6 You’re Not Going to Scold Me?

I lose track of how many times I fall to the ground or scrape my hands and knees. I also don't know how much time has passed. It could have been minutes or it could have been hours—I'm not too certain myself. I haven't seen anyone or met anything since then.

Flint stones knock against each other in my pocket and I reach in to steady them. As much as a bit of fire would help, I can't afford the unnecessary attention it may attract. Luckily, I'm not wandering out here feeling completely lost and defenseless.

Over the years, Ralphie has taught me how to best utilize my human senses. Late start on my end, but I've got a good teacher. So the dark doesn't scare me.

What scares me is not finding help for him. I'm scared of leaving him alone and having him wake up in shock or distress when he doesn't see me by his side.

Before I let any more of these thoughts infiltrate my mind, I stumble further ahead. I get excited when I reach the first tent in sight. But as feared, no one was home.

Further and further I walk until I completely lose track of where I even came from.

Eventually, my legs give out and I take a rest at the closest object near me—a tall tree. This is a good sign. I have made some distance since our other neighbors live near the forest areas.

Like Ralphie has taught, I feel around the area before I plant myself down. Except for a bit of dampness, it was safe so I sit down and stare up at the moon.

If the moon goddess is real, is she watching over me right now?

I want to thank her for blessing me with Ralphie. I pray she is watching over him as well.

As if hearing my prayers, the moon shines a little brighter, lighting the area in front of me. The energy in my body suddenly recharges as well.

But just as I slowly get up, I feel something deathly cold beneath my palm and instinctually withdraw my hand.

It isn't the same wet grass I thought I felt earlier. I turn to see a lifeless body next to me and some dark liquid spilling out from underneath it.

"Are...you okay?" my cracked voice breaks the once comfortable silence, but there is no answer. The person still has his back turned to me.

Slowly with caution, I reach out to give him a shake. I didn't expect him to turn so willingly and drop down to face me.

I let out a shriek as I leap up in terror at the horrid sight lying dead still in front of me. I can feel his dilated pupils staring at me, screaming to tell his tragic story and demanding justice.

I don't recognize the man, but my heart aches as I know he is one of us. Although he is not directly part of Ralphie's pack, his clothing belongs to one of the tribes living among us.

When I gather the courage to approach the corpse once more, I get immediate answers. Right at his nape, two puncture wounds stain his otherwise pale skin.

My legs go weak at the sight and I fall backwards as my mind goes numb.

Occasionally there are casualties from the creatures Ralphie warned against, but the cause of death for this victim is certainly not by such means.

These are definitely vampire bites.

Hot tears roll from my eyes as previous fears reawaken themselves.

I thought that they would have abandoned their plan after inactivity for the past few years.

I was naive to think that they'd back off so easily.

The vampires have always wanted a war, but seeing that they would be so bold as to trek thus far into Wolf Territory means one thing.

I scramble up on my feet as I force myself to stop sobbing from shock.

I need to alert the Alphas and the rest of the pack.

We're under attack.

Just as I turn to leave, a chill runs up my spine as a minuscule snap of a branch sounds from behind me.

I knew then, I wasn't alone.

In fact, I was being watched the entire time.

There's no point in pretending that I didn't notice the shadow concealing himself behind the trees.

Run.

I tell myself, but it seems my legs still haven't taken the order. It won't register no matter how many times I repeat it.

Scream.

I consider, but no one would hear me since I haven't seen a single live ally even after traveling for hours.

Cry.

When my son was taken away from me, I stood still and cried. That did nothing.

When Evie sacrificed everything to help me escape, I didn't know what else to do but that too.

No.

I still haven't alerted my pack of the imminent danger. I still haven't found help for Ralphie.

I still haven't finished living yet.

Gathering the courage to finally look at the enemy, I surprise myself with the sudden lack of cowardice.

Back then, I always kept my head lowered in the presence of a vampire. I am weak and at that their mercy. That's what all humans have been raised to know and acknowledge back in Vampire Territory.

But now, instead of trembling at the pair of hungry eyes fixated on the throbbing vein in my neck, I'm empowered. The rush of adrenaline pulsing through my entire body fueled by my determination to live is something new, odd, and strangely good-feeling.

I swiveled and crouched down, entering a wrestling stance.

My skills are far from capable of handling a vampire alone, but it's not completely useless when fear isn't an issue. From my belt, I slide out a dagger that has only been used for cutting plants up to now.

The vampire's eyes glowed red as he started charging at me in a sloppy manner.

The moment his claw-like hands made contact with my arms, I threw my right arm upwards, successfully making a clean slash up his throat.

The monster howled menacingly as it drew backwards a little. I took this time to throw myself at him, stabbing the blade through his arm, trying my best to cut it off.

If I learned anything from living twenty something years among these beasts, they don't give up until you rip some part of their bodies off.

And right now, I was trying my best to saw off his arm with my pint-sized dagger. I felt him claw at my chest, but the pain didn't get to me as I was much too engrossed in performing my deed.

I refused to let go because once I do, it'll kill me.

With one final yank, his arm finally came off and fresh blood splattered all around us. Its blood-curdling howl echoed through the darkness, shaking the trees and waking the creatures burrowed beneath the surrounding area.

Its red eyes glared at me with wrath and disbelief before dashing towards me in a frenzy once more.

