The moon was beginning to rise as Jude stepped out of the dungeon, with Joy right beside him. Una was standing in a black gown with her hands clasped together behind her.
"Hey, you're here," she beamed. "I'm glad the two of you decided to make things easier for everyone with your cooperation."
"Actually," Joy sang. "Why don't you cooperate, and we'll make things easy for you."
"Oh, we're doing this." She rolled her eyes. "Very well then." She puckered her lips and blew, letting out a piercing whistle. Members of the Blood Moon pack assembled behind her as Rollin strolled towards them. His hands in his pockets. His sword was in its place behind him, waiting to to pierce its next victim.
"Just give up the half-breed, Jude," Rollin drawled. "You're only delaying the inevitable and losing more lives than necessary. Think of this as a unification process. Uniting the two packs under one leader, me. With the two of you as Attacker, and Reid as our minion. Tempting isn't it?"
"Not in the slightest," Jude grunted.
"Too bad, guess I'll have to force you." He flicked his finger and the pack members behind him each began to shift into their wolf form, snarling and snapping their teeth.
'Where's Reid?' Joy spoke into Jude's head.
'They should be here by now.'
Una had her eyes narrowed at them, a deep scowl on her face.
"Man, I've received so much attention before, but not so much from family." Joy remarked. "This actually feels pretty good."
"She irritates me," Rollin growled.
"The feeling is mutual," Joy responded.
Rollin turned his head, glaring at his pack.
"You want me to tell you to attack them?"
At that the snarling wolves ran towards the pair, their paws digging into the barren land. Jude shifted to his wolf form while Joy remained human.
"Come on, come on," she mumbled, urging herself to half-shift. Her eyes landed on a rusty pole a few meters away from them and she picked it up as a few wolves approached her. She spun the pole around Krii style and smirked, proud at herself for nailing it without hitting her head.
"Let's go," she muttered to the wolves, closing the distance between them. She allowed the pole to move ahead of her, sensing the attack before it happened. She smacked one wolf and pierced the side of another. All the while chanting, "half-shift, half-shift."
As she was about to stab the last wolf, her pole moved and fell out of her hands. She looked up and found Rollin glaring at her with sneer on his face.
"That is cheating," Joy muttered. She stepped forward and threw a punch which he dodged, but he failed to sense the wolf coming to his side and was tackled to the ground, Jemima's paw pressing against his neck. The growls around them became louder as the Blue Moon wolves joined in on the fight.
"You," Jemima snarled at Rollin. Her paw pressed harder against his neck to the point of his eyes rolling to the back of his head. He could barely concentrate on his sword as he twisted, trying to pull the large paw away. The sword flew towards Jemima anyway and she growled as it stabbed her leg, releasing her grip on his neck.
Una helped Rollin stand up, glaring at the injured Jemima. He rubbed his neck as he coughed and spat. "That's it." He pulled the sword out of her leg with his mind and shoved it back in again. Jemima howled and both Reid and Jude sped to where she was.
Rollin pulled the sword out again and as it was about to go back in, Jude jumped in front of it to protect Jemima, but the anticipated piercing did not reach him. When he turned, the tip of the sword was facing him, hovering in mid air. Rollin had his eyebrows furrowed, trying to control the sword which still would not budge.
Joy felt a raging fire course within her as the half-shift occured. Her eyes were a deep scarlet as she glared at the sword. She raised it into the air and thrust it towards Rollin and Una. Rollin jumped out of the way but Una remained standing, staring at it as it pierced her heart.
"Una!" Rollin screamed, scrambling towards her falling body. "Kill them!" He growled at his pack, tears forming in his eyes, his mouth frothing. "Kill them all!" He held onto Una's trembling body.
"Rollin," she coughed, blood spattering out of her mouth. "Rollin," she repeated, holding his hand. His hot tears were spilling onto her face, words refusing to come out of his mouth. A tear slipped out of Una's eye before her entire body stilled. A vicious howl erupted from Rollin and he stood up, stalking towards Joy.
She was standing in the middle of the battlefield, watching him approach her. He shifted into a black wolf as he walked, snapping his canines. He did not waste time, tackling her human form to the ground. Joy recovered immediately, kicking him off. She let him come at her, only to lift him off the ground and slam him back down. She took him by both paws and hurled him at Jemima who bit into his neck.
Joy howled as more wolves came at her. The first wolf whose neck she snapped with her bare hands was one that pounced at her from behind. She had glanced over her shoulder, grabbed its paw and swung it sideways before climbing on it and snapping its neck. The second one stalked around her and she simply stood still in her position. She waited for it to pounce before sliding underneath it and punching it in the stomach. Its loud cry caught the attention of both packs, and the fighting seized.
"Maybe there should be one Alpha," Joy muttered, a fiendish smirk forming on her lips. She looked up at the moon which was glowing a deep orange. "Me."
