The dark bricks all around were adjoining the houses together. Some had two stairs as a porch for their entrances while some had plain entrances like Karam's one room flat had.
I rolled my eyes mentally while observing the muddy pathway around the leather slippers I was given by Amelia. Looked like Karam had given my size for the new footwear that would be just for me. But it wasn't ready yet. While for the time being, I could use Stella's sandals. The leather straps were criss crossed simply with the flats. They were comfortable since this was the first time I was not walking barefoot in the Lycan territory.
In front of me, were standing the eighty to ninety members of the pack. Some of them had pointy ears, mostly males. The costumes were appealing with low necks, bandanas, high leathered boots, necklaces, frilly gowns and even leathered jackets.
I could wonder how many families would they be in total. Maybe, twelve or thirteen if every family had members like Kingston had.
Thinking of him, he was standing with Amelia and the pups on our right side. Between his family and us, were standing Robin and Nysa with their pups. Turned out, apart from Stella and Denisa, they had one more daughter Lucy. Did I know it already? I couldn't remember then. Because Nysa just introduced me to them, calling me their so called 'new Aunt'.
After them was standing Karam beside me, staring ahead with blankness in his eyes. We hadn't talked since he had left in the morning. It was evening now.
Amelia had kept me tortured with asking me to stay presentable in a new pair of long skirt and top. She made those tight braids again of my hair and leaving half of then down. She moved my nose ring while applying oil, asking me to start moving it now absentmindedly so the hole could stay loose and healthy.
I was jet-lagged honestly. Just by their conditions and orders.
I felt like yelling on the top of lungs "Fuck you, all" and disappear.
Only if it was possible.
On my right side, Lysar was standing with a smirk on his face, eyeing up the unmated and mated females who were already gazing at him. Honestly, they were staring at all the four brothers. I couldn't decipher what was so attracting in these cavemen.
Perpendicular to Lysar, another row was formed by Salome and his mate, Natasha. She was the one who had won the upper hand ritual and I couldn't agree more. She looked badass from the confident smirks on her face. She didn't look like she was an outsider. It pained me to see that she had given up too and was enjoying the life here with the way, she was smiling back at her mate. Beside her was standing a little girl, might be six-year-old or less. Her name was Costina, they had told me.
It was surprising to get a tight hug from Natasha. Unlike Amelia or Nysa, she was cool with less compliments for me and more reality about Lucine.
"Just be quiet in front of her," she had suggested while patting my cheek.
My eyes moved further to observe Salome's two younger siblings. Oskar who looked same age as of Karam with his long beard and high bun. Except Karam didn't have those big blue eyes.
Younger than him was. . . Noira, I guess. She had knee-length hair and I couldn't stop staring at the one braid she had made of them. Her features were innocent with cute puffy lips and parrot-like nose, but that braid was snaked over her shoulder, ready to whiplash someone.
Ahead of her, was standing a man with angry looks. His very vibe was indigestible when Amelia introduced them to me.
"Human," he had hummed with squinted blue eyes, and clenched jaws. "Make her rip those hair off your head at night, Karam. Notorious souls are meant to be tamed."
He was a misogynist by the very face and words. My jaws clenched when I observed Alvena's blank expressions. They didn't look like a happy couple by any means. She was holding her two-year-old girl, Annie. While the elder son was standing beside her, clutching her skirt in his little firsts, being the same age as of Costina.
And again, beside her were standing unmated Adam and unmated Alma.
By the tight half pony, I could get the vibe that he was in the race of growing hair and beard too. Alma on the other side, had a turned up nose with cute rabbit teeth showing up too. But her sharp blue eyes were telling another story. Her hair were braided tight. What caught my main attention was a talisman around her neck.
I gulped slowly.
"Your heart's beating faster, sister-in-law. What scares you?" Lysar asked, leaning down towards me, making me blink in blankness.
"A stupid conversation with you," I said through gritted teeth.
He chuckled lightly. "Oh! Is that so? Why? You think you might fall for my voice or words," he teased, humming slightly.
Anton's eyes moved over to us, his sharp nose twitching at the scene.
