Lyra's Bane

Anacostia raced up the mountains in her wolf form, her eyes thick as the night and yet so bright they cut through the darkness. She soon got to a clearing at the top where she shifted into her human form. A man was there waiting for her, he hid behind the shadows of the trees but his size was perceptible still. He had already left some clothes for her to put on, which she did.

"Why summon me high up here? I'm sure a phone call or a meeting in your parlour would have sufficed for this conversation."

"I assure you, it would not." His voice shook with the trees being carried by the wind.

"Well, colour me amused. So, what was so important I had to run up a mountain for."

"The pack!" His voice went up an octave. "The pack is dying under weak leadership."

"You dare utter such treasonous words! You are Beta, and should be unwaveringly loyal." She growled at him.

"Open your eyes child! The Alpha and his so-called successor, his cowardly son... must die. And so will any who stands with them."

The sun was seated high in the pale blue sky with graduation caps flying high trying to reach it but falling back down to the hands of their throwers, the graduating class of 2023. Excitement was the mask of the day, graduates celebrating and parents celebrating with them. But none was as excited as Lyra who felt like the luckiest girl in the world. It had been one landmark after the other for her; she turned 24 two weeks ago and her guardians threw a hell deafening party for her.

But there was a hole luck could not fill, that of a parent. Lyra was orphaned when she was 12, her parents and brother murdered in front of her as a result of the Laurent Struggle, a war that was fought between three powerful alphas for the territorial claim of Laurent City. A war which Lyra's parents fervently defended the Buckwill name and lost their lives for it. Since then she's lived with the Buckwils, the alpha's family who's only child, Glen, she's long developed an affection for. She looked around and saw parents taking pictures with their graduating children, families holding hands. She might not have parents but the boy she loves was coming home, he schooled in another city but was now done. She got into her car, a yellow Chevy and drove off.

On getting to the mansion she called home, the Buckwill residence, she saw a Tesla parked in front of the house... she was so excited, it was Glen's car. She quickly parked, barely, and jumped out the car, running into the house looking around for him.

"Glenny! Glenny!" She sang his name as she walked through the corridors.

She opened his room door but it was empty, same as it had been for the past 6 months. She ran to the Alpha's room, knocking on it several times but there was no answer so she just opened the door. It was also empty, she was disappointed and yet confused.

"Where is everyone?" She soliloquized.

"Right here!" A sharp low but audible voice rang from behind her, giving her a scare that caused her to swing her elbow backwards, striking the speaker's throat with it.

Glen began choking hard, he held his neck trying to breathe, scared that something might have been broken.

"Jeez Glenny, what have I told you about sneaking up on me? What the heck?" She scolded him as he fell on his knees still choking.

She knelt by him worried she'd crushed his windpipe, but after a few seconds he got better. Although his throat was still hurting.

"What in the moon's shadow has gotten into you?" He let out when he could finally speak.

"You startled me."

"I can see that. Where is everyone?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing." She asked in confusion."

"By the moon goddess, you're more beautiful than the last time I saw you." He flattered her.

Lyra blushed, she couldn't even look straight into Glen's eyes. A lot of things were storming through her mind to say, something to throw of the mojo that was sparking between them, she even thought of talking about the Cross, a ritual they had to do that night but she couldn't bring herself to do it, she had loved him for as long as she could remember, it was no hidden fact, but she had done nothing about it... Now, she decided not to do nothing, to keep her luck rolling, franchising. She leaned forward and kissed him. After a few seconds he slowly pulled away, not in a resistive manner, just in a doubtful manner.

"Lyra." He called her softly and she placed her index finger on his lip, silencing him and then kissed him again, this time more passionately and he mirrored that passion. He got up and lifted her as he did, still kissing her, he carried her into his parents room and closed the door behind him.