She stalked towards every wolf in her path, whether they were from the Blood Moon pack or the Blue Moon pack, snapping bones and throwing bodies.
"No," Jude breathed, running towards her. "Joy stop this!" He shifted back to his human form before holding her back. "Joy come back!"
"Why should I come back?" She hissed. "This is so much better. And after this it's the humans." She shoved him to the side.
"Come back because you're Joy Macheka!" He yelled after her, and she turned. "CEO of one of the biggest fashion houses in the country and heiress to Woodland Trading."
"Maybe I don't want to be a CEO or heiress anymore."
"Come back because you have a family who loves you."
Her head twitched to the side and her eyes flashed between red and yellow. "Families are overrated," she grunted.
"Come back because I love you." He stepped towards her.
Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and came back. "What use is that? You're just going to keep hurting me." She shook her head, closing her eyes.
"Come back because..." His voice lowered, and he took hold of her hand. "Because deep down, you do trust me."
As she leaned into his chest, she whispered. "Don't break it."
Their physical bodies seemed to involuntarily shift as a bright blue light formed around them. A loud blast erupted and a white and brown wolf stood in the middle of the village. One of its eyes was a bright yellow, the other one was blue.
Every other wolf stood watching, and when realisation dawned on them, the Blood Moon pack fled.
"Looks like victory is ours," Reid spoke up, and the rest of the wolves howled.
'We should go after them.' Joy found herself speaking within the wolf.
'That won't be necessary. They can't do anything without a leader.' Jude responded.
'I wish Krii could have seen this.'
'He can.'
***
The Blue Moon pack gathered at the edge of the cliff, looking over the waterfall, all dressed in blue. Jemima, Reid and Jude were at the forefront, with Jemima holding a jar with ashes in it. She let out a deep sigh, and threw the ashes over the waterfall.
"Sleep well, Adonis Krii," Joy muttered.
One by one, the pack members shifted to their wolf form, and gentle howls erupted from them. Jemima sat down on the edge of the cliff as the howls resounded. She had tears streaming down her face, her heart beating heavily as she exhaled deeply. She could barely handle the heaviness in her heart, rubbing her chest to try and ease it.
Jude and Reid placed each a hand on her shoulder and squeezed before leaving her. The pack began to disperse, offering their condolences as they returned to the village. Joy stepped close to Jemima and knelt beside her. She had Bob the bunny in her hands, and she handed him to Jemima. Jemima glanced at the bunny, and let out a laugh mixed into a sob.
"Hi Bob," she mumbled, taking hold of him. She stroked his head and sniffed. "Thanks Joy." She looked up at her.
"Look," she wiped her eyes with one hand, "life is short. And if you truly love someone, spend as much time with them as possible. Live life with them to the fullest, and don't take anything for granted. You never know when they will choose to leave."
"Yeah," she nodded, rubbing her friend's back. "I'll come and see you later." She stepped down the hill, heading towards the village.
Jude was standing near the hut, his hands in his pockets as he watched her approach.
"Are you waiting for me?" She asked.
"Yep. I wanted to talk to you." He scratched the back of his neck and sat himself down.
"Okay," she nodded, joining him on the ground.
"So, we shifted," he started. "To Protector. Not that we needed it."
"Yeah, looks like you were right about us," she huffed a laugh. "Maybe it will be needed one day. You never know."
"Yeah, maybe." He shrugged, staring at his fingers.
"Is that it?" Joy tried to meet his eyes.
"No," he huffed, scratching his head. "I'm sorry, Joy," he tilted his head to look at her. "I'm sorry, for everything. I hurt you, and I don't deserve you. And whatever you decide, from this moment, I will respect."
Joy leaned her back against the wall, gazing at the village below. "My feelings have always had their limits, because of my lack of trust." She licked her lips. "Since my mom left I've never depended on anyone. I always thought I could do things on my own and prove to everyone that I didn't need her. I made sure not to let anyone fool me, until I let my guard down, and Mandla and Tanya were the first to exploit that. Then you..." She glanced at him. "You're different from those two, because I felt the connection with you. I felt at home. I felt safer with you. I felt like I could trust you from the moment I met you. Which means that you hurt me a hundred times more than they did." A tear slipped out of her eye and she wiped it away. "But with all that..." She turned her entire body, and moved her hands to his head, turning it, forcing him to face her.
"I think I can love you."
No words can accurately describe the mechanisms in the body when one falls in love. A butterfly nest first forms in the belly, erupting when the person is near. One butterfly flutters to the top, making its way past the ribcage and lungs. It flaps its wings, tickling the different parts of the heart causing it to increase its speed. Which means the blood flow in the body increases, giving life to every cell. In the brain, one word, two words, three words form. Everything else disappears, enabling the human to see clearly what shines before them.
THE END