Chapter 32: North

I continued running for the next hour, it was past midnight and the cold rose to a degree that I didn’t expect it to ever reach it was too cold for the south.

“Why is there so much cold?” I said to her as we continued running and not taking any chance by stopping.

“Because we are heading north, to your pack house” she said.

“Are they headed there too?” I said again trying to get the bigger picture.

“Yes, Skylar plans to take your pack house and make an empire of it after emptying out the red stone pack house” she said and I panicked.

“No one survived?” I said waiting for the worst possible news

“Some the soldiers died fighting the human hounds, but the rest are okay and are hiding in a cave somewhere” she said and I was relieved that they weren’t all dead and just few lives were lost compared to the majority.

My ears started picking up some sounds, they were coming very fast and they would soon meet up with us.

“They are right behind us, we need to be faster” she said and our speed increased, I was already very tired but I wasn’t going to give in to my weaknesses and stop to rest.

“They are human hounds, three times faster than us and they are at least five of them, we need to come up with a better plan other than running” I said and she was thinking about it too.

“Let’s stop running, I have a plan” she said and we stopped abruptly.

“What’s the plan?” I said as the hounds came closer and closer to where we stood.

“You know, you are smarter than I thought, and for one moment I thought that I was going to obey you, such grace and confidence in a very young queen” she said and I was confused.

“What are you saying now? Tell me the plan they are almost here” I said hurriedly as I waited patiently for her to say something.

“There is no plan” she said and turned into a woman, in a long red cloak.

“Who the fuck are you?” I said completely surprised at the turn out of events.

“I am Meredith, priestess of the old gods” she said and I couldn’t believe that I fell into Skylar’s trap one more time.

“You’re a witch” I said and she smiled in agreement.

“Carry her, we’re going back to Lord Skylar” she said to the four human hounds that began to approach me.

I was filled with so much anger that Skylar thought he could use me to play games with his minions, I needed to send him a message one that he wouldn’t ever forget in his miserable life. I could feel my power grow and the light of my stone inside of me envelope my whole body, they all stood still lost in the beauty of this light and unable to comprehend what unfolded before them.

I went for the human hounds first and killed them, swiftly breaking their necks as thy all fell to the ground. In few moments after that I went for Meredith, she was a witch and I knew that it wasn’t going to be easy ending her so with a giant blow to the head I hit her and watch her fall to the ground as she coughed blood. In that moment between her life and death she used her powers and it moved towards me. I tried to dodge it but it still cut my side and I could feel the burning sensation, it was laced with mountain ash.

***

“We need to get going now that we know their hideout” Edgar said to the members of the blue stone pack as they stood at a table tracking Skylar since nightfall.

“Aye, my Lord” they all said in unison as they left the room and went to gather themselves for the journey.

“Alex, we’ll find her, we definitely will” Brandon said when everyone apart from him, Edgar and Lewis remained in the room.

“The stone doesn’t let it’s bearer die when it hasn’t been passed down to the next generation” Lewis said just to reassure them and also himself that she is alive and well.

“We’re ready my lord” the commander said and they all walked out of the room.

“You need a coat Edgar, it too cold out there” Brandon said feeling worried for him.

“My blood is hotter than yours because of the stone I carry inside of me” he said not stopping as they walked hastily outside.

They set out to find her, Edgar took only a handful of men just incase Skylar takes them unaware, the blue pack house was protected to a certain extent. They ran south through a hidden path that Skylar will know not of as he wasn’t born in the north, they entered deeper into the forest and Edgar felt something very strange they were passing paths that looked too alike to be different locations.

“Everyone, stop” he said raising his hand up and folding his palm to a fist.

“What is it my Lord?” Lewis said looking worried.

“It’s almost nightfall and all this time, we’ve been moving in goddamn circles” Edgar said very frustrated as he punched the trunk of a tree to vent out.

“We need to stop now, everyone please take a break” Brandon said as he knew that Edgar was so frustrated that there will no progress for as long as he was like this.

“Edgar, you need to calm down, you cannot let them see their leader like this” Brandon said calmly as he tried to get to him.

“Brandon, there’s nothing to my life if she’s not in it” he said as he fought back the tears that welled up in his eyes.

“Be strong Edgar, you need to be strong for her” Brandon said and Edgar inhaled deeply, letting the tears fall down to the ground.

“I’m trying so hard Bran, it’s so difficult” Edgar said.

“Let’s rest for the night” Brandon said and Edgar nodded as he slid his back on the tree trunk and sat on the ground.

“This is eating him up” Lewis said to Brandon as they sat by the fire looking at Edgar that sat far away from them staring into empty space.

“She’ve saved him once and if he isn’t able to save her now, he will never forgive himself for it” Brandon said staring into the fire.

“How did she save him?” Lewis said.

“His brother cast a spell on him, his wolf reduced to the size of a dog when he met Elaine he started growing but not long after that, Skylar came for them both. He nearly killed him when she had an outburst and saved them both, in the process his wolf growing to its full strength” Brandon said.

“So when she met him, he was just a dog?” Lewis said becoming more curious.

“Yes, the spell was to make him stay as a wolf forever but his stone was not going to allow that, so instead his wolf reduced to a dog” Brandon replied.

“That’s some sh*tty experience” Lewis said under his breath.

Edgar sat in the same spot all through the night, he thought of her and how much she has filled his life since the very first moment he saw her. He was going to do everything within his power to find her even if it means burning down this forest, he didn’t mind.

The day was breaking an Edgar could see the path in front of them rearranging, this was some kind of spell that Skylar did to avoid them from finding him.

“Alright, let’s move” Edgar said after a few moments, waking everyone up from their rest.

“It’s morning already? That was fast” Brandon said as he stood up and stretched his body.

“Yes Brandon, it’s morning already we need to get moving” Edgar said.

“Are we not going in the same circles?” Brandon said trying to reason with him.

“No, we’re not. I picked up a scent” Edgar said and they all followed him even if they didn’t pick up the scent too, his senses were sharper than theirs because he was an alpha and they trusted him.

They walked this time, Edgar didn’t want to loose the scent because he was sure that it was hers. They hear a twig snap and gentle footsteps of a staggering person.

“Elaine!!” Edgar said as he saw her walking the other way.

“Edgar” she said softly her eyes filled with tears as she held her side that blood poured out from.

“Sh*t what happened to you?” He said as he took her in his arms and she fell on him knowing that she was now safe.

“The witch… she stabbed me… mountain ash” she said her words very incoherent as she tried to explain but she was already feeling very dizzy.

“We need to take her back to the house” Lewis said very worried about her.

“Uncle Lewis.. is that really you?” she said as tears filled her eyes again and Lewis smiled at her with so much emotion.

“ Hello Elly, it’s me” he said as he held her hand and they both smiled at each other.

“Come on now, let’s get going” Brandon said and the both moved with Edgar carrying her in his arms.

“We need to burn it out before it gets to her chest and corrupts her heart” Lewis said as they hurried to the pack house.

“What do you mean by corrupt?” Brandon said looking confused.

“Mountain ash doesn’t just kill werewolves, it corrupts the mind and turn them into flesh eating beasts before it finally take their lives” Lewis said and Brandon was surprised he didn’t know of this before.

“That’s new” he said.

“Well, let’s go treat her before that happens to her” Lewis said and they all increased their speed to stop the worse from happening.