"Your words. Oh, I know your words," I said, clenching my jaws. "She walks. She walks. You have never seen a girl walk before?"
Lycan snickered, turning into a cough immediately. "You are going to get my butts spanked by your mate," he commented and gave me the cheeky smile when I glanced at him. "I have never seen a female walk after her first night with her mate."
I sucked in a breath and clenched my fists tight. But before I could even think of a comeback, someone hit him on the head.
"Oww!" Lyzar frowned while rubbing his hair.
"You dared to say that to my mate, I swear I am dragging you with your hair to the mountains." Karam gritted his teeth, irritatingly while my lips parted in surprise.
They were so tall, they didn't need to care about a midget like me being their audience and be disturbed. No, I wasn't. Keep exchanging slaps for all I could care. Yeah, I looked like a midget standing between them.
I looked back at the front, hearing giggles from Costina and Larc.
"I wasn't the one talking big words about how I am going to fuck my mate against the wooden fence, against the canopy pillar, on the banks of the river, inside the wet den—" Lyzar mimicked while glancing at his brother, only to duck another hit on his head.
My eyes widened slowly in disbelief and my stomach churned in extreme terror.
What the fuck!
I was now scared shitless of Karam if he was having those bizarre fetishes in his mind.
The sudden drum was beaten all of a sudden. It was so loud, I was stunned and startled.
The crowd and the families, all of them straightened and turned quiet.
My gaze raised up to the terrace far away of one house. A giant parade drum was assigned there. He beat it again, making my heart pound in uncertainty.
"Ah! The usual," Lyzar mumbled while staring at front.
I looked at the faces of the members in the front. All had lowered down their faces as if ready to bow.
"Make way!" Someone shouted from behind. "They are arriving!"
It was such a loud heavy voice, accompanied with a loud growl.
The drum was beaten again, making the crowd part in two sections and stagger backwards slowly.
My heart started drowning in extreme nervousness.
The red cloak was surely protecting me from the cold evening wind. But the chills were from the environment around.
Everyone looked alert and sincere. What the hell was happening! Even Anton's expressions had turned into obedient ones.
Just as the crowd parted, my gaze went towards the street going far away towards the mountains and hiding in one of their forest belts. The street was too long and broad like an adult river. With the dry muddy paths and no stones in the way.
My legs started shaking when even the pups turned silent and started sniffing in the air. Could they smell her already?
The drum was beaten into a rhythm now on every third second.
Further anxiety filled me in my chest when the crowd in the front started bowing slowly and stood like that even when I could see no one in the streets.
I gulped hard in the unknown terror. I didn't know what I was getting scared of.
There were no bagpipes, no flutes and wines. This was no party. Something seemed off. I was totally getting the feeling of something bad.
Biting my quivering lips, I blinked in nervousness.
The drum beats were echoing everywhere, in my mind and heart. In the mountains, in this small valley.
All of a sudden, a large hand pulled my hand open, loosening my hold on my cloak. The fingers intertwined with mine and I shakily glanced at Karam on my left side.
I had to crane my neck up to see him looking alert and obedient in that tight bun on the top of his head. But for me, he was still dangerous. Still murderous and a scary Lycan.
The warmth from his hand spread to mine, my nostrils flared in emotion when he squeezed my palm slightly.
Those amber orbs were telling me to keep calm. Yet the hidden warning was there too.
Agree and nod like you mean it.
I bit my lip and looked back at the front only to gasp silently at the red filling the street.
Blood red cloaks were walking with the big hoods covering half of the faces, only their chins were visible.
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion and shock at what I was just witnessing.
Their cloaks flowed along with the wind while their steps were rhythmic just like the drum.
I tried to count from the far but all I could notice that three of them were leading the group.
Like a cult.
The crowd stepped back more, as the group of the walking cloaks neared.
Shivers ran down my spine when the face of the leading woman in the middle had started to clear in my sight.
The vibe I got was chilling my spine.
Dum! Dum! Dum!
The drum beats were enhancing the level of anxiety. I couldn't guess who they were. What kind of a group that was in a pack of Lycans and Werewolves?
