Rose
After the mind link ended, all the magical sounds of the carnival ceased to exist. Matthew grabbed Harriet’s face pulling her lips against his and stole a passionate kiss. Heather and I turned away to give them a moment. We only turned back when we heard him say four words.“I love you, Harriet.” He choked out as a tear ran down his cheek. He shredded his clothes as he shifted into his large molasses wolf with a white underbelly. He bolted towards the southern border visibly forcing himself to look to the border as Harriet crumbled to her knees.“You asshole! That’s not fair! That wasn’t part of the agreement !” She screamed after his wolf as the tears streamed down her cheeks. “I love you, too.” Harriet whimpered into her hands. Heather leaned down and hugged her sister from behind.To other packs, this probably would be no big deal. We are just a small pack in the middle of the mountains. We aren't a fighter rich pack, we are peaceful. What did we do to deserve this?
“Come on.” I pulled at my friends. “We can’t stay here. We are too close to the southern border.” Harriet stumbled to stand and Heather helped pull her up.We quickly headed north out of the carnival. Howls filled the night air as we ran through the trees. Fear settled deep in my soul. Discarded prizes and food cluttered the forest floor as we tried to quickly weave through the trees. “Hurry up.” I egged them on. Branches whipped my face and legs as we ran faster.
Suddenly a piercing pain ran through our chests. All three of us looked at each other with terror glistening in our eyes as we leaned against the trees for support. This pain that tore into our hearts could only mean one thing. Alpha Dane was dead. More howls echoed through the trees with the sounds of thunderous paws smacking the earth.“Come on” I hissed. We all took off at top speed not daring to look back. “We can make it.”The smell of smoke wafted to our noses and started to engulf us. The sounds of heavy breathing were almost missed before a large gray wolf with matted fur and a scarred-up snout came charging at us, a rogue. Behind him, a large molasses wolf with a white underbelly trailed furiously, Matt. I shoved Harriet out of the way just in time as I took the brunt of the gray wolf’s charge. I was smacked into a tree and a gasp escaped my lips. I tasted metallic blood in my mouth as I tried to catch my breath. Matt’s eyes were raging black pearls as he tackled the rogue. Matt furiously tried to snap at his opponent’s neck. The rogue was able to shove Matt off of him. The two started circling each other trying to gain the upper hand.“Come on,” Heather panted as she and Harriet helped me stand. I spit some blood on the ground. Harriet looked back at Matt with a pleading looking in her eyes.We quickly tried to make our way towards the safe houses that were hidden in the woods by the base of the northern mountains. My ears perked up as I heard the crackle of fire up ahead. I looked up in the sky and thick black clouds of smoke billowed from ahead of us. My face contorted in horror. I shifted immediately and ran.
Not the safe houses...no...no. That’s where the majority of the pack should be. Heather and Harriet had shifted as well. They were both pale ginger wolves, but with different white markings. Harriet had a white underbelly and Heather looked like she was wearing socks. As we ran we heard paws closely following behind us. I turned to face the new enemy and nodded my head to the sisters to go and try to save anyone they could.
I let out a loud growl as gray and white rogue approached. It was a she-wolf and she smelled like old blood and death. We began our circle dance. She was the first to make a move first. She tried to claw my eyes and snap at any flesh she could get a hold of. I dodged her advance and ventured the favor as I bit down on her paw with all of my might until I tasted blood and slung her into a boulder. She yelped as her back collided with the rock.Parts of the boulder showered onto her. As I looked at her I saw red and orange flames licking at the trees behind her coming closer to us. She took a deep breath before charging me again. Both of our fangs dug into each other's bodies. We wrestled to the ground struggling for dominance over each other.
Blood spilled onto the ground and I rolled away from her but her teeth tore into the flesh on my front leg. I was quicker than her and I charged at her with my claws targeting her eyes. I made my contact slicing into her eyes. She howled in pain and the blood poured from her face. I was not a well-trained fighter but my fight or flight mode was engaged. It was my fucking eighteenth birthday, this bitch was not taking away my life. The fire was getting closer by the second. The air was getting harder to breathe. I needed to finish her. The sooner the better.
The rogue whipped back towards me when I stepped on a twig. Seems I had blinded her. I was going to use this to my advantage. I quickly went for her throat sinking my canines deep into her throat ripping a large chunk of her flesh from her neck. She stumbled away from me. I charged sinking my teeth into her hind leg and whipping her body into a burning tree. The tree crumbled on top of her. I caught my breath as I watched to make sure she was done. The seconds felt like hours as I stared at the burning heap before me. I licked at my torn flesh and once I was satisfied that she was dead I quickly made my way through the burning trees trying to escape the smell of her burning flesh.
