Bane of my existence

Chapter 16- Bane

In the past two weeks, three werewolves were murdered from my pack, with two other members missing. I’d sent scouts on the look-out, assuming this to be the work of the other rival packs, but to no avail. Although, none could dare to commit such an act against my pack and hope to live. Tyler had return with no information, which further infuriated me. There was something about these murders that sent a chill down my spine, something about this didn’t feel quite right. My pack was gripped with anger and fear. Chaos had planted seeds of doubt in the minds of my people. They were certain the murderer was someone from the inside. This was an even delicate and dangerous thought, for it is the seeds of doubt that leads to feelings of hatred and distrust that could break up the pack and weaken it. The last thing my pack needed now was a war and I will not have it.

And all this, when I’d only just found my mate. All these years, I’d never really believed in mates maybe because I’d never found one, until now. I watched my dad hurt my mom although they were supposed to be mates. He hit her every night, as I listened to her screams through my bedroom wall, shivering in the dark, alone, with the growing hatred and the rage building slowly inside me, until sleep took me. Come the morning, Dad would be nursing my mom’s wounds which he inflicted. When I asked mom to why she hadn’t left him yet even after everything he put her through, she would only smile and say, “because he’s my mate. We’re the same, he and I.  I wouldn’t survive a day without him.”  If that’s what mates were, I never wanted one.  All this had me lose faith in the whole idea of there being someone whose soul matches yours. To be completely honest, I was relieved I didn’t have a mate, because it meant I didn’t have any weakness. But everything changed the day I met Luna. Just the thought of her send shivers down my spine, but it’s the kind you get when you’re excited about something. The moment our eyes met, I felt like I’d been transported to a different world. A mixture of emotions, that were completely unknown to me before, exploded inside me. All I could see was her, and in that moment I knew, that she was someone I would go to the extreme for. I could kill for her or get killed for her, I could subject myself to every pain in the world if it only meant, she would be happy. This feeling could not be surmised as just ‘love’ it was something more than that. It was devotion in its highest form, love in its purest form.

But I was the Alpha of my pack, and they needed me now more than ever. There were lives dependant on me and I had to get hold of the murderer as soon as possible. I didn’t know where to begin or who could actually be responsible. Nothing substantial had turned up, as of yet. My pack members were growing restless, the need for vengeance rising with every passing hour. We were predators and now we were being preyed on, this was more than we could digest. I needed to do something and I needed to do it soon.

I went to Crusoe’s to get a drink, but also to take some time off to think. I seemed to be doing a lot of that these days. I think best, when I’m on my own. So, here I was, sitting alone, with a whiskey, but my thoughts were elsewhere. I remembered the first time I met luna , it was right here. I looked at the table she was sitting at, that day. The memory made me smile. Just then, the bell near the door rang as someone opened it, and there she was, so radiant, smiling as she caught my eye. I was awestruck, at the mere gesture, that sends thousands of signals to my brain, and makes my heart explode with every emotion possible. The blue dress she was wearing highlighted her perfect figure, and her silver hair shone even more brightly against the blue contrast, she looked ethereal. She walked up to me, and said,

“Is this seat taken?”

“No...actually”

She smiled as she sat down. She fell quiet for a moment, before speaking again,

“So...I’ve been thinking about you...a lot actually.”

“I know, I tend to have that kind of effect on people.”I replied with a grin.

“wow, you sound so sure of yourself.” She rolled her eyes.

I laughed. “What have you been up to these past few days?” I asked her, to which she just shrugged her shoulders and said,

“Nothing really. Just the usual boring stuff. Wait.. you won’t believe what I saw in the woods the other night....It was the biggest.. I mean huge... big... black wolf with green eyes that were like glowing in the dark. It’s stare... It looked right at me, and when it did, I felt like it could see right through me, my soul you know, I felt naked and exposed. How weird is that? You think I’m crazy right? “

I stiffened at the mention of the wolf, because I knew, she was talking about me. I didn’t realise she’d stopped talking until she gently placed her hand on my arms. “hey, back to earth now”

I laughed, “I’m sorry, I just spaced out. What were you saying again?”

“The wolf? The big bad black wolf? Have you seen one around here?” she asked me.

“uh.. there are a lot of wolves around here .Just the other night when you were at my place we saw one right?”

Her cheeks reddened at the mention of that night, I couldn’t help but smile.

“yes, I remember, that night, I mean the wolf. I remember the wolf” she stammered hurriedly. I wanted to tell her, that it was me she had seen, that the big black wolf was me, and I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her, but I couldn’t say it, not now at least.

I wanted nothing more than to reveal my true self to her, but I didn’t know how she would react, and I couldn’t risk scaring her away. We sat there talking about everything and anything under the sky. She told me about her parents, her friends, her childhood and everything about her, while I sat there listening with nothing really to add of my own. I dreaded talking about myself. I didn’t really have the best parents or the happiest memories. For a long time, I was alone, in darkness, with nothing but my hatred and anger to keep me going. I had seen war at a very young age and the memories of the bloodshed scarred me forever. I had massacred an entire pack of werewolves, and their cries still haunted me to this day. I was plagued with nightmares every night and barely got any sleep. I hadn’t realised how lonely I was and how scared of my own self I was until I met Tyler, my best friend. He saved me from the darkness and from myself.

I wanted to tell Luna all this, but I couldn’t. So I sat in silence, listening to the sound of her voice, hanging on to her words as it filled me with love and light to an extent that wasn’t humanly possible.