Going back to my life before the Werewolf adventure began, I had read about witch covens, Vampire covens in fantasy novels. But that was fantasy.
This was real.
"Severa," whispered Lysar beside me with glassiness in his eyes.
On my other side, my mate started to whisper too. "Severa. Severa."
The name started being chanted by the whole family from the whispers to the loud cold cheers. The rest of the members, the common ones, still bowing for the group that was arriving, chanted the name.
"Severa. Severa. Severa."
I looked around feeling chills running down my spine.
"Severa!" Dum!
"Severa!" Dum!
"Severa!" Dum!
The cloaks started nearing the common wolves, their feet weren't even visible under those long trails. Walking together, matching movements with their hands hidden underneath their long sleeves.
"Severa!" Karam chanted along with the same glassiness in his eyes, making me scared as hell.
It turned frightening when I slowly opened my fingers and removed my hand from his. He let me and didn't even react. He wasn't even blinking.
No one was.
The air around was some witness, like a spy as if it was keeping eyes on everyone here.
"Severa! Severa!"
I looked around and felt if only I was the sober one. As if only I was the one not hypnotized.
The common wolves started raising their heads when the cloaks moved past them towards us.
My heart jolted in fright when the woman in the front looked me right in the eye. Her face blank as the blue sky above with no clouds.
"Severa! Severa!"
I blinked in terror.
The common wolves started breaking the broad way they had made as the fifteen to sixteen cloaks entered the big circle we all had made.
The wind passed like a reporter on duty, blowing our hair and sleeves.
By their tall and medium heights, the hair down visibly falling on their chests covered in red plain dresses—I saw they were all women.
The woman in the front smirked slightly who looking at me. Her hand raised high making the chants stop. The last drum was beaten and she blinked in satisfaction.
My jaw dropped when Kingston walked out of the row to reach the woman with curved pointy noise and very thin lips.
With his tall height and heavy muscular body, Kingston looked like the Alpha of Lycans should be.
I wondered when they all daily wore no-collared shirts, leather breeches, fabric breeches, leather jackets, boots and those stylish leather belts with two-three straps—why did they wear those tribal cloths at the fourth night of the ceremony?
They looked fine in these clothes then the ones in those animal furs.
Kingston bowed, slightly.
The Alpha of the Lycans bowed to that woman.
My spine was chilled. What the hell.
The woman nodded and smiled like a philosopher. "Bless you, brother Alpha."
Kingston raised his head back, staying one step away from her, looking down at her. "Lucine, welcome home."
The realization hit me hard as I tried to find the similarities between them or with other brothers. But with those beards, I couldn't guess. I wondered if her and Miggy were identical twins.
She was beautiful, though. Tall like her brothers but still shorter than them. I couldn't decide what color of eyes she had because from the far I could only see yellow sparks around the pupils.
"My home is in the mountains with the Goddess, brother." The voice was cold and authoritative.
"Of course," said Kingston with a serious nod.
"The pack grows," she said, smiling with closed lips.
My eyebrows furrowed absentmindedly as Kingston smiled slowly. "Yes, sister. With the blessings of the Goddess, it grows."
Kingston looked straight at me and gestured for her. "There," he said while the woman had already started walking towards me.
Her eyes moved on Karam and she smiled wide.
Karam smiled back, to my utter irritation. In front of her, he looked like an obedient little brother.
"How have you been, my brother?" She asked while stopping in front of her.
Karam smiled while glancing at me. "Fortunate, sister."
She hummed in amusement. "Delighted. Grateful."
Lucine blinked, her smile turning tight as her eyes fell on me finally. The yellow orbs were encircled by blue shells.
Moving her gaze fron my toe to up to my head, her smile faded into a straight line.
She stepped in front of me, slowly.
"A human."
How strange! Right?
She blinked while observing my whole face, making me lower my eyes in between. "A beautiful soul, indeed."
My eyes raised to meet hers. Her like parted.
"Sorrows are forgotten when happiness covers it all," she said, looking blankly at me. "Like a mist, you covered it all."
My heart jolted at her words.
"Alpha Gilbert's pack," she asked through gritted teeth, showing no anger on her face.
