Chapter 27
LOU RIVERS
Two years ago—
It was a moonless night. The sky was dark, the air was chilly and the dark clouds above were threatening to pour down a heavy rain.
I walked behind Maggie as her and Marc argued.
We were in another state. Both of them were tagging along with their pack's high ranking officials for the conference meeting that was being held. While me, I was tagging along with my dad.
Well, in meetings like this that I've come to know them and eventually, we became friends.
Keeping up my pace, I just silently walked behind them as they continued arguing.
Then I shivered in the cold breeze and even with the darkness of the night, I could see the rigid cords popping on Marc's neck as he tried to convince Maggie not to go.
Well, Maggie proposed that we sneak out and Marc was strongly against it.
Maggie, as young as she was— and stubborn, she did not hearken unto Marc. She even sassily uttered her favorite line: "Have some fun while the adults are gone."
And that frustrated Marc but still— he tagged along and so was I.
The place where we at was a secluded mountain. Seeing potential preys, I mean, food to our wolf shouldn't be a surprise.
As we were young, dumb and naive, Maggie ran with excitement as soon as she spotted the hare rustling in some bushes.
Marc yelled at her to stop but she was so hyped for the hunt; she even shifted.
To our worries, we ran after her.
While she was following her prey with utmost focus, Marc and I tried our best to not lose sight of her. And in so doing, the three of us had not realized how far we've been running until I sensed an ominous air in the surroundings.
Looking at my friends, they seemed not to sense it. And we don't have any bond, so I can't mind link them of the possible danger.
With force, I yelled to warn them but unfortunately, my voice was not heard. They just ran towards the danger I was sensing.
Then there it was, after many laps, Maggie abruptly stopped not minding her prey any longer and so was Marc.
At last, they finally sensed it.
With haste, Marc shifted and jumped infront of Maggie, growling defensively at the emerging shadows upfront. He also took cautious steps back, pushing Maggie's wolf behind until they reached my spot.
It was very brave of him but I could sense his fear. He was tensing but still pushed us behind him, closer to him, shielding us from whatsoever the threat and I commend that display of bravery from him.
As the shadows were getting nearer, my wolf growled in caution. Then and there, I have come to know just how much danger we were in.
[**************]
A man and a woman emerged out from the mist. They were both grinning devilishly at us.
In their hands were two leaf-shaped daggers of silver being played with mastery.
I glanced at Maggi and Marc. As young and inexperienced as they were, surely, the gesture was enough to intimidate them and inflict a feeling of fear.
Looking closely to the enemy werewolves, the woman was more dominant than the man she was with. And more than the emanating power she possesses, she also reeked of blood and of cruelty.
Then my eyes squinted trying to examine something on their neck. Visible was the mark—
... the mark of the Lycaon Cult.
'goddess'
That explains the cautious growl of Addi inside my head.
Heightening up my senses, I could see the trembling of the flesh of Maggi's wolf beneath its fur. She was scared— but even so, she managed to bare her canines at the unfriendly fellows. And that— I commend too.
Well, the Lycaon Cult.
It is the most notorious pack of werewolves in the world. Its beginning was mainly to hunt and to kill the Canis Lycaon as their Alpha was rumored to have been wounded deeply in the previous war by the third Canis Lycaon in history.
As a vengeful man, he organized a specialized army of his own and vowed to get his revenge in which— he did.
After killing the third Canis Lycaon with his tact and schemes, that specialized pack of his was brought into light and gained plausible fame. Then the attention went to his head. With his pack, he boasted to kill the next generation of Canis Lycaons in which again— he did; he killed the fourth in history.
But as time went by and the birth of the fifth Canis Lycaon seemed nowhere near, the cult drifted away from its purpose and became hired assassins and murderers. To make thing's worst, most of their crimes involved the deaths of many nobles.
The entire werewolves world was shaken by then. The emperor has sent an invitation to the alpha but was bluntly rejected. The alpha sent back to the palace the butchered body of the messenger instead.
The action triggered a war. And in the last attempt of the emperor for a talk, the Lycaon Cult has made themselves clear: their pack will never submit nor to be under any governance —
... not to anyone,
... not to the throne,
... NOT to the reigning monarch.