The Alpha King's Nemesis-Chapter 23: Silver Moon ()

Zariah could hear the distant howls and thumping of paws as more wolves emerged from the cover of the trees, surrounding Zariah and her company.

Zariah’s brows twitched slightly as she scrunched her hands into tight fists at her side to reign in her rage.

"What is the meaning of this, Alpha Hugh?" Allen asked in a dark tone.

"Intruders impersonating the Alpha King’s guests?! Do you think the Alpha of Silver Moon is so muddled to be misled by you?!" Alpha Hugh roared fiercely.

Zariah’s eyes flashed furiously at Alpha Hugh’s accusations, the pass granted by the Alpha King was beyond doubt and could not be forged,

From the moment they had arrived the Silver Moon border, Zariah had already noticed something was terribly wrong.

The warrior wolves of the Silver Moon seemed to already be prepared for aggression and their numbers which steadily increased by the passing moments showed they were intent in apprehending Zariah and the company.

For the Silver Moon Pack to have been so prepared for only a mere six intruders, it could only mean they had already been expecting the arrival of Zariah and her company and Zariah had a nagging feeling their identity was already compromised.

The Alpha of Silver Moon had personally inspected the Alpha King’s summon and Zariah could see in his eyes that he knew it was authentic and yet he was insistent on making it a case of impersonation and unsanctioned trespassing.

"Impersonating? I fear Alpha Hugh is unable to bear the repercussions of making such accusations." Zariah warned, her tone chilling cold and thick with deadly promise. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"This is Silver Moon Territory! It is not a place for unidentified persons to throw their weight around! I have concrete reasons to believe you are impostors!"

"I will have you apprehended till I receive personal affirmation from the Alpha King! Now you had better comply or my lands shall soak up your blood!" Alpha Hugh growled out, his stance unyielding.

Zariah could feel the aggression pouring off of the pack wolves and she knew clearly that there was no methods to negotiate this situation, the Silver Moon Pack was prepared for combat.

"Is he truly claiming not to recognize the royal summons? Can the seal of the Royal Lycans even be fabricated?" Dionne thought through their shared bond, her eyes flashing with rage.

"Anything is possible, his wariness is understandable yet his aggressiveness is a bit overboard, to summon over a hundred warriors to handle us...he clearly sees us as more than just mere intruders." Darren thought as he took a step closer to Zariah protectively.

"These are no longer the days of blind aggression. With the alliance of the dark war, as long as we are not rogues, even if we were to be of other species, a cordial interrogation is the norm. He must have ulterior motives." Kaileen thought to the company.

"This Silver Moon Pack is still relatively far from the Royal Lycan Pack, they must deem themselves beyond the reach of the Alpha King. It seems the Alpha King’s authority is not completely consolidated." Nile thought in agreement.

"Alpha, what are your thoughts?" Allen asked through their shared link as his fierce eyes narrowed, watching the wolves circling their small party of six.

Zariah who had been quietly watching as even more of the Silver Moon wolves emerged from the woods, increasing the already unreasonable numbers.

"We have only just arrived, yet it seems the Ethereal domain has great plans for us, even an insignificant Alpha dares to challenge the first blood lycans."

"Just how low has the Ethereal domain fallen in these past decades?" Zariah thought to her company in a distasteful tone.

"If they want a battle, then so be it. Clear a path, we cross through Silver Moon with or without a granted entry."

"It seems we can no longer keep our identity hidden, We should like to remind the Ethereal domain just who the Crimson Moon is." Zariah said as she stretched a hand, a dark red whip materializing out of thin air.

A burst of flame lit up the whip as Zariah leaped into the air and lunged for the nearest wolf, her eyes blazing with dark rage.

_______________

"Head warrior Zariah Torin? Truly? If you are head warrior then what am I supposed to be?" Darren asked in bafflement as he placed down the copy of the missive that had been sent to the Alpha King.

Zariah shrugged casually as she watched Darren throw a fit over her claiming his title as they sat around a fire.

After two weeks of traveling through the forest, they had finally arrived at the heart of the Ethereal domain, merely a day’s travel left to the border of the Royal Lycan Pack.