"Alpha Pete, sister." Karam corrected politely while I felt her gaze on my face.
"I don't smell the Rucus blood in her," she said through clenched jaws. "What a calamity."
I looked in her eyes, not liking her words.
Moving her hand to palm my stomach, she made me uncomfortable to the core.
"A heir it will be."
Cheers erupted loud around. Kingston laughed roughly, the skin collecting at the corner of his eyes just like Karam.
I breathed shakily when she narrowed her eyes. "Not a weak womb, I see."
How the hell could she know!
I gritted my teeth, biting my tongue to control it from flapping inside.
"No Rucus blood. A heir. Four pups, I see."
"Yeah. . ." Lysar hooted while patting Karam's forearm over my head.
"How do you know?" I asked immediately, making gasps erupt around.
The cheers stopped who the wind blew in amusement.
I shuddered at the surprise in her gaze.
"The Goddess tells me," she whispered who leaning closer to me.
"Moon Goddess?" I asked restlessly, still my heart was pounding at the sudden negative attention and unknown horror.
She smiled knowingly. "She is everyone's Goddess. But for some secret blessings, we worship someone from our pack only. Who can bless only her loved ones. Goddess Severa," she said the name like a taunting joke.
My mouth parted in disbelief. They were worshipping her? I mean, like calling her Goddess?
"Just like your mother worships Alpha Rucus," she said through the gritted teeth.
I blinked while Karam's gaze made me feel aware of my surroundings. Otherwise, I was seriously getting hypnotized by the scary woman.
"What's this group?" I whispered shakily. It came out so bluntly and innocently.
I bit my tongue and cupped my mouth.
She smiled kindly at me that didn't seem so kind at all. "The followers of Severa. The whole pack is but we, dressed in red, worship her day and night. Karam will bring you to the temple to visit us while you are still virgin, I smell."
I gulped hard. Ah! God! Kill me? Why don't you?
Right.
Glancing at Karam, he was looking at us with blankness on his face. Our eyes met and he just stared blankly, not saying anything.
"Only virgins visit us. The temple is hidden in those mountains," she said while pointing at the big mountain far away when the lengthy street was ending.
My eyebrows raised in confusion.
"Why? You don't have a mate?" I whispered softly since she was being polite to me.
The crowd stiffened. All of them turned scared at my question.
Lucine smiled, showing her teeth.
The soul in me screamed at the shiny sharp canines.
"I killed him."
I gasped silently, feeling chill around my legs.
I so wanted to ask her how did she manage to do it! Such an inspiration!
But removing her hand off my belly, she smiled and said, "We will talk more when you come to visit me and take Severa's blessings."
She looked at my mate. . . My so-called mate.
"Karam?"
He nodded obediently. "I will bring my bride to you, sister."
She was pleased. Stepping backwards, she turned around to face her group members.
A woman in the front that looked of same age as of Lucine, elder than Kingston yet young enough to charm any man.
She was tall and healthy, I could tell. Like the chubby ones. Like me. Her chubby cheeks were giving me the cute vibe.
But then she stepped ahead with the bundle of cloth in her hands.
"Amelia," Lucine said like she was singing her name in fake sadness.
To my surprise, the woman was leaking tears. I was shocked as hell. Amelia could cry? I thought, she just knew how to make others cry. Especially, me.
"It's time."
Amelia nodded with trembling lips.
"Nysa?" Lucine said blankly, making the woman nod. "Who else? Let me guess." She sang slightly, turning around. "Noira? Alma?"
The girls stepped out making Salome and Anton tensed.
Kingston clenched his jaws as Reveka and Emily stepped ahead too.
The chubby girl gave the cloths to the girls who made rows in front of her. They were cloaks.
Reveka, Emily, Stella—started wearing them over their clothes.
"Barald?" Lucine asked loudly.
A man with face older than Gilbert, came in the front. His hair were tied back into a low bun. His eyes and nose were angry or maybe, his face was just like that. Like Anton.
Barald nodded obediently at Lucine.
"Janine!" He growled, making the girl come out from the crowd hesitantly. "Hurry!"
