Chapter 3 - THE WOLF WHO SHOULDN’T EXIST
1635 Words
RIVEN’S POV
Blood splattered on the floor as I felt the heavy blow crash through my skull, a flash of red sparked behind my eyes.
‘You don’t know when to give up, don’t you ?’ I ask with a small grin on my face.
My fingers slightly graze against my swollen cheek, and I say, ‘Ouch, that hurts.’
My cousin, Lucien, clenches his fist as he makes his way to my abdomen. I dodge his attack and head for his arm, twisting it with one hand, while the other reaches for his abdomen.
‘s**t !’ he exclaims as my hand strikes his middle, sending him across the room, his back slamming against the wall with a loud thud.
‘Well, I’m glad you still have it in you,’ he voices, his eyes changing to grey with flecks of gold.
‘It’s always fun when we get to play like this,’ I utter as I make my way to him, stretching out my hand for his.
He grabs my already injured fingers, pulling me down to the ground instead.
My stomach begins to hurt as we both start laughing.
‘You are one crazy bastard, Mr. Riven,’ he says.
‘Not as crazy as you,’ I reply.
We both get up on our feet and make our way out of the training ground.
‘How long are we going to keep fighting off these rouges ?’ Lucien asks.
I let out a deep sigh as I stared blankly into the sky.
For the past few months, our pack, the Crimson Claw Pack, has been under attack from intruders.
Spies have been lurking around trying to feed off inside information.
Our wolves have fallen ill due to spells cast on them by mages.
The thieves continue to steal all our ancient artifacts.
We have lost a large number of our kind, and it’s all because of Valen Duskmoor.
Something felt off, I just couldn’t put my finger on it.
Whatever Valen wanted from us was far greater than we could imagine.
I turn to Lucien and say, ‘Till we can finally take down Blackfang pack,’ clenching my fist in annoyance. ‘Valen Duskmoor will do everything in his power to take us down; we need to fight harder.’
‘What if we don’t ?’ Lucien's voice lowers, uncertain. ‘We could talk to Valen and make a deal, we’ve already lost 15 pack members in less than two weeks, we can’t keep fighting, Riven.’
We had to keep fighting; that was what our ancestors did to give us the freedom we have now.
‘All that matters is that we win,’ I raise.
‘What do you mean ?’
‘It doesn’t matter how we win, we just have to win.’ I say
‘Wait,’ he added, ‘you want to play dirty ?’
‘You know the only reason I’ve been calm was because of Kael.’ I grumble. ‘And see how that turned out.’
Lucien lets out a laugh and says, ‘Hey, he’s older than you, so he has the final say.’
‘Whatever you say,’ I growl in annoyance. ‘I’m heading back to the pack house, catch you later, man.’
I walk away, leaving Lucien at the training ground, my heart heavy from the pain I felt in my chest.
******** 20 YEARS AGO*********
‘Kael, why don’t you show your brother how to play Wolf Trail? ’ Our dad calls out from the front of our porch.
Kael gives me a look of disgust as he signals me to come over.
‘You don’t have to make it clear that you hate me,’ I utter as we make our way to the woods.
Kael is still silent, his fist clenched as he turns around to face me.
His back pupils vanished, replaced with an icy blue glow.
‘I don’t hate you, Riven,’ he says, ‘I just hate the fact that you are here.’
He turns around immediately and stomps his feet violently as we go deeper into the woods.
Same thing.
As we go deeper into the woods, the smell of wet trees and the sounds of rustling leaves fill the air.
Something was off; this wasn’t the road to our usual play spot.
‘Kael, are you sure we are going the right way ?’ I ask, my voice low and trembling.
Thunder suddenly strikes, and Kael lets out a scary laugh.
‘There’s nothing to worry about, brother, ’ he states as he keeps on walking deeper into the woods, the sound of his feet reducing with every step as the rain begins to pour.
The sky is dark and gloomy, and the trees are shaking violently as we proceed along.
I can no longer hear Kael, just his silhouette leading me into the unknown.
The ground is soft and mossy, and I feel my feet sink into the earth with every step I take.
