Chapter 2 2

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Scene 1

The Alpha's cabin

The Alpha's cabin looks and sounds silent in the forest shadows, but inside the cabin, there is no rest.

Adolf (He sits up abruptly, his breath is in a shallow form) She is in my head again.

Marcus: (He leans against the doorway with his arms crossed watching Adolf) You are not sleeping again, Alpha.

Adolf (He rubs his face): I do not need to sleep. I need answers to certain questions.

Marcus:" You were with her for less than a minute. I wonder why she is still crawling around in your skull as if she is the one that owns it?"

Adolf (He grits his teeth). The main reason is that she should not exist. She was too fast, in fact, too fast for my liking, and then her eyes are not from a human, neither are they from a wolf.

Marcus (He steps closer, looks to be sure there is no listener, then lowers his voice) "That is the reason why I am here. There is a scent near the northern border. It is faint, but it is wrong. It is not from any rogue wolf, nor is it from a pack."

Adolf (He is instantly alert). Are you sure that it is not just a stray?"

Marcus - Strays smells like desperation. This one? It is just like old magic. It is like something which is buried. It smelled like it is decayed in the moonlight."

Adolf (He narrows his eyes). She simply stood in the clearing like she belonged in that place, and then she vanished into thin air."

Marcus: Do you think that she is connected to the scent?

Adolf: I know that she is connected to it because every instinct in me is screaming that she is a predator, but it is not the kind which i have ever hunted."

Marcus (He hesitates) but yet, you are here obsessing about her, that is not like you, Alpha "

Adolf: (He spoke sharply) She looked at me like she already knew me in times past, like she was seeing into something that I did not even understand myself."

Marcus: "Then you will need to find her to know more about all this before someone else does."

Adolf :(He was quiet for a while before he spoke) "I do not know if I want to kill her or I want to protect her."

Marcus: "You have never hesitated on any matter before."

Adolf: That is the problem."

(A knock disrupts the heavy silence that has taken over the cabin; a scout enters, his eyes wide.

Scout: Alpha. We have found something that is strange near the ridge. It is neither tracking nor is it shadows, the trees are all bleeding."

Adolf: (He spoke coldly)Come and show me what you found.

Marcus: (He glanced at Adolf) Whatever she is, I don't think that she is done with us.

Adolf :(grimly) Neither do i think so.

End of scene

Scene 2:

Deep Inside the forest

In an area which is farther from the ridge, under a moon that is withering, Valeria is kneeling in a moss-laced glade. There was a single ghost who was hovering near her shoulder, it was weeping profusely.

Valeria:(Talks softly to the Ghost) You were screaming before you died, your sorrow is still lingering. Can I share in the cause of your sorrow?

Ghost: (Still sobs heavily) He... he left me because of her. To crown it all, he drowned me in the river, he never even looked back..."

Valeria: (Her eyes darkened, voice thickening) Let me taste the ache you feel in your heart.

(Her fingers graze through the ghost's translucent arm. There was a pulse of blue sadness which passed through her, it's feeding her like nectar.)

Valeria; (She whispered in a trembling way) It is so bitter... so evil."

Ghost: (The words had calmed her down)Thank you... for the way you remembered me."

Valeria: (She stroked the air in a gentle manner) "Thank you also, I am happy about the way you make me feel... alive.

(As the ghost faded, Valeria closed her eyes but suddenly a stab of pain ripped through her skull.)

Valeria "Ah-!"

(She fell to her knees, all the while she was clutching her head. Images flooded her mind. They were unfamiliar and raw. A moonlit forest. A mark which was glowing on the chest of a man with golden eyes. A silver wolf bowed to him. There was the scent of ash and lavender. And then she had a scream that is not hers.)

Valeria: (She gasped) What... was that scream about and where was it coming from?

(She looks around in a disoriented manner, the glade is unchanged, but the atmosphere looks different, like a charged place. )

Valeria: (She stood in an unsteady posture) "That memory... was not mine."

There was a low rustling sound that stirred the underbrush behind her. She whirls around fast to see a new ghost that is floating toward her-but this one is different. It is pale, faceless, and ancient. Its form is distorted, as if it burned into the very air.

Valeria (Her eyes narrowed)* "What are you?"

Ghost: (The voice of this ghost is like a crumbling stone) "I remember the first wolf, and I remember her tears."

Valeria :"The Moon Goddess?"

Ghost: (It drifts closer) "She wept for him because he was her chosen. Then she cursed and she marked him."

Valeria: (All of these words are making her tense) Marked who?

Ghost: (Its voice was like a whisper inside her skull) The man who haunts you has been marked.

Valeria: (Her eyes were widened due to surprise) Do you mean the wolf... the Alpha?

Ghost: (The nod was slow) "He bears her very mark. That is why your blood knows his soul. That is the reason why the forest watches him."

Valeria :(She shook her head in a vigorous way) But that is impossible. I would have felt it-I would have known

Ghost :- The truth is that you do. That is the reason why your memories have been betrayed."

Valeria :(She is clutching her temple) but why me? Why is this happening now?

Ghost :*(It leans close to her, its voice has become hiss). It is because his destiny has begun to stir. The Moon Goddess has woken in his veins... and soon, so will you."

After saying all this, the ghost starts to dissolve, its presence is unraveling like threads that are caught in the wind. But just before it vanishes completely, it will murmur some last words that will make Valeria freeze in place.*

Ghost-: (He now bears the mark of the Moon Goddess.)

These last words once again made Valeria stumble back a step, her eyes were wide with unspoken horror and awe.*

Valeria: (Her voice is barely a whisper). But no... it can not be...

The ancient ghost finally fades into nothingness, and Valeria is standing alone in the clearing. She is shaken, so she was trembling, her fangs were bared, but it was not from hunger; it was from the chilling realization that the enemy whom she should fear... might also be her fated path.*

End of scene