Word Count: 2377
~Venn
I approach Belle's car, feeling the intangible hum of electricity in the air.
It's an old white hatchback with rusted panelling and cloudy glass. It's completely empty. No Belle in sight.
Alvera called me as she was getting into her own car, telling me about the tip. She hasn't mentioned it, but I can tell she's relying on my presence assuming the worst case scenario plays out.
When I pulled up, Alvera was hunched in the driver's seat of her car, watching Eldon, who was scoping around the car.
Thankfully, there's no decomposing body behind the wheel. No Belle.
Tugging on the driver's doors handle, I wince at the cascading pops as the seals suction releases. No one has been in here for a while. Flecks of rust even come away from the door hinge as I yank it open.
"Keys are in the ignition," I tell Belle, popping the trunk latch so she can check in there.
"Her boot is just full of old shopping bags," she calls out after a brief pause.
Tugging the keys out, I slip them into my pocket. Eldon clambers into the backseat, disgust curling at his nose as he takes in the scent of decaying food and stale air freshener.
I ignore the stickiness of the latches as I check every possible compartment, finding only old food packaging and yellowing envelopes.
"Nothing in the back seat." Eldon's arm is elbow deep in a sea of energy drink cans behind the seats. "Wait..."
"What, Eldon?" Belle asks, slamming the trunk closed.
"I take it back." He emerges from the car at the same time as I do, holding a clear glass bottle above his head. "Half drunk bottle of booze under the seat."
"Classy Belle." Alvera rolls her eyes. "Did you check the glove compartments, Venn?"
"Nothing notable," I respond.
We gather at the front of the car, staring it down. It sits at the top most reachable point by road of this mountain, parked off the gravel road rather than up on the proper car park that is the lookout.
Alvera brings her hand up to her chest, pressing the pendant of her necklace between her fingers. "Shit."
"It's okay-"
"It's not okay, is it?" She whirls to face me, a heat in her eyes that has me pausing. "Why would she bring her car up here? It's just a lookout. Either she was kidnapped, or she wandered off into the forest and something terrible happened to her."
She sweeps her arm out, encompassing the incredible view.
Access to the lookout provides visitors with a view of the expansive forest, disrupted only by some winding roads and a large lake that is seated far in the distance. What is doesn't provide is anywhere else to go but down.
Belle came up here for a reason, and is either still here, or she left her car behind.
"She may have lent her car to someone," I remind Alvera cautiously.
There's a bitter taste in my mouth. The theory that Belle left town seems even more unlikely now, but bringing that up won't do Alvera any good. She looks like she's ready to keel over, wrap her arms around her knees and scream.
"Don't try to be so nice, Venn. Not now," she snaps, digging her hands into her hair.
Eldon wanders away, unsure of how to comfort her. Even he is being weighed down by the impending sense of dread.
I look away, a gentle breeze ruffling my hair, my clothing. It promises heavy rainfall as much as the thick mass of dark clouds above us do. We can't be here much longer.
"The grass is tramped here," Eldon brings up suddenly. "Good place to start."
My jaw hardens as I take in where he is standing. It's been impossible not to notice where we are, where Belle has chosen to park her car. Given what she knows, I wouldn't be surprised if she made a trek through the forest in that direction.
Alvera rounds the car. The long grass been flattened by human movement, leading into the depths of the forest. Past the two larger bushes is a worn path I've ventured down myself many times.
"Why would she go that way though?" She questions, scratching behind her ear.
"Believe it or not, that's the way to the Alpha King's estate," I tell her reluctantly.
I was planning on bringing her there, to sate her curiosity. Now, there is a good chance Belle is there, waiting for me.
She knows who I am. She knows I am the Alpha King, set to return to my position of power shortly.
She wants it to be her who I choose. Even though she knows it's not how it works...
Alvera's eyes widen as she looks up at me. "Wait, really?"
I slide my hands into my pockets. "It's three hour walk in."
"Let's go."
I grab her arm before she can make her start, turning her to face me. I understand that she's desperate to find answers, but she doesn't understand the risks she's undertaken by doing this.
"Uh ah. I don't think so, Alvera. There's a storm coming and night isn't too far away. Even if we walk fast we won't beat dusk." I point to the darkening sky.
She looks up, her expression only hardening with determination.
"We have to. I can't have another night go by with Belle out there." She drops her voice a touch, like she knows her big green eyes and desperate expression weaken me. "I need to do something."
I sigh through my nose. By the look over her fists pressed against her sides and her furrowed brow, she's not going to relent. She'll wait till I've gone before she storms in there without me.
Sensing my turn in judgement, Eldon holds up the bottle of bourbon.
"If we are going, I'm bringing this."
"Fine, but we must be quick," I bite out. "Walk fast, don't linger."
The walk isn't unforgiving, but it's not easy either. Regardless, with one last glance up at the rain laden clouds, I start off with Alvera and Eldon at my heel.
We walk in silence for a while.
Alvera's steps are heavy behind me as she stays deep in thought. I want to cut through her reeling inner monologue to reassure her, but nothing comes to mind.
There is only so much that can be said without revealing who I am, and what Belle knows about me. I can't risk Alvera finding out. The danger is would put her in...I just need to make sure she leaves, and soon.
The first hour passes in stride. The rain is holding off, but not for long.
No word of complaint arises from behind me. The track is dry and anxiousness to arrive at our destination chases us up steeper slopes and over fallen debris and through dense bushes with ease.
Other than the sounds of the cautious wildlife preparing for an encroaching storm, the only other noise comes from Eldon. Occasionally I hear the sound of liquid tipping in a bottle as he downs large gulps of the bourbon.
