Light of The Moon

Chapter 4

The whole village was silent, though everyone went along with their daily business.  Usually, I would be tending the farm by Mother's side or preparing meals and herbs for Father, but, not being allowed to leave the village by Alpha Gabriel's orders, I instead went to the inn  and sat by Father's bedside along with Mother. Doc explained to me that the move to the village in the colder night air had worsened Father's already delicate condition, so he had Father on bed rest.  As we watched over Father while he slept, Mother asked me about everything that had happened, and I didn't hold back anything, save the gory details from the attack. She was glad I was safe, but she seemed concerned by Alpha Darius's interest in me.

She asked me if Alpha Gabriel had come to me since the run and seemed relieved when I said no.  I consistently had the hunch that she was hiding something from me, something she desperately wanted to tell me, but, whether she simply couldn't bring herself to or if she had been sworn to secrecy, she never said whatever it was.  Instead, we consistently returned to Father's condition, which was consistently getting worse.

When I wasn't by Father's side, I spent a lot of time offering my assistance down in the tavern or at Calista's mill.  Since no money could be made on my family's farm, Calista was kind enough to let me help her with her deliveries around the village in order to make enough money to pay for my parent's stay at the inn.  At first, she was hesitant at the idea of being trailed by Alpha Darius's men, but she grew to accept it within a few days. Robert, however, refused to let Gregory get anywhere near me, which made things between Calista and myself slightly complicated.

The tavern was even worse.  Many of the males were deeply irritated at Mating Season being interrupted and put on hold, but we all seemed to make due with what we all had.  Some females sang or danced for the entertainment of the others in the pack while the males drank themselves beyond comprehension. Not that it mattered…

All packs waited impatiently for the hunting party to return with the humans who killed our own.  While I hated what the male did, no one deserves to be killed like some… Some animal. After all, we were above that.  We only killed to protect our own, but we always left the dead with some dignity. The humans had dragged him off like a lowly animal and probably had his head on display on some wall.

It was three days before the hunting party came back.  By the way they all behaved, you would have thought more pack members had died, but all thirteen had returned, leading five humans, all tied up and gagged with burlap sacks over their heads.  They paraded down the streets somberly like a funeral procession, coming to a stop outside the Town Hall. Alpha Gabriel stood on the steps and addressed us all.

"Friends," he called out.  "Before you stands the five men responsible for killing our brother.  Tomorrow, we shall hold a trial and allow the men a chance to answer for their crime.  Upon conviction, they will be sentenced to death in the square, and we shall feast on their flesh!"  Most of the pack erupted into halfhearted cheers. Human flesh was a scared food only feasted on in the holiest of celebrations in our pack, and it was strictly forbidden by the Moon Goddess herself to feed on humans save those who had committed the highest of crimes.

Alpha Darius approached me as we all went our separate ways.  His dark eyes were cold and unforgiving, and they sent chills up my spine, but I met his gaze as he smiled at me.

"I want you to see the men before the trial tomorrow, Hanna," he said.  "Make sure we have collected the right ones." My jaw dropped in surprise as I stared at him.

"What about the blood memory?" I asked, and he shrugged.

"It's part of the trial process to have all parties involved identify the guilty party," he droned as if reading from parchment.  "And, since you're the only living survivor…" I nodded.

"When do you want me to go?" I asked.

"Right now," he said, and, with that, he turned and lead me towards the shed out behind the Town Hall, where they had taken the humans.

At first, I was afraid.  These men had killed a full grown male like he was a lesser creature, so I could only imagine what they could do to me.  However, knowing that Alpha Darius would be there, I felt a sense of calmness fall over me like a waterfall on a hot summer day as he opened the door and looked at the guards.

"Lift their hoods so this female can look on their face," he commanded, and the wolves did so without hesitation.  Each of the men first looked at Alpha Darius, then at me.

"What's this?" one asked with a smirk.  "Did you all bring us some entertainment?"  I shuddered as the next one spoke.

"I've seen better, but she'll do," he said with a grin that matched the first one.  The third one nodded.

"So, how's this work?" he asked.  "We all share her, or…?" Alpha Darius growled in annoyance.

"That's enough!" he roared, and I cringed slightly.  "This woman saw you kill one of our men, and she is here to confirm it was you who killed him."  The first one kept that stupid grin on his face as he looked back at me.

"Well, if we had known she was there, we would have taken our time hunting the other night," he said, raising his eyebrows suggestively at me.  Alpha Darius roared in rage and, before anyone could see what happened, lunged at the man, swinging his fist full force into his jawline. The man crumpled to the ground, completely unconscious, and the other stared in complete silence at us.  Finally, once Alpha Darius had calmed down, I turned to face him.

"These are the men," I said.  "They killed the male I with with that night.". Alpha Darius nodded and started to lead me out of the shed when a sob rose from the youngest man's throat.  Alpha Darius turned to face the man.

"What are you blubbering about?" he growled at him.  The young man, Adam they called him that night, looked up, and I felt my heart lurch as he stared at us with tears in his eyes.

"I'm innocent," he cried.  "I never wanted to hurt anyone or anything…  They made me go with them, but I never raised my weapon against any living being."  Sympathy for this boy poured from my heart into my veins, and I glanced at Alpha Darius, who stared at him with cold, dead eyes.

"Yet you did nothing to stop them," he said.  "In the trial, they'll deem that as guilty as if you had shot the arrow or swung the sword yourself."  With that, he put his hand on my shoulder and guided me through the door and back into the sunshine. Once outside, he turned to face me.  "I'm sorry for their crude behavior." His voice was uncharacteristically soft and full of concern, which made me nervous. He reached out and cupped my cheek in his palm.  "Are you alright?" I nodded.

