ALLEN
“Sniff around the pack square. The scent of the culprit must be there,” I ordered my guards, who came to the hospital at my call. They moved out immediately while I remained at the hospital with Dave.
I had to send my mother home. She looked more worried than the rest of us, and I didn’t like it. Didn’t want the Queen stressing herself over the matter on ground. It’s my duty as the Alpha to attend to such situation and solve it.
“Alpha, you should have allowed me to go with them. What if they fail to sniff out the enemy’s scent? You know I’m good at this,” Dave complained, following me from behind while returning back to Dean’s room.
“The guards won’t fail. I’m sure you taught them well,” I said, trying to calm my Gamma’s rage. But he wasn’t ready to let go.
“Alpha, I know I trained those men, but… This is Dean we’re talking about here. Look at his state. This isn’t a small attack, but a murder attempt! It’s clear that our enemy is strong. Who knows whether he’s hiding near the square.”
“Dave!” I called, raising my voice a little, just to silence my Gamma.
I looked to the side and found him frowning, holding back his rage.
“Whether you’re there or not, the culprit will still be found. What if I had sent you with the guards to find this Rascal, and he shows up at the hospital?” I asked, lifting my brow at Dave.
His mood came subsiding, as he gave out a hum and said, “You’re right, Alpha. Forgive my manners.”
“It’s fine. There’s no need for that. Your anger is justified.” I patted his shoulder, as we drew nearer to Dean’s room.
Getting there, we met the doctor with a nurse, who humbly gave me the go ahead to see my Beta.
“Twenty minutes, Alpha. The patient will need a lot of rest to recover,” he said, moving aside.
I didn’t answer him. I just stepped into the room with Dave, and went over to my Beta’s bed.
Now that we were closer to him, we could see the impact of this attack properly.
“Goddess! Why Dean?” I uttered, placing my hand on his shoulder.
I could hear Dave breathing heavily from behind, while trying to control his vexation.
He drew closer to me and said to an unconscious Dean, “I swear to the Goddess that I will find that bastard and make him face hell! He will regret the day he attacked you!” He promised, tightening his fist.
I wished I could express my rage like Dave, bu if I do that here, I might cause a scene. It’s best to do it the right way by searching for Dean’s attacker.
Calming my mood, I faced my Gamma and said, “You’ll stay with Dean till the guards…”
“Al… Alpha?” I heard a familiar groan right next to me.
The look on Dave’s face confirmed it. My Gamma was in shock.
Following his gaze down to the bed where my Beta laid, I was left astonished in an instant. “Dean?” I called, seeing my Beta’s eyes opened midway, staring at me.
“Alpha,” he called softly, trying to move his arm.
“Dean, don’t stress it,” I said, stopping him from making any attempt.
He made a groan again, resting his arm down. When he did that, I noticed his body adding up a little. Seems the treatment is beginning to take its effect on him.
“Thank the heavens you’re awake.” Dave drew nearer, taking hold of Dean’s hand.
Dean couldn’t speak properly nor open his eyes clearly. He just kept his dimmed eyes on me, repeating the same word, “Alpha… Alpha.”
“I can hear you, Dean. How… How do you feel?” I asked.
He went silent, gazing at me.
“It’s fine. Just get some rest,” I suggested, making plans to let him be.
That’s when Dave said, “No Alpha, Dean is finally awake! He needs to tell us what happened to him last night.”
“Dave, not now. Can’t you see he’s weak?”
“But Alpha we…”
“Dave!” I roared, shunning my Gamma.
He went shut, lowering his head at my authority. But at that same moment… “Dark.” We heard Dean force out from his mouth.
“What?” I turned to face my Beta, who again repeated with stress, “Dark… Darkness! He… He was… dark!!”
“Darkness?” I lifted my brow in confusion, until it hit me.
“Shit, he said he was dark! Alpha, it’s the same Rascal we’re after. The Rogue!” Dave alerted, reminding me of the enemy we’ve been searching for all these while.
My eyes came popping in shock. I ran my gaze across my Beta’s body, trying to get myself.
“The Rogue did this to you?” I questioned Dean, expecting an answer. But he didn’t nod or give a response. All he could do was stare at me.
“Alpha, only one person roams at night with darkness, and it’s that animal! He’s in the pack, hiding!” Dave pointed out, expressing his rage.
I couldn’t utter a word but think about Dave’s statement outside the room.
I thought the rogue was just a mere rascal making use of black smoke to cover his trail?
Not that I’ve seen him closely before. The only thing I recall from my last chase with my Gamma and Beta, was his white hair and that smoke that always appeared from nowhere.
He was so fast.
Whenever that darkness came clouding the path he took, he would vanish like the wind, making it hard for us to track him down.
No scent.
Just nothing!
“If the Rogue did this to Dean, then… what does he really look like if he chooses not to run?” I wondered, feeling my whole body vibrating suddenly.
“Dean must have seen him and tried to alert us, but that beast decided to attack,” Dave groaned, stamping his feet. “I wish you had called me before leaving the mansion. We would have taken that monster down,” he added, placing his hand on Dean.
I watched on, feeling troubled after hearing my Gamma’s words.
Does that mean the Rogue isn’t an ordinary… “No, he can’t be that terrifying. He’s just a man that uses tricks to escape us. I bet it’s that accomplice of his that helped him in taking down Dean. Yes, it makes a lot of sense now. Two can take one down. Dean was attacked by the Rogue and his partner,” I believed, feeling relieved.
Now knowing who the enemy was, it was time to get really serious with this case.
