We arrive in the city. I buy a brown backpack as we wait for Sally.
She waves at us as she exits the bank. ‘Hey, Hope, Hey Maximus. Here you go,’ she says, handing me a bag of money.
I place it into the backpack. ‘We’re going to get some breakfast. Do you want to join us?’ I offer Sally.
‘Sure! There’s a cafe around the corner that makes delicious food,’ she says.
‘Lead the way,’ I chirp.
We order breakfast and pay for Sally’s as well.
Sally, has constantly been talking since we sat down to eat. I notice Hope staring out the window like she is watching something or someone.
I turn my head to face the window. There’s a man on his phone staring directly at us.
A moment later, a few men enter the cafe together, but all sit at different tables. Hope and I glance at each other with worry as we can smell their wolf scents. Sally notices we have stopped listening to her, and our body language shows something isn’t right.
Sally looks around, not knowing why we are worried, ‘Is something wrong?’ she whispers.
‘I’m sorry, Sally, but we need to leave. You don’t need to be involved in this mess.’ I tell her.
Hope and I hold hands and casually leave the café. Sally follows behind us. We walk past the man, still on his phone. We’re in public, and being in a city with humans everywhere, they can’t shift just yet. I take the backpack off of Hope so she has less weight to carry. I swing it over my shoulder. We speedwalk as we approach a crossing with hundreds of people to try and lose them. We turn a couple of corners. I check to see if we have lost them but instead find Sally following. I enter the nearby alleyway.
‘Sally, you need to go home. You will put yourself in danger if you stay with us,’ I tell her.
‘Why are you being followed? What do they want with you? Your car was never stolen in the first place, was it? Is it because you have a lot of money?’ she gasps, ‘That money was in my bank account. Am I in danger because of that money? Did you steal it from someone?’ she panics, realising we are involved in something.
‘Look, I appreciate your concern Sally, but you must go now!’ I growl.
A sharp pain stings my arm. I look down, ‘Wands!’ I yell as everything sways.
‘Maximus!’ Hope screams. A van had stopped, and a man had shot a tranquilliser into my arm. More men jump out, grabbing Hope and Sally, and dragging them into the van.
They slam the door shut and speed away as I fall unconscious to the ground. I have no idea how long I was out. I stand up, feeling a little groggy and look around. ‘Hope!’ I yell out.
There’s no sign of the van or Hope. I run around the block, looking for any sign of them. I don’t know which pack has taken them, but I’m going to find out and make them pay with their life! I notice the backpack on the ground, grab it and then hail a taxi. I jump in, ‘To Drycrest, please and hurry,’ I tell the driver. It’s the closest werewolf territory from here. An hour later, we arrive at the outskirts of Drycrest, ‘Here will be fine,’ I say to the driver.
The car stops. I toss the driver a wad of cash, jump out, and run towards the field. I shift as soon as the taxi is out of sight. It’s becoming dark. I creep through the pack village, trying not to be seen. Finally, I can see the packhouse in the distance. It’s a charming pack house made of wood with elk Antlers as designs on the doors and windows. Sneaking around, I quietly enter through the back door that’s unlocked. I can hear the chatter of conversations and the smell of roast.
They’re having dinner. I creep up the stairs and look around until I find the Alpha’s bedroom, I enter the walk-in wardrobe, and while I wait, I shift back into my human form and help myself to some clothes and dress.
An hour later, the door opens. The Alpha enters the room with his Luna.
Wands! I didn’t think about the Luna being present. The Alpha sits on the bed while the Luna closes the door behind her. She then walks towards the walk-in wardrobe I’m in, but before she can scream, I put my hand over her mouth and turn her around so her back is against my chest.
I exit the wardrobe, holding her tight, so she can’t move.
‘What’s the meaning of this? Let my Luna go!’ Alpha Greg shouts.
‘Let go of my Luna first, and I will give yours back!’ I retort.
‘Alpha Maximus?’ he asks.
‘Yes. Now, where is Hope?’
‘I don’t have her,’ he answers.
‘You’re lying!’ I shout.
‘No, I’m not lying. Look for yourself if you must. She isn’t here!’
‘Then where is she?’ I growl.
‘She’s probably been returned to her rightful mate, Alpha Tate!’ He snaps.
I push the Luna toward the bed and grab Alpha Greg by his throat, ‘She is MINE!’ I snarl, half-shifting into Chaos.
