In the herd's kitchen, Luz, Aliana, and Roxi were helping to prepare lunch. The Omegas needed extra hands, as there would soon be more mouths to feed with the entourages arriving at the herd.
While they worked, the women talked worriedly about the possible causes of these visits. One of the Omegas was the partner of a warrior, so she had a little more information. She explained to all of them that the Antrax attacks were not limited to their pack; many villages were suffering from these monsters' attacks and were looking for alliances to defeat these things.
The voices of the she-wolves, tinged with obvious concern, echoed in the human woman's mind. Her thoughts immediately flew to her dreams, in which she had seen different creatures fighting a common evil enemy. She knew that the war was not only being waged by the Antraxs; there was something else, but in her dreams she had been unable to visualize the true enemy, the force behind all the attacks, until now.
All those present observed the lost look and worried expression on the human's face. The she-wolves, equally concerned, tried to cheer up the young woman, unaware that Luz had witnessed the coming war before anyone else.
"Luz," Aliana called her name to snap her out of her trance. "I know you're worried, we all are, but we must trust our leaders who know how to protect us."
Luz smiled faintly. It would not be wise to frighten all the wolves with her dreams of an impending war against an unknown enemy, since that idea was, for the moment, only a dream. She hoped that was all it was, just a dream, but in light of recent events, she was frightened because in her short life she had had several recurring dreams that had ultimately come true.
She tried to cheer herself up, took three orange-like fruits, and began to juggle. All the women laughed and applauded at the girl's impressive display.
"Throw me another fruit," Luz urged Aliana to throw her another fruit to increase the difficulty of her juggling act.
Aliana obeyed and watched as Luz skillfully incorporated it.
"Throw another fruit."
Aliana hesitated, but obeyed, and Luz incorporated the fruit again.
From outside, the two Alphas and their Betas heard the laughter and cheers inside the kitchen, which caught their attention.
They quickly approached and faced the kitchen door.
Suddenly, the cheerful voices of the women gave way to silence as they bowed their heads in a sign of respect and submission. Luz, focused on her juggling, noticed this too late and when she saw the men's faces, she was surprised and dropped the fruit.
"Who is she?" asked Alpha Tareg in surprise when he saw the girl's huge green eyes.
Aliana quickly stepped in front of the men, trying to intervene, and replied hastily, "She's a friend!"
Caspian realized that his Luna would be the center of attention for all the new visitors. Since her wild and dominant side was not marked, he wanted to tear out the eyes of any man who dared to look at his woman, but his rational side told him that he must remain calm and behave himself in front of their visitors.
Caspian added to his sister's response: "This is Luz, our precious guest. I will give you more information in the coming days. In the meantime, let the women get on with their work."
The young Alpha gave the girl a penetrating look, his blue eyes scanning her figure as a seductive smile played on his lips. The girl stared back at him and, realizing this, looked away, her cheeks turning red as a tomato.
The morning was busy for the herd. Three more delegations arrived and were diligently accommodated, with Cristian mainly in charge of supervising.
After finishing the work in the kitchen, there was still an hour to go before lunch was served. The two girls took the opportunity to go to the garden to rest. As they strolled, the child couldn't stop looking closely at the flowers, curious to see if she could find anything interesting among them. While searching, she gathered her courage and decided to tell Aliana about the nightmares she had been having every night and her worries that they would come true.
Sitting down under one of the trees, Luz held out her hand to Aliana, tapping the grass to get her attention and letting her know she wanted her to sit down next to her.
"Aliana, I need to tell you something!"
Luz looked serious. Aliana laughed when she saw the little girl's expression and obeyed, sitting down next to her.
"I need to talk to you seriously. All of this is eating away at my soul. I hope you don't think I'm crazy, but I think a great war is coming."
"Wait, what are you talking about?" Aliana interrupted, immediately alarmed by the human's words.
"I've seen it in my dreams. Every night I've had some really strange dreams, mainly plunging me into an environment of absolute darkness, giving way to images of a bloody battle. I could see different types of creatures such as werewolves, dwarves, elves, and even wizards, all fighting against a common enemy. In this battle, I saw Antraxs and other types of monsters attacking, but there is something much worse in the darkness. It terrifies me. I don't know how to explain it. I still can't see it in my dreams, but I know it's an evil being. What I'm saying may sound extremely absurd, but I used to have premonitory dreams long before I came to your world, and unfortunately, I think this is the case.
The quinceañera was confused. She had never known anyone who could see the future in their dreams, at least not in the case of wolves. Her expression changed, she turned pale, and her eyebrows furrowed in concern. "What do you need me to do?"
"I don't know. I don't think anyone will believe me."
"I don't know either, but we can't just sit here knowing that this could be real. I'll talk to my brother."
Luz tried to calm her nerves and slipped back between the plants while Aliana went to look for Caspian.
"Where is the Alpha?" the girl asked a warrior stationed outside the war room.
"The Alpha isn't here. He's probably out with Alpha Tareg, checking on the pack."
Aliana didn't want to interrupt her brother's mental link, and she preferred to talk about this in person, taking him directly to the human.
Meanwhile, in the garden, Luz was fascinated by a spider the size of a tennis ball. It looked exactly like a jumping spider. She had never been afraid of insects and greatly appreciated these creatures.
She moved her right hand closer to the plant and, surprisingly, the spider approached her hand. She extended her palm and saw the arachnid land on it. Its body appeared to have iridescent hairs. Its four pairs of eyes seemed to be focused entirely on the girl. Its legs moved alongside the bulbs on the front of its body.
Someone's shadow came between the sun and Luz's body. She looked up and squinted as she tried to see the visitor's face against the light.
She couldn't process the information as she felt the man's body crouch down beside her. Luz held her breath and her heart raced.
"What do you have in your hand? Don't move, those spiders are extremely poisonous. It's calm, I'll get it off your hand. Just relax, don't move, I don't want it to bite you."
Her body stiffened. She couldn't believe this creature was poisonous. Where she came from, these creatures were harmless.
As if the spider could sense the Alpha's intentions, it leaped toward the flowers, leaving a trail of silk in its wake, and disappeared.
"Are you okay?" Caspian was genuinely concerned for Luz's safety. The shape-shifters had a lot of respect for these spiders. Their healing powers could save them from the bite of a male, but a female's bite was different. It was usually fatal unless they got quick help from a healer.
"I'm fine, just a little surprised." Of course, in her mind she was surprised by both the sudden appearance of the man and the spider, which she had thought was harmless, as she felt it was almost like a new friend.
"Why are you alone?"
Now Luz was confused. She hadn't had any contact with this man since the moon festival. It was obvious that they were avoiding each other, and now he was approaching her as if nothing had happened.
"I was with Aliana, but she went to look for you."
Luz didn't notice, but the Alpha was extremely nervous, even though he didn't show it. His temperature rose ten degrees, his heart pounded when he smelled her scent, and he avoided at all costs the urge to jump on her and kiss her. This was a difficult task; his emotions were working against him, and he was terrified that the girl would be frightened by him. He needed to get closer, and this was his chance.
"Luz, I want to apologize to you. What I did in the dungeon was an atrocious act. I did it thinking you had attacked my sister. I don't want you to fear me. Now that I know who you are, I would never dare to hurt you."
Any shapeshifter who heard the Alpha would be stunned. They knew well his cold and calculating nature, which suited a powerful man who cared about protecting his pack.