Blood in the Village
362 Words
By the time they reached Blackridge, smoke was rising above the rooftops.
Villagers ran through the streets in panic.
Aria shoved past them.
“What happened?!”
An old man grabbed her arm.
“Wolves!” he shouted. “They came out of the woods!”
Her eyes darted around.
Broken carts.
Blood in the dirt.
Claw marks carved into wooden walls.
But no wolves remained.
They had already retreated.
Kael crouched near a set of tracks pressed deep into the mud.
Aria knelt beside him.
“Those are huge,” she murmured.
“Too big,” Kael said.
She looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
His jaw tightened.
“That means the one I fought last night wasn’t the leader.”
Before she could respond—
A voice cut through the crowd.
“There she is!”
Aria turned.
Three armed hunters pushed forward.
She recognized them immediately.
Men from the Silver Order.
The organization that trained werewolf hunters.
Her former allies.
Their leader pointed straight at Kael.
“A wolf in human skin,” he growled.
Aria stepped in front of Kael before they could draw their weapons.
“Stop.”
The hunters stared at her.
“You’re protecting it?” one spat.
“He saved the village,” Aria said firmly.
“He is the problem.”
Kael leaned closer behind her.
“They’re not going to listen.”
“Shocking,” Aria muttered.
The leader lifted a crossbow loaded with a silver bolt.
“Step aside, Aria.”
She didn’t move.
“I said step aside.”
Kael’s voice came quietly behind her.
“You don’t want to start this fight.”
The hunter smirked.
“Try me.”
For a moment—
Everything froze.
Then a shadow passed across the village.
Everyone looked up.
Something massive moved across the rooftops.
Not a wolf.
Not human.
A towering creature dropped from the top of a barn and landed in the street with a bone-shaking crash.
Silver fur.
Black scars.
Eyes glowing red instead of gold.
Kael whispered one word.
“…Alpha.”
The monster lifted its head.
And smiled with a mouth full of fangs.
- Writer
