Chapter 3 Two

BLAKE:

The woods went silent at dawn. The fierce battle of the night had left it that way. Shafts of daylight peaked out from the scanty frosty leaves of the trove of burnt beech trees spread across this wide forest. It was still winter, and the weather was still at meat locker standard.

The city's preserve didn't allow for trespassing, yet somewhere deep inside it, Blake and his pack roamed the land. There were about thirty werewolves on sight, and they had just avenged his father's death.

Blake's mind spun around the memories of the previous clash. It was a battle they had won down to the last drops of their sweat and blood. Snow covered the ground. Nature looked lazy as he sat shirtless against a tree. The cold didn't affect him. He could feel his body healing from last night's terror tour.

The surrounding air still smelled like war. The scent of dry air married with the acridness of fire and brimstone. He was staring far off through the cluster of unending trees and his eyes darkened in thought. All he could hear in repeat was the last thing the witch had said as she breathed her last.

His father had taught him to never trust the words of witches, no matter who they were.

But he pictured the woman speaking again. The way her eyes had glowed grey like clouds brewing a storm. The fiery crystal ball she had tried forming between her palms to let him glimpse the future. He didn't think the bloodshed he had seen in the space of that second was a lie. He was wary of everything.

Blake knew all along that they didn't roam just any ordinary forest. From the start, they were treading on cursed ground. A landmark under the guide of ancient spells and black magic. The only thing he had failed to realise was that when they ended the circle of witches, they were unleashing the forest.

Even though about five had fled, it was still blood for blood.

Evil trapped Blake and his pack inside their minds right after. It was like being dunked in a pool of wolf's bane. The forest suppressed their powers. It made them weak and paralysed, like they were without life. It was a rollercoaster ride of hallucinations. A dangerous encounter with spirits from the underworld. Last night, after the war with the witches, Blake could remember that trees walked, and the ground had spoken to him. He recalled bleeding from all the holes in his face...

Till it stopped. The moon goddess, their protector, had kept them safe. Light had come now. The evil that tormented them was no more, but the prophecy had lingered in his mind like an echo.

"You can't let them sense your fear. You're alpha, Blake. It's your duty to guide and keep us safe."

A hand gripped his shoulder after the voice came. Blake looked up to see Neil standing before him.

A ray of light had stabbed him in the eye, and he averted his gaze.

It took a minute for Blake to gather his thoughts and rise. He knew it was high time they cleared out from the forest. Meddling humans would discover the bodies of their victims soon and before long, hunters would catch wind of their presence. They needed to cover their tracks. They had to run as far away from there before the next night. Blake didn't think the forest would be any nicer this time.

Defined pathways pierced through every angle of the forest. Even though snow had buried most, Blake and his pack could still navigate their way back using their superhuman senses.

They moved at a set pace. They weren't running because they had suspected that eyes could be anywhere, watching. It was daytime. Blake was in the lead. He was also the first to catch the scent.

Blake had drawn North. It ran deeper where he knew their chances of being noticed grew slim. They were heading to Symre at present. It was the magical veil they had crossed to find here. On the globe, witches were everywhere, and they were fond of leaving portals in their wake. The witches had used a portal to flee. His pack knew that. They had come to Symre, the portal, after hunting down the witches that murdered his father.

He gave a signal, and all thirty became alarmed. He was certain that they heard it, too. The voices rising from afar.

Neil came up behind him. "I smell hunters. They're near."

Blake's beta was by his side immediately. He had heard what Neil had just said. He had smelled them too, they all did.

"I say we fight. I can sense four humans alone. We can take them."

"We can, but a move like that would be reckless." Neil faced the beta. "I have fought enough for one day. I say we don't."

Ian bantered with him, while the entire time, Blake soaked himself in thought. They had skipped something, something very important. It wasn't just four humans in the forest with them at current. He could also sense a wolf nearby.

"Listen." Blake growled, and his command brought their attention back.

They heard, just as he had wanted.

The hunters were talking in hushed tones. It sounded like they had been rejoicing over a catch. He couldn't see them, but Blake had drawn in and listened in on their words more closely.

"What are they saying?" Ian asked.

"It's useless. We won't understand any of it." Another wolf had chipped in. His voice was deeper than the ocean.

"So, no one has any idea?"

Neil folded his arms. "It's Norwegian, Ian. We are very far from home."

Blake disconnected and advanced closer. He stood a few feet from his pack, staring towards the sound in silence. There was a feeling growing inside of him, but he couldn't understand it.

