"If I do that then, I am undeserving of the title of an Alpha and the likes of you won't be able to sway me." She disappeared from where she was sitting and appeared in front of the ghost like visitor. She held the visitor's throat and squeezed it a little bit, just enough to let the being breath. "Don't be arrogant just because you can use some magic because at the end we will prevail."
She slowly started to squeeze harder but the witch suddenly became a smoke to escape her grasp. The witch wheezed while catching her breath after being strangled for a couple of minutes. "Mere words, let's see if you can continue to maintain this charade!" After that the uninvited disappeared through the window and into the darkness of the night.
"Alpha!" Zael and Zayier burst out through the door then looked around the room frantically but they saw nothing unusual. They were at Zael's office when they suddenly felt an ominous presence inside the Alpha's study.
"Stop looking around, the witch is already gone after I strangled her," Amber calmly walked towards her chair and sat down again.
Zayier narrowed his eyes and before any of them could even speak, he immediately left to patrol the area around the pack house to make sure that the enemy was not lingering around.
"Are you sure that you are alright?" Zael asked while checking the Alpha. They needed to make sure that she was fine and that the witch did not cast a weird spell on her. "The witch did not cast any weird spells on you?" He stepped forward and asked.
"Nothing of that sort. Everything is fine." She shook her head and continued to read while answering the man's question. Eirian did not feel anything so they were safe from any forbidden spells that can be used by witches.
"If that's the case, then we are sorry for intruding. We will leave you for now and if you need anything just contact us through the mind link." Both brothers had no choice but the accept their Alpha's words even though their worries might become a nightmare in the future. Amber nodded and let them leave.
Zael left and returned to his office followed by his brother after an hour. He was supposed to returnto the border but after the incident Zayier refuse to leave for the mean time. He tasked the warriors to continue patrolling and report to him whatever was happening at the border even though Zael already urged him to go back.
"They were really using a witch," Zael exclaimed once the door was closed. "Whoever is behind all of this they sure are powerful to be able to use a witch."
"That's why we can't let our guard down." Zayier nodded, it was unsafe if they ever face one in the battlefield. "Casting spells are a given but their cunning nature is what makes them dangerous and given our limited knowledge on them, we are at a disadvantage."
Zael listened to his brother when he suddenly remembered something. "Isn't it one of our elders have knowledge about witches?" He suddenly stood up and started to rummage through the documents on the cabinet.
His brother watched all of this transpire and he could not help but frown at his brother's actions. "Don't you know all of our elders?" he asked in confusion.
"Well, he is not officially an elder like the ones who acts as advisors to the Alpha, he is actually a recluse and rarely leaves his house that's why I almost forgot about him." He continued to flip through the documents he found and once he saw what he was looking for, he showed it to Zayier. "That's him, why don't we go and visit him?"
Zayier took his time to read the man's profile and from a faint memory he actually remembered the elder. He was not very welcoming and was always grumpy because he would always get angry at them for trespassing in his backyard and causing ruckus everywhere. "Alright," he stood up and placed the file on top of the table. Zael hurriedly followed him and the both of them walked towards the elder's house.
It took them about thirty minutes to reach the man's house because it was at a location that was a little bit far away from the center of Ceurian. They stood in front of a humble wooden house surrounded by fences and on the front yard was a flower and vegetable garden. It looked like a place from the past before any electronics nor electricity was invented.
"What are you looking at?" a man's gruff voice came from behind while they were busy admiring the view before them. Both of them were startled since they did not even feel the elder's presence.
Zael was flustered for a moment as he scratched his head before speaking, "Uhm, we were just admiring your house."
The elder's eyes narrowed at the man's answer and how silly he was looking right now then his gaze went to Zayier. The man stood straight when he saw the elder scrutinizing them from head to toe and they both of them did not expect the elder's next words. "I know the both of you, you were those pair of siblings who kept on coming here and giving me trouble. You're all grown up now but you," he pointed at Zael, "you still looked like a mischievous and silly young man while you on the other hand," his gaze once again landed on Zayier, "you still look as responsible and stiff as always."
The brothers helplessly looked at each other while the elder was shaking his head as he walked past them to enter his yard. After the initial shock, Zael was finally able to pull himself together and called out to the elder, "Wait, sir we have something to ask, can we speak to you for a moment?" Zael hurriedly caught up to the elder while speaking.
"What is it then?" the elder stopped and turned around to face the both of them. He put his hands behind his back and look at the both of them in silence.
Zael was stumped at the sudden change of the air around the elder before he stood his ground, "We want to ask you about any information you know about witches."
The Elder remained silent but he was already expecting this question from them. Ever since the rogue attacks started, he also started to pay attention about the happening around the pack and he learned that witches were apparently involved with all the commotion. "Didn't you learn about them in school?" There was no reaction from him nor any change on his expression which further made the beta and gamma uncomfortable.
"Yes, of course we learned the basics about them but we want to know more about them in the deeper aspect since we sincerely lack any relevant knowledge about them so we felt the need to learn now." He started to reason out but the elder seemed to be unmoved.
"Isn't it too late? Didn't you know the reason why I was living in this place instead of joining the others?" Instead of agreeing, he was then asking them a seemingly irrelevant question.
Zael was confused for a moment before he shook his head even Zayier was not understanding what was happening. "What do you by that elder?" It was Zayier who suddenly asked the question.
"I'm an outcast here in Ceurian and nobody wants to hear the opinion of an insignificant person like me so if you want to learn about witches then why don't you go and ask those elders of yours," the atmosphere around them became weird and the elder's voice became colder. "If you insist on asking me, then you won't be able to get the approval of those elders and they might even call you fools for believing my words. So, don't come back here anymore and leave me be. Whether Ceurian survives or not, it is none of my business."
The elder turned around after his words and Zael was about to run after him again but Zayier reached out and gripped his arm. Zael looked back to glare at his brother but Zayier only shook his head. The former finally calmed down and they gave the house one last look before they left.
"It seems that we can't easily get his help," Zayier spoke while they were walking away from the house, "the elders are really too cruel."
"The hatred in his voice was suffocating and this happened while we are at battle! What did those elders do again?" Zael was frustrated at how the situation was becoming worse not only were they facing outside forces, they were also facing walls inside the pack.
"If we really want to know what happened we can ask the elders about it. We can go to elder Zita or elder Leonides if we want information that way, we can make a plan on how to face him," Zayier suggested in which Zael agreed. They both returned to their work after contacting the two elders and while waiting for their answer.