Howls and Hexes

Prologue

Deep within the Louisiana bayou sat a degraded cabin. The cabin's walls and roof were covered in holes, and the windows were boarded up with plywood. The structure groaned to the force of the night's winds and welcomed crawling creatures inside the cracks of the floorboards. To the naked eye, the cabin sat empty and unused for multiple years. However, if you were to look closely, and listen hard, muffled whispers escaped from the holes in the walls.

Inside the cabin, ten people crouched around a single, lit candle. The candlelight warmly lit their black skin, contrasting against the terror in their eyes. Anxiety filled the air as the patrons of the gathering looked over their shoulders in fear of being caught.

"We can't keep hiding anymore. Kofi, a dark-skinned man still in his mechanics uniform, said. "I am tired of moving my family every time one of us is killed. We have to fight."

"With what army? We barely have half of our pack after what they did to us in South Carolina." Petunia, an older smaller Black woman piped. She wiped the sweat off of her face with a handkerchief before turning to glare at Kofi. "We all want to fight, but surviving is the most important thing right now. If we can't even survive, what is the point of fighting?"

"To create a better world for our children!" Kofi exclaimed before the other members hushed him franticly, in fear they would be heard. "I am willing to sacrifice all that I have so that my family and my baby girl can live a better life than mine."

A boney light-skinned boy, Bernard, turned to Kofi. "But what if we lose?"

A fire filled Kofi's eyes. "But what if we win?" A thick silence fell over the cabin as the members tried to forget all the trauma and pain they endured to bring them to this meeting. Each person grappled with memories of loved ones being ripped away, and the destruction it caused to their psyche. Resentment grew in their bellies as they were reminded of the constant need to look over their shoulder, the necessity to triple check the towns they visit, and most importantly, to lock all the doors in their house before heading to bed. These rituals, although seemingly minuscule, could mean the difference between life and death in their pack.

A group of howls and the thundering of paws broke the silence.

"They've found u-" Before Petunia could run out of the back door, a white wolf entrapped its jaws around her neck. The other members of the room scurried away from her body, trying not to touch the blood that erupted from her corpse. The beast looked around the room and smirked with Petunia's blood dripping down its snout.

The front door to the cabin swung open as a man in an all-white suit entered. His pale blonde hair complimented the coolness of his eyes as he strode into the room. He lazily surveyed the cabin until he landed on the now shifted pack of black wolves.

"You really thought you could plan a meeting in my woods without me knowing about it?" He chuckled softly. "For fucks sake, I could smell your African must from a mile away. Not only were you meeting in my woods, but you were also planning to attack us?"

He strode over to the white wolf standing over the dead body. "I have to give it to you guys; you have a lot of balls to pull this off. I am almost disappointed I did not see the sorry war that you would have put together." His blue eyes slowly turned to pitch black as he looked at the group of black wolves. "Almost."

At that moment, the man ripped through his clothes and shifted into a silvery-white wolf. He lunged at the largest black wolf in the room, signaling the start of the blood bath. The once brown walls were now covered in the blood of the fallen warriors. The black pack held their ground; however, they quickly realized they were outnumbered. Saddened howls filled the air as the once strong ten wolves dwindled by the second.

By the end of the hour, only one small black wolf remained. Fear spread through his body as he frantically looked at the white wolves surrounding him. The lone wolf slowly morphed back to its human form and revealed a cowering Bernard.

"Please." His voice cracked as a sob traveled through his body. "Please, just let me go. My pack will leave."

The silver wolf in front of him morphed back into the man that was once in a white suit. He stood naked, towering over Bernard's shaking body. He slowly crouched down until his blue eyes met Bernard's black ones.

"Tell your pathetic pack to leave my land, or else I, Alpha James, will have to finish what I started here."

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I hope you all liked the first peek at the book! I am so excited to bring this story to life and go on this rollercoaster with you all. Please leave comments because I will read them all, and I love feedback!