Chapter Four: Blood Beneath the Pines
1001 Words
The howl echoed through the forest the second time. It vibrated through the walls of Ella's tiny cottage making the candle on her table flicker with force. The old seer's grip tightened her grip around Ella's wrist.
"We have to go."
Ella couldn't move, she was still stunned by those crimson eyes... They hadn't looked like the eyes of a wolf, neither had they looked like that of a human, it was almost human but not completely.
"What was that?" she whispered.
The seer didn't answer her instead, she blew out the candle, making the room turn entirely dark.
"Not a word," she breathed.
The cottage became silent, Ella didn't know whether to be scared or not. The only sound she could hear was that of the rain that dropped on the roof. She held her breath, outside the cottage she could hear the movement of trees and heavy footsteps that circled round the cottage.
Whoever or whatever was outside wasn't trying to hide or something but it clearly wanted them to know it was there.
Ella's pulse rose, her heart beat pounded in her ears.The footsteps stopped beside the window.
For one terrifying moment, neither of them dared to breathe then... It knocked on the door thrice.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
The sound was terrifying as hell because they didn't expect it. Ella wanted to scream but she couldn't, instead she held it back into her body.
The seer closed her eyes, whispering a prayer only her could understand under her breath. They felt a cold wind slipped inside the room, then, as suddenly as it had begun... The footsteps faded into the thin air.
In a split moment, the forest became quiet again. The old woman waited again before she lit the candle, her hands trembled with fear as she struck the match stick.
"They know." She said after lightening the candle.
Ella swallowed nervously.
"Who?"
"The people who have been searching for you."
Searching...For her?
"I don't understand, who could that be. I've never left this pack."
"You don't remember your past, child."
"I was just a baby." Ella defended.
Before Ella could ask another question, a loud horn blasted thrice from the center of the village.
The seer's face immediately went paled.
"The border alarm."
Warriors shouted outside.
"To the northern border!"
"Move!"
"Wake the healers!" They shouted.
The entire pack erupted into chaos, the seer hurried toward the door.
"No matter what happens tonight, don't tell anyone I came here." She warned.
"What about you?"
"I have something I must confirm."
And just like that, she stepped into the rain and was gone. Within seconds, she disappeared into the darkness.
"Elder Mira!" Ella called.
Nobody answered, just the distance sounds of wolves from the forest
* * * *
Ella couldn't sleep, not after what had happened during the night. By dawn, the rain had stopped falling. Ella made her way toward the kitchens, only to find the entire village gathered outside the packhouse. They looked scared, people whispered from ear to ear except that nobody whispered to Ella and she couldn't tell what it was either.
"What happened?" Ella asked a servant beside her hoping she'd answer her.
The woman looked at her sternly then glanced around before answering her.
"A patrol found one of our warriors."
" Was he injured?"
She shook her head.
"They found him dead."
A chill crawled down Ella's spine.
"Who was it?"
"Thomas."
Ella knew him. Not too well but she remembered that he'd always smile at her whenever she delivered fresh bread to the training grounds.
"He was only twenty-three," someone murmured.
"They say his body was torn apart."
"No rogue could do that."
"Hush," another warned.
"The Alpha is here."
The crowd immediately parted and stopped whispering, Rowan walked through the center of the village with his Beta at his side. His expression was sour.
"Where?" he asked.
"The northern pines, Alpha."
"I'll see it myself." He commanded.
Without another word, he mounted his horse and several warriors followed him toward the forest.
Ethan, standing beside Ella, let out a slow breath.
"I've never seen the Alpha look like that."
"Like what exactly?"
"He looks worried."
* * * * *
The body was laid beneath a towering pine tree, there was no sign of him struggling or any broken branches around. No scent of rogues either just his blood on the earth.
Rowan knelt besides the dead warrior. His Beta, Gideon, frowned.
"His throat was crushed."
"Yes."
"And these..." Gideon pointed toward four deep marks carved across the man's chest.
"They're claw wounds."
Rowan examined them carefully, his eyes narrowed carefully.
"No."
Gideon looked confused.
"No?"
"These aren't claw wounds."
He ran two fingers along one of the cuts.
"They're too clean to be claw wounds."
"Then what made them?"
Rowan didn't answer him instead, he noticed something caught beneath the dead warrior's hand. It was a single strand of silver fur.
He picked it up carefully and examined it.
"I've never seen fur like that," Gideon admitted.
Neither had Rowan but something about it made him remember something. A story his mother used to tell before bed.The Moon Wolf.
It was impossible, legends didn't leave bodies behind as far as he knew.
"Take him home," Rowan ordered quietly.
"And tell no one about this."
"But Alpha..."
"No one." He commanded.
* * * * *
High above the forest amongst the branches of an ancient oak, a hooded figure watched the warriors leave.
"So..."
The stranger's gaze shifted toward the Blood Moon Pack.
"...the seal is finally weakening."
With a single leap, the figure vanished into the forest before anyone knew it.
Far below, Rowan rode back toward the packhouse with the silver strand of fur clenched tightly in his fist. For the first time in years...The unshakable Alpha Blackwood wasn't thinking about rival packs or politics or the upcoming Mate Ceremony.
He was thinking about an old legend and wondering....
What if legends could bleed?
- Writer
