Chapter no 2-Going Rouge

‘No one can reach the threshold of fate

No one can reach, for fate is a powerful magician’

Amara

It was almost night, the sun had sat for almost an hour now. There was a grey bag waiting on the coffee table in the lounge. We had packed all our life, all our time spent here in these two bags, and had to leave.

I stood outside, by another bag, while Erica helped father pack. I was waiting while roaming over a two week old newspaper.

The news stated that Alpha Jacob had claimed yet another innocent life of a she-wolf after he had spent three days with, and when she tried to run the third day, was declared a traitor and not loyal to the Alpha. Alpha considered this his insult. The girl was beheaded an hour after the running attempt.

I could feel my head spinning reading this. A vision of my father and sister being beheaded. Would I die with a smile on, or am I just like every other coward wolf of the Seraphic pack?

“Let’s leave!” Father’s voice cut through my thoughts. I picked up the bag and passed it over my shoulder. I was supposed to be the first one to leave, followed by Erica and father.

The streets were as deserted as a ghost town.

With the bag weighing down on my shoulder and my heart thumping loudly against my ribs, I took a step.

Then another

and another,

and soon she was at the end of the street.

Sweat flowed down my temple that had nothing to do with the temperature.

Erica and father were behind me. Quietly walking through the empty streets in the shadows we reached the ends of the territory. It was a small limber forest. It used to be a vast one but was cut down for wood and space for housing. But the forest stretched long further after the border towards thw north.

It was known for the lands of the red berries, the red and blue frogs, and the rare white foxes.

We needed to find a space with no Delta roaming. The border was not more than some dense vines with thorns, twisted together to form a net.

I could see beyond the thorns. We were so close to the freedom.

And sometimes the fates…they tend to be unkind.

A sound hit my ears and made my heart jump. The sound grew. It was the wolves howling and running. The earth making a rhythmic sound when touched by their feet.

So, we ran.

The sounds grew closer and closer.

The fates seem to laugh down at us.

The desperation hit me and so did the tears.

They had found us.

“Father!” I cried his name. He had stopped running to hold his knee, the pain was too much for him.

“Father please, Breathe,” Erica yelled, her face covered with tears, as she bent down to her father.

I could see flashes of fire and a group of people at some distance.

“Father!” Erica yelled, as her father pushed her forward.

“Go! Leave now!” The old man yelled with all his might.

We were left stunned. Could I leave my father here, and be so selfish to go forward knowing the death he would suffer?

“For your mother, for the fates, Leave! let me die a peaceful death knowing I protected you!”

“Father we cannot!” I yelled.

“I beg you, kids, I beg you for a peaceful death! Run!”

“Let’s go!” I found Erica tugging at my hand, pulling me.

But before I could realize it, I heard a scream near me and Eric waa pulled away from me.

There was a sharp pain in the back of my head, and my vision was blurry, my knees gave up.

*****

A thousand years ago,

The same lands.

She was beautiful. Everyone who met her told her she was the most enchanting sight. She trekked through the dense forest, her feet aching from the long journey. As she rounded a bend, a sudden gust of wind swept her cloak aside, revealing a hidden blade attached to her thigh, over her clothes.

There was a glade, in the center, a magnificent stallion pranced and whinnied, its coat glistening like gold in the sunlight. A figure, cloaked in shadows, stood beside the horse, their face obscured by a hood.

He was examing a now dead deer, that had died by a blade in the heart.

“Do you often steal someone’s prey?” Hera said, approached cautiously, sensing an otherworldly aura. The figure turned, revealing piercing blue eyes and chiseled features. -beautiful, the mysterious stranger. He wore a silver brooch with an emblem of a noble family, and his armor seemed to shimmer with an ethereal light.

“You shouldn’t be here, milady,” Colins said, his voice low and enigmatic. “This is a wild forest, inhabiting wild beasts,”

Hera felt an inexplicable pull, as if the land itself drew her closer, shrinking so they can meet. “The only thing I see, is you,” She eyed him, a smile forming on her lips.

He expressions took the same turn. “And your horse, its beautiful,”

The stranger turned to look at his horse.

“And this is my prey,” Hera said. He faced her, a little surprised. She was indeed a fiesty woman.

“All yours,” He stepped aside, his eyes never leaving hers.

