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Prologue: Vultures
My heart thundered in my chest as I ran, full speed. Kraw my wolf, helping me go impossibly faster than supernaturally possible.
Still, sharp claws swiped at me, as one of the hideous beasts tried to grab me. Its claws just grazing my upper arm and shoulder. Not deep, but enough to burn, and it burned like hell, like someone just set those parts on fire.
I groaned loudly in pain, my screams reverberating through the thick dense forest. Kraw howling out his pain in my head as we kept running, dodging tree after tree, logs and jumping over brushes. Then I saw a big expanse of land with hardly any tree in it, 'good, at least now I could see them better and fight'. I thought to myself.
But my relief was short lived, as a huge rock mountain began to sprout from the ground covering the entire expanse of the land. Now I had no place to go, I could clearly see the merciless beasts after me, they looked like giants demons without horns, they towered over me at possibly eight feet or more.
I wondered at the type of creatures they were, but said nothing as I prepared to take a fighting stance.
At six feet six, I was one of the tallest werewolves alive, but the sheer size of these shadowed beasts aiming to rip out my soul was enormous.
Kraw and I were out of breath and tired from all the running.
"Sebastian this is okay , we need to stop and fight anyways". kraw said in my head, sounding out of breath.
"Aaaaargggggrrr !!"
I screamed like a terrified little girl as I felt claws dig into my arm, pinning me against the rock, I had no idea where it had come from. The beast snarled its acidic saliva dangerously close to my face and skin, its foul gut wrenching breath turned my stomach.
I have had this dream too many times not to remember how acidic their saliva can be. Fire slowly and painfully consumed my flesh, where the beast held me down, so I head butted him.
He staggered back, then came back at me, with his fist raised ready to strike me but I blocked him.
"Enough.!!" Another beast shouted, his thunderous voice caused the earth to shake slightly. It dripped with authority and I instantly knew he was their leader.
I looked up to see the owner of the voice, only to find over fifty beasts on their knees as one of them walked past. Maybe he is their kin? I asked myself inwardly as sweat beaded on my forehead and under my arms.
" you scream like a little girl. " He said disapprovingly. "you are a pathetic excuse for a chosen one, little pup, you won't last a day. " he paused in thought. " I wonder what the moon goddess was thinking handing such important responsibility to such a pitiful wolf." He finished.
That did it!!.. I growled as Kraw swiftly took over. There was absolutely nothing I could do that would stop Kraw from attacking the Leader of the beasts. And in a blink of an eye, I lunged at him claws drawn, all thoughts of fear and self preservation were gone.
A pained groan escaped the beast as my claws dug deep into his back, reaching his spine. I bit into his neck not caring about the terrible pain I would feel.
I sunk my other claw into his neck and tried pulling his throat out before his long arms and claws pulled me off his back, and flung me away from him.
I landed In front of the beasts who had been kneeling at his feet and they pounced on me, biting and trying to claw my bones out of my body.
I howled loudly in pain. My howls turning to screams as I Fell out of bed and back into reality. I groaned loudly in pain, as I stared at the ceiling of my room, my body was drenched in sweat and blood, the deep gashes from the nightmare rapidly healing.
The digital clock on the wall said it was well past Seven in the morning, but it was still very dark outside. I guess dawn was running late again today . I sat up, slowly getting to my feet, Kraw pacing restlessly in my head, he detested things he had no control over, he didn't like the nightmares at all. Well, no one did.
I had thrashed my bed again, my mattress was now big clumps of foam and pieces of bed sheet. The nightmares had become a nightly occurrence for over a week now and Kraw didn't know why, how or what was causing these dreams. No one knew and it left him restless and pacing in my head, sometimes all day. we even tried to avoid sleeping at some point, it didn't work, sleep would always sneak up on us.
This is the moon claw pack, the most prestigious pack in our world. We were the equivalent of royalty and the only pack that a moon alpha can emerge from. I could hear loud buzzing of insects just outside the window of my room. It was still a locust plague .
For the past five days, My pack has been plagued by different hordes of insects. We have had hordes of hawk moths, Mites and now locusts. The alpha and the elders say it's a sign of what is to come and that the emergence of the new moon alpha was very near.
The moon Alpha, is the most powerful werewolf in our world. They are deities and their wolves are directly from the blood line of the moon goddess.
