9 Fear Not, It May Come True

There are no secrets that time does not reveal.

- Jean Racine

Night.

At the pack house:

"Oh, Moon Goddess!! Elora exclaimed with distress. "Let the enemy be anyone but him!!"

"Why!?" The girls chorused in unison.

"It's a tragic story. It took a very bad turn and became a nightmare." Elora said with a sigh.

The girls waited with bated breath. The living room had a stillness that was broken only by the light sizzle of the wood burning to ashes in the fireplace. Aurora got up to pile quite an amount of wood into the fireplace and the fire roared back into life. Elora sat for a while staring into the pretty hues that provided everyone present with warmth and started the story.

"He was once a great Alpha, they say. Just and courageous. Empathetic and kind. Not a speck of arrogance was said to adorn his being. He governed his pack with smiles rather than frowns. Almost two decades ago, everything underwent a drastic change. The whole werewolf community speculated on what went wrong. But none knew. He was a changed man overnight, they said. He became a merciless massacring machine. He attacked the neighborhood pack without a warning. He went in like a loner and killed whomsoever entered his sight. The Beta of that pack barely managed to save a few members of the pack and flee. But the damage was done. What they saw when they ran with their lives were the bloody bodies of their brethren, mutilated beyond belief. Even the children were not spared."

" His pack territory became a fortress. None was allowed to leave, and none to enter. The members of the pack that had been subjected to his fury came back after a few days, to give a proper burial to their deceased pack members. They were surprised to find a long line of tombs marked with names and a bunch of wilted flowers each. Some kind soul from the Rock Alpha's pack had buried the dead bodies before they were shut in within the territory."

" In a community where children are treasured to such an extent that they are treated like priceless treasures, the actions of the Rock Alpha brought about shock and horror. "

"One sec. I've a doubt." Sarah interrupted Elora and said with a raised hand.

"This is not a school." Cassie rolled her eyes and her comment brought about chuckles which successfully broke the tense atmosphere.

" Duh!! I know. But she was talking so solemnly about such a serious topic that the habit kicked in." Sarah explained.

"What is your doubt, sweet Sarah?" Elora enquired with a smothered chuckle.

"Well, I didn't get the reference about children. Yes, it's a vile act; murdering little innocents. But so is killing anyone. Was it only because he killed children, he was feared?" Sarah asked in a puzzled tone.

"Yes. Murder of any kind is horrid. But the mortality rate of werewolf children is so high that they are treasured by our people with zealous. There had been wars between the packs since time immemorial. But the only fact that stood unchanged was that the children were always spared. Quite a few times the war was waged for recruiting the babies into their own packs from another pack. It was almost like a sacred vow. The children should be spared. But it was not this fact alone that made him a feared foe." Elora took a deep breath.

" A wounded werewolf was found at the border of the pack closest to the Rock Alpha's territory. Even the closest pack was miles and miles away. Nobody wanted to risk another massacre. This particular werewolf was taken in and tried to heal. But the girl got worse day by day. Her body was sprayed with vanadium. They discovered it too late since it was not an orthodox method. The werewolf hunters were known to inject the vanadium directly into the veins of the wolves. She was conscious for only short intervals. The intense pain disabled her from voicing her thoughts."

"The only information they managed to get from her was that she was not attacked by some random hunters, but while she was at her pack. A few minutes before she succumbed to the poison and died, she had frantically nodded when she was randomly asked whether the Alpha was aware of her wounded status. The puzzled Beta had voiced out the question why the Rock Alpha had not send someone to search for the injured member of their pack. She had shook her head with terror filled eyes and died within moments." Elora stopped with a helpless sigh.

"He injured his own pack member!?" Cassie was shocked.

" He may not have harmed her himself, Cassie. I've heard Alphas are so protective towards their pack. But why didn't he let anyone go after her? He could have saved her." Syn said in a brooding voice.

"Maybe he was protecting her." A quiet voice spoke up.

"Sarah!! He's the Rock Alpha. The merciless devil. The whole werewolf community has heard the tales of his cruelty. Yet you think he knows what compassion is?" Aurora enquired in a disbelieving tone.

"Our Sarah is like that." Cassie said with a fond smile. "Always finding the positive traits in a person."

"Why the name, 'Rock Alpha'? Or is it his original name?" Syn successfully diverted the topic.

" He was given that name in his teens since he had a fit body. He was a workout freak they say. He was the Alpha who had a rock hard body and hence was called the Rock Alpha." Elora said with a laugh. "But now, he's called so because he has a heart as hard as stone."

"Whew!! He's a complex character!" Cassie let out a quiet whistle.

"He'll make a formidable enemy." Syn summed up.

"Then let's hope that he's not the one that's instigating the attacks." Sarah replied with a smile.

Elora smiled at them and tried her best to calm down. She was worried about the injured pack members. The vanadium was close to fatal. The witches seemed to be relaxed about the safety of their friend. They were having a lively discussion among them. She could hear her daughter asking them something that piqued her interest.

" How confident are you about Jo being able to heal my pack members?" Aurora asked the witches tentatively.

"About 95 to 99%." Cassie replied confidently.

