by Rasi K
There, I felt the bitter sweet taste swarm through my mouth. But this time I felt it in my heart too. She was lying to me. My best friend since childhood was lying to me. But I understood her. She will tell me when the right time comes.
I left the topic from there.
“I am sorry for what my brother did to you. It’s a good thing that you rejected him. He deserves it and more.”
“How much do you know?”
“Everything. He told us that day in the living room. I now understand why you didn’t want to tell us. You didn’t want us to see his ugly side, but it was inevitable.”
I nodded and hugged her back. There wasn’t much I could tell about that anymore. I could only wish that he doesn’t repeat the same mistake twice.
Later that day when I was going to see Kira, Daniel joined me.
Shouts came from inside the house. When we stepped in, all three pairs of eyes were on us.
“She, she is the reason behind all this. If it hadn’t been for her, you wouldn’t have been kidnapped.”, Noah said pointing an accusing finger at me.
“Now, now, we all know that it wasn’t her, she even helped with rescuing her.”, Daniel said in a calm voice, but I could hear the tremble at the end of his voice. One more word wrong, his calm façade shall break.
“No, for all we know it might have been one of her acts.”, Noah continued.
All this time, I never got the bitter sweet taste in me. Wow, he really did feel like that about me.
“Oh do you think so? Why don’t we ask the person who was kidnapped about it?”, Daniel said and turned to Kira.
He looked at her in the eye before asking.
“Do you think it was Caroline who assisted your kidnap?”, he asked with so much conviction. Conviction, as if he knew the whole truth.
“Of course, she would think, who else would do that?”
“I am talking to her and I expect answers only from her.”, he said before turning back.
She shook her head.
“But sis-”
“Ethan”, she shook her head at him, “If that is all, then we shall be returning back to our pack.”, she said pulling Ethan along.
“Kira, wait.”, Noah shouted running behind her.
Hours after Kira left, despite Noah’s protests, uncle called us to his office for an emergency meeting.
Once we were all in the room, he took out a letter from his table and passed it to Daniel and asked him to read it out.
This letter is to inform you about the oncoming war we declare on your pack…
Unknown person’s POV
“You defy me, I step up my game. Now you shall face my wrath.”
Chapter 32
Training
By now word has gone around that I was a half vampire, but even then gasps could be heard when I shifted into my dark black wolf with blood red eyes.
This was the second batch I was training, for that day. We couldn’t slack, as they shall arrive anytime. We were training all the children above twelve, just in case if we happen to need some backups.
For outsiders, it might not be a great image to see us training pups for a war. But this was no normal war; we aren’t fighting another pack, but the vampires.
~Three days ago~
Uncle called us to his office for an emergency meeting. Once we were all settled, he gave a letter to Daniel to read out.
This letter is to inform you about the oncoming war we declare on your pack. You defy me, now I have stepped up my game. All of you be ready to face my wrath. Stay alert I might surprise you.
Yours lovingly,
Vampire King
Daniel gave back the letter to uncle, shocked. Every one of us was equally shocked. We didn’t know how we landed ourselves in such a problem. Fighting another pack might be a cakewalk but it is vampires we speak of, totally different.
~Present~
After having told the pack about the war declaration, the male warriors along with the alphas and betas trained the male population, while the female warriors along with me, Tah and mother trained the pups.
For the past three days we have been training the children and sparing amongst ourselves, once in a while. We trained them as much as possible, in a level they can cope with.
I was correcting a boy’s posture when a group of warriors entered our pack and came towards us. I was alerted by their presence, similar to other ladies and took a protective stance in front of the children. I bared my canines at the leader standing in front of them.
“We seek no harm, m’lady. We come from Serene Pack to help with the war.”, he spoke.
“I was not aware of your arrival.”, I said not losing my guard.
“Alpha Zach already spoke to me about this.”, uncle’s voice boomed behind me.
“Alpha”, I bowed my head to him in submission.
He signaled for me to stand straight.
“Thank you for coming, pass my gratitude to your alpha.”, he said to the leader.
“Will do, sir.”
“You shall train with the others over the other side.”, he informed them.
He nodded his head before leading his team in the said direction.
Before any of us could get back to our previous work, a scream split through the air.
“ALPHA!!!!!”
Third person’s POV
The whole crowd gathered around, where the shout came from, with Orion and Caroline in the front.
There lay in front of them, the lifeless body of their pack member, in wolf form. Attached to him was a letter. Caroline went forward and took it off him. The letter said:
‘The game of death shall begin, on the count of three…’
Chapter 33
Safe Zones
Reading the letter, it reminded me of the witch’s words.
You have to kill the vampire king. Only then will you be able to escape him.
He has started the game and he shall end it by himself.
