🎃 Bonus Halloween Chapter

As I pulled back the net curtain from the window and peered out into the darkness, I shivered unexpectedly. It was Halloween night, and the moon hovered eerily in the inky black sky like a ghostly silver ball, while menacing dark clouds blew silently through the air. Even for a werewolf, Halloween was a scary time of year. Most people thought that werewolves were the ultimate hunter, feared by all but not on Halloween night. Every Halloween, Witches and Vampires would team up and attempt to hunt a Werewolf and sacrifice their victim to the King of Death – The Grim Reaper.

It was a tradition that started way back in the 1700s where the witches and vampires tried to drive out and destroy all werewolves known to man. After a long and bloody war, the King of wolves, the Black Queen and Count Ambrogio agreed that to furthermore keep the peace between the three species, every Halloween night, the werewolves would allow one of their pack members to be hunted by the witches and vampires. The victim would then be taken to the Silver Temple, where they would be lead up the concrete steps and bound to a large rectangular concrete table by their wrists and ankles. The leading member would remove the victim's torso from any form of clothing so that their chests were exposed to the moonlight. Then, the leading member would take a long silver knife and plunge it deep into the chest of the victim and rip out their heart before offering it to the Grim Reaper as a gift. The witches and vampires would then all suddenly disappear into thin air, taking the heart with them and leave the body of their victim behind for their families to find. It was also said, that if the sacrifice was stopped halfway and the silver knife plunged into the chest of the killer, it would break the contract forever. As the Bluemoon was the biggest and strongest pack of Silvermoor city, it was down to us to provide the yearly sacrifice.

Sighing loudly, I turned away from the window and began making my way down to the lobby to await the front doors opening, where we would be expected to walk down to the forest and wait by the lake. The witches and vampires would signal their arrival by ringing a loud bell, and we would all run for our lives, deeper into the forest. The witches and vampires were fast as lightning, and they would chase after us until they had managed to grab one of us. When the bell rang out once more, it meant that they had picked their victim and that years hunt was now over.

It seemed surreal that this year maybe my ever last year on earth. I was not ready for death, and I was definitely not ready to say goodbye to Xavier or Willow for that matter. I was just thankful that under eighteens were not allowed to take part in the ritual and that Willow would be safe for now. As I stepped off of the last stair, I entered the lobby, which was now filled with werewolves. Every face was recognisable, and each face was tinged with sadness and fear.

"Leah, come here, baby!" a voice called out softly.

I glanced across the lobby and saw my husband, Xavier walking towards me, with his arms wide open. Gratefully, I sunk into his arms and felt his strong muscular arms pull me in towards him tightly.

"Xavier, I'm scared!" I whispered gently into his chest, feeling a knot of fear beginning to form in my throat.

"It's okay. Just remember, whatever happens, I love you okay. Always have and always will. Just remember to run for your life once you hear that bell ring okay!" Xavier soothed into my hair, squeezing me tightly.

I watched as he pulled away and looked down at his watch. Nodding slowly, Xavier walked towards the doors and threw them open, allowing the chilly night air to flow into the room, sucking out all of the heat and replace it with damp mist.

"It's time!" Xavier croaked, as he led us all out into the silence of the night and towards the eery black trees.

The forest quickly came into view and silently, 30 or 40 werewolves marched into the darkness. Twigs snapped noisily while leaves crunched. An owl let out a mournful hoot while the wind whistled eerily in between the branches. We carried on marching for a while longer until the edge of the lake soon appeared. The moon's silvery glow lit up the lake, and the reflection of the moon shone in the surface of the water, which was flat, making it look like a mirror.

We all formed a long line next to the edge of the water. I stood next to Xavier and grabbed his hand tightly. Beta Adam was on Xavier's right, while Hannah was also on Beta Adam's right. I glanced at my left, and I noticed Greg standing beside, staring intently at a tree in front of him. The night was silent, as we all stood there under the moonlight, waiting and watching for any sign of movement from our enemies arrival. Suddenly, a loud bell rang out shrilly in the crisp air, making us all jump in shock. They were here!

"RUN!" a voice shouted out, which I soon realised was Xavier's.

In a daze of confusion, I felt my legs moving beneath me, but my mind really wasn't with it. My senses were on overdrive, and it only added to the confusion. All around me was the noise of people running as fast as they could, twigs and leaves snapping and crunching loudly and the odd whooshing of the witches and vampires whooshing in between us as we ran. They were that fast that we could hardly see them, but we knew they were there as we could smell them. All of a sudden, a loud high pitched scream of a woman rang out, sending chills down my spine and I stopped, frozen to the spot. Right on cue, another loud bell rang out, and the forest fell silent once more, meaning that the witches and vampires had finished their hunt for this year.

Silently, we all walked back to the edge of the water to try and find out who had been taken. From out of nowhere, Xavier burst out frantically from the bushes.

"WHERE'S LEAH? WHERE'S MY WIFE!" he called out breathlessly, looking around wildly.

"I'm here. I'm okay, I promise!" I called out running towards him quickly before falling against him.