Anacostia 'Nightbane' Peckerwood, a frightening terror in the lycan world walked into the Buckwill mansion as though it was hers, confident, unwavering, as though she knew there was no one around... None except the two owners of the cars she saw in front of the house. She was of the Peckerwood family, the strongest in Buckwill's pack, presumably even stronger than the Buckwill family. Yet they were inarguably deemed the most loyal family in the pack.

She went directly to the Alpha's room and opened the door. Lyra and Glen were asleep, covered in bedspreads and in each other's arms. She walked slowly towards the bed, not making a sound but Lyra's eyes opened, spotting a blurry figure close by she jumped off the bed in fear that that was the Alpha or even Luna, grabbing her clothes that were on the floor to shield her bare body. Glen also woke up, still covered with the bedspread just laid there in shock. They were first relieved to see the person standing there wasn't any of Glen's parents, but then a new kind of fear crept in when they saw the beautiful killer of a 32 year old standing there.

"Anacostia! What are you doing in the room of your Alpha?" Glen tried to summon some courage.

"I could ask you the same question, both of you."

"I–"

"Get dressed before someone else comes around," she interrupted him. "I could smell you both from the gate, stinking of estrogen and testosterone. I'll be waiting in the sitting room, The Cross is about to begin and I will be your guide."

She walked away and the duo hurriedly put their clothes on, too ashamed to even look at each other or revel in the ecstasy of what just happened between them. Lyra quickly walked out of the room with her head down, Glen tried to say something but the words couldn't escape his mouth. He felt bad for letting her go like that. But he too had to go, so he also got dressed and exited the room. Anacostia was waiting in the sitting room helping herself to an apple when Glen walked in but Lyra wasn't there.

"Give her a minute." Anacostia said when he wanted to go look for her. He sat beside her, his heart beating in loud scattered rhythms. "What did you do?" She asked.

"What?" He asked in confusion.

" I can barely put a thought together with your heart beating as loud as the Krakatoa eruption. So, what did you do that's making you so uneasy?"

"Nothing!"

"Okay." She spoke with so much indifference and rested her back proper on the couch.

"Okay!" He couldn't hold it in. "She told me she loves me and I didn't know what to say."

"Whew! You sure know how to put vinegar in a good milkshake."

Lyra walked into the room and they all went silent. She had tied her hair in a ponytail and changed to a short sleeve tee shirt and jean shorts. She walked to the door without looking at either of them, indicating that they should be on their way.

"Well, there's been a recent addition to The Cross ritual." Anacostia said with a hellish smile and crossed her legs. "I'm not here to take you to The Cross. It begins now, I am your predator and you two are the prey. You will try to survive me hunting you while making the cross. And as such, I give you a two minute head start. Let's see if you can survive Nightbane. And note, you could die in this ritual."

Lyra and Glen ran through the park and headed down a straight road, they had to cross the forest threshold before they transformed. It had been over 6 minutes and still no sight of Anacostia. They ran until they could see a bridge that led to the forest.

"Lyra! Can we talk." Glen tried talking to her as they ran.

"Not now Glen." She sped up, trying to distance herself from him.

He tried to catch up but she was faster than him. They got on the short bridge and as they got to the end of it, they both transformed into werewolves. Lyra was a light gray wolf, fast and light, while Glen was brown and bigger. They continued running and just as they were about to get past the treeline, a hair-curling black wolf dived at them from the right with its jaws widely open displaying its bloodthirsty fangs, and paws and extended claws reaching for the kill... Lyra pushed forward and the wolf passed behind her while Glen ducked and she went over him. Anacostia was horrifying as a werewolf, it was almost impossible to imagine her as the beautiful human she is.

The Beta stood at the edge of a cliff with two henchmen behind him. They could see a lot of the forest from there, and with their incredible wolf eyesight, they could see past the leaves and branches that covered the forest like an umbrella.

"Boss, don't you think we could just kill the kid and get it over with. Ritual and Anacostia be damned." One of the henchmen spoke impatiently.

"Do you know how Anacostia got her wolf name, Nightbane?"

"Cause her wolf form is as black as the night?"

