Chapter Two - The Wolf Beneath the Mask
1645 Words
Kallis took a table at the back of the restaurant with a clear view of Michael's front door across the street. The place was small, with a few tables, an old chalkboard menu, and a radio playing softly in the background.
She ordered a cup of coffee but didn't drink it.
People came and went in familiar patterns. An old man in overalls nodded to the same three people every time the door opened. A mother kept pulling her children away from the counter stools. Two men by the window talked quietly and stopped whenever the waitress walked past. Kallis guessed they were simply used to living in a town where everyone noticed everyone else's business. Most people looked outside more often than at each other, as if they wanted to be home before dark.
Across the street, Michael's house stayed quiet. Nothing moved behind the windows. He hadn't stepped outside since morning.
Afternoon turned to evening. Shops closed one by one. Owners locked their doors before heading home. Families hurried down the street with their heads lowered. By the time the sun disappeared behind the rooftops, the restaurant was almost empty.
Michael's door still hadn't opened.
Kallis noticed the waitress before the girl came over. She was blonde and younger than Kallis had first thought. She moved with the easy pace of someone finishing a long shift, but her eyes kept drifting toward Kallis.
The third time she passed, she stopped.
"Nice color," she said, nodding at Kallis's hair.
Kallis smiled without taking her eyes off the house.
"We're closed," the girl said.
"I didn't realize." Kallis stood.
The girl smiled again. "You should get home before the wolves find you."
Kallis didn't move.
"Wolves?"
The girl nodded, watching her closely.
At that moment, Michael stepped out of the house.
Kallis was already moving.
"I'm Juliet," the girl called after her.
Kallis didn't look back. She kept a safe distance behind Michael, letting the darkness hide her.
Michael led her deep into the woods. Every so often he stopped, as if he sensed someone behind him, but he never looked back long enough to see her.
After several minutes, he reached a cave. Two wolves stood guard at the entrance, fully shifted, watching the trees.
Michael's a werewolf.
Kallis leaned against a tree and slowed her breathing.
Michael paused at the cave entrance and looked toward the trees one last time before going inside.
A cold blade touched Kallis's throat.
She stayed still. The hand holding it was soft—a woman's. She judged the angle, twisted free, knocked the knife away, and slammed her attacker to the ground.
Juliet.
"What are you doing here, Juliet?"
"I could ask you the same."
Neither of them moved.
"Are you one of them?" Juliet asked. "One of the rebels?"
"What rebels?"
Before Juliet could answer, something hit Kallis from the side and threw her across the ground.
Aldris.
He was broader than the photograph had shown, with the quiet confidence of someone used to being feared. He knelt beside Juliet, checked her face for injuries, then kissed her.
So this is him. My bounty.
Kallis pushed herself to her feet.
As Aldris stood, every eye turned toward her. Seven strangers and their High Alpha watched her in silence.
Juliet pointed toward the cave.
"Found their den."
"Good work, Juliet." Aldris said, giving her another quick kiss.
The clearing fell silent.
Aldris studied Kallis.
"She smells human," he said. "What's she doing here?"
His voice was calm, almost curious.
Kallis clenched her fists.
An arrow flew at her face.
She caught it between two fingers.
Then the trees came alive.
Wolves howled nearby as more fighters surrounded the clearing. Swords and axes flashed in the moonlight. Aldris's people drew their weapons without a word. Juliet spun her twin sickles in her hands. Claws slid from Aldris's fingers like blades.
The two sides faced each other, waiting for someone to make the first move.
Michael stepped out from his group and stopped a few paces from Kallis. His eyes met hers before turning to Aldris.
"I knew it," he said. "You were his spy. I should've slit your throat the night you slept under my roof."
Aldris looked at Michael without a word.
"The exiled High Alpha returns," Michael said, laughing softly. "Did you forget, Aldris? The Pelletglow Clan wants your head. There's a bounty on you, and yet you come here yourself instead of hiding like a hunted wolf."
His smile faded.
"So tell me, what brings you here?"
Kallis froze for a moment.
The Pelletglow Clan had placed a bounty on their own High Alpha.
It became clear that the werewolf world was far more divided than the Circle of Seven wanted others to believe.
Aldris finally spoke.
"Did you really think hiding in a cave was enough?"
"I don't need to hide." Michael spread his arms toward the wolves behind him. "I have numbers. Just seven followers for a High Alpha? That's disappointing."