The past two weeks had been rather strange to Zariah, it was not as though the outworld was much different from the world within the Crimson Moon barrier.

The sky was the same, the earth was the same, the air was the same, the trees were all the same, although Zariah already knew all of this.

This was afterall not Zariah’s first time out of the Crimson barrier, perhaps it was her first time in this lifetime, but Zariah had been out here before.

And each and every memory of the world beyond the crimson barrier was filled with excruciating pain, heartache, bloodshed, death and loss.

Every moment Zariah had spent beyond the Crimson Moon barrier had been the worst days of her existence, shameful, painful, humiliating days.

These were the lands where she had been falsely accused, cursed at, scorned, tortured, whipped, spat at and killed,

These were the foreign lands that had soaked up her blood as she lay lifeless on the execution platform while the spectators laughed and mocked at her, celebrating her demise as well deserved.

From the moment Zariah had stepped beyond the crimson barrier, she had been overwhelmed with vivid memories of those times where she had been whipped till there was not an inch of skin left intact on her body,

Those times she bled out from dawn till dusk, every inch of her body pulsing with pain, those times she prayed for the reprieve of death but there was no one to heed her prayers.

"Zari? Are you alright?" Darren asked when he noticed Zariah staring straight ahead with a blank gaze.

Zariah was drawn out of her thoughts by Darren’s concerned tone and she lifted a questioning gaze to him.

"It’s not that deep Ren, a pack can have two head warriors, especially one such as the Crimson Moon. Besides, the Royal Lycan Pack know nothing of the Crimson Moon or our ways, they only know of the name Alpha Moonstone." Allen reasoned.

"I know, but Zari is Crimson Alpha. I just do not understand why we have to pretend otherwise." Darren murmured in response.

"And are we to just walk up there and announce that I am Alpha Moonstone? Why should I do that? What rights do they have to know of me? Of my identity?" Zariah asked in a dark tone, her words shocking Darren and the rest of the group to silence.

"Do you forget the battle at Silver Moon? The Ethereal domain clearly do not appreciate our presence and so they do not deserve to know me, not a single one of them does. They have only called for me for the benefits the power of Crimson Moon can afford them."

"With the death of the previous Alpha King, the Ethereal domain is in a state of unrest. Whoever Crimson Moon stands with will have the ultimate power."

"I will not be used as a tool to soothe the power struggles of the Ethereal domain. We are here for a mission, we must confirm the message of the scouts and if truly the darkness has begun stirring,"

"We must trace it’s origin and put an end to it before it ends us. This is the mission of Crimson Moon, this is the oath we have sworn, this is our only concern... as for the rest of the world, they may burn for all I care." Zariah clarified with an uninterested shrug.

"Zari, surely you don’t truly mean those words." Nile reprimanded.

Zariah was quiet for a moment as she took a slow breath to calm herself, forcing a smile to her lips.

"The Ethereal domain is overridden with power hungry and ambitious hearts, this is the beginnings of the downfall of any Kingdom. Perhaps the new Alpha King can rectify this... perhaps not."

"Either ways I will not have Crimson Moon get involved. Greed, thirst for power and misplaced ambition...you have seen it as well as I have over the past two weeks."

"We can protect them from the darkness...but we cannot protect them from themselves." Zariah began in a quiet tone.

"The supernatural world fear the Crimson Moon, they fear us because they know we can neither be controlled, tamed nor forced to adhere to their hierarchy."

"If the Crimson Alpha were to appear in the Werewolf territory at this time, it will be equivalent to declaring interest in reclaiming power, it will get us entangled in this messy situation."

"The Alphas of the Ethereal domain have heard so much of the Crimson Moon, my presence will be considered a direct challenge to their dominance."

"As at now, we have no trusted allies amongst the Werewolf packs. As Crimson wolves, we can expect to have all eyes watching our every move."

"My status will only be a danger to us...from here on out, there is no Alpha Moonstone, only Zariah. I hope you all can understand my intentions." Zariah replied as she rose to her feet.

"Where are you going?" Nile asked in a concerned tone.

"For a run, I need to stretch my legs. No need to come with me, I want to be alone." Zariah dismissed as she headed away through the woods.