"No, because she is a plague of the night, a killing machine who hunts in the dark, that doesn't stop nor tire. You wouldn't see her coming right to the moment when she slashes your windpipe. And besides, you have no idea how persuasive I had to be to make Alfred agree to this."

"If Nightbane is all you say she is, why would he agree to letting his son be hunted by her for The Cross?" The other henchman asked.

"Because he is proud, and his pride gives him the image that his son is strong or lucky enough to survive this and become the young wolf who survived Nightbane. Well, we'll see."

Lyra and Glen were now aware of how serious and dangerous this particular Cross was. Glen knew he couldn't outrun Nightbane, she was aggressively fast, so he needed to make maneuvers. Lyra was as fast as her, perhaps even faster, so she needed to give her speed all she's got. Nightbane focused on Glen, she pursued him making several attacks and taking several strikes that he kept dodging by making unexpected shifts, jumps and lane changes. But no matter what, he couldn't shake her off. He was getting scared, he didn't expect Nightbane would actually hurt them, but now, this was going too far. He approached the first cliff, Lyra had already crossed it, he was already going the fasted he could so there was no acceleration to be made, he took the leap and Nightbane also took it, almost immediately with a more powerful jump, she went over him and landed before him, turning to gnaw him as he landed but Lyra bit her out of nowhere and Glen landed safely. They both continued running.

Nightbane was furious, she growled in anger and continued her deadly chase, with much more push in her limbs, a push that was dulled by the pain in the pivotal spot she was bitten by Lyra. She was impressed she almost stopped chasing them out of respect, but they had three more jumps to make. She continued without acquiescing. The duo made the next jump without any interruptions from her, and the one after that. She followed a shortcut like she did when she attacked them at forest entrance and in their moment of relaxed running, she came from the side again with so much alacrity it was almost divine. Lyra was the one in front so she had to pause so as not to get grabbed, yet Nightbane stretched her forelegs and grabbed her by the neck pulling her to the ground. Lyra slammed Nightbane's face with her paw, breaking free of her hold and quickly continued running.

Lyra didn't want to come in contact with Nightbane again, that one contact was the most terrifying seconds of her life, so she put everything she had into her legs and pushed herself beyond all limits to stay ahead of a bloodthirsty Nightbane. She was nearing the final cliff to cross when she heard a loud whimper from behind her. She looked back while running and saw both Nightbane and Glen rolling on the ground, Glen's right hind leg caught in her fangs. He bit her through her thick mane, trying to pull her off his limb but she wouldn't let go... Meanwhile Lyra had made a U-turn, coming at full force toward her. She dove and grabbed her with her fangs, her speed and strength pulled Nightbane away from Glen. Glen got up, and was about to attack when he looked around and noticed that they were alone out here, he hadn't seen any other group doing the Cross.

"What the hell is going on?" He thought to himself.

He rushed into the fight Lyra was losing but holding her own and bit Nightbane's back who in turn let go of Lyra and bit his leg pulling him towards the edge of the cliff. Lyra noticed that all this time, Nightbane had been going after Glen. She thought it was because he was slow and easier to target but now, she's thinking there's more to it. She rushed towards Nightbane and bit the bridge between her nose and eyes, forcing her to let go of Glen, she pulled her and strongly threw her off the cliff. She and Glen ran some feet back and ran towards the cliff again... But Glen was limping, a result of Nightbane's mean bite, not garnering enough speed to make the cross. Lyra looked at him with encouragement and made him push himself. Lyra successfully made a clean cross but Glen almost didn't, he had to grab the edge with his claws, and pull his way up there.

Beta saw their tussle and thin lined escape and he was furious. In all his plotting and calculations, he did not account for Lyra being there, for her being so agile and effective. And like Anacostia, he was a tad bit impressed. Beta was a calculative man, he tries not to dwell on the mistakes he makes and find a solution, and he almost always has an auxiliary plan. He let out a low "Plan B" and then he and the men he was with made their way down the mountain in their human forms but with the speed of their wolf sides.