‘Are you going to murder me, as you did with all the other werewolves?’ he yells at me.
‘Alpha Tate tried to kill me! He rejected his Luna, Hope! He would beat her and hurt her! I did what was necessary to free Hope and myself!’ I argue back.
We glare into each other’s eyes until Alpha Greg realises I’m speaking the truth. ‘I didn’t know that. Alpha Tate and Alpha Liam were very convincing, but I did sense something wasn’t right with Alpha Tate,’ He says.
I release my hand from around his throat and step back.
‘I know where Alpha Tate is. He’s in, Dawnbury at their pack house. If Hope has been kidnapped and if they haven’t already killed her, then that’s where they’ll be taking her,’ Alpha Greg tells me.
‘Dawnbury is towards my territory,’ I reply.
‘Yes, as you might already know, they had four different packs attack your territory, and the pack members have either gone missing or joined forces with them,’ he says.
I already know the missing pack members are with Alpha Dan, but I’m not going to trust this Alpha with that information yet.
‘I need your help to get Hope back and to help return my territory to me,’ I tell him.
‘How can we take out so many packs? It’s suicide!’ he says.
‘I have a plan, but I need your word that you will come to my aid when I ask of it.’
Alpha Greg steps forward and shakes my hand in agreement.
‘I want what is best for the werewolf community, and that is to make things right again with your pack,’ Alpha Greg says.
‘Good, you will hear from me over the next couple of days, so make sure you have your pack ready to fight,’ I say to him
‘You may as well stay the night in the guest room. Make sure no one sees you, and you can sneak out in the morning. I’ll address the pack when it’s time,’ he says.
‘Until then, Alpha Greg,’ I say, leaving his room.
I find the guest room a few doors down.
I can barely sleep through the night as I constantly try to fight Chaos back. He wants to hunt down Alpha Tate and kill him. Finally, I get up before sunrise and shift. Hours later, I approach the Farglen Territory. A territory of farmlands.
As I get closer, I find the Alpha shoving one of his pack members over, knocking her basket of vegetables to the ground.
‘Alpha Trent,’ I say out loud.
He turns and becomes nervous when he sees me. He has no warriors nearby. Without further notice, Chaos rips his head off where he stands. The pack members are in total shock but seem happy that their cruel Alpha is dead. Farglen is now my territory. My new pack members bow their heads, showing their necks in submission.
With no time to waste, I run towards the next territory, Pinefort. Their land is near the harbour. There are merchants all around their city selling goods, potions, and food to the outlanders parking their boats and ships. As I make my way to the pack house, I shift into my human form and disguise myself as a merchant. Alpha Nate is there counting bags of money they’ve taken from outlanders. The merchants sell goods while some of the pack members steal from the outlanders under the order of Alpha Nate. The moment I remove my disguise, Alpha Nate is not pleased to see me and foolishly attacks me before I can even make him an offer to live. Because of this, he met the same fate as Alpha Trent.
I reach the next pack, the Shadow Blade Pack. There are lit torches everywhere. I see a lot of pack members are enslaved and malnourished. They are all forced to create daggers and swords. The smoke from their forging ruins their lungs as they cough while working. I confront Alpha Harrid about his pack, and he welcomes me with a sword. He tries to kill me but fails. After a few seconds, his body lays lifeless on the ground. I free his pack members ordering them to stop working and rest. While in Alpha Harrid’s office, I find a dagger with a moon design on its handle and take it as a souvenir. I tell the Shadow blade pack that they will need to ready themselves. In case I call them to fight. I sleep the night in Alpha Harrid’s room so I can be ready to take over more packs the next day.
The following day, I’m served a large breakfast by my new pack. After eating, I leave the Beta in charge to look after the pack for me. Then the next two packs, after killing the Alpha’s, I allow their Luna’s to stay on and rule on my behalf.
I contact Alpha Greg and inform him of the territories that are now mine and the Alpha’s that I have killed. He tells me he has sent warriors to fight for my Blood Moon territory to help take it back. Then, I contact Alex and tell him and Alpha Dan to prepare to help fight back for my territory while I go to Dawnbury to find Hope. I pray to the Moon Goddess that Hope is okay and that she isn’t harmed. I want her back safe in my arms and take her home to rule the pack by my side.