"I'm fine," I said, even though I didn't feel fine.  My stomach was churning from what the boy had said, and I finally got up the courage to continue.  "Are they really going to be butchered and fed to the pack if found guilty?" He stared at me in surprise, so I continued.  "I mean, there's no way to give them a chance to defend themselves against judgement?" He raised an eyebrow at me, as if questioning my sudden change of heart, before answering.

"Most likely, they will be turned into the woods and hunted down one by one like the meek prey they are," he said.  When I didn't respond, he continued. "They know our secret and can't be trusted. If we let them go, guilty or innocent, they'll return to their village and come back with more weapons to kill us."  He wrapped his arms around me and sighed as he held me close. "It's for the good of the pack." He then looked down at me. "Now let's go." I nodded and, upon taking his hand, found myself led to the inn.

That night, I couldn't sleep as I lay fully clothed in Alpha Darius's room at the inn.  He was out late meeting with the other Alphas, so I was left in the room alone with a guard posted outside the door.  The light of the nearly full moon lit the room almost as well as the sun itself, making it even harder for me to think about sleep.  Finally, I rose from the covers and walked over to the window, staring out at the shed where the humans were being kept, my thoughts fully on the boy who had cried.  It saddened me to think how he was no older than I was, yet he was going to forfeit his life for something he didn't want any part of from the start.

I was about to head back to the bed when I saw a strange figure climbing up the tree by my window.  Thinking I was imagining it, I rubbed my eyes vigorously. When I opened them again, I saw the young boy hanging onto the branch above my window.  He swung silently into the room and stared at me with shock.

"You?" he asked in surprise, and I dropped my jaw, but, before I could make a single sound, he covered my mouth.  "Be quiet…" My mind raced as I saw four more figures come through the window. The first one, the one Alpha Darius had knocked out with a single blow, smirked when he saw me.

"Well, well," he said as he closed the distance between us.  My eyes widened when I saw a long, thin dagger in his hand. "If it isn't the little wolf girl from earlier…"  They all grew still as the guard knocked on the door.

"Everything okay in there?" he called out.  The first human looked me dead in the eye as he flashed the dagger around.

"Play it cool and make him go away, or I'll send you to join your friend in hell," he hissed quietly, and I swallowed hard.

"I'm fine," I called out, trying to keep my voice from cracking.  "Just got up for some water." To this day, I still have no idea how, but the guard seemed to believe me, and he went quiet at the door once more.  The human was grinning a spine chilling grin.

"Very good," he cooed and grazed the side of my cheek.  "Now, you're going to come with us, and you're going to take us to a cart and horse we can used to get the f**k out of here.  If not…" He pushed the boy aside and pulled me impossibly close to him and held up the dagger. "I'll slit that pretty little throat and f**k the remains…"  I swallowed a whimper as he stared me down. "Nod yes if you understand." Immediately, my head bobbed up and down. "Good…" He released me and turned to the boy.  "I'll climb down first, then you send her down so there's no funny business." He looked at me again. "Be a good little doggie, now." With that, he climbed down the tree.  I gulped and watched him go when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"If you do what he says," came a softer voice, "he won't hurt you.  I promise." I felt the breath catch in my throat as I recognized Adam's voice.

"They won't let you get away," I warned.  "At least I managed to keep them from killing your whole village."  I risked a glance over my shoulder and saw the surprise on his face.

"That was you?" he asked, and I nodded.  "Damn it…" He placed both hands on my shoulder and spun me around.  "Listen to me," he hissed urgently. "Rush to the door and call your guard once you see me reach the ground."  I frowned and started to speak, but he cut me off. "They plan on coming back to your village with an armed militia and hunting every last one of you down.  I don't want to die, but I won't have any more bloodshed on my hands. Say you opened the window and saw us running." My jaw once more hung in shock as he jumped into the tree and started his descent.  The nature of the human perplexed me and made me wonder about all humans, but I knew I didn't have time. I turned towards the door and froze when I heard a voice.

"I knew he couldn't be trusted," hissed a low voice.  I turned and saw a human jump back through the window.  "Damn bastard…" With that, he rushed at me.

I let out a scream for help as I rushed for the door, my hand grazing the handle before I was tackled to the ground.  A cold blade pressed against the skin of my neck as the door flew open, and Robert, in his wolf form, lunged through the doorway.  Warm blood streak down my neck, and I cursed as Robert knocked the human off me and dragged him away. I whimpered loudly and put pressure on the small wound as more wolves poured into the room.  Alpha Darius fell to his knees beside me.

"Hanna?" he whimpered, and I looked back at the window.

"The humans," I rasped, surprised my voice was working despite the cut on my neck.  It wasn't fatal, even though the knife had nicked the artery, and my body was already healing the wound.  "They escaped the shack…" Outside, there was the sound of fighting, howling, and yelling. He looked up and looked at Robert, who still had the human gripped in his teeth.

"Drop him and get out there," he growled venomously.  "Don't let a single one escape." Robert nodded, spit the human out of his muzzle, and leaped through the window in a single bound.  The human glared at Alpha Darius as he approached.

"We'll kill you all," he taunted, and Alpha Darius growled in anger.  "I'm just sorry we didn't slit her throat sooner." The human turned and glared at me as I rolled to my side, trying to rise to my feet.  Alpha Darius roared and, in one swift movement, took the human's head in his arms and ripped it off. Still growling, he turned back towards me and tossed the head towards me.

"I won't let them get away with this," he vowed.  "I'll kill them all and bring you their heads." I whimpered and rose to my feet, but I stumbled a little and fell forward right into his arms.  Within moments, I was out cold.