A Luna for Alpha Kieran-Chapter 111: Gift...

[ Somewhere far away from the borders of the known packs... beyond the Great lake and the mountains ]

The wind howled across the steppes like a wounded beast,as a pair of feet walked forward in long strides, carrying Autumn along. She was dragged across like a piece of rag,only to be hurled on the back by the one carrying her once they stepped into the region where the wind carried with it the scent of iron and wet earth .

At the border of the territory, a warning sign stood as clear as the fading day.It was a gruesome marker for anybody who even dared to think about trespassing.These territories were sacred areas... For the devil.

The marker was unmistakably a wolf’s head, severed clean at the neck. It was mounted on a pike twice the height of a man. Its jaws had been pried open in a permanent snarl and teeth filed to razor points. The flesh had long since rotted away, leaving only sun bleached bone and scraps of sinew, but the message was clear... ’Cross this line at your own risk!’

Beyond the border lay a vast, untamed expanse of rolling grasslands and jagged cliffs.Smoke rose in thick columns from countless fires, staining the horizon gray. The air trembled with the sound of drums.

These wolves...this pack...they were one of the packs who were part of the Ancient alliance.They were nothing like the wolves Velor or Kieran commanded.They did not answer to the Council... in fact the Council was formed because the newer packs were so scared of the Ancient Alliance. None dared to even check if they were still alive. Not hearing from them was good news... because most of the ones that heard from them, did not live to tell the tales.

As for them...their elders were prehistoric.They told tales older than the moon goddess. Their children learned to kill before they learned to shift.

They didn’t walk into other packs.They stormed them.Mutilating and terrorising.

They were massive ’war’ wolves, most of the time they roamed around in partial shifts...as they thundered through the boundaries...half beast, half man...bristling with bloodstained fur and cloaked in the pelts of those they had devoured.

A particular slow, thunderous beat rolled through the soil like a warning as those feet carrying Autumn,neared their borders.The guards at the perimeter stilled.

They were clad in blackened leather armor reinforced with werewolf hide and human bone plated mantles, they stood like statues...faces painted in shades of gray and crimson, their eyes glowing faintly beneath the slash marks across their cheeks.

One of them turned to the other, voice guttural.

"The war pack returns so early? But I don’t feel any of them!!!"

The other only grunted. He gripped his crescent shaped sickle tighter, eyes locked on the vague shadow rising in the mist beyond the ridge.

And then the figure came even nearer to the Skarthheim pack...ruled by the ferocious Alpha Thorgar Ulfsen whom most believed was part wolf part devil... definitely no part human... at all!

The wind howled as the lone figure trudged forward. Autumn’s limp body hung over her shoulder, her arms dangling like broken branches, as the figure’s steps sunk a little into the land.

Above them, a crow circled, following their shadows diligently.

The perimeter guards tensed a little as the pair drew nearer.

"Well, well," one of them sneered, but his voice was thick with amusement. "Look what the fucking wind dragged in...this ain’t no war pack coming home..."

His companion sniffed the air. "Smells like a witch."

The first guard laughed out too loud...like his bones were cracking. "Ain’t that always the way?" He took a step forward, his massive frame blocking the path. "You lost, little witch? This ain’t no place for your kind."

The hooded figure didn’t stop. She kept walking, her steps steady...a blackened mist thickening around her like smoke from dying ember.

The guards exchanged glances, then fanned out, circling her like vultures around wounded prey.

"Ooooh, she’s got spirit," the scarred one mocked, poking at the mist with the tip of his sickle. "Think she is here to curse us, brother?"

"Fuck if I know," the other growled. "What is she carrying anyway?"

"A wolf?" The first guard leaned in, his nostrils flaring. "Huh. Ain’t that something. What’s a witch doing with a bitch from another pack, eh?"

The witch still did not speak even when the guards’ laughter grew louder.

She shifted Autumn’s weight on her shoulder, her smirk widening into something predatory.

She kept walking,her boots crunched over blood hardened soil.

The mist swirled around her ankle,moving upwards, as if to shield her. Bark out a warning.

"What the fuck is that?"

"Why the hell would a witch be dragging a dead wolf into our lands?"

"She must be suicidal."

A third guard approached now, bulkier,with more scars.

"Fuck me, boys... I think she just brought us dinner and dessert. We should skin the witch first. I wanna see what color she bleeds." The first chuckled, circling her slowly like a dog sniffing prey. "Or we could take our time. Witches break differently, I heard. Maybe we teach this one."

But the figure kept walking forward. Calm. Steady. Unshaken.

Until...

She stopped.

The smoke around her grew darker.

The crow above gave a piercing shriek, wings slicing through the dying sky as it flew upwards as if announcing something.

Something in the air definitely shifted.

" What’s happening... ??!! " The third one looked over their heads. The sky was changing colour.

"Fuck if I know," the other growled. "But that wolf she is carrying... she ain’t dead. I can hear her heartbeat."

Then suddenly...

The one eyed guard froze. His nostrils flared again, his single good eye narrowed. "Wait..." He stepped closer, his head tilting to catch a better look under the hood. "I know this witch."

Silence. freeweɓnovel~cѳm

The scarred guard frowned. "The fuck you talking about?"

The one eyed warrior’s lips peeled back in a slow, ugly grin. "Ohhhh, shit." He let out a low whistle. "Boys... this ain’t just any witch."

The others stilled.

"This," he continued, his voice dropping to a reverent whisper, " Is one of Alpha Thorgar’s favourite whores."

The scarred guard’s smirk faltered. "No fucking way."

Finally, the witch moved.

Her hands rose, gripping the edges of her hood. With a slow, deliberate motion, she pulled it back...revealing a face that was both very beautiful and also terrifying.

High cheekbones, lips stained dark as wine, and eyes like polished onyx...deep, endless, and utterly cold with kohl to adorn and highlight.

"That’s right, boys," Selene purred, her voice like poisoned honey. "Now run along and tell your Alpha..." She shifted Autumn’s weight on her shoulder again, her smirk widening into something predatory.

"Selene brings a gift."

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