Hera forwarded, getting a cloth from her waist band and grabbing the rabbit, wrapping it inside the clock.

“What are you doing here? This a wild area,”

The stranger laughed.

‘Beautiful’ Hera thought.

“I came to find a rare herb for my mother’s ailment,” He looked into her eyes.

“Then thank the fates because I happen to know the way,” Hera smiled, holding her eyes to his. Her blue eyes to his brown

*****

My vision was unclear when I opened my eyes. A subtle pain pulsed at the back of my head, and shoulder. I groaned and straightened such that I was now on my back, hearing the rustle of leaves beneath me.

I wiped a hand over my eyes only to get mud in my eyes. I sat up, my eyes watering. The sudden made a sharp pain in my head.

“Shit!” I groaned, looking around with one eye. The memories came flooding back. My heart picked up a rhythm as I looked around again, now looking for my family.

It was still night, but the moon was almost full. I saw a crumpled up figure by a tree.

“Father!” I cried and rushed to him.

Father laid wide eyed, limp on the ground. He was dead. “Father!” My eyes filled with tears again. I could not remember the last time I had cried so much, as I did today. sitting beside my father’s lifeless body, cold and rigid.

They took my sister! They left me and my father to die here.

Moving my eyes over my father’s body, I found no sign of injury. He probably died with a weak heart. The heart that could not bear the loss of his daughters.

Desperation filled my veins, as I hurried back to the lands. I needed help, anything, anyone to save Erica.

I reached the street to my home and saw people gathered around, stunned at my arrival.

“Where is my sister?” I wanted to confirm my thoughts.

“The Alpha took her, we saw!” A man replied, anger and resentment visible on his face.

I fell to my knees.

“Help me, my people!” I cried, “Help me! I beg each one of you!”

But the people could do nothing! How could they? They were quiet for all the other murders the Alpha committed, How would they find the courage to speak for my sister? Why would they risk their lives?

“But what can we do? He is the Alpha,” A woman in the crowd spoke.

“Raid his house, seize him, kill that excuse of an Alpha,” I yelled and there was a collective gasp. Killing the Alpha?

“We can! If all of us join, we can take him down!” I said through gritted teeth.

“Please!” Iwhispered, and the crowd began to scatter, saying I had lost my mind. The men had their heads lowered.

It was when I felt an old man crouching in front of me.

“Amara , my dear, get a hold on yourself,” His voice low, but affirm.

“If you can, I have a way,” He said making me look back at him.

“For what?” I wiped the back of my hand over my eyes.

“To save your sister!” The old wolf replied, “Alpha Damien of the Enigma Pack, The lycan king,”

My eyes widen, and my tears dried. The Enigma pack! The moat strongestpack of the world. The state with the indomitable force and power, bound by the vow to rule, and driven by the unwavering desire for dominance.

The Lycan king was many many years old but still young. He was rumoured to be the most cruel man on this earth, killing his mates for eternal life, not just once but many times.

It was a pack of the north. The stories claimed one wolf of the Northern Enigma was of thrice the power of the Western Seraphic.

“How? Why would he help me?” I wanted to cry out for the fates. The hope that filled me just a second ago, disappeared just as it came.

“He can, and with the right bargain, he would,” The men replied.

Seeing the confusion and vexation only grow over my features the old man sighed.

“I was once a wine man to Alpha Jacob, I had been for fifteen years before I was too old for his liking, thankfully I didn’t catch a cough, or I would have been dead too,” The man began, “Believe me, when I say he will help you, but only with the right Bargain, because he has done that before, many times. Have you never heard the stories? Alpha Damein is the king, a ruthless and cruel king with leading the most strongest pack of our world. I have seen Alpha Jacob quivering at the sight of him,”

“What bargain could I ever do?”

“Fur…of the rare white fox,” The man said. “The fox’s skin being presented to the Alpha is considered to bring peace and prosperity for the Reign and the pack. White foxes are animals of the south, and they are wild creatures, with sharp nails and teeth,”

“Seeking for his help is better than doing nothing at all. Enigma pack is 168 miles in the north east, If you run now, you can have his help by tomorrow morning, and maybe your sister can be saved if fates are in your favor,”

“I will go!” I said and stood up.

*****