" She's a talented and gifted healer. She always keeps her word. If she had said that she has a way to treat them, she has it. It's just as simple as that. We hope she'll be able to reach them on time." Syn explained in a calm tone.

Aurora seemed to deflate with relief. She smiled at them with stars in her eyes. "Thank you. I needed to know that." She turned to her mother and asked her to call her once the rescue team comes back home. "I'll go to bed then. Goodnight everyone." She disappeared into her room with a wave.

"Why don't you also retire for the night?" Elora smiled. "I'll wake you up once they arrive."

"No. I'll wait for them, Luna. You had too much on your shoulders tonight. Please have some rest." Tobias, who had been silent for the whole time spoke up.

" Alright, then. Thank you, Tobias." Elora went up the stairs along with the girls into their respective suites. She had indeed been at her breaking point. The talk about the Rock Alpha had only helped to drain her further.

Tobias sat on the armchair, staring into the flames. The moon had come out from the clouds and was pouring it's charm all over his figure through the windows. He resembled a well-built, six foot snowman.

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Hours ago:

At the battlefield:

The five wolves came to a stop near the wounded wolves and started to sniff around. Suddenly KJ gave out an order to stay away from the wounded. He walked away himself and shifted back into his human form. Others also followed suit.

" Vanadium." KJ said abruptly.

"Shouldn't we try to heal them?" Oscar sounded puzzled. The Alpha was never the one to shy away from his responsibilities.

" Didn't you notice that they are bleeding and yet the amount of vanadium in their body doesn't change." Kael said in a somber tone.

" It seems like our doubts are transforming themselves into truth." Lorenzo replied with equal seriousness.

" Doubts!? Are you guys keeping info from us?" Alex growled.

" This is not the place or time. Let's patch them up. They are in agony. They can't lose anymore blood, werewolf or not." KJ ordered.

"Fine. Let's take turns. Any contact with vanadium will weaken us. We need the others to stay guard. I'll do it first." Alex reigned in his anger and replied.

"Alright. Go ahead." KJ gestured Oscar to help Alex. Oscar took out the necessary medical tools and such from the backpack and handed them out to Alex.

"Wear a shirt too. The cold is going to affect you soon, Alex." Lorenzo threw a woolen shirt towards his buddy.

"Lorenzo, contact my father and let him know about this incident. The pack warriors are to stay alert. Ask him to contain the news. I don't want the whole pack to panic. He is to contact me via cellphone because I'm going to close the mind link. The mind links of the five of us should be accessible to only the five of us." KJ instructed his Beta and turned to the injured. He prepared himself for the onslaught of pain that he fully intended to share with his brethren.

Two hours passed by in a blink.

'Damn!! I can't hold on any longer. I can't maintain the human form any longer.'

Suddenly the Alpha shifted into his four-legged form and simultaneously the injured let out painful whimpers.

"Alpha."

' I'm alright. Focus. '

" There's no use, KJ." Alex sounded worn out. " No matter how many times I stitch their wounds, they do not hold for more than half an hour. They are hanging by a thread. They would have died already if not for them being fed the red moon."

' Lorenzo, take over from Alex. We'll try our best.' KJ ordered.

" Alert. Someone is coming this way." Oscar warned them.

' Relax. It's father along with the witch and the wizard. Aurora had messaged me." Lorenzo informed.

A few moments later Logan entered the clearing along with Jo and Liam.

" She is a healer. " Logan announced without any preamble.

Alex moved out of the way and Jo rushed to the side of the wounded wolves. She took off the leather bag and handed it to Liam. They worked in perfect unison. She was about to check the blood for the traces of vanadium when Lorenzo called out, "It's not in their bloodstream. It may have been sprayed on their bodies. " Jo returned a grim smile and nodded her head.

She proceeded to take out various herbs from the bag and grind them into paste in a blender. The men with the exception of Liam stood stupified on seeing her producing all these things from her seemingly small bag. Liam gave a faint smile and told them about the enchanted bag.

Jo mixed the herb paste with the red moon apple juice and added just enough amount of water so that it can be sprayed. "Liam, I'll stitch up the wounds using the enchanted string. You have to spray the concotation as soon as I'm done. The wound should have a double coating of the medicine. Apply it on the rest of the body for a single time. I need someone who knows to stitch wounds to patch up another wolf after that. Meanwhile I'll prepare the next dose of medicine. We can dely the reaction for a long time. We'll have to take them back to the pack house and continue the treatment."

" I'll do it." Lorenzo volunteered. Jo had already started to stitch and gave a nod of assent.

Within a few minutes, the injured pack warriors were all patched up and taken into the car. They were all given opioids inorder to spare the pain. Jo didn't forget to provide Alex and Lorenzo with pills that allowed them to have moments of peace because they had also come in contact with vanadium while trying to treat the wolves. Alex and Lorenzo rode with Logan and others since they didn't want to shift. It could trigger the effects of vanadium.

And thus they set off to the pack house; A car holding werewolves, a witch and a wizard, followed by three giant wolves. One among them had lost something precious and was unaware of the troubles it will bring forth in the future. But for now, they returned home with hearts filled with relief and joy; something that may not last long.

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