Feral: The Return Of The Omega Princess

Celeste Decision

Zuriel watched Malia leave but did not make any attempt to follow her. Soon, she disappeared from sight, and he moved away from the tree Malia had pinned him against.

He was about to go on his way when he heard a deep growl resonate through the whole forest, and the pain in that deep growl resonated through himhis since he shared her pain now.

Zuriel wondered how he would ever convince her that she belongs with him or how to make her believe in him with the amount of hatred and anger she carried towards him and his pack.

He had come to the waterfall with no intent; he had just felt drawn there, so Zuriel had come without questioning the pull, trusting his instincts, and when he had started catching the scent of someone coming to him, he recognized the alluring scent as that of a mate, so he had stood under the waterfall and waited for her.

And yeah, he had been so happy to find a mate and a solution to all his problems until he turned back and realized who she was: Malia Lupin, the daughter of a betrayed Alpha, a sin his pack was still paying for till that moment.

Zuriel had planned on talking and reasoning with her to give him a chance, to think of the other members of the pack who would be in jeopardy without a Luna in the pack, until he had perceived the damp smell of her arousal that had undone him, and all rational thought had flown out of his head.

Now she was gone, and he couldn't afford for her to be gone because Zuriel needs a Luna, so a plan begins forming in his mind.

__________

Malia wanted to go home to her grandmother, but once she reached Céleste's cave, one look from her grandmother and she knew something was wrong.

Worse still, Malia can't lie to her, because one tap of Celeste's psychic ability into her brain, and she'll see everything. Knowing her grandmother, Malia knew she would probably say Zuriel did nothing wrong, that he was not his parents, and that she should give him a chance.

If Malia did not go home, there was one other place that she could go, so she started running again until she stood in front of a hidden cave in the woods, the home to the only other person she could call family or friend besides Céleste.

_____

Atira was already standing in front of the cave, which served as her sanctuary, when Malia appeared from the woods and transformed back into her human form; she had heard her howl as it reverberated through the forest.

It wasn't a cry of battle, nor was it the cry to hunt. The growl sounded like something close to sadness, and it was an emotion Atira had never felt from her friend before.

“What was the howl about?” It doesn't sound like a cry to hunt,” Atira questioned with her arms crossed over her chest.

But Malia ignored her and walked past her into the cave; going through Atira's stuff, she took one of the animal skins that served as their clothing and covered her nakedness.

“It was a cry to hunt,” Malia replied and settled before the fire, wearing the blank expression that was always her trademark, but Atira felt like something was amiss with her friend, and she planned to find out.

“What are we hunting this time around?” Atira asked and settled beside her by the fire, tapping into Malia's emotions and smelling her scent.

“Wendigos, I want to hunt Wendigos,” Malia said with a feral growl, her claws extended and her fangs elongated.

“You want to hunt Wendigos; you never go after Wendigos except if they come across you on their own. Do you have a death wish?” Atira replied, trying to place the scent emitting from her.

“Wait, your scent, it smells like lust; I can smell your juices,” Atira said with a bewildered expression on her face. “You have never emitted this smell before, which is why I was having a hard time placing it, but it feels like you are camouflaging your emotions.” Atira continued nonstop, her blue eyes glowing with discovery.

“So this is about a man? , Do you want me to kill him? But where did you find a human in the middle of this jungle anyway? Wait, this can only happen if you have a mate. You found your mate?” Atira continued with her rant.

“Do you want to go hunting or not?” Malia growled at her, and Atira stopped talking.

At that moment, Malia's camouflage was down, and Atira tapped into her feelings; the sadness that overwhelmed Atira at her friend's emotions shocked and surprised her; she had never felt sadness from her friend before, only anger and hunger, and then once in a while, affection at the mention of her grandmother.

Atira moved closer to Malia and hugged her tightly, sharing her pain. On a normal day, Malia would have sneered at her for such contact, but she just sat there while her friend hugged her.

Atira is a were-coyote Malia met during one of her hunts. They had come up against each other in a fight, and they were both evenly matched; each had injured the other. Atira had called a truce and offered friendship. Malia had accepted the truce but rejected the friendship.

But one day, Malia went hunting and found a wendigo; she battled the wendigo and killed it, but she was seriously injured and wasn't healing; she had already given up on surviving when Atira found her. Atira took care of her; she had absorbed her pain and healed her. It was after this that a bond was formed between them and an unspeakable friendship had begun.

So Malia allowed Atira to hug her and absorb her pain for a while before Atira pulled away from her and stood up.

“Okay, let's kill some wendigos,” Atira declared, her eyes shining with excitement.

_______

The Sacred Crimson Pack Palace.

Zuriel helped the older woman down from the car and led her down the path that led to his magnificent castle.

The palace stood dark and gray against the silver moonlight, situated upon a hill and away from any form of camouflage; it stood with its natural beauty and looked like a ghost watching over its descendants.

The castle has many different buildings and residences, as it housed the majority of the members of the Crimson pack. Only a few had ever ventured to live outside its confines because the outside world is not welcoming to shapeshifters, so they hardly ventured into the outside world in recent times.

Zuriel looked at the ancient witch beside him and wondered how she could look so serene and calm in the fold of the people who were responsible for murdering her daughter.

Zuriel had not forced her, nor had he coerced her; he had only gone to ask for her advice on what to do about her granddaughter and her resistance to being with him, but the old witch had surprised him by asking him to take her along to the castle, saying that Malia would come find her.

Now, here he was, walking down the path of the castle that leads to his royal residence with her arm in his, while the members of his pack stood and stared, not saying anything, just bowing in courtesy as he passed by until he came across Zachary.

“Hey brother, you have been busy,” his twin brother said with a lewd grin on his face. “What were you thinking, bringing this witch into our home? Remember, our dearest father killed her daughter,” Zachary said while walking alongside Zuriel to his residence, and his words angered Zuriel.

Zuriel stopped walking, squeezing the hand of the old woman in thanks because he knew that if this old witch wanted, Zachary's head would be rolling on the grass by now.

“You will not address my guest in such a manner, and you will treat her and every member of this pack with respect as long as I remain Alpha of this pack,” Zuriel declared in a cold voice, his eyes changing to red and locked with Zach's in a hard gaze. The stare continued for a while, then Zuriel returned to Céleste and continued on his way with her while Zachary stared after him.

“Let's see how long you remain in that position, Alpha,” Zachary said in a bitter voice before turning away.

___________

Malia and Atira walked through the forest covered in gore and blood, each with the skull of a wendigo in her hand, both of them injured, but not seriously.

“I am never going hunting with you again, Malia. I understand that you are frustrated and going through a lot, but death is not the next option, and we almost lost our lives,” Atira said, sounding exasperated.

“But it's worth it, though; you now have a wendigo skull to add to your collection, and I can give this to Céleste to use for one of her many rituals,” Malia replied with a smirk on her face while they headed towards her grandmother's cave.

When they reached there, it was strangely quiet, and Malia caught the scent of the person whom she didn't want to be reminded of and knew for sure that he had been there; her face hardened, her hand clenching around the skull in her hand till the bone cut into her flesh and blood started dripping from her hand.

Atira followed her into the cave, and they both stopped in front of a sign that had been drawn on the wall, a crescent moon over a black shadow, the pack’s symbol.

Malia's eyes glowed with anger, and she let out a loud howl that shook the caves. This definitely is a war cry, Atira thought to herself.

“I am going to go get Céleste, even if I have to bring down every member of that pack,” Malia declared with finality.