"I have heard rumours. They're merciless," Meredith said. She had shifted under control and revealed her claws alone, playing with them.

"Great. Norwegian hunters who are cold-blooded killers. Could this get any better?" Ian said, smirking.

Blake's pack surrounded themselves in a clump. Wolves of different shapes and sizes, and with unique abilities. They knew they had to plan and act fast.

But Ian still insisted. "The portal is that way. We must go right through. Show them who's boss."

"How can we tell there's no trap ahead?"

"Lie low. I suggest we wait for them to clear out."

"And if they decide to wait until nightfall to do that?"

The wolf, with an incredibly deep voice, stared at Blake's back and said, "The former Alpha would have known what to do."

They all grew silent after that. Blake had heard him, clear and loud. The wolf's intention had been just that; to strike a spear straight at the heart where it would hurt the most. Blake wanted nothing else but to be a better leader for his pack. His new title came with a lot of responsibilities, but he was still learning the ropes.

"Lucien!" Neil glared at the wolf that dared challenge their alpha. He was bigger than Blake's first cousin, but ranks decided power in their world.

Blake didn't give ear to it, though. He turned and walked back. "The hunters have one of us. It's a female."

As the rest of them searched deeper into their senses, Lucien said, "We can't just accept any stranger into our pack."

Blake growled. "If she's a wolf, she is one of us."

His eyes had glowed red and powerful, and the wolf cowered under his voice like a slave.

He was Alpha Blake, their leader.

There was a force drawing him to whomever it was the hunters held captive. It gripped him like desire, and he couldn't control it. He needed to find out the captured wolf's identity.

"This isn't war," he said. "No casualties, and we disappear as planned. I'll be taking only a few with me."

Neil stepped forward at once. The misty morning gathered breeze. Another pelt of snow would fall soon. Blake took in his pack. They idled around as volunteers found their courage.

Meredith had stepped out at the same time Ian did. Five others joined, but Lucien stayed, wearing a dark look. They were ready.

Blake took the lead. He cracked his neck to the side and shifted. His ears grew longer. Fangs protruded in his mouth as his face turned beastly. The eight of them ran towards the sounds ahead faster than the wind.

IVY:

She felt for the rails of the iron cage that trapped her. She was glaring at the people that did this to her at present. Gritting her teeth, she glowered and gripped it tighter with both palms.

"Let me out, you scumbags!" she said, but they laughed in her face, like she was stupid.

They had understood her words clearly, even though they spoke a distinct language from hers.

Her captors lifted the sizeable cage into the back of a red pickup truck without care, and she had landed on her butt after the drop. Her clothes were torn and soiled with dirt. The temperature of the morning had lowered unbelievably. She couldn't stand the cold. Ivy banged against the cage, screaming for them to let her go.

Their roaring laughs came again, and she seethed, spitting in one of their faces.

The unlucky captor had lurched to land a hit on her when it happened.

It was rushed, the events of the next second. Something flashed by and took out the first man far behind. The others disappeared the same way before they could realise what was going on.

The last man standing, also the one in line for her cage, stopped halfway as he noticed what had occurred. His men were missing. He was all alone in the dangerous forest.

Ivy smiled when she saw him quiver.

He reached for his crossbow and searched around the space with wide, frantic eyes. She knew the arrows he had on him were laced with wolf's bane and black magic. She also knew what was out there, but all she could focus on were the keys dangling from his neck.

Ivy watched a werewolf appear out of nowhere and grab the man by the scruff of his neck. She sighted seven more of them afterwards. The hunters were no longer in sight. It didn't shock her to see that they weren't aiming to kill off her captors.

The wolf with glowing red eyes ripped the bunch of keys from the man's neck and snapped it to paralyse him but not end him.

The world around her stopped in that minute.

She had glued her eyes to the wolf the entire time as he approached the truck and turned the right key into the lock.

Ivy couldn't understand the feeling that soared in her chest. She couldn't take her eyes off the man in front of her. He wasn't anything like she had imagined.

The wind raised his messy curls, and she felt an urge to run her hand through it. The spell around the cage suppressed the wolf in him, and his red eyes slipped into the most beautiful shade of brown. He was human again. The sight of him warmed her insides. She was fatally dumbstruck.

Her saviour extended his hand to her. His eyes pierced her with an intensity she couldn't fathom.

"You're safe now," he had said.