But we didn't always have moon alphas . Centuries ago, after the entire royal family was killed in a senseless massacre, the moon goddess turned her back on all werewolves, she said our human side had bested us. She abandoned us and that led to the near extinction of our kind, by our kind.
We turned on each other, and a full out war broke out which raged for another century. Finally the entire families of the titled wolves in my pack had had enough of the war. They sacrificed themselves to the moon goddess in a desperate plea for peace. They killed themselves on full moon night in the sacred lands surrounding the pack.
That night the first Moon Alpha emerged from that sacrifice, and since then almost every ten centuries, a new moon alpha emerges.
The first sign is the birth of the chosen ones, three alpha males whose births cause an unusual change in the dynamics of day and night.
When I was born the night extended for a few hours, I was told that daylight didn't come up until around three pm the next day after I was born. The other chosen one's are Hilary and Curt and there was no daylight for two days, when they were born.
Hilary and Curt didn't suffer horrible nightmares, like me. But we all knew that the time had come, the sacred lands called to our souls like we were missing a part of us.
Once my body had completely healed, I changed into a pair of black jeans and a black tee shirt and headed out to the kitchen. I could hear my family moving around and getting ready for breakfast.
The elders say once the horde of black vultures hit the pack , we will (the chosen ) be sent into the sacred forest. Only one of us will come out alive. That's partly why this is such a big deal. Two families would loose their sons and no one can predict who will die and who will survive.
My name is Sebastian Haller and I am nineteen years old, the youngest of the chosen ones. Hilary is twenty and Curt is twenty-two, we have all found our mates, but I have lost mine, Curt and Hilary have theirs.
The floor boards creaked slightly under my weight as I went down the stairs of our house. The scent of coconut and strawberries wafted into my nose, as I neared the kitchen. My mom and younger sister Stacey have been the worst hit by the reality of my situation. Mom can't stop or interfere with my destiny no one can, or the entire pack would gradually perish.
" Morning mom, dad, Stace? Why do you make breakfast, when no one eats?" I asked as I walked into the kitchen. "Come here sweetie," my mother demanded, completely ignoring my comments. She was sitting on dad laps, he was constantly comforting her nowadays.
I smiled ruefully at her, there were bags under her eyes from her excessive crying. "Seb we are not little pups, we don't need to be babied." Kraw grumbled in a futile attempt to stop me from going to her.
I hugged her and dad ruffled my hair, we didn't talk much just silently hugged, until Stacy hit me on the back of my head.
"Hey mop head." She said as she plopped down on a kitchen stool. The women in my life had been worse hit by the impending doom hovering over our pack, my mum and my sister have lost a lot of weight overnight, their eyes had thick black bags underneath them from their incessant crying and lack of sleep.
Kraw growled, mostly in frustration, I just chuckled in response. As I left mom to hug Stace from behind and kissed her on the cheek. I didn't have much of an appetite myself but I managed to take a few bites of reheated steak and was sipping my coffee, when I heard it.
Everyone must have heard it too, because every member of the Haller household froze. The loud cackle of a wake of black vultures, resonated through the house again. This time there was no mistaking or denying It, the birds continued their cackle all over the pack.
The alpha's howl was the next thing we heard, it was a call to all pack members, one that everyone must obey. As the chosen ones we only obeyed because of the calling of the forest nothing more .
The howl of the elders was next. As a small burning sensation began to spread out from the middle of my chest, where my heart was. Kraw was silent, we both knew it was time.
To die or not to die?
•••••••••
Prologue Continued: Revenge
Dawn wasn't late, it just didn't bother to show up this time.
As Hilary, Curt and I prepared to step into the sacred lands, we said our goodbyes to our families and pack members. "I love you son." My dad said, his voice cracking slightly, as he held me in a tight hug . He has been my only real support, training , teaching and mentoring me. He's a low level pack warrior and has taught me all he knows.
Curt is the betas son and Hilary is the head warrior. He took over after the death of his father and he is the strongest, most vicious wolf in our pack, also the most equipped and prepared amongst the three of us.
So many people expect him to be the next moon alpha, his wolf hades is brutal in battle. After his father died in a surprise rogue attack. Hilary took some warriors and went after the rogues, those who had attacked our pack were slaughtered before they reached rogue territory. As for the rest, let's just say there hasn't been a sighting of a rogue around the moon claw pack and the next three packs around us since then.