Glen and Lyra both shifted back to their human skins. There were just two clothes there, and they wore them and continued to the party. Lyra helped Glen walk as they made their way down the path that led to the cottage in the woods. After a ten minute silent walk, they came to the cottage in an open field, and there was no party, or at least they couldn't see one, just a huge campfire and at least eighty people who all arose when they saw them.

"This isn't The Cross." Lyra whispered to Glen.

"Clearly. The Cross is mostly for us young folks. But I see a lot of old folks, plus all the families are present and Alpha's from other friendly packs are also here.

The crowd cleared a path as they arrived, they couldn't still get over the confusion and still wondered what was going on. One of the elders came forward with a lamb around his neck.

"Let him stand!" The elder said to Lyra.

She left him and stood aside. The elder knelt in front of him and placed the bleating lamb at his feet. Beta's eyes opened widely when he saw what was happening, he smiled graciously, Alpha Alfred had used his (Beta) scheme to bolster his son's image to the pack and as thus, he was ascending. But why would the Alpha give up his position, and why now?

"Tonight, you will let go of your innocence and claim your take as a man, tonight you let go of your childhood tether and you become a man, and like your father before you, tonight, you become the Alpha."

"What?" Both Glen and Lyra couldn't hide their shock.

"Your arrival here proves that you are a formidable adversary, a smart, willful and strong werewolf, attributes that being alpha would require."

"More like slow, dull and big buffoon." Beta thought to himself. He then turned to Lyra, he could see something in her eyes, a feeling, he could smell it, but couldn't quite place his finger on it.

Alfred 'Terror' Buckwill, alpha of the pack and his wife, Luna, Everdew Buckwill walked through the aisle between the people present and stood behind the Elder.

"Dad, what's going on?

"Kill it." He said to his son.

"Why?"

"It is necessary for your ascension. It is your time."

"But I don't know how to be Alpha."

"Time will teach you. Now spill its blood and do not utter another word of protest."

Glen held the animal down with his left hand and his wolf claws emerged. He slowly sank the claws into the lambs throat and pulled downward, slicing it open to the belly.

"Now, eat it's heart." The Elder instructed.

"What?" Glen couldn't believe what he just heard.

"Do it." His father echoed.

Glen had not seen his father being that serious with him ever, so he couldn't even summon up a will to resist for another second. He hesitantly pulled out its heart and was about to put it in his mouth.

"Enough!" His father echoed again. "You don't actually have to eat it." He joked with a more eased up tone and everyone laughed, even Beta, so naturally that one wouldn't guess an ounce of contempt existed in his bones.

The Elder moved backward and Alfred came forward. He dipped his palm into the dead lamb's blood and evoked his wolf claws. He asked his son to bring his right arm forward and he shook him, grabbing his elbow and burying his claws underneath his skin.

"Blir ett med stemninge." He whispered into Glen's ears and almost immediately, he felt a rush of power going through him like he was possessed. He looked up and his eyes shone bright gold.

"Ahhhh!!" He screamed, not able to control all the power and pain.

After almost a minute, his father let go of him and he fell to the ground. He got up a few seconds later and when he opened his eyes, they glowed intensely red.

"Rise, Glenfiddich Buckwill, Alpha of the Highblood pack." Said Alfred as he shifted into a werewolf and every werewolf there shifted also and howled loudly into the night sky that their howls could be heard from miles away. They all raced towards off, running into the night to hunt and commemorate the ascension of a new alpha.

Lyra was too shocked to either shift or even partake in the hunt. She stood there till Luna came to her, she was human so couldn't partake either.

"Lost in thought I see. What, not in the mood for a hunt?"

"I'm tired. Can we please go home?" She asked with a low tone.

"Sure my dear, let's go right now. The car is parked down by the trees." She said and led the way.

Glen was limping at first but slowly, his leg finished healing and he ran through the forest with the pack following behind him, but then a white werewolf ran ahead, and it was as though a thread connected from him to her and he followed.