Lucine tilted her head and pouted. "Calm down, Barald. She is your blood. She will learn to be enthusiastic," she said, observing Janine as she shakily walked towards the chubby girl.
"Sister," Janine muttered in greeting with glossy eyes.
The girl smirked humorlessly at her. "Welcome to the cult, little one."
"Alora! Melanie!" Lucine said loudly, her smile fading as she took more names. The girls came out from the crowd and wore the cloaks, joining in the with the group.
Two more girls came out and Lucine sighed in satisfaction. "What a delight," she announced. "More worshippers for our Goddess."
My eyes fell on Emily who was standing beside an irritated Reveka, mixed in the group in their red cloaks.
Emily smiled sadly at seeing me.
I couldn't even decipher what was happening and why.
I was getting dumb by staying in this pack.
I smiled back tightly at her, making her blink in acknowledgement.
The drum was beaten all of a sudden.
I was startled enough to jump slightly.
Karam grabbed my hand again, churning my stomach. I didn't look at him.
Lucine smiled widely, putting her canines on display.
"The pack will prosper,
More claws, more delight!" She growled loudly, making me shudder.
"I bless the new couple,
Bless their pups,
blessing with all my might!"
Karam squeezed my hand as the drum was beaten again.
My heart started beating faster when Lucine looked at me.
"Live for the Moon and
for her, you die,
Pack comes first,
Ain't a hidden lie!"
The cheers erupted around, Kingston nodded while flaring his nostrils in emotion.
Lucine smirked as my jaw had dropped listening to the familiar slogan.
"Severa stays where
mountain touches the sky,
Half-wolfs stay down at the plateau,
Where the esteemed Alpha falsify!" She laughed, nodding her head with hand raised in mockery.
From my peripheral vision, I could see Karam flaring his nostrils blankly as more cheers and howls erupted around the common wolves and the big family.
"Though, the mist is cleared,
A human looks at me eye to eye;" she chuckled hard while giving me the taunting look.
"Better than Rucus blood,
She tells me;" Lucine pointed her finger in the air while looking around smugly, making me stunned.
The crowd was hypnotized again.
"Rosetta! Janine! Reveka! Do you hear me?" Lucine asked, goofily. She chuckled hard as the chubby one nodded in amusement.
Reveka and Janine were only quiet and blank.
"Better than Rucus blood,
Severa tells me;
If the Moon is mistaken,
I wonder why!"
Kingston laughed as Lucine nodded at the crowd proudly.
I glanced at Karam who gave me the blink of assurance.
Yet when I looked back at the front, the whole crowd was looking at me.
Lucine pointed at me and nodded with a smirk.
"The Moon is clever,
Severa tells me,
So is the human,
We must spy!" Lucine announced, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes at me.
The crowd silenced while I gulped shakily.
What did I do now? Took birth on this planet!
Yeah! I get it.
Lucine walked closer to me like a seductive witch, yet she was a Lycan when her hair blew along with the hood, giving me the view of raised ears.
"Pack comes first,
Or the mate?
The Moon's answer fades,
For she is too high," she said through clenched jaws and flared her nostrils.
"Rucus proved, the pack is,
Severa says, it is the mate.
May you give us the heir, Oh Human!
So we stay alive and find the answer! Aye!"
"Aye!" Kingston howled loudly.
The crowd started chanting. "Aye!"
They all were looking at me.
I could feel the burden on my shoulders. The senseless burden. The senseless terror in my heart and v*gina.
Lucine scoffed to herself, smirking slightly.
Turning around, the drum was beaten at her every step towards the mountains. The cult followed her along with the girls she chose newly. Their cloaks dancing at the wind's choreography.
The crowd parted and bowed.
Amelia sobbed softly while Nysa did too.
None of the girls looked back.
The red cloaks were retreating.
But the chants of 'Ayes' were still around, to erupt my death.
The drum was beaten until the red cloaks disappeared. The evening was turning darker.
People started dispersing.
Karam's hand holding mine was making me more aware of the deadly trap I was stuck in.
For the last time, Kingston chuckled knowingly at me, his beard moving along as he yelled, "Aye!"
Why can't you all fucking die?
____
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