Hilary hates me and my guts, that much I know, and he has every right to. I still feel guilty sometimes when I recall what happened. But Kraw doesn't care, he never does, he is the real reason Hilary hates me, and he feels no remorse for what he did.
My actions that night about a year ago, would most likely get me killed before whatever awaits us in the forest does. It's also the reason I haven't shifted in a year, I haven't let Kraw out since that night, it started out as his punishment, but later became a safety measure.
The intensity of Hilary's hatred towards me was expressed on his face, he had this hateful glare that made me nervous and totally uncomfortable.
Kraw might be a mad wolf but Hades was a whole other level of mad. " Run along little Seb, I'll give you a generous head start, but it's all you'll get, because the minute I set my eyes on you in those lands, you'd be dead. Let's just say you are a dead wolf running." Hilary smirked at me as he warned me in our mind link.
Kraw was silent and that worried me a little. Usually he would have growled and snarled at Hilary by now. But he silently stuck to the back of my mind. I took one last look at my family and took off into the thick forest.
It felt as if the forest grumbled its approval, because as I entered I suddenly began to feel pressure in my ears as I ran, I needed to put some serious distance between Hilary and myself.
The last thing I wanted to deal with on this quest to find my purpose, was Hilary and his revenge plan. This whole situation was way bigger than one man, one wolf or one family.
I had lost track of time as I drifted aimlessly in the thick forest, unable to find anything through yards and yards of abnormally giant trees that had branches sprouting out from as low as my knees. Others were bent at awkward angles, some produced tree sap, but they were very unusual. Some of the sap were a shiny green color, most were black, others were the color of blood, but the smell wasn't metallic like blood.
The flowers and fruits I didn't recognize, so I stayed away from them, the forest had been pitch black since I got in but my heightened senses meant I could see as clear as day.
It was really odd that I hadn't come across an animal or heard a bird,since I got in. Maybe it wasn't that odd, as I had fallen asleep twice since I came in. I didn't know what to think of the forest, it certainly wasn't the same forest that surrounded my pack.
After a while, I was hungry and tired, I had walked for an obscenely long time and I hadn't eaten anything since I got here. I didn't know what I could and couldn't eat and there were no animals to hunt.
I found a small rock hidden beside an awkwardly crooked tree, so I sat down for some rest. Kraw was hungry that much I could tell, as he rolled uncomfortably deep in the tresses of my mind. It was comforting to at least feel him there even though I couldn't reach him. I knew at some point I would lose him.
I must have slept off at some point, because a low long hissing sound woke me up. I turned to the sound and saw a reptile. It was as big as an anaconda, but it had beautiful and colorful feathers like that of a peacock, its bright orange head was that of a..., what the heck?!! its head was a bright orange panther.
I stared at it in shock as it studied me, before it suddenly roared and towered over me, in a defensive stance. "you are way off your path you need to go. You can't runaway from your problems here alpha, you need to face it head on .". " who said anything about running." I grumbled under my breath.
Then I realized, the creature had spoken to me in mind link. "Y-you can mind link?" I asked. "yes, now get out of here before you stray too far and become a meal for the Reaper king." It warned.
I quickly got to my feet, but didn't know where to go, so I turned back to the orange headed creature. Just in time to see its enormous tail pointing in the direction I should go. "Make sure to get some food, you'll die otherwise. The ugliest, foul smelling ones are the safest and healthiest.. and peel the outer layers before eating !!" it said to my retreating back.
I took off in the direction the orange reptile had indicated, in a haste to finally get some food. Following the foul smell of rotten fruits, I soon found the spot where the smell was strongest.
At first the fruits looked nice , fresh and attractive, but they smelt off. And when you looked closely you'd see they had big fat worms with long shiny fairy like wings going in and out of it, like laborers at a construction site.
I kept on going till I saw fruits that had fallen from trees onto the muddy ground underneath it, looking dirty and rotten and smelt awful, like rotten eggs.
I picked up an arm full and began to peel them. And as predicted by the reptile, the thick skin of the fruit smelt awful, but when I took a bite, it tasted like a dream, it was a curious dull blend of strawberries , orange and English pear with an underlying tanginess of grape, but at least it was crunchy and juicy.
Although the color of the juice was an irritating dull brown, same as the inside of the fruit.
I wondered about the creatures I had seen so far, we had been warned that the sacred lands was not an enchanted place. But what I had seen so far proved otherwise.
