Taking A Dare

A feeling of excitement hung in the air, temporarily relieving us of the despair that clouded our minds after the night the monsters came

The mating match was around the corner and was situated on the night of the full moon, fuelling the euphoric bliss, the neighboring packs have been invited to help foster unity and the alliance between our packs, the were a total of five packs with Riverdale being the most populated, The mating match was a huge deal because it was a one time chance to finally find the one person that completes you, your mate, it was a dream come true for every girl and the most anticipated ceremony of the lunar year, to say I was beyond nervous was an understatement as a thousand thoughts flooded in my head

"Who will it be?"

"What would he be like?"

"Which pack would he be from?" I couldn't help but wonder

The giggles floated in the air like bubbles, the marketplace was busier than usual as girls fitted into several dresses, each dressmaker's shop was fully crowded as every girl wanted to look their best for the match. I scurried through the market square, fidgeting in my disguise. I had hopped into a set of ridiculous clothing which was the perfect cover for what I was about to do without raising any suspicion.

If one needed to start sniffing for answers the hall of crocs would be the best place to start, The hall of crocs originally called crocs of skulls had a bit of it's own dark history, during the great rift Logan the brute went on a wild rampage,many where vanquished by his sword dying by piety.

Death by piety was one of the worst forms a werewolf could die, wolves usually had more longer lifespan living close to two hundred years or more but if a werewolf died from an unnatural cause particularly a painful death,it was said to be death by piety, The bodies of Logan's victims were thrown into the crocs of skulls unburied, unburned, without a priestess there to perform the ritual of the passage rite, for these souls to move onto the eternal realm their souls became stuck,They became angry and vengeful souls called the wandering, these souls were however easy targets to Apophis to feed on and replenish his strength.

Even though the hall of crocs is now used for different purpose than it was centuries ago,there was something unsettling about it, that left me on the edge, toppled with the whole secrecy about it, no one was allowed to enter the hall of crocs unless invited by my father or any member of the high council,it was an offense punishable by scourging.

The hall of crocs had been claimed to be now used as a conference room to discuss private matters pertaining the pack, Father had just summoned the council of elders for a meeting in the hall of crocs with Trevor accompanying him, I was always excluded from these meeting despite it being my birthright to attend these functions,father had been prepping Trevor to take his place,he made Trevor go through all sorts of rigorous battle training, father also made him read all historical books and archives on Riverdale, To lead a pack an Alpha is supposed to be prepared both in body and mind father had always emphasized, with the coming of the beta coronation there was this speculation that father would soon announce his successor and everyone knew it was going to be Trevor.

I knew what fate would befall me if Trevor became alpha, my life was already hell as it was but if Trevor became Alpha it would be much worse and somehow I couldn't let that happen, Trevor was going to doom the pack, he a chameleon putting up false pretenses as the righteous savior whereas he selfish jerk who never had the welfare of the people at heart only driven by his lust to command control. A true leader required one who was willing to sacrifice himself to protect his people and Trevor was not that, I wished father could see he was making a huge mistake but I doubt father was willing to look beneath the curtain.

Getting into the hall of crocs wasn't difficult as not even guards were stationed there, The sheer vastness of the it's structure made it look like a maze, with each continuous twist and turn creating a sense of confusion and disorientation, on getting to the upper most floor I spotted a huge door with the crocs symbol

This must be it I thought

I pressed my ear against the cold, wooden door, anticipation coursed through my veins as I marveled at uncovering something scandalous,I strained my senses further, hoping to catch even the faintest whisper but to my dismay, I noticed the slight tracings of ash bane,ash bane was gotten from the acadia tree when the ash properties from the acadia tree is mixed with the hazel leaf it creates a potent repellent designed to nullify a werewolf hearing senses,in that way anyone outside the threshold would not be privy to what was being discussed in the room,I wasn't all that surprised at the lengths they took to shield their conversations it all the more proved they had something to hide.

"Eavesdropping,I see" I let out a frightened squeaked, only to face my adversary Trevor and my mood dampened

"What are you doing here" I blurted

"I could ask you the same, clearly you are not supposed to be here" he challenged

"I wonder what father would think of you if I told I caught you sneaking around the halls" he continued

"I Wonder what the pack would say if I told them I killed the cranion" I countered and at that his face darkened, I smiled in satisfaction glad to see his cool mask finally coming off

"You should really watch your tone,Romona" his voice had taken an edge

" Why but I speak the truth" I said in a sickly sweet voice

"They praise you and call you names like the conqueror,the slayer but you are no conqueror, you are a fraud and sooner than later they are going to see through you for what you really are, it's a pity daddy dearest would be so disappointed" I finished,if looks could kill I might as well as be dead,Trevor glared at me with such intensity that I expected arrows to start shooting at me from his eyes,he basked towards me threateningly.

"who would believe you,it's my word against yours, you think the pack would believe a pathetic weakling like you defeated the cranion,hell even omegas could easily kick your ass in a fight" he crackled hysterically he was right though even if I told the pack they would never believe me, they would probably call me a liar and accuse me of being jealous of Trevor.

"However you managed to defeat the cranion was just sheer luck,which I doubt there would be any luck on your side today after I done with you" he sneered menacingly quickly I took few backs I knew what Trevor was capable of,I had been his daily punching bag for as long as I could remember,it seemed to give him a sense of superiority that he was over me,it was not as if I couldn't defend myself against on the contrary it was the opposite,if there was one thing that I had learnt over the years it was to pick my battles,the more I fought back against Trevor and his treatment the more things got bad for me, father had made sure of it, the scars on my back can attest to that,I certainly did not want to be beaten up black and blue today as I was still recovering from my ordeal with the cranion,I needed to get myself out of this tricky situation and was grateful when the perfect distraction came up.