12 Intruder in Chandragram

Though he felt assured that Nina wouldn't come outside as promised, somewhere in his heart, he wasn't able to believe. Her excitement to watch the full moon and the curiosity that everybody raised in her brain and heart could probably make her at least take a step out.

Pressing his teeth and rubbing his palms, he didn't understand what he should do. His body already started warming up, warning that he would turn into a beast at any second. Quickly fetching a lock from the cupboard in the hall, he rushed outside and locked the door.

As he sprinted a few steps, his nails protruded, and his backbone started bending with knuckling sound. Ace was growling on top of his voice, and his eyes teared profusely in pain. The moment his hands touched the ground, his eyes turned golden completely. The muscles of his body increased rapidly, tearing out the clothing. He looked like an early man on four limbs covered with light brown fur.

After a minute of roaring and crying, Ace turned into a 7 feet wolf covered with yellowish-brown hair. On complete transformation to a wolf, he hurried into the woods but stopped suddenly. Sniffing deeply, he noticed a human scent, but it wasn't Nina's. How did a human enter the village? The villagers never allowed entry for humans in fear of their secret getting revealed. A human can only enter the surroundings with the permission of Alpha. Why did he allow a human to enter on a full moon day?

Could it be that someone in the pack found a human nearby?

That thought itself made his breath heavy and made his heart throb. He immediately ran towards the scent, praying that no one should get hurt. As he was few metres away from that human, the scent vanished. Is the possible? Ace took a deep breath, but there wasn't even a trace of a human. Sitting down on his backside and the front legs extending out, he looked around with his sharp wolf eyes. There was no sight of a human too. How can a human run that fast? His scent disappearance was a shock to Ace.

Digging the ground with his right front limb, he began thinking. In the next minute, he stood and started running towards his house. Among all the wolf ranks- Alpha, Beta and Omega, only the Alpha can hide his scent and the person in contact with him. Is that human going to hurt Nina? He stopped abruptly shrieking and making a claw mark on the soil, recalling the fight between his mother and Alpha.

"Did the Alpha bring a human to hurt my mother?" he thought to himself. "AAAAAAOOOOOOOOOHHHH!" he howled loudly to alert everyone around to beware of strangers and continued running towards Nina.

Hearing that sound, every wolf around stopped and gathered around. Though the pack appeared silent and tensed, standing in a place, they were communicating among themselves. Werewolves in the wolf form communicate as normal animals do, i.e., via thoughts.

"Ace? Ace? Ace?" Everyone panicked, listening to the alert.

On reaching the house, Ace turned furious, looking at the broken lock. His tiny ears turned straight, and his teeth flared, but sensing that Nina's scent was near and calm as if asleep, he cooled down.

He slowly tiptoed around the house to check if there was force entry anywhere. Confirming no breakage, he stood in front of Nina's room's window, looking at her peacefully sleeping.

The moonlight falling on her face made her face radiant and much more beautiful. Her long eyelashes, pointed nose and plump pink lips were significant in that light. Though Ace had seen Nina many times, this scene was quite refreshing and calming. Her smooth black hair was neatly falling on her shoulders. "Can anyone sleep this elegantly and gorgeously?" he thought to himself, watching her without a blink. The corners of his mouth stretched, watching the earphones still hanging from her ears.

He wanted to go near her to remove the earphones and adjust the hair strand falling on her face. His young heart was pleading him to go close to her, but he couldn't go and scare her in an animal form.

The fact that he can't turn into a human until the sunrise made him upset. He sat down, gazing and digging the sand with his sharp claws. Occasionally, he looked up to check on Nina, but mostly he was sadly staring at the ground.

Suddenly, he heard his brother howling to check on him and confirm the situation. Ace glanced at Nina and ran for some distance into the forest to growl. As soon as he conveyed that everything was fine, he ran back to the window to find Nina, not on the bed.

Her scent was nearby, so he took a step to race to the front door but stopped to hear the water sound. Ace calmed out and blew a gush of air from his mouth. He again sat beside the window with a weak and tired look. The pack was trained to hold the bloodthirst for ten days, making it necessary for them to hunt three times in 30 days. Since they would convert to a wolf every full moon, that was one of the days to feed. Moreover, having a blood flowing creature near him was making it much more difficult.

Sniffing Nina's scent nearer, he crawled to the window to get caught by Nina, who was standing near the window to watch the moon. Nina's eyes widened with shock, but there was no reaction. Ace's heart skipped a beat to see her standing without any movement. "Did she have a heart attack?" Ace thought and turned to rush inside.

As he dashed towards the door, he felt his heart becoming heavier. His limbs were growing weaker, and the mouth and tongue were getting drier. The body was sending strong signals to indicate the lack of blood and strength. The belly between the front and back limbs was moving in and out rapidly. His nose and mouth were releasing dry air, and the vision was blurring. Since he turned into a werewolf, he hadn't been in such a situation. Gradually, breathing too turned difficult. Every inch of his body was begging for blood, but by adding every ounce of strength left in him to the other, he pushed the front door but fell without checking on Nina. Informing the pack was the only thing he could do, "AAAOOOHHHH".

Hearing the door and crush sound, Nina snapped out of the shock. Patting both the cheeks, she told herself that it was just a daydream or an imagination that occurred due to watching into the pitch dark area. Gulping hardly, he searched for the water bottle, which was empty.

Looking at the door and the darkness after it, she frowned. "Not drinking a night won't hurt!" she told herself and sat on the bed. Her heart was panting as the scene of bright golden eyes was replaying in her brain in a loop. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she stood up.

Turning on the flashlight in her phone and holding the empty bottle, she walked soundlessly, placing every step tightly.