Chapter 3

I left the academy later that day. I was beyond angry. I wanted to shift and leave the pack area right away. But it might draw attention from the pack guards. So, I decided to run away in my human form. It was a lot easier.

Imagining how displeased he would be after finding out that I left like this was giving me much pleasure. Eris was a perfectionist. Even though nothing would change for him, he had planned out of the scene anyway. But I knew my disobedience would annoy him more than anything.

After walking for almost half an hour and crossing the border, I was sure that I could shift without drawing any attention. Fortunately, I did not need to make any excuses to anyone while leaving the pack.

Because I was being considered as the Luna, I was usually surrounded by guards. The additional security was mostly because I was a Beta.

I had never been out in the wild without any precautions before. The woods looked scarier than ever. I had always heard about the rumors about different creatures wandering wildly in the woods. The demon monsters were the main source of my worries. But so were the slaves of the vampire castle.

I was still inside the protected zone, so I had not seen anything to be concerned about. But I could not stay there much longer. It would be easy for anyone from the pack to find me.

My wolf was still grieving. And I was feeling a bit of melancholy because of her. I was almost at the end of the protected area. I was having inner conflicts if I should leave or spend the night inside the protected zone.

I gulped looking at the dark forest in front of me. I exhaled deeply and finally took the step. After walking for a few minutes, I suddenly felt that I was being followed. I shivered slightly.

The demon monsters and other creatures were mostly wild hunters. They would not take time to attack. I stopped. I cautiously turned back and looked at a large tree. It was completely dark.

The skeleton of the tree looked like a ghost in the darkness. It was unusually quiet.

"Who the hell are you?” my sharp voice pierced through the air, breaking the silence.

There was no response. Not a single leaf was moving. I knew someone was there hiding behind the tree.

I growled slowly taking an attacking position.

"Come out before I burn the tree down,” I threatened.

A small round face peeked from behind the tree. The clouds cleared right at that moment, and the startling figure became visible to me. I saw Liliana standing there, trembling with fear. She came out tiptoeing. For a moment, I was tongue-tied. I looked at her in disbelief. My wolf growled inside. If it could be set free from my body, Liliana would be dead meat.

"What are you doing here?!” I asked her coldly.

She trembled a bit from my angry voice.

"I-I,” she whimpered. "Luna…I heard your conversation with the alpha,” she replied avoiding eye contact. She was nervously making circles on the ground with the tip of her shoe.

"You mean you overheard our conversation?” I asked, crossing my arms with a straight face.

"I didn’t mean to, Luna,” she replied quickly looking at me with moist eyes.

"Pfft. Luna?” I broke into laughter and clenched my jaws. "Did you follow me here just to ridicule me?” I asked her, gritting my teeth.

I tried to keep my calm. I believed she was not dumb enough to come out into the woods without telling anyone in the academy. But there was no way anyone would allow her to leave the academy. I cautiously looked at my surroundings, but no one else seemed to be there. Besides, I would feel if the wolves from my packs were following me.

She was bold enough to come out in the woods without any security. I glared at her. I grabbed her shoulders and shook her violently.

"Did you come here alone?” I asked her, narrowing my eyes. "Were you that desperate to make fun of me? Who is going to protect you here? Do you think you will be able to return to the academy safely without any trouble?”

Her lips quivered. "Forgive me, Luna. I did not intend to offend you like this,” she said almost sobbing.

"What the heck are you talking about?” I was getting annoyed for real. My nose crinkled.

"I did not follow you to ridicule you or make fun of you,” she replied desperately and suddenly started crying. I was unprepared for the situation.

I paused for a moment. "I don't know what’s gotten into you, but you made a grave mistake by following me here. All of our efforts, troubles—everything—was just to keep you safe. You are the reason the world is on the verge of inevitable destruction. And you are telling me you came out here for no reason?” I looked at her in disbelief.

"Go back to the academy right now! You have everything you want. Eris is now yours! He rejected me because of you! Are you not satisfied yet? Do you want to see me break? Fine! You have seen enough, haven’t you? Now before anything ridiculous happens, go back to the academy right now!” I ordered.

I was a bit loud this time. She trembled again. The wood was completely quiet. I had an ominous feeling. Night had long since fallen. The academy must have gone crazy over Liliana's disappearance. She needed to return to the academy as soon as possible. It would not take long for them to realize that I was gone as well. The academy would be a mess until Liliana returned.

Suddenly all of my senses lit up with caution. The thin sound of footsteps over dried leaves did not go unnoticed by my ears.

I was confused for a moment thinking it was my pack members. Within a split second, an unfamiliar scent crossed my olfactory nerves.

A huge shadow appeared, piercing the darkness of the wood. It was huge. Its massive mouth full of shark teeth was wide open. Saliva was dripping from its canines. It had a terrific appearance. A demon monster of the wild. I had seen these creatures before.

But it was the first time for Liliana outside the pack border. Looking at the monster she turned into a statue. The monster was preparing to attack us. I’ve fought these monsters before when I was a part of the battle team. But this one was much larger than the ones I had seen before.

It seemed blind. It was trying hard to determine our position. I grabbed Liliana's wrist quickly. I shushed her, putting my index finger over my mouth.

Deep inside, I was so angry that I wanted Liliana to disappear from my life. She was the reason why the wolves and the vampires had been fighting for a long time. If she just died right then, there would not be any reason to fight. Sneaking out of the academy was her choice. So, if she was about to die right there, why would I bother trying to save her?

I suddenly realized what my wolf was trying to do to my mind. I shook my head quickly to get back to my senses. What was I even thinking?

"Can you fight this?” Liliana came closer to me and asked me, whispering. She was gripping my sleeves tightly.

"Like heck, I can!” I whispered.

I took a step back. Liliana was following my lead silently as well. Suddenly a dry stick under her shoes cracked, breaking the silence.

The monster turned to us and roared. It attacked. Liliana screamed. I shoved her to the side and quickly shifted into my wolf form. I grabbed Liliana and helped her to get up in my back. I started running with her deep in the woods.

The monster kept following us. It was a privilege that the monster was blind. It was keeping track of us by our movements.

Suddenly the sky cleared, and the little light of the half-moon hit the ground. I was failing to maintain distance. The monster was blind, but it was extremely fast paced. It almost caught us. Its warm breath was already falling on our backs. I was trying my best to make my route spiral to confuse it. Liliana was grabbing my fur tightly, closing her eyes.

Suddenly a silhouette appeared in the opposite direction. It was so fast that I only caught a glimpse of a man in a black cloak passing us and slicing the monster in two pieces.

I only looked back once and saw a bloody mess with the flesh of the monster flying. I did not see any sword with the man.

I did not have any idea what or who it was. But I quickly disappeared in the wood before it could catch us as well.