I had been preoccupied in my thoughts that I didn’t hear the wails. I looked up from the letter and saw a series of frightened faces. The children had followed us and were shaken by the gory scene in front of them. They seemed to have lost all the spirit they had in them while training before. This was taking a toll on them.
I asked for uncle to call an emergency meeting while Tah and few others led the children back. Few others were ordered to clear the body while I held onto the letter in my fist.
Once we went into the alpha office we settled down and took a moment, to assess the situation that took place, on our own.
“What is it that you want to discuss Carol?”, uncle asked, who sat behind his desk.
“We have to leave the children out of this.”
“What do you mean?”, he asked.
“There are petrified by what happened. They can’t handle what they see in a war.”, I reasoned out.
“What kind of bull are you saying? They are being trained for that purpose only.”, Noah shouted at me.
“From what I have seen, they have lost their spirit in it. They might be physically stable from the training. But for them to train they have to be mentally strong too, which they are not anymore. That is why we are leaving them out of this.”
“Whom do you think we are fighting, a pup? Fucking vampires. You seemed to be worried about the children, but who was the one who put them in it in the first place? You.”, he said pointing his finger at me.
I gasped at that.
“What, do you think that I didn’t know about that? I know. It’s because of you being a half vampire that we are facing this hell. If it had not been for you, there wouldn’t have been a need to worry about the mental stability of the children, as you say, now.”, he said with bitterness.
“Stop there, Noah. You don’t know half of it. You have no idea about how much she had to suffer. You know nothing.”, Daniel said jumping up.
“And why should I care, when she is the cause for the state of insecurity amon
gst my pack? I worry only about my pack, as for her I never considered her as one since long ago.”
“STOP IT!”, uncle shouted in alpha tone. Surprisingly, it didn’t seem to have an effect on me, neither was Daniel, though he flinched slightly. I bowed down out of respect.
“No one shall talk about Carol. She has nothing to do with this. Noah, behave yourself. As for you, Daniel, even if the other person is wrong, think where you are before behaving as such. Both of you, this is an alpha office not a place for you to shout. Here, only I am allowed to raise my voice. So, if anyone feels like they can’t stay down, they can readily leave the office but they will be never welcomed in any of the future meetings.”, uncle ordered.
No one uttered a word. If I didn’t know better I would have said everyone forgot to breathe. As I said, uncle never showed this side of him. He was an easygoing man.
“Now that we have come to an understanding, let’s deal with the current matter at hand. At the moment, we are lagging in number even with Zach’s help. So, even though your suggestion is of good intentions, we might not be able to carry it out. We are fighting the vampires, him being the king himself we don’t know how many he might have at his go. For all we know, he could make an attack unexpectedly and sweep our pack completely.”, he said.
“That was what I said but without any sugar-sweetening.”, Noah murmured.
Daniel growled lowly at him.
“Doors are open”, uncle reminded them.
“But uncle, we could always ask for help from other packs. From what I know, alpha Zach has already sent many who might compensate for the children. All we need are a few more and we will be ready for the war.”
“True, but we don’t have any other pack, we might know, who could help us at the moment.”, dad pointed.
I thought about it.
“Why don’t we try asking Kira’s dad?”, I suggested.
“Don’t speak her name.”, Noah yelled.
Uncle growled at him.
“Noah, leave the room.”, he ordered in a tone making it clear that he wasn’t taking no for an answer.
Noah stomped his way out of the room murmuring under his breath.
“It is a good idea, but I don’t think it will work, seeing that Kira is no longer staying here.”
“It won’t hurt to try, uncle.”, I suggested.
He nodded and called on his phone.
Once he finished talking he turned to us.
“I called him to have a meeting. I thought it would be best to apologize and talk about this matter, in person. He has agreed to come tomorrow after lots of persuasion.”, he said.
“Now that we have that matter off our shoulders, we need to prepare for safe zones.”
Chapter 34
Michael Miller
Day cares were turned into safe places. Secret hides were dug inside them in such a way that the female and children could stay in. Guards were posted outside the houses surrounding the daycare so that anyone who tried to get inside would misinterpret the hiding place.
After Daniel suggested it, we sat down and made a list of places which might be suitable for it. Daycare made the first priority in it. While the guards made sure to get the places ready, the others trained.
We were currently in the alpha office, waiting for Kira’s father to arrive. He had accepted to come after lots of persuasion. At that moment, the door to the office opened and in he came along with Kira. Speak of the devil.
Michael walked in as if he owned the place. He had the aura of authority surrounding him. He had a sharp eye when it came to judging a person. It explains why Noah shriveled under his gaze. Having such qualities always came along with characteristics such as short-temper, intolerant.
He sat in front of the table and looked at uncle. He had brunette hair and gray eyes, just like his children.
“What have you called me for?”, he asked in a rough voice.
“I would like to apologize for everything your daughter had been in the past days, in the first place.”, uncle started.