Lyra opened her eyes to a very noisy morning. Her wolf ears were receiving everything at once, music, cooking, clanging of plates, chattering, footsteps... It was a lot to take in on one bite. She angrily got up and walked down stairs, she could not believe her eyes. The crowd there was simply overwhelming, but not as overwhelming and what she saw next, an image that burned a scare in her memory forever, Glen kissing some girl she doesn't know in the kitchen. She didn't know what to do, whether to confront him or scream or laugh, she was perplexed. In that cacophony of emotions, she ran outside and screamed beside the speakers, letting her emotions out without being heard, because the speakers were so loud they made talking difficult.

She ran out of the compound entirely, giving it quite some distance and took out her anger on a tree, scratching and punching it several times it must have thought it would fall.

"I'm guessing you've heard the news?" A calm yet startling voice came from behind her, she quickly turned and saw Anacostia sitting on a fallen tree trunk.

"Heard what?"

"Why are you so angry?"

"G-Glen, I saw him kissing some girl I don't know in the middle of the sitting room. In front of everyone as though -. Oh no!"

"You put it together yourself, eh. Yep, she's his mate."

"What!" She expressed shock and anger all in one and punched the tree a few more times while shouting before she finally fell on her knees.

"They found each other early this morning, they recognized their bond almost instantaneously, just after the hunt."

"Yeah, while I was sleeping like a stupid log of lump." Lyra spoke calmly.

"You know the reality you are faced with, Lyra, you know you cannot stay here anymore." She referred to the Buckwill mansion but Lyra took it to mean anywhere 'near Glen' and as such, the entire city and the pack.

"No, I cannot." She answered with a stern look on her face which then melted into a tearful face. Tears rolled out her eyes uncontrollably. "My chest hurts, my heart hurts. Why is that? I-I can't breathe, Anacostia, I can't breathe."

"It's called heartbreak, love. I'm guessing it's your first time. Fight through it, sail through the pain. Breathe, relax and breathe!" She spoke calmly yet her words carried so much intensity.

Lyra followed her instructions, taking one deep breath after the other until she was finally able to calm down. She asked Anacostia for something to distract her.

"You know, I was right under you two when you crossed the final cliff gap. Literally clinging to the side of the mountain, I could have sprang up and taken you both down."

"So why didn't you?"

"Because of you, I was impressed by your strength, speed, sharp thinking and will that I couldn't find it in me to break your spirit by making you lose. Well, I suppose something was still broken in the end." She referred to Lyra's heart.

Lyra looked at her with so much love and admiration, and decided that's who she wants to be. She was sure Anacostia had her own problems, but you could never see it in her countenance and or action, you could never hear it in her words or tone. She was strong, both physically and mentally. She took in one deep breath and said.

"I'm leaving now."

"Okay, love. Know where?"

"England." She answered firmly.

"Okay. England it is. Go get your things, I'll drive you to the airport."

"Okay."

She went back to the house, walking past everyone without actually seeing them. Her mind was juggling so many thoughts but the one thing that held them all down was one simple question.

"What would Anacostia do?"

She faked a smile when necessary, nothing much, just enough to avoid being asked if she was okay, or if there was a problem. She got upstairs to her room, kept her box wide open on the bed and began throwing in several clothes and shoes. She couldn't carry everything, and she sure wasn't coming back, so she packed essentials, things she couldn't do without, everything else could be replaced. She put her passport and wallet filled with all her cards and some cash into a bag. Left a letter for her guardians to find and threw her box out the window then threw herself out the window also. She snuck out the compound by going over the fence, Anacostia was already waiting for her in her mustang. She popped the boot and fixed her box in then got in the front passenger seat and they drove off. Lyra looked at the rear view mirror and saw a man standing behind in the middle of the road, Beta.

"Isn't that your father?" She asked Anacostia who also looked in the rear view mirror but didn't answer.