Chapter 3 Chased By the White Wolf

Dakota was waiting by the forest's entrance when he suddenly felt someone was spying on him from behind. He immediately turned around but saw nothing.

At the same time, Gamma Pishan walked up to Dakota and reported respectfully, "My King, we have confirmed that there is nothing unusual around."

Dakota nodded and walked towards the river with Pishan, ready to meet a special guest.

On their way, Dakota seemed to be distracted. His intuition kept telling him that there was something unusual. He wanted to go back to check.

But when he was just about to return, a lady emerged from nowhere and shouted, "I'm here!"

She was dressed in a red hood that covered her head. That was obviously the witch.

She stabilized her own horse with the head collar rope and dismounted.

The witch's arrival interrupted Dakota's speculations just now. With him being in front, Dakota together with his gamma and the Physician walked towards her.

"You kept me waiting, Sukie." Dakota said with a stern look, his eyes directed at the witch.

"I'm sorry. Something came up." Sukie replied.

Her eyes found the hard looking King as he got closer to her.

"Greetings, King Dakota" she said without a bow.

Normally, the witches shouldn't owe any Alpha King any form of respect, but since she was on his land, she had to pay that respect.

"Greetings to you too" Dakota answered with a scrutinizing look.

She was one pretty lady - eyes white and sparkling, but her some red lining beneath them; she had a small face which suited her cuteness, hair long, dark and relaxed; and her skin was glowing.

Well, that was one thing about the witches - they were always too extremely beautiful and perfect. But they were dangerous - most of them.

Sukie returned her gaze to the gamma.

"You know I don't wish to do this, Pishan. You know we witches ate forbidden to have anything to do with your lots, and I'm only here because you made it seem so important and also because I owe you a favor." she said.

"I know, Sukie, and trust me; I'm really grateful for the sacrifice you're making. Don't worry, I promise not to get you in trouble. As soon as this is over, nobody's getting to know you ever stepped foot into the Wind Walker Mountain". Pishan replied.

"For your sake and the sake of your heart beating, I hope so." she said and turned to Dakota.

"Are you ready? Let's begin".

*

King Dakota was asked to take off his heavy clothing and go stand beside the river. That was the plan.

Few weeks ago, his Physician had come up with an idea on how to break his curse from the moon goddess. It wasn't entirely sure, but they just wanted to give it a try. And to make it work, they needed a spell from a witch.

King Dakota was to undergo a process which would make him shift and bring out his wolf. It'd make him mad, uncontrollable and destructive and one of the reasons he ordered for the lockdown was because he didn't want to kill any of his pack members with his own hands.

The curse from the moon goddess had become a big concern to him as it was affecting his daily life, and he really needed to put an end to It.

*

He stood, facing the river as his Physician and the witch did their work from behind.

A white line had been drawn around him with his Physician injecting some unknown substance into his skin.

It caused a twitching pain, but King Dakota didn't even act like he felt anything.

The Physician stepped away when he was done and turned to the witch, "It's your time."

Sukie gave a nod as she positioned herself properly to stand directly behind him. Then, taking a deep breath and with her hands stretched out to him, she commenced the spell:

"Adiadiamos, Raxshella, phinentropisilosis."

"Mother Earth...! May my ground be fertile, may my words be blessed! Sukie calls on you today.....!! Make him....tramp....!!!"

There was a loud crack in the sky. Sukie gave out a high pitched scream and instantly, Dakota could feel his bones cracking.

"Urgh...!!!" He yelped and reached for the floor immediately.

He could feel the wrenching and cracking - those were pains he was used to since he shifed more often, but at that moment, he couldn't tell why it was hurting more.

He gave out a loud growl, ripping the remains of his clothes apart. His claws begin to come out, his furs spurred all out, all across his skin and face. His veins were more exposed and right in front of their very eyes, they watched as the King shifted completely, giving room to his beastly wolf, and with that, he ran off , going into the woods.

"How long will it take?" Pishan asked, looking worried as he stretched his neck towards the direction the King had taken.

"Less than an hour" Sukie replied.

********************

Shilah crouched on the ground until she heard the man leave. Without waiting another second, she rushed into the forest like a gust of wind.

Shilah was fumbling in the forest to find the cave. Finally, her eyes eyes glistened with tears when she spotted the cave in front of her.

Oh..! She was there already!! She made it!!

She let out a tear of relief and began running towards it. But Just then, she stopped abruptly when she heard a different sound - one that wasn't a bird, crickets or any flying animal.

No...She was sure... it was a howl; a howl that could only come from a wolf...!

Sweats dripped from her forehead as she decided to forget all about it and just continue heading for the cave. She was so so scared and really needed to get there.

"You'll make it, Shilah; you'll make it. You'll get home with the leaves safely, and this would never happen again" she consoled herself

She finally got to the cave and right beside it, she found the hem leaves - all flourishing with a touch of water on it. Yes...!

She uprooted three of It with a hard breath and quickly, turned around to continue running away - running back home. But as she turned around, her eyes met a nightmare; something that made her heart seize beating and her lungs stop breathing.

Wide sparkles blinked in her dilated eyes as she stared at it - the mountain Lion in front of her - It was a Wolf...!! A wolf...!!

Right there and staring at her!

Shilah's throat had ran dry, sweats dripped from her forehead as her heart resumed beating again. But this time around, extremely slow.

The Wolf in front of her let out a whimper, eyes glowing red, it imbued Shilah with so much fear.

She took a step back, her lips shaking. And immediately, she turned around and started running away - running like an antelope.

She could hear the growl behind her and the fast movement of the paws which indicated the wolf was chasing after her.

No...!

She panted heavily, her lips agaped. The sound of it's barking and paws running through was getting louder and closer, and soon enough, scared Shilah felt something rip her off her feet.

"Arghhhh..........!" Her scream echoed in the forest as she landed roughly on the grassy ground, the hem leaves falling away from her hands.

She turned on the floor and her eyes contact with the scariest, yet most beautiful Mountain Lion she'd ever seen.

It was scary because she felt it was going to kill her - consume her.

Unimaginable fear coursed through her system as she stared at it, her entire body vibrating. It was standing so close to her, his eyes glowing red and depicting danger.

She crawled back on her butts, her eyes not leaving it's face.

"Please...." She whimpered, her voice cracking and a tear rolling down her cheek.

The Wolf let out a deep roar, his sharp fangs opened. Instinctively, Shilah extended her arm to block the wolf's attack. As its sharp fangs scratched her skin, the sudden pain caused her to scream.

The wolf let go of Shilah after getting a whiff of her blood. It then leaned closer to her for a good sniff.

His hot breath sprayed on Shilah's neck as if it was thinking where to bite next. At the same time, Shilah remained motionless, fearing that she would provoke the wolf.

It was clear that she couldn't win against this beast. She was terrified since she knew it would only take one bite for them to sever her delicate neck.

At the thought of this, Shilah stopped her attempts to escape and instead stared blankly at the wolf that was now very close to her.

It was going to kill her...! She was staring at death - right in the face.