Lunar Phases: Golden Eyes

Chapter 5: Hunt

Demetrius sat by the window and watched as the Moon rose as the sky became darker. His ears perked up as he heard footsteps approaching the pack house's front entrance, followed by a flurry of children's laughter and crying. Babies on the prowl for their parents.

The packhouse is the best location to keep them secure throughout the excitement of the next seven days. He hung his head low and clenched his teeth as he grasped the railing of the terrace. Another full moon has risen in the night sky. When his wolf shifts and runs over the nation every Full Moon, the sorrow, disappointment, and heartbreak he feels when he returns home empty-handed seems to become worse.

He has yet to locate her. There has been no trace of her for the last seven full moons that he has spent circling the nation. Since he was 19 years old, He has been looking for a wife. Every season begins with a burst of sweltering temperatures. Every year, there are four heats. Since then, there have been 172 full moons. For almost 150 full moons, no werewolf has lasted without a mate.

He was jolted from his own thought by the sound of the knock on the door. Demetrius called out, "Come in."

Doors opened to show my long-term Beta and childhood friend. I switched my attention from the Moon and softly turned my neck in his direction without shifting my feet.

Demetrius inquired, "Is everything ready?"

"Yes, Alpha. They've all got together on the training grounds and are ready for the full Moon. All minors, including boys and girls, are contained in the packhouse.", Cabel said.

Demetrius nodded and called out, "Adelaide."

His call was answered by the sound of brisk footsteps ascending the stairs. Adelaide poked her head in the door, "Brother."

"The packhouse and the children are in your hands," He said.

She gazed at his wolf with her emerald eyes as he glanced back at hers. When Adelaide nodded, her own wolf flashed its brilliant blue eyes as a sign of respect. With the help of her and her friends, he handed the pack home and the children to Adelaide, who is 17 years old. For seven days before mated couples and werewolves go on the hunt for a mate, they had to do this job. I clung to the metal railing with all my might, making a dent in the surface as a result of the strain.

"Do you mind stepping down now?" Beta Cabel inquired cautiously to prevent the appearance of insubordination on the delicate subject.

The groaning of the terrace's metal structure can be heard as Demetrius gripped the metal frame harder and listened to his Beta discuss stepping down as Alpha. "No," Demetrius said.

"You know we need a Luna, Demetrius.", Beta Cabel reminded.

Demetrius dashed from the patio to his office door in the blink of an eye and placed his hand around Beta Cabel's neck. "We may have been childhood friends, but I am still your Alpha, Beta.", Demitrius hissed, tightening his grip on his Beta's neck to remind him of his status.

"I am not relinquishing my status as Alpha," Demetrius said as he released Cabel.

Cabel lowered his eyes in submission to his Alpha. He choked out, "Understood, Alpha."

He sped towards the terrace and stepped on the edge, relying on the railing for assistance, and jumped. Falling three stories high, he landed on his feet in front of the pack house's main entrance door, where all the men gathered ahead of them on a large clearing.

As he walked nearer his men, he asked Cabel, who leaped after him through the window, "How many guys are with us?"

Cabel replied, "Sixty-four, Alpha.", As the Moon nears a full moon, he speaks with an apparent strain from the stress of trying to keep control of his wolf. Bowing their heads, the Alphas and Betas made their way towards our side. All the men had stripped down to their underwear as they prepared for the shift. They've wrapped their ankles with a shirt and shorts. Everybody was on high alert, and the atmosphere was tense and disturbed.

"Listen up, everyone. At the last full Moon, fifty-eight men went for the hunt. A total of 50 men came back, 20 of which found their mate. Eight went missing or are dead. Do not be discouraged if you do not find your mate on this full moon. We've been promised a pair by the Moon. She will not forsake us.", he roared confidently across the clearing.

A series of cheers were heard throughout the clearing, excited for the search. They looked up at the sky and watched as the clouds covered the Moon. Their veins became prominent as their breathing increased and their muscles flexed.

Demetrius howled and looked back to his men and showed his golden eyes. He sternly said, "Make no mistakes." This was a reminder not to claim someone that wasn't theirs. This mistake has happened in the past when a werewolf loses control of its wolf.

As the clouds revealed the moon, a series of howls in chorus echoed through the forest, mine as the loudest and most sorrowful. The c***k of bones and groans started, and some men fell to their knees as they prepared for the shift. Having done this one hundred and seventy-two times, He ran to the forest and leaped through the air, shifting into my black wolf. He landed on my paws and ran through the forest, leaving his men behind because right now, his only focus and only priority is finding his mate. His heart twanged at the thought of not finding her this week. His wolf shared his sorrow and howled once more.

