XALIA'S TRAGEDY

CHAPTER 4

Xalia needed a spring to get water for her parched throat and dry mouth.

The sound of werewolf howls penetrated the dusk. Xalia knew she had to fight to go on, but she was so completely wiped out. She withdrew into a dark, unpreoccupied cave after cautiously sniffing for the scent of anything which would threaten her young ones.

“Selene”, she begged, “Help us.”

Then, sleep came fast. Dreams of the Lycan King haunted her. His tough, thick ragged fur as he bounded after her, was an epitome of strength and terror. She raced away from him as his eyes; those threatening eyes that could snap a branch with its gaze delved into her babies. She knew why he wanted her as his own.

The Lycan King wanted children more than Orla did. He had been eyeing Xalia for a while, protecting her inevitably in secret and prowling around her whilst Orla ravaged her. She was in his sight as a mate the whole time. Awaiting his reclamation of her in nervous anticipation, Xalia knew it was only a matter of when. She didn’t want Orla and she didn’t want the Lycan King to have her cubs. Because there was something she feared; that he had been responsible for her parent’s savage departure to the world. Why? She had an assumption it was the authority in the elder’s leadership. Her parents were greatly respected.

The Lycan King wanted all the admiration and the whole majesty to his credit. He was witnessed in the nearby vicinity of the tragedy. What if his full intention was to do away with Xalia as he had disposed of her parents? She was their flesh after all.

And why was no one allowed in his cave? Who did the Lycan King isolate himself so solidly while droves of the pack were going missing and new werewolves were being manifested all the time? Xalia considered the Lycan King a threat to the pack. She believed it was him all along. No one in the pack could stand up to his victory and bravado at everything he put his hand to. The Lycan King was the best hunter, the most solitary for a King and one Xalia did not want near her treasured litter. She couldn’t run forever though. The pack would be after her. She needed to rise from her slumber and get a move on.

Now, almost in the child-bearing stage, Xalia ran, then panting, struggling with the weight of the cubs, dropped, belly heaving. This was near impossible. She needed to eat. She needed close shelter. And she needed Selene. Selene was the key to helping her. The moon goddess had the answers. Hers was the ultimate say. And it was only she who could turn this curse around.

Xalia resisted the urge to howl into the night. Changing from human form to werewolf, she had no recollection of what had occurred in her human form. She only knew she was alive and just about ready to drop from pregnancy overload. The cubs were not light.

Xalia sniffed the air, anxiously. There was a scent of werewolves around. She commenced cautiously, nose to the ground, looking for signs of danger. She had traveled laboriously for one long week, dodging packs and covering up her scent with wild animal carcasses when it happened. The kicking in her belly increased and the waters spilled over. It wasn’t long labor until Xalia was the wiped-out mother of three pups.

Selene has given me more than I had previously, thought Xalia, weary, yet licking her offspring with a dry, dry tongue that was like sand. She needed water. She needed to stop running. She needed a safe place to rear her pups.

Relieved that they were out of her womb, she vowed to protect them with everything within her. Sore, and flat-out tired, Xalia slept on and off, pricking her ears up and covering her new litter with defensive protection.

She couldn’t get up in the morning. Her soreness and complete exhaustion had Xalia paralyzed She was out in the open, prey for wild animals and werewolves alike.

However, her main focus was sheltering her precious pups. She’d lost Extra and Xavier, but she would not lose Arna, Penne, and Sonia, her two girls and boy. Arna was the runt, a shy and timid girl, Xalia thought she didn’t have a chance with Penne. Penne was the bossy older brother who showed signs of aggression already. Sonia reminded Xalia of herself; strong and beautiful. Xalia held back howls of pain as her youngsters fought over milk.

“There’s enough to go around”, Xalia yelped quietly and weakly.

Knowing she needed to regain her strength, she smacked on sprigs of bush, good for bellyache with nourishment in its leaves. That was when she heard the howls.

“Oh, no”, Xalia whined in the anguish of her soul. They were close.

Dragging herself on her belly, with her cubs underneath her she edged herself towards a nearby tree, its trunk thick and looming. Xalia was in pain, excruciating damage done as she scraped her hurting body along with the cubs behind the tree.

She hid the cubs behind the tree and covered them with branches.