“Don’t worry, Dean. We’ll handle everything and find that bastard,” I promised my Beta, taking hold of his hand to show him my support.
But the way he looked back at me felt like he… doubted my words.
“No, it… it’s just the way his face is. He’s hurt and can’t react properly,” I concluded, taking out negative thoughts.
Soon I left the hospital, leaving Dave alone to watch over Dean.
.
The evening was finally here. I got my men ready for tonight’s search, with a clever plan in mind.
Dave was back from the hospital. He didn’t want to miss this hunt, so he left eight guards at the hospital to watch over Dean, so he could join me in fishing out that Rogue.
Before the commencement of the hunt, I invited Dave, including my mother and the sorceress, to discuss how the search would go.
“We move in the curve formation, until we get the rogue trapped right where the barrier is,” I said, pointing at the center of the forest on my Map.
“That way Sorceress Thelma would have made a better and stronger barrier to stop the rogue from escaping,” I said, ready to proceed when the old sorceress cleared her throat, gaining my attention.
“Alpha, my barrier is already strong. It can tell when a creature is stepping in or out of Wolf Fall. You don’t have to worry about it.”
“If it’s as strong as you said, then why didn’t it detect that Rogue and it’s accomplice when it stepped into our pack?” I questioned, lifting my brow at Sorceress Thelma.
Due to my words, her face went red in an instant.
“Alpha, are you doubting my powers?” she asked, narrowing her brows at me.
“I only asked you a question, Sorceress. You said your barrier is strong enough to tell you anything, but it failed to tell you that an intruder was in our pack!”
“Allen, mind what you say to the Sorceress! She has been our family’s sorceress for years. Never question her power!” My mother warned, getting upset.
“But what have I said wrong? I only told her what to do. The barrier she considered strong isn’t doing it’s work. We want something that can trap the enemy in the pack, not detect it’s movement,” I pointed out to my mother.
From her face expression, I could tell she wasn’t pleased with my behavior.
I can’t stay shut and ignore the truth. If her barrier was strong as she said, then she would have detected that Rogue a long time. But No! It’s the guards that did the work, blowing the horn and planting fear in my people’s heart.
“Just make switch the barrier to a trap so that we…”
“Wait!” Sorceress Thelma interrupted, shutting her eyes.
We all went silent on seeing how quiet she went, with her hand pointing directly to the window.
“What is it?” Mother asked, standing closer to the sorceress.
“I can feel something passing through the barrier. Something… Big,” she said, opening her eyes.
Hearing this, I asked, “Is it the Rogue? Is he trying to escape the pack?”
“No, it’s not the Rogue. It’s a…”
“Forget it,” I interrupted her, dismissing the meeting.
“Allen! Listen to the sorceress!” Mom ordered, but I didn’t listen to her.
Dave wanted to convince me to listen to the sorceress. “What if it’s important?”
“Oh Please! I bet it’s something stupid. It’s obvious that the sorceress is getting weak and can’t use her powers like before. It’s best we do the work ourselves than wait for her.”
“But Alpha…”
“No more, Dave. We move. You will take some guards to the west part of the pack and begin the formation. I’ll be at the barrier with the others, waiting. That way we’ll get that Rogue cornered. No more waiting,” I instructed.
Dave obeyed, moving ahead to begin the operation.
As I made my way down the stairs, I spotted the damsels standing aside, staring at me worriedly.
In front stood my sweet Fiona in a red dress, gazing at me with concern. She placed her hand close to her chest and said, “Good luck, Alpha Allen. I know you can do it.”
Such a sweet soul. Her encouragement bloomed my heart.
“Thank you,” I said, appreciating her kindness.
That’s when the others chorused out what Fiona had just said. They also wanted to be heard. I didn’t mind all the beauties trying to get me to notice them. But one person’s behavior attracted my attention more.
It was her. The damsel called Evolet.
She stood away from the damsels with another maiden and her pet wolf by her side, leaning against the wall while staring at me.
I would have turned away and act like I didn’t see her, but the attitude emanating from her was strange.
“Why is she looking at me like that? Is it because I pushed her out of the room that day?”
The eye lock was broken when Evolet took her eyes off me and walked away with this other damsel and her with her pet.
What a disrespectful behavior! Has she forgotten whose mansion she’s living in?
“Very soon you’ll be gone,” I groaned, storming out of the mansion.
.
The hunt began.
I was standing close to the barrier with my guards, patiently waiting for Dave and the others to chase that Rogue directly to our point.
As we were waiting, I was beginning to pick the smell of something off in that area.
Looking at my guards, I could tell they weren’t picking this scent. Only I could tell that something or someone… was here with us!
“Take position,” I said, pulling out my sword.
My guards became confused, but did as I instructed, pulling out their swords.
Hovering my gaze around and trying to trace this strange scent… “AHH!” I heard one of my guards scream from the left side, causing me to turn around and look.
But I couldn’t tell who had just screamed.
Suddenly, another yelled from behind, making me turn around with speed to see something grabbing two of my guards with speed, and straight into a tree.
“What’s that?!” My guards panicked, drawing closer to the tree with their weapon, ready to attack.
Having a good sniff of this being that was moving with speed, my eyes came wide!
“FALL BACK!” I roared, running towards my men.
That’s when this creature came jumping out of the tree, almost pouncing on my guards!
Quickly, I launched my sword at the chest of this creature in the dark, putting a stop to its attack. But not completely.
My silver sword… It bent into a curve, confirming my suspicion.
My guards were shocked when they saw this creature rising to its two feet, shimmering its yellow eyes at us.
It growled, stepping into the moonlight to reveal its identity.
A Werecat.