Then it started. He felt it and stumbled on the ground, inhaling the grass as his snout dug into the soil. His wolf whined and stood back up on shaky legs. The stomps of wolves coming from different directions pulled him out of his thoughts. He ran and crossed the border, crossing the neutral ground. In these seven days, they will be in wolf form during the night in search and then in their human form during daylight. Without the guidance of the moon, they cannot find their mate. He ran and ran and crossed a total of six borders. Sniffed the air, searching for the scent of his mate. He went through houses but came empty-handed until the sky started to turn a lighter color, signaling that the sun was about to rise. He ran as fast as he could to catch more coverage on his search. A distance his human form can't get to as fast as his wolf can.

As the sun peaked on the horizon, He ran as fast as he could. His fur started to disappear, and bones started to reshape; he still kept running. He skidded to a stop when he realized he was at the edge of a great fall his human form could not take. Through the years, camps were established on neutral grounds. It became a dwelling place to rest and wait for the sunset and begin the search once more. He looked around the forest, searching for food and a camp someone might have made in the past. He estimated that he was still 15 miles away from the next pack. He removed his black tank top, tied the end into a knot, and used it as a makeshift bag to place the gathered mushrooms, berries, and six squirrels. This was enough to keep him full for lunch. He walked further into the forest and found his shelter. It was a teepee camp erected close to a tree. He placed his makeshift bag on a log and decided to make a fire. He grabbed some rocks and placed them in a circle. He got some dried twigs, leaves, and woods for the fire. Ten minutes into trying to make a fire was futile. For the one hundred seventy-two times of doing this, he still failed to make a fire.

A snap of a twig broke his concentration, and he looked up to a scrawny boy standing eight meters away from him. He signaled him over, and the boy hesitantly came over. He looked disheveled and lost. First experience in the search.

"May I, Alpha?" He asked with confidence.

Demetrius gave him the stick and tapped his back twice. "Go ahead, boy." he urged.

He grabbed his makeshift bag and pulled out the squirrels. After five minutes, the boy was able to make a small fire. He placed the squirrels on a stick and placed them above the fire.

"Pack, Name, and Age?" Demetrius asked as he eyed the twitching boy under his gaze.

"I'm Michael from the Windward pack. I'm eighteen, sir." He answered meekly.

"I'm Alpha Demetrius from the Woodgrip pack. You have to learn to survive in these woods. You might have to do this more often in the future.", Demetrius advised with sadness in his voice. They waited for the squirrels to cook. He ordered Michael to search for mushrooms and he found some near a fallen tree. He looked at the boy and warned him,

"Don't touch those. Those are poisonous mushrooms." He looked up at Demetrius and nodded, and went on further away to find mushrooms. Demetrius remembered accidentally eating those mushrooms when he was 19 years old. It was almost sunset when he ate the mushrooms. When the poison hit him, he shifted, and his wolf helped him through it and vomited all the contents in his stomach. Demetrius perked his ears when he heard some scuffling in the bushes where Michael was searching. A low growl emitted from the bushes, and a crazed brown wolf came out. He sped to Michael and ordered the boy to climb up a tree. He looked at the crazed wolf right in the eye and wondered how he became like this. As an Alpha, he can command a werewolf to shift back. But if the human is far away from reaching its subconsciousness, then it's a lost cause.

"Shift.", Demetrius ordered firmly. The wolf growled and stepped closer. "Shift," he commanded once more, but the wolf growled and bristled its fur. The wolf jumped and tackled him to the ground growling at his face as it attempted to bite his neck. He punched it on the snout, making it yip in pain. He kneed the wolf's stomach and wrapped his legs around its torso, hindering it from moving away. He shut its mouth closed with his hands and pulled its head near his. He flashed his golden wolf's eyes and snarled at the wolf, "Shift!" The intensity of his command crippled the wolf, crushing him with its weight. He pushed the wolf off of him and stood up. The wolf shifted into its unconscious human form. He looked up the trees, searching for the boy. He found him climbing down a tree a few feet away from the teepee and ran over to him.

"Help me carry him to the teepee.", Demetrius said to the boy as they grabbed the man's arm and feet.

The boy was bewildered at the man we were carrying and spoke, "Alpha Xander?"

"Alpha Xander?" Demetrius questioned.

He stared at the man's soiled face and realized that he had met him twice in an Alpha meeting a few years back.

"Yes. He was our Alpha a year ago. He never came back. We all thought he died. He has blocked the connection with him in the pack link, so we couldn't talk to him. ", he said as we laid the man down inside the teepee.