My eyes quickly spot the strange symbols resting on the bark of the trees.
No way.
The Night Root Forest.
‘Do you want to get us killed ?’ I scream, my voice drowning in the sound of the rain. ‘Dad warned us to never come here.’
He suddenly stops and turns around to face me.
‘Don’t be a loser, Riven,’ he says. ‘It’s just a game, plus, what fun would it be if we didn’t play with a little bit of tension?’
Kael was known as the quiet and calm one, while I was wild and impulsive, but you know what they say about quiet people, they are usually the craziest.
We finally stopped in our tracks, and I looked around. We were at the centre of the Night Root Forest, with extremely tall trees surrounding us, and sharp and glowing streaks of silver ran through their barks, signaling some kind of ancient magic.
‘You know you are crazy, Kael.’ I say, ‘What would Dad say when he finds out that his 9 and 11-year-old sons are at the center of a freaking forbidden forest?’
‘He’ll be fine,’ he added, ‘This isn’t my first time anyway.’
My mouth widens in shock.
‘Wolf Trail isn’t that difficult,’ Kael states. ‘All you have to do is follow the scent markers or paw print symbols that will lead you to the secret den.’
He points over to the tree a few metres away from us. ‘Right there,’ he utters. ‘Only 13 trees have the paw print symbols, which will lead you to the den; you need to find the den first to win the game.’
‘What happens if I can’t find the den ?’ I ask.
‘The you have to make it back home,’ he states as he takes off his clothes, getting ready to shift.
‘And, oh, by the way,’ he says.’ Whatever you do, do not listen to the voices.’
‘Wait, what ?, what voi-,’
Before I complete my sentence, Kael runs deeper into the woods in his wolf form.
I slowly take off my clothes, my head still spinning from how large this forest is.
And that’s when I hear the voices.
Loud and clearer than ever.
‘You don’t belong here.’
*********** THE PRESENT **********
‘We have a new set of rouges from the Black Fang Pack at the Crimson Claw border, we need backup, ASAP,’ Koda exclaims as soon as he sets eyes on me.
I wasn’t expecting chaos and commotion at the pack house when I arrived.
The pack house reeked of sweat and panic. Wolves paced, growled low, ears pinned back. Fear had settled like a storm cloud.
What the hell happened here?
‘Hold up,’ I say. ‘What’s going on ?’ My eyes met Koda’s stressed ones.
‘I don’t have all the information yet,’ he says, his eyes looking around the place. ‘But, I know one thing for sure, we are under attack, and we’ve lost 3 of our strongest fighters to the Black Fang Pack.’
Shit.
‘Where the f**k is Kael ?’ I scream as we both make our way to the border.
‘Kael has found the Prophecy,’ he states.
The prophecy?
Is this what this is about?
‘The Black Fang is killing all our pack members over some stupid myth that doesn’t even exist.’ Koda adds.
If only you knew, the prophecy is very much real.
We finally arrive at the border, and wild snarls and the sizzling scent of blood fill the air.
The Black Fang wolves are engaging in combat with our wolves. One of them pushes one of our Omegas down to the ground, sinking his teeth into his shoulder with a brutal snap.
Dirt flies around the air as one of our wolves gets thrown to the ground by a very violent looking black furred rogue.
‘We’re outnumbered,’ I say out loud.
‘Where do you think they might be coming from ?’ Koda says.
‘They’re pushing in from the Hollow Verge.’ I say. ‘That’s the only way anyone who comes in can get out.’
I give Koda a light tap on his shoulders as I say, ‘Koda, you are an exceptional tracker. I need you to go to the Hollow Verge and block the entry. I’ll stay here and handle these rogues.’
Koda gives me a reassuring nod. ‘Sure thing, boss.’
He shifts into his wolf form, bone cracking, claws extending, human teeth replaced with fangs.
‘One more thing, Koda.’ I say. ‘Don’t get killed, I can’t lose another one of my own.’
He nods and runs off.
Time to face these assholes.
If they want war, they just found the wrong wolf to mess with.
- Writer
