Chapter 100 Judgment Begins.
Chapter 100
Lyra's POV.
The Shadow carried me forward, thin and formless, as I slid beneath Alpha Thomas' door without stirring the air.
I didn't have to walk, I hovered in the air like death passing bye
darkness swallowed up the bedroom. The only thing that managed to gain access was the moon light which hovered in the sky above his bedroom. The moonlight found its way through the curtain. I could see the thin silver of the burglary plastering it face on his bedroom floor.
Like a bear having it winter sleep, I could lay my eyes on alpha Thomas lying in his bed. His mouth widely apart, loud snores rattled from his throat.
BRRR…. BRR…
His big belly rose up, then fell down, rose up, then fell down. The blanket over him moved like ocean waves.
Next to him, his Luna Pauline slept curled on her side. Her hand rested on his thick arm. Her breathing was soft and quiet, nothing like her mate's thunder-snores.
My eyes locked onto the stool beside the bed.
There it was.
The Eclipsia pendant.
It sat there on the wooden surface, catching bits of moonlight. The silver chain coiled around it like a sleeping snake. The green stone in its center looked dark now, but I knew its power. Everyone in Stormfang Pack knew.
Alpha Vexhood had given these pendants to all the elders years ago. "For protection," he'd said. "The gods told me judgment is coming to this pack. These will shield you."
And it worked.
While sickness spread through the pack like wildfire, the elders stayed healthy. While accidents killed young wolves in the streets, the elders walked without fear. While homes collapsed and children went missing, the elder's houses stood strong and their families remained whole.
Pack members had begged Alpha Vexhood for pendants. Rich wolves had offered him gold, silver, meat, land, anything. But Vexhood refused every time. A sign that he was not ready to help. Because if he was, it shouldn't take him anything.
"The gods said elders only," he'd told them, his wrinkled face firm. "I cannot disobey."
Now, desperate wolves paid elders to sleep in their homes. They squeezed whole families into the elder's spare rooms, hoping the pendant's magic would protect them too. Some elders charged high prices. Others got rich from fear.
My hand moved deep into my long gown and partially oversized gown for alpha Vexhood's totem.
I reached into my cloak and pulled out Alpha Vexhood's totem.
The staff was arm's length, carved with old symbols that seemed wrong to behold. It tapered to a vicious point. As I grabbed it, a warm greenish like energy ran through my fingers, and then found its way into my arms.
I lifted the totem high.
Then I slammed it down onto the floor.
A thick greenish sparks that looks like lightning erupted from its tip.
The greenish glow penetrated every corner of the room, backing it up with strange hissing like a poisonous snake. The glow had slowed up the moonlight which was caressing the walls and the floors of the room.
Air smells danger impregnated with something that looks like ancient magic.
Alpha Thomas kept snoring. His belly kept rising and falling. He didn't even twitch.
But Pauline's eyes snapped open.
Her head jerked up from the pillow. Her eyes went wide, white showing all around her dark pupils. Her mouth opened but no sound came out at first. She stared at the corner where I stood, where the green light pulsed brightest.
She knew what green light meant in Stormfang Pack. Everyone did.
Danger. Death. The gods' wrath.
"Thomas!" Her voice cracked like breaking glass.
She twisted toward her mate, her hand shooting out to grab his shoulder. Her fingers dug into his nightshirt, shaking him hard. His head rolled side to side, but his eyes stayed shut.
"Thomas! Wake up!"
She shook harder. His whole body jiggled, but he didn't wake. His snoring never stopped
BRRR… BRR…
Thomas' lips moved like an animal having a lunch filled with bones.
Not far from the room. It was boisterous. It looked like a kind of mini party or celebration was going on. Wolves were enjoying their lives.
Good.
The noise was enough to kill, the slightest that may find its way out of this room.
Thomas!” Pauline intensified her panic, her voice rose tremendously, circulating every part of the room.
Thomas please, wake up!” She begged.
Nothing
Thomas' head slumped back into the pillow. He suddenly increased the size of his snoring
GRRR…. GRR….
Stupid Pauline, just like her fated mate. She thought it was ordinary. She didn't know, I had casted spell on her fated mate to fall into deep sleep before stepping into this room from my room. From the palace.
No amount of tapping or beating would wake him up. Until I instructed him to wake up or I left the room.
Another hot slap again from Pauline.
Nothing. Alpha Thomas didn't move. He didn't lift a muscle. He dare not.
You stupid fool!” She cursed and hit him harder. Her voice rose sharply.
His head turned but his eyes stayed closed. She grabbed his shoulders with both hands and shook him so hard the whole bed creaked and groaned beneath them.
"Wake up! Wake up! You "
Tears started rolling down her cheeks. Her breath became shallow. Her hand trembled repeatedly. But kept slapping and shaking alpha Thomas was had been miles away from her.
Finally, she stopped.
Her hands fell to her sides. Her shoulders sagged. She knew. Deep down, she knew he wouldn't wake.
Slowly, very slowly, she turned back to face me.
Her eyes found the green glow first. Then they traveled up the totem, following its carved surface to my hand gripping it. Then higher, to my face half-hidden in shadow.
"W-what..." Her voice barely worked. She swallowed hard, her throat clicking. "What do you want from us, your honor?"
I said nothing. I stood perfectly still, pointing the totem toward her. The green light pulsed like a heartbeat, strange and unusual hissing sound emanating from it.
"Please," Pauline whispered. Her whole body started shaking. "I hope... I hope we haven't offended the gods by any means."
She looked back at Thomas one more time, probably hoping he'd somehow be awake. But he lay there like a corpse, still snoring, completely unaware his Luna was terrified beside him.
Pauline crawled forward on the bed, her knees catching the bedsheets. She turned and swung her leg over the side of the bed. Her bare foot touched the cold polished floor
She stood up begging. Shaking. Her night gown hanging loosely around her shoulder. Then later falls.
I didn't blink. Neither did I bait an eyelid.
Then she dropped to knees.
Pauline crawled forward on the bed, her knees catching in the blankets. Then she swung her legs over the side. Her bare feet touched the cold floor. She stood on shaking legs, her nightgown hanging loose around her thin frame.
Then she dropped.
Both knees hit the wooden floor at once. The sound was sharp and loud, like breaking branches. I knew it must have hurt, but she didn't cry out. She just knelt there, hands pressed to the floor, head bowed.
The party nearby, probably a few rooms away, didn't stop. Even it grew louder. Someone shouted something funny and everyone laughed. But the sound couldn't reach us here. My magic had sealed this room. No sound would escape. No one would hear Pauline scream, even if she did.
She knew that too. I saw it in the way her shoulders hunched, in the way her fingers curled against the floor.
I kept my eyes down, staring at the floorboards between us. The totem's green glow made everything look sick and wrong. Pauline's shadow stretched long and twisted across the room.
The greenish light didn't stop. It kept pulsing from my right arm, from the totem's tip, washing over Pauline's kneeling form again and again.
Like a dying heart.
Then I stretched my arm towards it. Like weapons.
Nooo….”