"Go find some squirrels for your Alpha.", Demetrius said as he took out the cooked squirrels and mushrooms from the fire, and they started eating. He stared at the unconscious man and thought, 'He's lucky he hasn't been killed by packs and luckier that I was able to turn him back to human.'

Hunger can be seen in Michael's eyes as he nibbled on the bones. "Did you let your wolf eat during the night?"

Michael stopped nibbling on the bone and answered, "No, Alpha. I was running all night."

"You should have stuffed your wolf along the way to subside the hunger in human form. " Demetrius advised, remembering the quick swipes of my jaw every time he saw an unsuspecting rabbit or squirrel that was too slow to scurry away. He ate while running without stopping along the way. Michael knitted his eyebrows and nodded his head as if remembering the past.

He looked at Demetrius and shared, "Our Beta went forward and took his place. He hasn't taught us any of this. When Alpha Xander disappeared, our pack was a target of rouges and power-hungry Alphas. Our Beta has been busy keeping the pack together."

An Alpha and Beta connection is the second strongest connection. Mate connection is the first.

'Cabel, How are you doing?' he mind linked.

'I'm fine, Alpha. I'm at the south now.' he responded.

'Okay.', Demetrius said. He closed the mind link and stared at the Alpha, who hadn't woken up or moved for seven hours. He listened intently to his breathing and realized he was snoring. He stood up from the log he was leaning on and went inside the teepee. He went inside the teepee with the tent, lifting a little with his tall frame. The teepee was too small for two alpha males to be in. He placed his foot above Xander's chest, grabbed his left arm, and twisted it to an odd angle, waiting for it to pop. Alpha Xander groaned as his eyes opened wide and attempted to get up, but Demetrius' foot was above his chest, pushing him back down to the ground. The boy ran to the tent, hearing his alpha groan. He shouted, "Alpha!" The disoriented Alpha groaned and squinted his eyes as the sunlight flashed through the c***k of the tent.

"Name, status, and pack?", Demetrius asked to check Xander's sanity.

"Alpha Xander from the Windward pack.", He answered swiftly.

Demetrius stepped away from the Alpha and got out of the tent as the boy replaced his place.

"Michael?" Alpha Xander rasped out, recognizing the boy towering over him. Demetrius went out of the tepee to give them space to converse as Michael explained to the Alpha the situation of his pack. After ten minutes, they got out of the teepee.

Alpha Xander held on to his shoulder and snapped it back into place, and rolled it, testing if it was alright. "Was that necessary, Demetrius?"

"Yes. I didn't know if you were still around so I had to have the upper hand.", Demetrius explained as he nodded at the fireplace where three sticks of unskinned squirrels and three sticks of mushroom were waiting to be eaten.

He grabbed the tent and tore a piece of the tent to make it as a skirt. He wrapped it around his waist and glared at Demetrius and made his way to the bonfire. He picked up the sticks and furrowed his eyebrows in disgust at the burned hair surrounding its flesh.

"What happened to you?", Demetrius asked after Xander finished his meal.

"I'm not sure. I can't remember... I...I can't even use my mind link." Xander closed his eyes and held his head in confusion.

Demetrius spotted a dark bruise circle on Xander's arm as he raised it. He examined it more closely and saw a dot in the bruise's center.

"It most likely has something to do with this," Demetrius said as he pointed at it for Xander to notice.

Demetrius analyzed the new information and decided to mind link all of the males in my pack who were within my reach and announced, 'Everyone. Listen. There is a possibility of danger to us. Someone injects a chemical into your body that prevents you from shifting back. Distribute the information widely.'

The pack line erupted into a flurry of anxious whispers. Demetrius disconnected and notified Alpha Xander, "I alerted my pack about the danger. You should as well."

Alpha Xander nodded and ordered Michael to announce to their pack his return and the threat.

We kept our ears ready for any rustling and maintained a close eye on the whole perimeter until dusk.

"It's getting close to sunset. Many thanks, Alpha Demetrius. I shall always be grateful to you for saving my life. Do not hesitate to contact me if you want assistance.", Alpha Demetrius bowed his head in acknowledgment.

"May you find your partner this full moon," Demetrius wished with a nod.

"As well as you.", Xander said as he gazed at Demetrius with pity.

It is no secret that Demetrius has been searching for his soul partner for 43 years. Everyone has been gossiping about the werewolf who broke the record for the most prolonged time spent seeking a mate. He still has the appearance of a nineteen-year-old. He rose from the log and watched the sun as it dipped below the horizon. His golden eyes glowed as he dashed to the jungle and swiftly transformed into my wolf form.