Nearly a hundred wolves surrounded the clearing. Aldris had only a handful beside him.
"Michael, Alpha of Pack Nineteen, Pelletglow Division," Aldris said. "As High Alpha, I find you guilty of treason, rebellion, and leading an attack on a human town."
He looked past Michael at the wolves behind him.
"I am still your High Alpha. Lay down your weapons, and you shall not be punished."
A few wolves glanced at Michael.
None moved.
"You are no High Alpha anymore," Michael said. "The werewolf world no longer accepts anyone above a Pack Alpha. We're done hiding in the shadows."
The two leaders stared at each other.
"I've done nothing wrong," Michael said. "I only wanted this town back. It belongs to us, not the humans. We will take it back."
"Enough."
Kallis's voice cut through the clearing.
Every head turned toward her.
"High Alpha Aldris of the Pelletglow Clan. By order of the Circle of Seven, and the Supreme Lord, Magmoz Korr, Equal Among His Mates, Grace of the Seven, you are charged with treason. You will come with me to the Keep to stand trial."
Michael laughed.
Michael laughed.
"The Circle of Seven? Is this a joke? Who are they supposed to be?"
"You will not insult the Seven," Kallis said.
But Michael's reaction stayed with her.
If he truly didn't know about the Circle of Seven, then the werewolf world was hiding more than she had ever suspected.
For the first time, Aldris looked at her differently, as if he was trying to understand who she really was.
"I'll be remembered as the wolf who killed you," Michael said. Then he raised his voice.
"Kill them."
The clearing exploded into battle.
Steel clashed against claws.
Aldris's wolves fought with calm precision despite being badly outnumbered. They cut down anyone who came close and kept moving. Juliet fought with deadly speed, her twin sickles flashing through the crowd.
Kallis didn't chase enemies. She dealt with whoever came at her. One strike. One fight finished. A sword came for her ribs. She turned it aside and dropped the man before he could recover. An axe swung at her head. She stepped away before it landed.
But the numbers were wearing her down.
A cut along her ribs burned with every breath. Another crossed her forearm. Neither was deep, but both slowed her.
Across the clearing, Michael and Aldris crashed into each other.
Michael fought with raw strength, forcing Aldris backward. Aldris answered with speed, slipping around heavy blows and striking whenever he found an opening. One s***h opened a bloody line across his arm.
Then Michael broke through his guard.
His blade sliced across Aldris's hand, severing the claws. Blood sprayed across the ground as Aldris fell to one knee.
Michael raised his sword.
"Go to hell."
The sword never came down.
Juliet drove one of her sickles into Michael's side.
The blade sank deep. Michael staggered, and his sword slipped from his hand as he grabbed the wound.
He stayed on his feet.
Slowly, he turned to face her.
"You," he said. A faint smile crossed his face. "Not bad... for a mate protecting her mate."
Juliet said nothing.
Michael's hand shot out and closed around her throat.
Before anyone could move, he drove his claws through her chest.
Juliet didn't scream.
She simply went still.
Michael let her body fall.
Silence spread across the clearing.
Then Aldris moved.
He looked at Juliet's body, and something inside him broke. The calm expression Kallis had seen all night disappeared.
Without a word, he turned and ran.
His own wolves froze in shock.
Their High Alpha had abandoned the fight.
For a heartbeat, no one moved.
Then Michael's wolves rushed after him.
Kallis ran after him, too.
She followed Aldris through the dark forest. Branches whipped across her face, and the uneven ground slowed her. Pain shot through her ribs with every step. She pressed a hand against the wound, felt warm blood on her fingers, and kept running.
Aldris was fast.
Faster than she had expected.
Twice he threw thin pieces of metal over his shoulder. They spun through the air like sharpened claws.
Kallis dodged both.
They buried themselves in the trees behind her.
She pushed harder.
Then he was gone.
She slowed to a stop.
Her eyes searched the trees.
Nothing.
Only the wind and the sound of her own breathing.
It was as if the forest had swallowed him.
Frustration burst from her in a loud shout.
She had almost caught him.
Now she had lost him.
And this time, Aldris knew exactly who she was.
She stood there for a long moment, blood running through her fingers. The photograph in her pocket suddenly felt heavier than before.
Behind her, she heard Michael's wolves getting closer.
She had failed.
Now she would have to find Aldris all over again.
- Writer
