Two hours later, my wolf sated. We'd fed and a modicum of calm had settled across my chest. Padding onto the deserted airfield, my keen senses were alert as Seth reached out to me to inform me all was prepared.
The airstrip unused for months and even if humans had been around, they still wouldn't have seen us as we were cloaked under witch's magic.
The engines roared to life as I approached the stairwell, waiting were Seth and Nile, my Gamma. Nile lowered his head, offering out clothing, expecting me to change. I was in no mood to shift.
'I will remain wolf.'
He lowered his hand, and I trotted up the steps to the plane.
Settled in mid-air, I relaxed across three chairs.
Well, relaxed as much as any wolf could. The aircraft seats weren't accommodating to a wolf and especially not one of my size. But there was no way I was using the floor.
Willa had always said I let my pride get in the way and no one would consider me weak if I travelled in as a man. But I preferred my wolf, all my senses functioned, and in addition, they were much sharper.
Although today I had a different reason for having him take the lead, I could reach out, attempt to contact Willa as he would remain alert to our surroundings. Working together strengthened us.
"Alpha, I sent Noah ahead to visit the neighboring pack—Longridge," interrupted Seth.
My concentration broken, I returned my focus to him.
He continued. "Noah reported that all appeared peaceful and had been for the last two days—a little too quiet. But under the terms of their agreement, they have not ventured onto their lands."
Unintentionally, I growled. Something felt off. It stirred in my guts, leaving me coiled like a tightly wound rope. There was something I would find, something I needed to see. It called to me like the ocean's sirens
'Something is amiss, Seth. I can feel it.' Neither Seth nor Nile would doubt me.
I ran through my strategy. Kill first and ask questions later might be a little excessive for this visit. Perhaps this would be the day Alpha Walker met me as Alpha Cassius King. Rocking the equilibrium might benefit me.
~ ~
We landed and disembarked. Seth disappeared and returned shortly in an open-air jeep. He and Nile sat up front and I jumped in the back.
'Anything else to report, Seth?'
"Noah is waiting at the East Point."
The Blue-Night Pack had been a thorn in my paw for longer than I could remember, and if it weren't for the pups, I would have ended the lowlife scum close to a decade ago. Their cruelty was renowned, infamous. Sadly, we'd never been able to gather enough evidence that they'd turned humans against their will. But today, my head threw out the repeating mantra—something was different. And I was sure today I would leave their pack with more than just additional weight added to my soul.
A short drive to their borders found Noah sat in his jeep waiting. I jumped down and padded towards him. He lowered his head respectively.
"Alpha."
'Noah. Report.'
Nile and Seth flanked me.
"I arrived a little over two hours ago, but without venturing too far onto their lands, something isn't right, Alpha."
We designated East Point a free zone. When packs wanted to talk or settle arguments or disputes—this was the location.
Lifting my head, I sniffed the air. Again, the unsettling feeling from earlier lay heavy in my gut.
'And you say you haven't trespassed further than their borders?'
"No Alpha, but the strangeness." He paused. "Starts right here, and they have no one patrolling. Not one wolf has picked up my scent."
The Blue-Night pack were savages. Rogues, humans or anything supernatural wouldn't get far without being questioned, their fate sealed the moment they stepped onto their lands without agreement. Interrogated, often tortured, which undoubtedly led to death, unless the trespasser was of use.
'Seth, did you announce our arrival as instructed?'
"I left a message, Alpha."
'A message?'
"A voicemail Alpha, nobody answered, but that isn't unusual."
I fucking despised modern technology. 'You three drive up, meet me there. I need the run.'
"But Alpha!"
I growled and Seth's mouth clamped shut, lowering his eyes.
Heading out, I darted off toward the forest which would lead to their compound. A crack of thunder sounded to the West; it appeared the weather was tailing me today.
The first dusting of rain wet my nose. Jumping over a fallen tree, I smelt an all too familiar scent. Coming to a halt, before me slumped against a tree, its empty dead eyes were wide open, staring back.
Fuck! It was a wolf. I knew this wolf. It was the Beta of the Blue-Night Pack... Harker.
Slowly moving towards the dead wolf, from the smell and rate of decomposition suggested it had been less than two days dead. Fur matted with dried blood, a hole in his chest ripped wide, ribs exposed. The heart was missing.
What in the goddess's name did this?
And why was its body still out here, so close to his home? Surely someone have realized he was missing by now. I'd never liked him, but it was only right that he received a proper burial.
