Mark of the Moon

In the twilight of dawn, the forest woke up abruptly to the cries of despair which were later followed by howls of fury. Dhruv and his friends were getting ready for their daily training routine, when they heard the cries. They instantly shifted to their wolf forms before sprinting towards the source of trouble. They were a pack of six werewolves. Dhruv, Myra, Sonu, Krish, Rishi and Veer. It took them five minutes to reach the spot where they saw 2 mangled bodies, looking pale as if drained out of blood. They had no injuries on their bodies except for the bite marks on their necks and their eyes were glossy staring at the sky in terror and pain. A simple bite or cut is not fatal to werewolves. Because they would ideally heal before they drained out of blood. These fatalities were not caused by simple bites. They were sucked out of blood until death. This could only be the deed of the most cursed creatures on earth. As the sky turned orange and shed some light, Dhruv and his friends scampered through the surroundings searching and sniffing for any trail marks or scent. They wanted to put an end to these mysterious murders. Having found no clue, the six hurried back to the murdered bodies. They knelt down forming a circle around the bodies, said their prayer and howled in unison. Soon all the pack members assembled at the place of incident which was at the foot of the hills just beside the fresh water stream. As their family members slumped and cried uncontrollably at the sight of the lifeless bodies, the pack members grew restless. “Until when will this continue?” scowled a middle aged woman, glaring at Dhruv. Dhruv who had now shifted to his human form, stood there wearing just his shorts, baring his strong and muscular chest. It was normal for the werewolves to be naked or half naked as they shift between their human and wolf forms. Though he hung his head low due to helplessness, the fury raising within him made his veins bulge on his arms. He looked like the demon who could strike ruthlessly anytime. His handsome facial features, were distorted trying to supress his emotions. He raised his head to look up at the woman and replied in a low hoarse voice “We haven’t found the murderer. Though the intentions are known to all of us. We are trying to figure out what’s going on. Until then I request everyone to be vary of your surroundings. If you notice anything fishy please report to me or any of my friends.” Hearing this, Bhairav snarled. He was a rather bulky man who towered over six feet. He had a scar running diagonally from his forehead to his chin, giving him a scary look. His eyeballs were large which slightly bulged out of the sockets, matching his sinister demeanour. He stepped forward from the crowd and came closer to Dhruv, until his nose was just inches away from Dhruv. Though Dhruv was the same height of Bhairav, he did not look like a monster. His broad shoulders, contrasted well with his thin waist giving him a slender look. But one could not ignore his toned abs. He looked strong but not scary. He emanated a powerful aura that seemed to bring others under his shade with the promise to protect them all. “What do you mean by this? Whose intentions are clear and to whom?” sneered Bhairav and continued, “Do not talk in riddles. The people seek an answer and you don’t try to avoid them by answering in a roundabout manner.” Before Dhruv could reply, Krish stepped forward and pushed Bhairav away from Dhruv and snapped, “Who are you to question him? In fact, who is he answerable to? He is like anyone of us. Why is he deemed to save anyone from trouble?” To this Myra added, “Yes. You must ask your Alpha. Where is he? Its been quite few days since we have seen him. Did he flee from the impending danger, leaving his pack behind to fend for themselves? You are one among those who roam about shamelessly with him causing trouble to the pack and yet don’t seem to have the nerve to question him? Rather you would bully Dhruv.” Now the crowd that was initially frowning at Dhruv and his friends were now seen scowling at Bhairav. They really were a gullible pack. Noticing this Dhruv cleared his throat and spoke  in a loud and clear voice looking at Bhairav though his tone seemed to be making an announcement. “As you know that on every new moon day few of our pack members have been murdered in the recent past, lets maintain our vigil. Also, my friends and I are trying our best to try to solve this mystery. But six of us is no match to an unknown enemy. For we do not know how many they are, who they are and what their capabilities are. I do not recognize their scent, neither do they leave behind any tracks. I would request the alpha to bring back the dissolved fighter force and also recruit few young fighter trainees. We clearly need increased force to combat our enemy this time. Also please do not spread rumours and create panic. Since you are the Beta, please increase the sentinel force at the borders of the pack territory.” At the last sentence, Bhairav snapped back to reality. He was indeed the Beta of the pack. But all he had done so far is to tail behind the Alpha, get drunk in the nights and get involved in unnecessary brawls. At the last statement, the crowd threw a disdainful look at Bhairav and began to disperse. Dhruv sighed. His pack was never like this when his dad was the Alpha. He was the most righteous man. Under his reign, the pack had strenuous combat training, had the best fighter force, vigilant patrolling team and the most caring and capable healers. But once his brother took over, all the good things were tossed down. The military and their ranks dissolved, the patrolling teams were gone and there was no training the youngsters. The Moonstone pack was second to none in every aspects. But everything went for a toss after Raghav took over the pack. After the crowd had dispersed and when just the six of them remained, they sighed and jumped into the stream. They swam until they felt relaxed and returned to their playful selves. While walking back home, Dhruv cussed, “That God damn Grand Seer. So much for his future peeking skills. His predictions have only brought me trouble. I bet he cant quite see whats coming into his life. Because next thing I am going to do is kick his butt.” Just as he finished, he felt his feet come in contact with something on the ground followed by a yelp. “Save me Godess Moon!” cried the voice, standing up while rubbing his butt. “You sure stood by your word. You kicked my butt. Now happy?” the owner of the voice was a wrinkly and frail old man with long grey beard and grey hair trailing down his back. His voice was raspy with a hint of joy on seeing them. He was wearing a gray colored cotton kurta which hung loosely on his shoulders paired with an ankle length pyjama in white color. His smile had few teeth missing but his eyes were clearly sparkling complementing his smile. He was the wisest among the pack and the entire pack revered him except for Dhruv. Dhruv was shocked. “Think of the devil and the devil appears” he thought. “Did I conjure you here? Don’t tell me that I have the skills to conjure as well.” he said irritated. The old man chuckled. “I know you are angry with me. But all I told you so far is what I see for your future. You cant blame me for being the Grand Seer. Can you?“ To which Dhruv replied. “You just tell the bits and pieces and leave the rest to our imagination. Like the last time you said, ‘You will raise to be the Alpha and beyond’.” He said mimicking the old man’s voice and added “No wonder most of the pack expects me to be their Alpha though I am not.’ And the worst is that the pack’s Alpha treats me as a threat. All this mess is due to your half baked prophecy. Personally speaking, I do not want to be an Alpha. I like my freedom and I am not answerable to anyone. I like it that way and would like to remain that way.” To emphasize the last statement, Dhruv increased his tone by a few decibels. With curious eyes, the old man asked “Then of all the people present in the pack, why is it always you who rushes to the trouble spot first? It could have been anyone else from the pack. But why is it always you who rush out to help others?” Dhruv and the others gaped at the old man and before Dhruv could retort, the old man looked at him dotingly and said, “It runs in your blood Dhruv. You were born to care, born to fight, born to lead. Don’t you feel it inside you? It has always been your choice to help others. No one can change that. Neither you can deny that. You are already an alpha in your deeds and heart. I am asking you to merely take up the title.” “No” said Dhruv without hesitation. “Even if you don’t feel it now, you will some day.” He assured, giving him a piercing look. His eyes twinkled with realization as his gaze bore into Dhruv’s eyes. He asked, “You found your mate, didn’t you?” Everyone else was shocked and looked at Dhruv, whose expression remained unchanged. Finally the old man turned his back to leave. Wrapping his fingers around the gray stone tied to his neck, he said, ”Mark the one who has ‘Mark of the Moon’”.