The air smelt of smoke and ash. There was not a single grass on the ground. The buildings were so burnt that some structures collapsed as the wind blew. The whole land was covered in grey ashes.

The surrounding trees in the territory were gone too. The pack smelt of sadness and death.

The more Silvia saw, the more she wanted to unsee. The Pack was a heap of ruin.

"How is this even possible?" Silvia stared at the scene in disbelief. They had been trekking for ten minutes, kicking ash as they went. The sun was up high in the sky sending waves of heat at them.

"The land is so badly ruined that we can't even rebuild here if we wanted to. It's a wasteland now." Connor told them as they walked.

"It was that fire," They turned to Bianca who had not said a word since. She was glaring at the ground. Her fists were clenched in anger. Pain flashed through her blue eyes. "It looked alive."

Bianca had seen it all. The way the fire spread and licked everything in its path. It had a mind of its own. It was not ordinary.

"What about Cynthia? Did they get anything from her?" Silvia asked.

"She is dead."

"What? How?" Silvia halted in her steps and turned to Connor for explanation.

Connor sighed. "Just when she was about to start talking, she started foaming in the mouth. She died seconds later."

Silvia's face scrunched up in a frown. That could not have been a coincidence.

"We are here," Bianca announced.

Silvia looked around. The spot was less damaged than the rest. In front of them were seven stones arranged neatly in a straight line. Each stone had flowers placed in front of it.

"What's this? I thought we were here to see your father?" She asked Bianca.

"He's right there," Bianca pointed at the first stone from the left. It finally dawned on her. "They tried to put out the fire. They got caught in it instead. Each one of them was burnt to ash. It took us three days to identify who was who."

"I am so sorry," Silvia gave Bianca a side hug. Patrick Conrad, Bianca's father, was their best warrior and a respected member of the pack.

Their park did not have many elders since most of them died in an attack a few years back, including Silvia's parents and the Betas. Patrick was like a father to them all.

What a painful death he must have had!

A foreboding feeling settled in the pit of Silvia's stomach. Something was coming. They could feel it.

*****

Theodore's eyes skimmed through the familiar room. Ignoring the two brooding Alphas. He still did not understand the pressure between them. The tension in the room was high and he wasn't going to bother diffusing it. He had bigger problems to handle like the mate that was dumped into his already complicated life.

Grace, who was sitting beside her mate, didn't seem interested in getting involved either. Her eyes were glazed over, mind-linking someone. Theodore was even surprised she was here. She had not left Jamie's side ever since the kidnap.

His eyes fell on the painting on the other side of the room. A painting of a silver wolf howling at the moon. The sky was a hue of purple and green clouds weaved together. It was majestic.

The door opened, breaking the tension between the two glaring Alphas. Seer Olive walked in, and by her side was Rhea.

"I am sorry I am late. My legs aren't as fast as they used to be." She took her seat at the end of the table. Rhea sat next to her.

"It's alright," Peter started, "This meeting was arranged today to address the issues going on. It has been one week since my son's kidnap. Rogues can't just waltz into the Pack and kidnap my son that easily. There is a mole among us and we need to find out who that person is."

"Not to mention the attack on my pack and Cynthia's mysterious death. I believe this is all part of a ploy," Alpha Joshua added. "There have been rogue cases reported from other Packs recently and when these rogues her captured and questioned, they foam in the mouth and die just like Cynthia did."

"Do you think it's a drug?" Grace asked.

Alpha Joshua shook his head. "No, this rogues and Cynthia didn't have any kill pills in their mouths. We checked before interrogation. It wasn't poison either. At least not one I know of and trust me I know a lot of poisons."

Everyone nodded in understanding. It was a known fact that the Terminators consumed poisons as part of their training. If anyone could identify a poisonous substance, it would be them.

He continued. "Out of all the cases, only my Pack was burnt down."

"Does your Pack have any enemies, Alpha Joshua?" Grace asked from next to her mate.

"We keep to ourselves. We haven't had any issues apart from the attack a few years ago," The room went silent. Everybody remembered the attack that wiped out half of the Red Crescent Pack.

"There was something strange with the fire that we were attacked with. It burnt my warriors to ash when they tried to put it out. And when everything was destroyed, it went out on its own." He whispered the last part. "This attack was deliberate. They wanted us dead and Cynthia was just a pawn."

Whoever orchestrated the attack only wanted to wipe out their Pack. The question was why?

"Do you think the fire was caused by some sort of chemical?" Theodore inquired. It was either that or they were dealing with something supernatural but he didn't want to conclude yet.

"We didn't find any sort of chemical composition in the soil. By the way, no chemical can make that type of burn."

"Could it be-" Theodore started but was cut off.

"I know what you are about to say and it's impossible. They have gone extinct," Peter said.

Everyone fidgeted in their seats. Witches. Nobody had seen one in ages but they were the only plausible explanation. Only they were strong enough to create an unquenchable fire. A seer wasn't strong enough to do it.

"The rogues were also heavily armed. They had silver knives, arrows, and wolfsbane with them. Those things aren't easily obtainable,"

"So, the hunters are in on this too." Theodore chipped in. They suddenly had a lot of enemies to fight. "Why? Why now?"

Seer Olive commented after being silent since, "It is because of her," She pointed at Grace. A small smile was present on the Seer's lips.

"Me?" Grace frowned.

Seer Olive shook her head. "No, the child in your stomach."

"What has my child got to do with this?" Peter growled.

Grace placed a protective arm over her stomach.

Seer Olive chuckled. "Everything is playing out according to the prophecy." she leaned against her seat and started humming a tune everyone knew too well. She paused and gazed at Grace, "That child is the one."

A child shall be born,

One more powerful than all,

With the powers of the goddess,

She will emerge the strongest,

Born to bring balance,

Born to bring peace,

But be careful,

Or chaos you will seek,

The child and the guardian,

A scar on the lips,

Then you will see,

The escort she chose,

Beware of this sign,

When the protectors and bearers combine,

On the blood moon eclipse,

The child of prophecy shall be born.

The room went silent for the umpteenth time today. Everyone's expression alternated from confusion to shock then to disbelief.

The prophecy was made years ago by the first Seer. Many blood moons had passed since then. Why would this one be any different? Everyone had thought the prophecy was a myth. A bedtime story. The song was a nursery rhyme.

And now they actually found out that it is true.

Theodore especially found Alpha Joshua's expression funny. He was staring at the Seer as if she had grown another head. They didn't have a Seer in Red Crescent Pack and this was probably his first time encountering one.

"So, you are telling me that that unborn child burned my pack to the ground?" Incredulity was laced in Alpha Joshua's voice as he stared at Seer Olive with a raised brow.

"Exactly."

Chapter 6 Mysterious fire

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