Moonlit Beauty

Unfolded past (part three)

Chapter 18

Dante glared at Faustus hatefully. “Why do you have Leon and what have you done to him?”

Faustus smirked. “Well that’s a long story but I suppose it’s one that I should tell you.” He walked over to Leon and kicked him in the ribs.  The wolf whimpered but didn’t move.

Dante growled at Faustus. “Don’t touch him!”

“Anyway, ten years ago, my pack of rogues split into two groups. At night, I led the first group to the Midnight pack’s territory borders where fortunately, the Luna and her daughter were. They made my job much easier. I killed the Luna but her daughter managed to escape. I couldn’t go and find her because the Alpha and Beta of the Midnight pack showed up so I ran back to my territory, leaving my first group of rogues behind to stall them. Unfortunately Daemon killed them all so I only had half a pack left.” Faustus took a moment to catch his breath and was about to carry on but was interrupted by Dante.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Dante said sarcastically. “But what does this have to do with Leon?”

Faustus sighed. “Pups these days, they’re so impatient.” Some of the rogues in the room sniggered and Dante snarled at them.

Faustus whipped the silver knife in his hand lightly across Dante’s throat, leaving behind a shallow cut that soon filled with blood. Dante winced.  “I was getting to it. Now…where was I? Ah yes. Right, well when I got back to my territory, I took my second group of rogues to ambush the Moonstone pack a week later and I have to say, we were very successful. Most of the pack was killed apart from the Alpha and Beta’s families.” Faustus paused for dramatic effect before carrying on.

“Both families escaped together but once me and my rogues finished with the pack, we made the Alpha and his family split from the Beta’s which made it easier to kill them off. Axel put up a good fight but once we killed his wife, he lost his will to fight. His daughter tried to fight us off to protect her father but she was severely injured in the process. In the end, we killed her father but she managed to slip away from us. She probably died; there was no way she could have survived with those injuries.” Faustus smiled sadistically, he didn’t notice Dante clenching his fists tightly in anger.

“So after we disposed of the Alpha and Luna of the Moonstone pack, we went after the Beta’s family. The rogues found the Beta’s mate and one of his sons’ by themselves. Apparently they had been separated from you and your father in your pathetic attempt to get away. I decided to take your brother as a captive and sent him back to my territory with a few rogues. Your mother tried to stop me so I knocked her unconscious and took her with me and a few rogues to find you and your father and well…you know the rest.” Faustus finished with a taunting smirk on his wrinkled face.

Dante looked at the ground in shock as he recalled what happened.

----Flash back----

“Dad, what’s going on?” A young Dante asked his father who was roughly pushing him and his brother through the back door.

“We’ve been ambushed son; we need to get out of here.” Dante nodded grimly and followed after his father and mother. “Come on Leon, we need to go.” He called behind his shoulder to his twin brother who was a minute younger than him.

“I’m too tired though.” Leon complained and without a second to waste, Dante knelt down and let his brother clamber up onto his back. “Fine, I’ll carry you.” Leon smiled gratefully and leaned his head on Dante’s shoulder, immediately drifting off to sleep.

Dante just sighed and carried on running after his parents. All he could hear was the screams of his pack, the howls of the rogues and the roar of the fire that tore itself through the pack houses. The acrid smell of burning flesh filled the night air like a suffocating blanket and a heavy fog of ash and mist covered the area, hiding the terrible massacre from nearby packs. Dante’s eyes filled with tears, he couldn’t do anything but run away whilst the pack he grew up with was being brutally murdered.

His tears obscured his vision for a few seconds which was enough for him to bump into someone and send them sprawling to the ground. “Iris?” Dante asked in shock, looking at the girl who was lying at his feet. She was covered in ashes but other than that, she looked fine.

He shifted Leon’s weight to his left hand and leant Iris his right hand. She took it and he pulled her to her feet swiftly. “Where are your parents?” Dante asked as they both started running again.

“I don’t know… they were right behind me. Where are yours?”

Dante looked around and realised his parents were gone. “They were right in front of me!” He shouted in panic.

Iris looked at him in fear. “What are we going to do Dante?”

He looked back at her and furrowed his eyebrows in thought. “I think we should head to the Midnight pack, we’re allied with them so they should help us.” Iris nodded in agreement and they both ran with a new sense of purpose. Both of them didn’t notice the rogue that was tailing them.

They reached the edge of a forest and didn’t hesitate to run inside. Iris tripped over a rock and Dante paused to help her back up. A snarl reverberated around the forest and Dante froze in horror. He snapped out of his fear when Iris screamed as a rogue lifted her up into the air by her throat. Dante narrowed his eyes in anger. No way was he going to stand there and watch his best friend be murdered right in front of his eyes. Dante gently dropped Leon in some bushes, hiding him from view and leapt at the rogue who was holding a struggling Iris. “LET GO OF HER!”

The rogue dropped Iris who started gasping for breath and struggled to get Dante off his back. After a few minutes of wrestling, Dante swiped his claws down the right side of the rogue’s face, gouging deep scratches that rapidly filled with blood before the rogue threw him off, roaring in pain. Dante immediately scrambled to his feet and pushed Iris behind him, trying to protect her from the enraged rogue.

“YOU’LL PAY FOR THAT KID!” The rogue snarled and shifted into his wolf. Iris squealed as Dante pushed her out of the way just as the rogue leapt at him. Dante fell heavily on his back and winced before groaning at the weight of the rogue. The wolf snarled in Dante’s face and stepped on his wrists, immobilising him. Dante struggled uselessly before giving up after a few minutes, his chest heaving from his attempts. The wolf howled in triumph and went to bite Dante in the shoulder but was thrown off him instead.

“Get your filthy paws off my son!” Taro growled as he stood in front of Dante and Iris protectively. He was joined by Axel and both of their mates who all snarled at the rogue. Iris helped Dante stand up as their parents chased away the rogue. “Thanks Iris,” Dante managed to groan out as his bruised ribs protested from the sudden movement.

“I should be thanking you Dante, you saved me from that rogue.” Iris shot back before smiling at Dante.

Their parents came back and surrounded the two children.

“Are you both alright?” Arianna, Dante’s mother, asked in worry. They both nodded.

“Where’s Leon?” Taro asked in fear as he realised his other son was nowhere in sight. A sleepy Leon suddenly stood up, rubbing his eyes and looking around blearily as he stepped away from the bushes that concealed him. “What did I miss?” He asked.

Dante’s parents sighed in relief and Arianna scooped Leon into her arms. “Don’t worry baby, go back to sleep.” Leon didn’t have to be told twice and within seconds, he was snoring loudly, dead to the world.

Dante smiled in amusement before his father grabbed his arm. “Stick close to me son.”

Axel picked Iris up and they all ran deeper into the woods. It was really dark and after a few seconds, Dante and Taro emerged in a clearing. They both looked around frantically and realised that they were alone.

----End of flash back----

Dante shook his head before looking back up at Faustus. “…So that’s what happened.”

Faustus smile widened.

“Wait, what did you do to Leon in the ten years you held him captive?”

 The old wolf laughed sinisterly. “Let’s just say that we got to know each other very well." Faustus raised the silver knife, the blade glinting in the light.