Ethan's POV
Many of us were injured making the journey slow. It took us a day and a half to get to our village.
I wanted to go back and get Alyssa but I couldn't. I was badly injured. I had lost too much blood and I knew I needed the attention of a physician if I was going to make it.
It could be said that we won the fight against Thomas's gang but we lost too many that we could not bring ourselves to celebrate.
At first, I was excited about the whole thing. I had secretly hoped for Lordson Al to attack so that a fight would break out allowing me to take my revenge on his pack for attacking our pack. But that was before the attack went south.
Things went out of hand and everybody seemed to have gone crazy. I was not expecting them to attack women and children. I had expected a fight between Lordson Al's pack and his allies against our pack and maybe our allies.
The whole thing happened so fast and I am at a loss. I know Lordson Al instigated the attack but there has to be more to this than meets the eye.
I didn't have the time to think it through carefully before now but now that I think of it, it doesn't make sense that Lordson Al will initiate a fight like this inside his territory.
It's either someone had a hidden agenda or things did not go as planned for him. Either way, this raid has done more harm than good to everyone including himself.
Things would have gone well for us if we hadn't been attacked by Thomas and his men. We would have had our revenge and we will be even but not with the number of our brothers lying lifeless on the outskirts of his village.
We spent the night inside the woods under a tree. The wounded were tended to by those with medical knowledge among us. Thanks to a member of the Sky Blue Pack who stopped my bleeding. The stitching was crude but it kept me alive.
We travelled together through the woods until we got to a point where they had to go in the other direction. We bid them farewell as they went their separate way. The Blood Brother's pack are indebted to them and I knew we will meet again someday.
For the rest of the journey, I couldn't shake Alyssa's thoughts off my mind. I have no inkling where she is, I don't even know if she was still alive.
I realized how stupid I have been. I would have tried to search for her. I was so focused on revenge that I carelessly lost her. I hate myself for losing her. If anything happens to her I will not be able to forgive myself.
I wished I could find her among the survivors we came across or that I would by chance meet someone who has information about her whereabouts.
By the time we got to our village. The sun had already set. We were welcomed by the members who didn't come with us to the village and those who vacated the village before the fight broke out.
Our village physicians and apprentices are all set to work at once. Tending to the wounds of our injured soldiers.
As I sat there on the bare floor of our village clearing, waiting for my turn to be examined by the physician, I heard the wailing of mostly women and children and my heart sank.
They have either lost a mate, a child or a brother. The scene of the piles of dead bodies replayed in my head and it made me realize the effect of revenge.
Even though what happened was more of self-defense than revenge. The whole thing had happened like a dream. A few days ago we were all excited about the wrestling festival.
I took part in training our fighters. After what we had gone through, I wanted us to have a good reason to celebrate. I felt it would help us heal faster.
As the festival drew closer the spirit became high and I loved how everyone excitedly talked about it. For once in a long while we regained our spirit. I wanted us to make it to the inter-region level for two reasons.
The first reason was to send a message to the others that no matter what we go through we will persevere and the second reason was to give our pack a reason to jubilate.
What I didn't know was that it will be the basis that will leave a permanent scar on our hearts. We went there with the high hope of winning but we ended up losing a significant part of our pack.
Days passed and we had to pick up our pieces and move on. Moving on will be difficult but life waits for no one.
We will meet people and we will lose people, that is the ultimate rule of life.
It's a quote I came across while reading one of my books on mythology.
We could not retrieve the body of our dead brothers so we had to do the burial without their bodies.
The whole process was heart-wrenching but It was a necessity. I don't remember a single soul that did not shed a tear.
Days turned into months and there was no news of Alyssa. My wound healed too slowly for my liking. I wanted to go out and look for Alyssa.
I had hoped that she would find her way back here. Something in me keeps telling me she was alive and well.
The seer said that she has a long way to go and that she is destined for great things so I know she can't die in that village. Besides, the Alyssa I know is a survivor.
But it worried me that she was not yet back. I miss her every day but after the incident at the Red Hills pack, the roads have become more dangerous.
Members of different packs are angry. They deemed the killing of their members unacceptable. They want revenge and the best way they can think of getting it is by raiding innocent passersby.
"Packs of senseless werewolves" George had described them but I think coward will be more suitable.
It annoyed me that they were making life even more unbearable for people after what we have been through. This could be the reason Alyssa is not yet back.
I have to go and search for her but I will need to be in my best state of health to be able to do that.
My heart can't bear to be away from her but I have to think with my head, not my emotions.