If he needs it to get through this walk, then so be it.
"I really hope she's just staking out at the house, waiting for the Alpha King to arrive," Alvera says after a while.
"That would be certain death," I mutter.
"Belle's done more foolish things."
I laugh softly under my breath. She indeed has. The most foolish thing she has ever done was come to me, demanding I tell her everything I know about werewolves. I was stunned. I couldn't comprehend how she, a simple human, knew. Who could possibly tell her? My pack members were far away, at the time.
Someone told her. Who it was has never been divulged by her, but I'm assuming it was one of my pack members she became entangled with.
Regardless, I'm hoping with everything in me that this elusive person she is in connection with isn't involved with her disappearance.
"What is this place like, Venn?" Alvera asks softly.
"Derelict," I say. "However, I'm assuming it was warded before the Alpha was forced to leave it behind."
"Warded?"
"Protected by magic," I clarify. "There may be more to the place than what we see."
"Creepy," Eldon says from behind us. He's fallen a few paces back, and there's a slight slur to the end of his words.
I hold back my smile. Humans have such a poor understanding of werewolves. What Eldon finds creepy what I've known my entire life. Wolves aren't creepy, just protective of their own kind.
"So they source their magic from nature, right?" Alvera asks.
"Only certain aspects of it. The pack that once occupied this land chose it because they mountain was said to hold magical properties," I explain.
"Were they right?"
"Of course." Werewolves are never wrong. "They never recorded why this mountain exactly, but I would assume it's actually a sleeping volcano, and certain minerals found in them carry magical properties forged at the beginning of time."
I know this for a fact, but I only divulge to Alvera what I know she cannot use to reveal my identity. I know this so well because I use this land to draw my own magic from daily.
"Why didn't I know this?" Alvera doesn't sound suspicious, just curious.
She has no reason to think I'm a werewolf. She assumes the treaty is barring the Alpha King from passing the border, but she is wrong.
"They don't teach anyone about the volcano," I admit. "It's folklore at this point, but I know it to be true."
"So they get their magic from rocks?" Eldon questions, sounding like he's mocking me.
I roll my shoulders, focusing on the leaves as the breeze whispers through them, on the sturdy trunks we weave through, and on the dimness of dusks shadows.
"Only those belonging to a certain bloodline," I retort.
"The Alpha's bloodline?" Alvera guesses.
"Yes." I watch as she falls into step with me as the path widens slightly. "They carry these minerals around to amplify their inherent power. And use the magic from the river that comes down from the mountain."
Aside the markings on my body, there are tattoos. The ink has mineral incorporated into it before being etched into my skin as I can draw on it as I please. No one can take my power from me, restrict it.
And people like Alvera can't check my body for evidence of me hiding any magical talisman. All they see is an ordinary man.
"So that's why they built the house next to one," she murmurs, more to herself than me. She's recalling what she knows from the little research she has managed to do.
"Indeed."
"How do you know so much? I've never come across such good information," she accuses.
"The librarian has a vault underground. One evening I managed to get the key off her and I did some independent research," I say.
It's not entirely untrue. I have stolen the key from her, but not for the reason I just laid out. Rather, I went down to compare human accounts of the war to werewolves. They were disappointingly different, but that was to be expected.
Humans hate werewolves. They hate their power, they hate what they are capable of.
"I'm eager to return to the library and read that old book again," Alvera admits with a dreamy sigh.
"I burnt it." I grimace before I even hear her reaction.
She stops dead in her tracks, a stumbling Eldon nearly slamming into her back. "You what?"
"People have been coming to the town with a warped perception of what these werewolves will be like. Many want to offer themselves as sacrifices, as potential brides or grooms for the Alpha King," I tell her, turning to face her. "Fanatics were coming into the library to read as much material as possible to feed their delusions."
"Oh, good call," Eldon states, although I doubt he is paying much attention.
"People want to marry the Alpha King? That's disturbing." She wraps her arms around herself, unsettled by the notion.
She should be scared. The thought of being married to the Alpha King, to me, should disturb her. She has no idea what such a union would entail for her, a human woman.
If I chase her out of town as I plan to, then she will never have to know.
"The Alpha King is more human than wolf. They shift only when necessary," I explain. "But that doesn't mean he will be weak. He will be stronger than any human that walks the earth. These foolish people are asking to be slaughtered in the name of curiosity."
I have no interest in choosing one of those women as my bride. I don't want to choose anyone, because doing so...well, I hardly want to consider it.
But I won't have much choice. Soon, I will be overcome by the power of the Moon Goddess, and a decision will be made for me.
And unless I intervene first, Alvera is going to be the one that is chosen. I don't know how I know, I just do.
"You could have waited for me to return. I would have happily taken it off the towns hands," she states, brushing past me.
We all follow her as she picks her way uneasily through the undergrowth, trying to follow the overgrown track.
"I was hoping I would never see you again, Alvera," I admit softly.
Her shoulders tense but she continues walking.
I don't mean to sound cruel, but if that's what it takes to get her out of my reach, then I'll do it. I refuse to let the Moon Goddess claim her on my behalf.
"Are we nearly there? My feet hurt," Eldon groans pitifully.
I exhale slowly, shaking my head. "Not yet. But soon."
🖤••🖤
Hey everyone, thank you so much for reading this story, it means a lot!
If you want to read ahead at any point, you can read this story 10 chapters ahead on Radish and 15 chapters ahead on Inkitt (:
~Midika 💜🐼