I was so deep in thought and distracted by my meal that I didn't hear someone approaching until Hilary snorted at me.
" Boy, am I glad I found you? You seriously are an irritating chump." He spat out hatefully. Then stared me down, but I refused to back down and stared right back at him.
He flicked his wrist and I immediately felt like someone was squeezing my throat in a choke hold, trying to squeeze the life out of me.
" Seb you need to break the eye contact .. " Kraw's distant voice warned in my head, he sounded really tired and distant, like he was really faraway. I realize I couldn't feel him anymore.
I broke eye contact and the pressure on my throat eased. But he was In front of me in the blink of an eye. As a werewolf, his speed is impressive, but as one of the chosen, normal werewolf speed is slow for us. but we didn't'have our wolves here, that meant our abilities aren't as sharp. So how on earth did he do that?
The next second I was flying in the air from an upper cut, and landed a few feet away from him. "When did it become okay to kill? With no recourse to those you're hurting, huh? When? let that stupid wolf of yours come out and save you now, because I will beat you to a freaking pulp then slowly dismember your body, piece by piece".
He shouted the words at me.
"No, Its not okay..It's not okay to just kill someone and No, I didn't do it for fun, I'm sorry I wasn't thinking at the time." I pleaded. "Its too late for apologies fool, he is dead and gone, and you are going to pay for your crime." He said, with a disgusted look on his face.
" I am sorry I truly am." I said desperately, hoping against all odds that he would understand and let this revenge plan go it was useless.
"Your apologies can't bring him back, neither can your tears or blood, pup. But I have vowed to teach you a valuable lesson, so when you meet him you can apologize properly to him, because he might need your apology, but I don't." He shouted at me.
The worst thing about our situation right now was that, the entire werewolf race is counting on us to do whatever is necessary and come out as the worthy moon alpha, thus safeguarding their lives and that of others in the process. But all Hilary wants is revenge. I can't relate to his thinking, but it is Plain to see he has put his family above the entire werewolf race.
I blocked a flurry of blows and tried to take in some much needed air, as he changed tact and tried to attack me from behind. I turned just in time to face him again.
He attacked with another flurry of blows, this time he added slap kicks and even head butted me, it was such a rush and I tried my best to protect myself, but he was way too fast. I spat out blood, my nose was broken and I knew I had been outmatched and wouldn't last long. But giving up was never a part of my makeup, I just needed to find a way to last long enough, and find the right time to strike, that is the only way I Could manage to survive this.
After sometime of me dodging, blocking and good foot work, I'd begun bleeding from my chest, arms, thighs and back and could feel myself getting weaker and weaker by the second. But I stayed on my feet and continued to sway, trying to look unsteady to him. Once in a while my knees would hit the ground and I would make a show of scrambling back up to my feet. Curt had now come to watch the fight.
But what was now clear to me was the fact that Hilary had his wolf hades at the surface, and I didn't have Kraw. How he was able to achieve that was beyond me. I dodged more blows to my midriff, took a slap kick to the head. I didn't see it coming, so I was dazed for a second and my knees hit the ground again.
"Just give up already." Curt advised sounding bored. I scoffed inwardly, then groaned out loud as I felt Hilary's claws dig into my side, the pain was excruciating. I fell to the ground barely breathing. Hilary was on me in a flash, he seemed satisfied with his impending victory, and in a way I was glad for him.
But that didn't mean I was going to let him kill me, so I waited for the only opportunity I would get. He momentarily turned to take a sharpened wooden knife from Curt, I saw my opportunity and struck. I had practiced this move a thousand times in my life and I can't remember the last time I failed to do irredeemable damage in less than two seconds flat.
The move is so difficult I had been practicing it for years, mastering the technique , needed to break a werewolf's chest bone is more difficult than one can imagine. I swiftly broke his chest bone with my right hand and pulled out his heart with my left. It was so fast, Hilary probably won't know he was dead until he finds him self in the after life.
Curt was shocked into silence for a minute before he found his voice. "You fucking idiot, you fucking fooool.!!" I could see his anger getting the best of him he obviously wasn't thinking right now. So I waved the wooden knife In front of him, when he attempted to approach me threateningly. I felt something heavy on my body and I felt way more tired than I was about a second ago. Curt must have felt it because he dropped to his knees clutching his chest as he went down.