Scouting around the immediate area looking for signs of the creature that could have taken this wolf's life, I saw nothing. No footprints, no scent.
Not caring to look upon his lifeless body. I was wasting precious time, only Alpha Walker could answer my questions.
'We're here Alpha.' Seth reached out to me.
There was nothing more for me here. I continued through the dense undergrowth through their territory.
~ ~
Arriving at their compound, Noah, Seth and Nile waited at the gate. Noah was right, something was off. Nobody was on watch.
We scouted the perimeter, finding their hidden traps with ease. They weren't the smartest bunch.
"Do you smell that?" asked Nile.
"Blood—death," replied Seth.
I growled in agreement. 'The Beta, Harker lies dead in the woods, East of here. Been dead less than two days.'
"Dead?"
'Yes.'
"What or who killed him, Alpha?"
'Unknown.'
Noah walked to the gates of their compound. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" asked Nile.
"Nothing—that's my point. Something is definitely not right—more so than usual."
Seth and Nile hummed their response. But we all felt it. No voices, laughter. No machinery... no heartbeats.
"We need to head inside." Nile took point, walking towards the huge double entrance to the compound and with no resistance it opened, unlocked.
Only a few steps inside death hung heavy in the air, a day had passed since whatever had befallen this pack.
I tuned my instincts into the surroundings. It was eerily quiet. I often found eerie places peaceful, a kind of magic shrouded itself in eerie, quiet as if nature itself had cast a spell.
"Something really fucked up happened here," blurted Noah, perplexed as we all were.
Seth sunk down, resting back on his calves, he scooped some dirt, sniffing. "The ground is soaked in something."
I pawed the dirt, tiny flecks of yellow dust wove itself between the dirt.
"I think it's sulphur," he announced. Standing up, he offered his hand out to Noah.
"Could be," agreed Noah, rubbing the dust between his fingers. "Do you think some kind of magic?"
Dropping the rest of the dirt to the ground, Seth looked up. "It's a ghost town, not even birds fly above," stated Seth. "What in the gods happened here?" He turned to me for answers—answers I didn't have.
'I fear we may be the only warm flesh and blood here. Something happened and only the gods themselves were the audience.'
I didn't think we would find anyone alive.
Nile stripped from his clothes as the change happened quickly, man to wolf. 'Wait—there, you sense it?' He moved slightly ahead, his head high, sniffing the air.
He was right. A heartbeat, a fast heartbeat. I stood alongside Nile and sniffed the air. 'From that direction.' We both scanned the surrounding buildings for any movement.
'Nile and I will track it. You two check out the rest of the buildings, alert me if you find anyone... alive.'
"Yes Alpha." They replied in unison. Seth and Noah quickly shed their clothes and howls echoed around us as they shifted to wolf.
Heading in different directions, Nile and I headed towards what was the Blue-Night pack house. A poor excuse of a pack house, in my humble opinion.
Standing a short distance away from the pack house, we both curiously scoped out the area. Like everywhere else in the compound, it was deadly quiet, apart from the racing heartbeat.
'Let's head inside.'
'Agreed. I'll take point,' insisted Nile, as he always did.
Standing at the base of the steps. The smell which had been faint as we approached hit like a swift slap to my face.
'Fucking hell. I've got a bad feeling here, Wolf.' He didn't wait for my reply as he trotted up the three steps and nudged the door open.
I could hear Nile's thoughts and his racing heart. He was distracted to refer to me as Wolf, although he would never admit it.
Nile was one of my most fearless warriors, but his sharp intake of breath took me by surprise. 'Wait, Alpha,' he instructed, growling.
I didn't. What met my eyes was a sight I'd never seen, and I prayed to the gods I wouldn't see again.
The first corpse lay just beyond the door, in human form, almost devoid of skin and covered in insects, its milky blue eyes stared while its lip-less mouth hung open. Nile turned away, and I heard his wolf's stomach heave.
'My apologies, Alpha.' He didn't make eye contact with me.
I returned my attention to the rest of the open foyer. A whimper caught in my throat as blood splattered walls surrounded us on all sides.
But that wasn't the worst part.
Wolves pinned to walls, some by ropes, others had nails hammered through their paws. Their chests ripped open, some had their heart removed as with the Beta, Harker. Others were missing their vital organs, kidney's, livers.
There were eleven in total. 'We should leave, Alpha. Now! Burn this place to the ground!' gagged Nile as he looked away.
