouts of the sword." 

               "How?" Reven asked. 

            "By wooing the daughter of the current bearer." 

     Reven stared at his father for a while and asked. "Who is this bearer?" 

        Demenicus stopped his horse and gave a wide happy smile. "My good old friend, Handogan Kane."