39 Chapter 39: The sparkling podium

"Okay. So on a scale of one to ten, how confidant are you about getting him out?" Agatha asked, crouching down next to Elize.

The moon was shining particularly bright on that night. As the group of girls sat behind a tall purple smoke bush, the only thing that helped them from being noticed was Agatha's invisibility shield surrounding them. Their position was quite undetectable since there were no witches around and the fact that the static produced by the shield was comparatively low for wolves to notice. Hence until and unless someone came very close to where they stood, they were completely safe within the magical barrier.

"Ten." Elize replied, her eyes trained on the sight in front of them.

All three of them were in a weirdly built space somewhere behind the pack house. It was the first time that Elize had been there, but for a good reason. The place was well hidden in a thick overgrowth of shrubs and bushes. In the middle of the rectangular space was a tiled area, with a podium on one side of it. The podium looked as if it was carved out of a single rock which was oddly colored in a deep shade of red. It sparkled in the moonlight like a gem. Elize was sure that it was no ordinary stone.

"And our survival rate?" Agatha asked again, unable to hide her nervousness.

"I don't know Agatha. Let me think about how to save him first." Elize replied, her gaze fixed on the rock.

"Oh boy. We're going to die aren't we?" Agatha said, fanning herself vigorously with her hands.

Elize huffed. Clearly Agatha was over reacting. There were only a few wolves in attendance, all standing around the weirdly sparkling podium. For some reason, Mikail was nowhere to be seen, nor the old man Li.

"Have some faith Agatha. I thought you said that you believed in Elize the most?" Meifeng chipped in, trying to calm the hyperventilating witch down.

Agatha looked at Meifeng as if she was crazy. Rolling her eyes at the woman, she said, "That was just a spur of the moment speech to make that temperamental mate of yours to agree! No offence."

Meifung chuckled. "None taken." She said, shaking her head with a smile.

"When do you think Nina will arrive?" Elize asked, impatiently.

As soon as they had managed to convince Alex, they had urged him to contact Nina through his mind link with her. This was the fastest form of communication since they were both part of Zack's pack. Nina had agreed to aid them in the mission, asking them to wait for her signal before taking action. She was the one who provided the coordinates of the hidden area in which the girls now stood. Although Alex wanted to join them, the girls had convinced him to do something else- to be their back up plan and hide in the woods.

"Hopefully soon." Meifeng replied. Her expression once again turned into a serious one, all traces of of her previous smile disappearing.

Soon, the aura around the place started growing darker. Elize held her breath, as she saw the man she dreaded, entering the enclosed space. The various people who were present, turned towards him in anticipation. Alpha Li stopped one feet away from the sparkling stone and turned towards the crowd.

"I see that only a few have turned up." He said, his eyes traveling around the place.

Someone from among the crowd came forward. He quickly bowed before the old man before saying, "Apologies sir. But Alpha Zack had asked all the women and the children to stay in the pack house tonight."

Alpha Li's lips turned up in a cruel smile. "Is that so? I see that you all are deeply loyal to my grandson."

"This.." the man's eyes darted to the sides in confusion. It was clear that he didn't want to offend the powerful man standing in front of him.

"It's okay dear friend." Alpha Li said, placing his hand on the man's shoulder. "Being loyal to him is like being loyal to me. You don't have to worry about it."

The man shivered, detecting the subtle threat in his words. But as luck would have it, Alpha Li made no move to harm him. Instead, the man turned and walk away from him, to stand once more in front of the podium.

"As you all know, we are here to administer the punishment of one among your pack, who fell short of protecting his Alpha and the future Luna." Alpha Li announced.

Elize rolled her eyes at the statement. It was clear to her that the man was just putting on an act to show who was the real decision maker in the pack, trying to supersede Zack's authority. The question was why. She didn't understand why the man would try to take over the pack from his grandson when Zack was supposed to be his heir. Maybe Zack had failed to notice his intentions, but the man didn't fool her.

"Bring forth the wolf." He announced.

In the blink of an eye, a man covered from head to toe in black appeared before the podium. Elize recognized the man from the cafeteria. It was the same man who disappeared with Heidi. He threw down a limp figure on the ground.

"That's Mikail." Meifeng whispered to Elize.

"Hmm yeah. I could guess that." She replied without looking away from the towering man standing in front of the crowd. The man clearly had a dark aura surrounding him. It was more visible now that he was standing under the moonlight. The darkness that surrounded him was unlike any other energy that she'd seen before. It's shape was rippling every now and then, reminding her of the darkness that covered wraiths.

"Do you see it?" Elize asked to Agatha, pointing towards the old man.

"See what?"

"The darkness that's surrounding him." Elize said, looking at Agatha intently.

"Uhhh- no? Although I do sense a dark aura from him." Agatha replied with a shrug.

"Are you sure?"

"Elize don't creep me out. I'm already on the edge here." Agatha complained, pursing her lips.

Elize sighed. Why was she the only one able to see it?

"What is it Elize?" Meifeng asked, placing her hand on the girl's shoulder. Her face showed much concern.

Elize shook her head. "It's nothing." She paused, "It's probably all in my head."

Meifeng smiled, and patted her back. "Sister, don't worry. It's going to be okay." She said, trying to reassure her.

Elize nodded. She turned back towards where the old man was standing. The rippling darkness around him was still very much visible to her. What was this all about now? Elize wondered, her heart beating faster as fear started taking over her mind.