I raised my weapon above my head as I counted in my head for the perfect second to end this fight. However, my counting was interrupted when a huge figure fell from the sky and landed on top of the vampire who was barely a foot away from me.

I stared blankly at the silver man-beast who made the vampire look so small under his paw. With one simple motion, the bloodsucker's head detached from his body.

"Ralphie!"

My body didn't hesitate to throw itself onto him, though my arms barely managed to hug a third of his current form.

As quickly as he appeared, the silver Lycan transformed back into a bare-bodied boy. His arms wrapped around and squeezed me tight, tighter than I ever could to him.

He whispered my name a few times as he ran his fingers through my hair. "You did well."

I pulled away from him a little, surprise written over my face.

"You're not going to scold me?" I ask timidly.

Ralphie only planted a kiss on my forehead. "Why would I?"

Oh right. Wolves see humans just as competent as they see themselves. There's nothing out of the ordinary if he just stood there and watched me finish the attacker myself. But still, I'm grateful for his appearance and timely assistance.

"Are you okay now?" I ask when I remembered how I got into this mess in the first place.

He nodded.

"What happened? You were heating up and I didn't know what to do. I was so scared when you didn't respond. I know you told me not to go out, but I needed to find help. You never had a fever like that. I was-"

"It's my fault," Ralphie interrupted my rambling and hugged me closer as he repeatedly apologized. "I'll explain later. First we need to see what this thing is..."

Ralphie knelt down near the headless corpse to better analyze it.

"I know there are a lot of undiscovered creatures, but I haven't ever seen something like this..." he said in utter disgust at its unnaturally pale skin and unusually bizarre attire.

"Vampire."

He froze momentarily at the sound of the word before walking to the lifeless victim drained of blood.

"Help me lift him up," he said solemnly. "His pack would want his body brought back so they can pay their respects."

After helping Ralphie secure the body, he lowers himself for me ride on his back. He lets out a low pitch howl, asking me why I'm not moving.

"Ralphie, the body..." I say as I point at the dismembered vampire.

"We'll return for the bloodsucker later."

"Vampires can regenerate if we don't burn them."

My wolf boy gives me a doubtful glance.

"I lived with them and seen enough fights to know," I assert.

"I believe you," he communicates through another tone. "I'm even more disgusted by these things now."

It wasn't that I was trying to disgust Ralphie even more when I picked up the head and hoisted the rest of the bloodsucker onto his back, but it would make sense to bring it back to the other wolves as evidence.

Ralphie whined and yipped in distaste as some of the blood smeared on his moonlit silver coat, but he too understood my intentions and couldn't disagree.

Even while carrying three bodies, Ralphie ran as fast as the wind, not once stopping from the myriad of trees separating us from the main camps. Luckily, we got there by dawn and the pack members haven't set out on their morning hunts.

If we hadn't brought the vampire specimen back, the other pack mates probably wouldn't have believed our story. At first, none dared approach. But then, everyone started gathering around like they were in a circus advertising a newfound species.

Not long later, the Alphas summoned us for a testimony.

The Alphas were obviously furious at the finding.

"How dare a vampire intrude into our territory?!" Did you see any others?" Alpha Simon questioned Ralphie.

"I didn't detect any others."

"How did you discover this one?"

"I heard a scream while I was searching for Alvena," he answered while giving me a glance.

"Why are they here?" Alpha Rowan questioned with growing worry.

The Alphas all wracked their brains at the phenomenon that a bloodsucker would appear out of nowhere.

"I might have the answer."

The room fell quiet as all eyes befell me.

"Before I left, the vampires faced a dilemma. Their blood supply was diminishing while the vampire population was growing. One of the rumored solutions was waging war with the wolves to get their humans."

The Alphas looked at me like I said something absurd. Well, I mean, who wouldn't want to believe that what I said was unreal? Even I hoped I was wrong.

"We and those bloodsuckers hate each other, but haven't broken the treaty for decades. Do you know the graveness of what you're saying?" an alpha raised his voice amidst the shocked audience.

Luckily, Ralphie was there to back me up.

"This is not their first time wandering into our territory. It happened two years ago when they took away two pack mates."

"Isn't two years ago when you arrived?" the older alpha asked while pointing at me. "Are you the reason they are suddenly showing up?"

The others suddenly change their expression towards me. I didn't like the feeling.

"That's irrational." I looked at Ralphie who stood tall and sure as always. "If not for Alvena, we wouldn't even know that a blood devil has treaded upon our soils," he defended.

"Is this how you talk to an Alpha?" someone growled.

"Calm down Dario," Alpha Simon advised. "Either way, it seems there is a rising threat. We'll have to look deeper into this matter. For now..." Simon paused and switched to communicate in their native wolf language. He let out a grumble and the rest of the Alphas seemed slightly more appeased.

Next thing I knew, Ralphie was escorting me out with a serious expression on his young face.

"We just got back. Where are you going?" I call out to him the moment we return to our winter residence.

"I'll be back soon," he assured, planting a nonchalant kiss on my cheek.

I smiled and watched him walk out and shift into a wolf and run off. And only when he fully disappeared did I drop that smile.

It didn't take a genius to guess that he was carrying out that secret order the Alphas were talking about earlier.

For some reason, it really irked me to not know what it was.

But perhaps even more irksome is the fact that it was Ralphie who they ordered to carry it out.