This could only be one thing—Magic of the darkest kind. I would need to seek our Elders on our return home.
'No Nile, the heartbeat is coming from through there.'
Almost reluctantly, he followed me through as we headed toward the distress call of the rapid heartbeat. We found its source. To my surprise, it was their current Alpha, Malcolm Walker.
He sat, slumped in a chair and another wolf, dead, lay in the corner of the room, having suffered the same fate as the wolves we just witnessed.
I growled, but he made no movement. blood rimmed human eyes stared through me. He may have been alive, barely, but his eyes were dead as the wolves in the foyer.
'Question him Nile.'
Nile changed back to man, his bones cracking as his cries bounced from the bloody walls. Moments later he rose, standing tall, his impressive six feet frame now towering over the Alpha.
Alpha Walker neither acknowledged nor moved.
"Alpha Walker." Nile's voice was calm yet controlled.
Nile placed a hand on his shoulder and shook hard. "Alpha Walker, we demand you talk. Tell us what happened here. To you—your pack."
Nothing.
I heard his heavy sigh. "You leave me with no choice, Alpha." He slapped him hard.
Still nothing.
'Alpha.' I heard Seth.
'We have found another—one survivor.'
They'd found another—why hadn't we picked up on that earlier? 'Where Seth?'
'Beneath the water tower and...' he paused.
'What?'
'Wolf, it's a girl, a young girl... she's covered.' He paused. 'Blood, so much blood Wolf.'
'Stay with her, I will meet you there.'
I turned toward the Alpha Walker and Nile. 'Seth and Noah had found another survivor.'
"Go, I will remain here, see if I can get him to talk, although I hold little hope. His mind is surely lost."
I gave a quick nod of my head and turned. I kept my eyes forward not wanting to dwell on the dead bodies I would need to pass a second time.
~ ~
I reached Seth and Noah in less than a minute. The little girl who I presumed to be about eight or nine, stood quietly, head down. Her long black straight hair curtained her face.
Seth hadn't exaggerated when he'd said she was covered in blood. Her dress, which I'm sure had been white was drenched in dark, almost black blood. Her knees and legs were covered in scratches, her feet bare.
'Has she spoken?' Noah and Seth now stood as men, dressed only in their jeans.
"No, Alpha, it was odd. One minute she wasn't there and then she was."
"I too saw nothing, Alpha," said Noah.
I padded a little closer—slowly, as to not frighten her.
'ALPHA!—WALKER'' Nile reached out to me, his voice unnerved.
Turning, I saw what he was trying to warn of. Alpha Walker or rather his wolf was pounding towards us at speed. His eyes blood red. His teeth bared, snarling.
"Stand down," yelled Seth and Noah simultaneously, flanking me.
He didn't slow. It left me with little choice; I charged him. Growling, we met in seconds, my body slamming into his side, bowling him over. He let out a keening cry but was upright as quick as he'd gone down. His eyes were wild, his teeth snapping but his attention wasn't on me. His attention was on her... the little girl.
He wanted her dead. Leaping forwards in two strides, I went straight for his throat. With a sickening crunch, he wilted in the grip of my jaws. It had been clean, quick—a good death.
I dropped his lifeless body to the ground.
The little girl didn't move an inch.
"What the fuck?" I heard Noah whisper.
I made my way towards her. Now standing within touching distance, I could feel her breath on my face.
Nile's wolf came into my line of sight. I curled my lip up, growling. Warning him to stay back.
Lowering my head, my eyes lifted to meet hers. Unlike Alpha Walkers, hers contained life. They were alert, questioning. They reminded me of Willa's, the palest of blues. 'Ask her if she has a name, Seth.'
Seth now stood to my left, he partly knelt down, resting his forearm on his knee. "Can you tell us your name?" He spoke in a calm, soothing tone.
She lunged forward, toward me, her sudden movement caught me off guard as her small arms wrapped around my wolf's thick neck.
"I knew you'd come for me. I've been waiting," she whispered.
Tense, I slowly relaxed as she rubbed her small head into my side of my wolfs. I'd never met this little girl, but I knew we were connected somehow. 'It's time we left this place, there is nothing more for us to see.'
"You want us to perform the death rights Alpha?"
'No, burn it all to the ground. The evil that has seeped into these lands ends here.'
"But Wolf," protested Seth.
I growled, turning my head towards him. 'Do not question me, Beta—burn it all now!'
"Yes, Alpha."
"What about the girl Alpha?" asked Noah.
'She comes with us.'