I pulled away and turned around to see lots of faces watching us intently. Some of our members were still catching their breath, while others were glancing around nervously and in shock.

"Okay, let's do a roll call!" I ordered, pulling out a long list of names. "Greg, Anna, Jamie, Rick, Alan, Sinead!" I called out loudly, to quick replies of "Here!" being fired back at me.

"Wait!" Beta Adam interrupted loudly. "Where's Hannah!?"

I looked up and glanced around the clearing, squinting in the dark. "Hannah?" I called out loudly. "Hannah? Where are you?"

I glanced across at Xavier, who looked at me in shock. "They've taken Hannah!"

Suddenly a shrill ringing noise rang out, making us all jump.

"What's that?" Xavier asked cautiously, looking at me nervously.

"It's Hannah's phone," beta Adam cried out sorrowfully. "She never goes anywhere without her phone! We need to get her back. She cannot die!"

Xavier nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, your right. I'm sick of this ritual. Every year, they come and take a loved one and rip our family to shreds. Now they have gone too far! We need to go to the Silver Temple and stop them. Let's go before its too late!"

With renowned strength, we all shifted into our wolf forms and started running as fast as our furry legs could carry us, out of the packhouse grounds and towards Silvermore city, where we would find the Silver Temple right in the middle of Lakewood Parc. We bounded over miles and miles of farmland, through fields filled with cows and sheep who ran away in fright as soon as they saw us coming. We jumped over streams and silently ran through pitch-black gardens until the orange glow of streetlamps showed us the main road into the city.

Silently and as fast a lightning bolt, we bounded down empty city roads towards the Parc. Residential streets were filled with the sound of happy chattering children, who had spent their Halloween night trick or treating while wearing brightly coloured costumes and flimsy plastic masks. The moon was high in the sky now, and it was getting late. We carried on running a short while later until large wrought iron gates enclosing a vast green park appeared before us. Xavier and Beta Adam swiped frantically at the chains on the gate, ripping them off and allowing the gates to swing open.

"Come on!" roared Beta Adam urgently. "Don't let my fiancée die. She is pregnant!"

I gasped in shock along with a few others, and with renewed urgency, we ran towards the middle of the park. I could feel my legs growing tired and the air catching in my lungs, but I was adamant that I wasn't going to let my best friend die. A large lake soon popped into a view with a large temple, bathing in the silvery moonlight atop a small island right in the middle of the lake came into view. Without a moment's hesitation, I dived into the chilly water and gasped as the water penetrated my fur and caressed my skin. Around me, were several more splashes as the rest of our pack joined me in the water. We swam quickly to shore and shook off the excess water from our bodies before bounding up towards the temple.

As we reached the bottom of the stone steps, we looked up and saw witches, and vampires all stood together with their eyes shut, swaying in a rhythmic trance. Right at the top of the steps, as the ritual demanded, was Hannah, who was now topless and bound eagle spread to the concrete slab. Wasting no time, me, Xavier and Beta Adam along with Greg and my Dad ran up the steps towards Hannah, hatred for our enemies boiling over in the pits of our stomachs. Suddenly there was a flurry of activity as witches and vampires flew at us from every angle, trying to stop us from getting to Hannah. I ducked down to my right and narrowly avoided being taken out by the bite of a vampire. I watched as he flew headfirst into a concrete pillar, knocking himself out in the process. Without wasting any more time, I reached the concrete table and swiftly bit through the ropes restraining Hannah. Covering her modesty with her arm, Hannah stood up and swiftly changed into her wolf form. She couldn't be sacrificed if she was in wolf form.

"Noo!!" screamed a witch loudly in anger. "What have you done! She was our sacrifice!"

I ducked as the witch flew right at me with her long fingers outstretched. I felt her long pointed nails graze my fur as she tried to grab me. Instinctively, I jumped up, and with a snap of my powerful jaws, I clamped my mouth around her leg, pulling her roughly to the floor with a loud thud.

"Get off me, you stupid dog!" the old woman shrieked angrily.

"Sorry, but you picked the wrong wolf this year! No one messes with my friends. Not under my watch!" I growled menacingly while pinning her down with my front two paws.

I glanced around me and saw that Xavier and the other wolves had rounded up all of the witches and vampires and had them trapped in a corner. And in slow motion, I watched as Beta Adam ran towards me in human form with a large silver knife in his hand. Running up to the witch, he furiously plummeted the blade right into the chest of the witch, the sharp blade slicing through tissue and bone while the squelch of blood spurted out onto my fur. The witch howled out in anger and pain before bursting into flames and being left as a pile of smoking ash. I looked around me as I watched all of the other witches also burst into flame while the vampires instantly turned into dust, signalling that the yearly ritual was now broken.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I walked over to Hannah and rubbed her snout with mine joyously before letting Beta Adam lick and nip his mate in a sign of affection. Without warning, the rest of our pack threw their heads back and noisily, howled at the moon, with me, Hannah, Xavier and Beta Adam following suit, before we all silently slipped into the darkness and back to our home.

No more would we have to run for our lives in fear of sacrifice ever again.