Whisper of the Wood

chapter 12

Alistair and his betas walked closely behind his uncle as they scurried through the deserted castle halls making thier way to his office. At this time most of the guards were off duty and those working through the night tended to be posted outside or protecting the high profile members of the pack.

The walls were beautifully decorated and doned several old paintings and relics of the past. During the day the were truely a sight to behold but as the faint light of the moon seeped in it made the youngest beta shudder. Jason had always disliked the ominous feel of the castle at night and he realised he hated it more when Beta Grayson was practically emanating rage. He glanced over at sister and the others, who all seemed unfazed by the growing tension when he suddenly crashed into Grayson. The Beta had suddenly stopped in the corridor unfazed by the young wolf stumbling behind him, before turning to face the rebellious group. His eyes grew dark as he looked towards them leaving a cold chill in the air 'The rest of you leave, I must speak to my nephew alone' his voice was low and stern. But Jason and Sasha where lost by his words, they were all to blame but on some level they showed relief to avoid his wrath. At least for tonight.

Along with Ethan, they bowed turning to walk to their respective homes when Alistair shout's 'NO!! They are my Betas anything you have to say to me, you say to them. His eyes fueled by his fire within, this was absolute and he would not back down.

Ethan called to his alpha prince through thier mind annoyed that he had chosen now of all times to challenge his uncle 'what are you doing?'

Whilst Sasha's booming voice entered Alistair's mind at the same time 'Are you crazy? getting us into more trouble Alistair. YOUR UNCLE IS PISSED OFF'

Despite the commotion on his mind Alistair didn't break eye contact with his uncle. His glare sending a clear message, that he won't back down and Grayson gives in 'well then in you go' he calls out as he points to his office door. As the young wolves walk past he lets out a deep sigh as he pinches the bridge between his eyes.

As Grayson moves towards his desk Alistair mindlinks the others. 'dont worry this is more than our late night trekking', Ethan had finally clocked onto the situation, Sasha and Jason on the other hand remained in shock and the confusion showed on their faces.

'Shall we begin or are you wishing to continue your private conversation' Grayson asked as all eyes snapped back to him.

Of course he clocked onto thier mindlink. 'Go ahead uncle' Alistair responded as the other took in a deep breath

'Of course I will come back to your violation of pack rules later ...' theyall shuffle nervously at the mention of thier little adventure, even Alistair who was hopeful it would not be mentioned. Given how serious his uncles demeanor was it was clearly about bigger problems within the pack than some harmless fun in the woods. Grayson ignored thier reaponses and continued '... as Im sure you were all aware I was sent to deal with some recent troubles surrounding our sub division packs, Silver Dusk and Crested Bay, it seems a number of wolves have been targeted and two seriously injured by an unknown enemy. Not to mention the numerous rumors around the other creatures encroaching on own lands' At the mentioned of a threat to their own pack members the four wolves freeze in place as thier eyes widen in shock, Crested Bay was one of the smaller subdivisions of the royal pack so not unusual for them to encounter difficulties. Silver Dusk on the other hand was the third strongest of the 12 subdivisions they rarely encountered problems. Alistair couldn't help but wonder who this threat was because they clearly had a death wish entering Silver Dusk territory.

As Grayson is about to continue Sasha chims in 'Do we have any indication of what we are up against?', Alistair can't help but grin, knowing he made a good choice selecting her as a beta.

Even Grayson couldn't hide the glint in his eyes that such a young she-wolf would interupt him. 'the information I gathered is vague, it seems those who encountered the enemy have varying accounts, its possible there may be more than one, maybe several creatures working together. Tvough there was one common denominator that stood out a strange creature cloaked with furs has been spotted and a strange ashen scent still lingered at one of the locations. The King and Prince Alec have already been notified'

Alistair and Sasha let out a low growl at the meer description, Grayson raises his eyebrows clearly shocked by thier intense reaction. 'Theres something we need to tell you' Ethan speaks and his eyes shimmer from his stirring wolf, before glancing over his shoulder at Jason. 'Jason encountered a creature of the same description near the falls'

'WHAT???' Grayson roars as his blue eyes turn to a deep grey, slamming his closed fists on the table forcing the chair he was previously seated on to fly backward into the wall behind him. Jason flinches at the Betas anger as the others stand thier ground, hearts racing. Grayson clenched his jaw shut as his knuckles turned white, trying to restain his wolf. 'you should have told me sooner' his voice shaking as he tried to supress the wolf within. Alistair had rarely seen his uncle this angry, whatever this threat it was serious and he watched intently a his uncles eyes gloss over for a brief moment, a mindlink to another wolf. hopefully not his father.

Serveral minutes pass until Grayson's body begins to relax 'I'm sorry' the words leave his mouth like a whisper but Alistair knew his uncle well. It was sincere. 'you have to understand this creature is a high priority threat to our kingdom, tell me what you saw'. As Jason had done with Alistair he allowed his pack beta to see exactly what he had seen. when the scenes had finished like a movie reel on his mind Grayson spoke. 'Its the same one, you are extremely lucky, Jason is it?' he nods in response. ' that creature easily overpowered two experienced Silver Dusk warriors, based on the smell I was inclined to believe we were dealing with witches, but they rely to much on magic. no witch has even come close to matching a wolfs strength, speed and agility'

'maybe its a vampire?' Jason finally speaks

' Vampires dont use magic Jay, and even if they did there was no rotting smell, just ash, berry and mint' Sasha responds quickly shutting down her brothers stupid suggestion.

'did you just say you smelt berry and mint?' Grayson interjects 'its possible it is one of our own kind' then he seemed to get lost in his own thoughts, before dismissing the youngsters. non of them questioned or argued with the Beta, his eyes remaining in deep thought. They soon see the light shifting through the window as dawn approached and were desperate to get some much needed sleep and thanking the moon goddess that they averted punishment.

As they turned to leave the room Grayson said one last thing that would haunt their dreams 'I expect you all here tomorrow at noon, for your punishment on a total disregard of pack rules'

and with that they left.