“What do you think you are doing? You think your apology will make any difference? You treated my child as if she was a play thing. What kind of behavior is that? She might not have been a part of this pack, but she required at least some security considering her as an alpha she is. And what is this thing that I hear your son neglecting my daughter for a land?”
At that, I gasped. The room remained silent while all the pairs of eyes turned on me. Upon seeing me, he seemed to have gotten further furious.
“You! You are the one responsible for all the things my daughter faced, aren’t you? If it had not been for you, he wouldn’t have come for my daughter and she wouldn’t have ended up hurt. You home wrecker. If he had rejected you then you should have left him, but no, you had to tag along throughout. If it hadn’t been for you, my daughter wouldn’t have been kidnapped.”, he shouted.
Daniel and dad had taken a protective stance before me so that he couldn’t make a move towards me.
He turned towards uncle.
“I heard that the vampires had declared a war on your pack because of her. Such a bad luck she is.”, he said.
Uncle growled at him along with dad and Daniel.
“Do not growl at me!!”, he snarled.
“Listen carefully, I shall not provide you with any sort of help. If needed I might as well aid the vampires themselves.”, he barked and went out of the room.
“Dad!”, Kira spoke for the first time since arriving, running behind him.
“This is all because of you. The war started because of you. Now no one is ready to help us either, because of you. You are indeed a bad luck. A big one at that.”, Noah said acidly.
“Noah! Out.”, uncle yelled at him.
“I am your son for goddess sake. Take my side for once.”, he barked back.
“Leave, before I think of disowning you.”, he threatened him.
He left the room for the second time in two days, grunting.
“Don’t take his words to your heart. He is no one to judge you.”, uncle consoled me.
“When more than one person agrees with it, it must be true right?”, I asked.
“No, you shall not think as such. Neither of them knows anything about you. Their words are not to be taken into consideration, they are invalid.”, uncle said.
There was a knock on the door which made us look from where I was sitting on the couch.
“Father would like to talk to you.”, Kira said.
We nodded and organized ourselves before he came in.
“I meant the words earlier, and I am known to be a man of his words. I am doing this only for my daughter. I shall send in troops to help you by evening.”, he said looking at uncle.
“Thank you very much, Alpha Michael. Your help is very much appreciated.”, uncle said holding of his hand.
He shook his hand nodding, before leaving the room along with her.
I dismissed myself and ran behind them.
“Kira?”, I called for her.
She turned around and looked questioningly at me.
“Can I have a word?”
“Dad -”
“I will wait for you in the car.”, he said, before leaving.
Once we were along I opened my mouth to talk but even before I could utter a word she held up her hand.
“If you are here to thank me about earlier, then don’t. I did it for my own selfishness. I did it because I love him.”
Chapter 35
War
Day 1
The wind flew by with a whizzing sound, taking the top layer sand along with it. Neither of the sides made any movement to move from their places. The barren land stretched between them, making it even more eerie, than it already was.
The morning of that day had been nerve-racking, if anything, for the werewolves. They had to wake up to witness, one of their pack members lying dead on the land, which was not a sight to behold. The unspoken message was delivered to everyone.
They understood that the time had come.
The werewolves stood at their side, with Caroline, Daniel, Noah and a few warriors from Serene Pack and Stalwart pack, in the front. Orion and Richard stood at the side, standing as a backup. Caroline made it clear that, she was not having them anywhere in the war field.
The vampires finally getting their orders from the vampire king, jumped forward screeching, signaling that the war was on.
The werewolves, preparing themselves cast forward and made a formation in such a way, that they blocked the way for the vampires, from entering their territory.
Standing at their positions they waited for the vampires to reach them. The ones standing in the front, along with Caroline took a protective stance in front of the first layer of the formation, standing few feet behind them.
Soon the vampires came charging them. The front row warriors fought the on-coming vampires. As they fought their share of vampires, the other vampires slipped past them reaching the first layer. The werewolves stood in their human form taking a defensive stance. Each werewolf had one arm distance between them, so that they could move around comfortably.
From the looks of it, things were not going great for the werewolves. The vampires took the space between them to their advantage. Using their fast speed, they moved left and right in a blink of an eye. Their tactics drove the werewolves to impatience. Running out of tolerance, they started jumping at the vampires. Getting the reaction they wanted, the leeches paired up and moved towards each other, causing werewolves to dash into each other. Using the leverage, the vamps charged forward. Before they could go further, the second layer of warriors took up their positions, copying the formation similar to that of the first layer.
The vampires tried using the same tactics, but the warriors didn’t make a move, having witnessed their little performance up front. They waited for their moment of weakness, to take their chance to attack. Slowly and steadily, vampires started losing their stance. They weren’t the only ones losing their stance, werewolves were dying too. Howls totaled with the piercing cries echoed through the war field. Neither of it seemed to cease any time then.