It was a day as any other day with people dancing and celebrating at every corner.
Just like it had been for the past ten years, the ruthless alpha of Cinder Pack, Alpha Axton, had once again conquered another pack with none of his warriors missing.
While everyone jubilated, two teenage girls of no more than 17 covered in dust, sat behind a shed in the market square playing rock-paper-scissors.
"Darn you, Aurelia! If you keep mirroring every move I make, we won't have anything for dinner!" The taller of the girls groaned after a minute.
The other girl giggled softly, her free hand subconsciously feeling the shawl over her head to see if they were in place.
In this brief moment, the taller girl suddenly pulled out a higher number of fingers before Aurelia could react.
Her face instantly fell, but her friend pulled her closer, eyes darting around to see if anyone was coming as she said, "Listen closely, on my way here, i heard some drunks saying the alpha, his warriors and some councilmen are at the motel three streets away."
"Those darn drunks boasted of how they filled their bellies with drums of rum. So I'm sure we'll have plenty to eat if you go there."
Aurelia's opal eyes trembled slightly, "But…"
Her friend, however, immediately cut her off with a snort, "What? I won fair and square, so don't even think about complaining!"
Sighing with resignation, Aurelia Night nodded and walked off towards the direction her friend pointed out.
She held her shawl tighter and lowered her eyes to the floor, looking up just enough to see where she was going until the clamoring of drunken men reached her ears.
Lydia was right. There really were an abundance of drunken men here.
This was one of the nights the alpha and his warriors went all out and drank as much rum as they could until they dropped.
The food on their plates meant nothing to them and would be surely thrown out tomorrow morning after going bad.
Catching her breath, she hurriedly strutted around looking for something to pack the foods with until she walked into the shed at the back of the motel.
"Do you think you have a choice in this?"
"Councilman, I know I don't have a choice, but the old lady's situation is going from bad to worse."
"If i keep giving her the potion, she will surely go bonkers and he will surely know there's something going on with her medications."
Aurelia halted and hid behind the gallons stacked atop each other, curiously peering through the hole in one of them.
There were five men. A man who seemed to be in his 40s dressed in a blue gown and three muscular men with a familiar uniform.
A councilman and the pack warriors?
Her eyes then trailed to the fifth man who was helplessly pinned against the wall by the councilman.
This robe… only one type of people wore it.
What was a councilman, three warriors and the royal physician doing whispering to each other in a place like this instead of being with their alpha?
Aurelia bit down on her lower lip, eyes scouring tbe place for any other person.
Whatever was going on here smelt of trouble and certainly not the kind she wanted to be involved in.
But if she left now, the warriors could see her. If they saw her…
She quickly shook the thought of sneaking out to the back of her mind, making up her mind to stay until these men were done with whatever it was they had going on.
So she hid properly behind the gallons and continued watching.
The councilman placed both hands on the physician's shoulder and scoffed, "What are you so scared of? It's no news that she's bound to lose her mind any moment from now."
"Keep giving her the potion. She's still the only one her grandson listens to. Do I make myself clear?"
The physician couldn't hide the panic on his face as he bit his right thumb nervously.
"You don't understand. If…"
The councilman instantly cut him off with a sneer, "Of course, you can always refuse to do this."
"I'll just have to bring it up to the alpha one of these days that his grandmother's health seems to be getting worse."
"You know the alpha. Even if he's in a meeting, he'd run right out to make certain she is fine. If he hears aomething like that and investigates it to see it was true…"
The words were yet out of his mouth when the physician nodded vigorously.
"Fine! Alright! I'll do it!"
Aurelia's eyes narrowed.
Alpha? This was about the alpha?
This pack was big on how they celebrated and adored their alpha. Yet, he actually had people backstabbing him like this.
Aurelia was deep in thought and subconsciously tried to leave, straightening up.
But the mommer she did, her elbow pushed down one of the gallons and the rest of the unstable gallons went with it.
In a few seconds, she was staring into the blood-streaked eyes of the councilman.
"It appears we have a rat. Bring me her tongue."