I kept running, ignored the pain in my leg and the burning branches that scorched my fur. My fur was dripping blood, but I would not stop until I reached the safe houses. When I finally broke out of the trees Harriet was standing naked outside one house crying with a small group of people. I looked around for Heather, but I couldn’t find her. Harriet noticed my presence and came running.“Goddess Rose! Are you okay? How bad are you hurt? Where's the rogue? Did you kill her? Have you seen Heather?” she gasped out her barrage of questions. I was confused. My body gave in to the exhaustion as I began to shift against my will. She reached out and caught me as I collapsed.My forearm had a deep gash that wasn’t healing. I fruitlessly tried to wipe the ash from my face, so I could see. As I attempted to catch my breath enough to answer any of her questions or ask about Heather, l heard someone else break through the burning trees. Before I could even attempt to look Harriet whispered with tears in her eyes, “Matt…”
Matt After the mind link ended, an eerie silence engulfed the carnival grounds before people started to panic. Families took off running away from the Southern border, but the only person I could focus on was Harriet. I saw the horror beginning to take hold of her. I had to do something to distract her. I grabbed Harriet’s face, pulling her lips against mine as I stole a passionate kiss. I needed her to feel anything but fear. Harriet and Heather didn’t have a dad anymore because of the last attack on our village. Fifteen years ago, there were the hunters. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it out alive. ***Come on, Matthew. It’s an infestation of rogues. Leave your girlf
RoseI whipped my head around after Harriet whispered his name. His back was macerated, claw marks exposed raw skin. Thin trails of blood trickled down his body. I just saw this body yesterday...the current sight made me recoil and gulp. His head started to twitch like he was searching for someone. His body slightly turned; only then is when we realized he was holding someone in his arms.“Heather,” Harriet gasped, and she clambered to her feet. Matt whipped his head once he saw her voice. Matt immediately ushered Heather to us. “Is she okay?” Harriet croaked, and she reached her hands up to her baby sister’s cheek.“Just knocked out. I found Heather unconscious near the flower and herb fields. There were some burning branches on top of her. I think she will be fine. She has some burns, but I think the smoke got to her. It was the worst area I had been in.” Matt kneeled and gently laid her on the ground as Harriet brushed Heather’s hair out of her face.“
Rose It was well past midnight as we continued to scour the village and forests for survivors. Our Alpha was dead, our Luna was dead, our Beta was dead, our warriors were dead, mothers were dead, fathers were dead, children were dead. Our pack was a husk of what it used to be. Just thinking of it made me want to sink into myself, shutting out the world. I was lucky. My friends and my parents were still alive. I had never been so glad my siblings had moved onto larger packs, anywhere but here. When they found my dad, he had already started treating people. Most of the pack that was injured had burns, and luckily they were healing pretty quickly on their own. My arm was almost completely healed, most likely earning my first battle scar. An a
MattI placed the call into the council around three in the morning. Silver Crescent had been attacked. I kept repeating it to myself. Trying to get it to sink in but desperately hoping it’s just a sick joke. There was no one else to do it. After the disastrous events of the night, everyone was a shell of their previous self. Heck, so was I. My dad died in the battle. He died protecting the people he loved, the pack he cherished. I’m proud to be his son, and I know he would have been proud of me for taking out the scum who killed Alpha Dane. I wish I could have killed them all. To take their lives, they took my only family member away from me. I was alone.After midnight some of the men and I had taken care of the bodies of the rogues. We loaded trucks and dumped them outside our territory off the side of the mountain into a rocky ravine. They did not deserve any more than that. Anyone who was injured was with Rose’s dad. Heather had woken up, but Harriet i
Unknown Alpha Alastor walked out of my office and closed the doors. I leaned back in my chair with my eyes closed. When was the last time a pack was hit this hard? When werewolves were not in a pack and let their wolves take over for too long, they became feral. Unfortunately, in the mountains, there were more feral rogues than regular rogues. The gift and curses of nature. The danger hiding behind the beauty. Why the fire, though? I would get to the bottom of this. One way or another. Standing up from my desk, I made my way out of my office and down the long corridor. I passed a few of the early riser members of my pack, only giving nods as the only form of acknowledgment. The quicker I left, the faster I could get there. Time was of the essence. I padded down the steps of my packhouse.“The cars are ready to go, Alpha.” Alastor walked up to me. “We are taking twenty warriors with us. We will be spre
RoseOne of the surviving elders, with the assistance of Matt, performed the ceremony. It was short, but it echoed in all of our hearts. We had a graveyard, but it was not large enough to accommodate everyone we lost. The new cemetery was now where one of our flower and herb gardens used to be. It was the only place that had enough space and was not on top of the village. One by one, we walked by, each one saying goodbye and thanking them for their contribution to our pack. My dad, Matt, Harriet, a few warriors, and a couple of regular pack members covered each body with my dirt as the last pack members said goodbye to them. My mom trailed behind, placing wildflowers on each of the graves. Heather stood beside me with her finger intertwined with mine while we watched the depressing repetition. She squeezed my hand and pulled me to walk away. I let her lead me. I knew she wanted to get away from there. After all, she could have died and then been buried in that field i
Unknown AlphaTen minutes to the border. Nine minutes. Eight minutes. Seven minutes. Six minutes. Five minutes. That’s when the sweet smell of peonies and peppercorn wafted towards me. My wolf, Zeus, stirred inside of me, trying to urge me to hunt down the delicious aroma of innocence. I resisted him and ran the perimeter of Silver Crescent before doubling back towards the only road that led into the pack.I sighed in relief; there were no signs of any other packs yet. My sleek silver body weaved in and out of the trees, purposely grazing against them so my scent would put off any smaller packs from coming to play. I’m not a ruthless Alpha by any means, but I believe in tough love. My pack has grown more robust in the six years since I ascended. They never worried about our pack’s safety. They knew I would protect them no matter how much blood I spilled, regardless if it was my blood or the enemy’s blood.Peonies and peppercorn found me again. Teasing my senses
Unknown AlphaI was pacing the border of Silver Crescent in my wolf form, trying to focus on why I came ahead of my pack. However, after watching over my mate, my mind became foggy. All I wanted to do was reveal myself, but I knew this was best for her. I was wandering close to the southern border, trying to force myself to focus on the task at paw. Trying to put me in the mind of a rogue. The forest was pretty dense here. Not a whole lot of clearings. It would make it harder to be spotted.Clearly, it was planned for the night of the Starlight Carnival. They picked the perfect night. The majority of the pack would be wrapped up in the Carnival, not even considering an attack as a possibility. This pack was an easy target. Honestly, I could see a couple of Alphas I know to prey on a pack like this. Certain wolves were just powerful and bloodthirsty. They gave other werewolves, especially, Alphas a lousy reputation. I refused to be like them.I started the head back