Alpha Grimfang's magnificent pure black wolf form stood still, with its amber eyes fixed on the debris, his enhanced senses taking in every detail of the destruction that lay before them.
"How is this even possible? Those beings are immortal... What changed?" Kade's human voice wondered aloud in his wolf's head.
The scene was gruesome beyond anything he had witnessed in years of warfare. As large as they were, the group of ten Lycans who had come to attack the pack were laying lifelessly on the ground, their limbs separated one by one with a surreal precision. There was blood gushing from their necks where they had been torn into, painting the ground darkly.
And standing in the center of the destruction was Freya, holding the bloody head of one of them in her left hand. She was still in her human form.
"She hasn't even shifted before tearing them apart?" The warriors behind the Alpha: Thor and the two guards who had also frozen in their tracks, had their wolves whimpering softly at the overwhelming scent of death and the predatory aura radiating from the woman before them.
That realization also hit the Alpha and his wolf's amber eyes twinkled in utter surprise.
Freya looked terrifying with the severed head in her hand, her eyes glowing an otherworldly silver that seemed to pierce through the darkness. It was as if she was the angel of destruction incarnate, a vessel of divine wrath unleashed upon the earth.
Blood dripped steadily from her fingers, but she seemed completely unaware of it. Her gaze was distant and unfocused.
Alpha Grimfang shifted into his human form and the warriors behind him followed suit.
"By the moon!" Thor exclaimed after completing his shift as his gaze held the destruction. Ten Lycans. Adult, fully-grown, battle-hardened Lycans. Torn apart like they were nothing more than regular wolves.
"Freya..." The Alpha called out, his initial cold voice when addressing Freya seemed gentle this time around.
At the sound of her name, Freya's head turned toward them. The movement was slow, deliberate, and when her silver-glowing eyes met his, Alpha Grimfang felt a chill run down his spine even though he wouldn't ever admit that.
For a moment, he wasn't looking at the rogue he had just gotten as his Luna, he was looking at something divine.
Then, as if a switch had been flipped, the otherworldly presence seemed to recede from Freya's body. She blinked, and when her eyes opened again, they were their normal ocean-blue. She looked down at the bloody head in her hand as if seeing it for the first time, her expression shifting to one of confusion and dawning horror.
Without a word, she dropped the head and walked out of the ruins, her steps unsteady now that the divine energy was fading.
She stood still for a moment to gather her composure, her head hung lowly as if she was contemplating on the decision she was about to take.
Then she walked in the direction of Alpha Grimfang, the duo holding each other's gazes, and Alpha Grimfang found himself searching her face for answers to questions he didn't even know how to ask.
When Freya finally stepped closer to him, close enough that he could see the drop of blood stain under her left eye, they both spoke up at the same time:
"We need to talk!"
There was a deafening silence for a second as the duo allowed the moment to sink then as Alpha Grimfang opened his mouth to respond, the sound of running footsteps interrupted them.
Williams, the guard he'd left to protect Seraphina, ran to the scene, his face pale and stricken. He ran directly to Alpha Grimfang, not even sparing a glance to the others around them.
"Alpha, I need to speak with you immediately." Williams gasped, still breathing hard from his sprint.
The Alpha nudged him with his head to go ahead and Williams leaned in close, his voice dropping to an urgent whisper as he spoke directly into the Alpha's ear. As the guard's words registered, Alpha Grimfang's expression changed dramatically, shifting from confusion to something dark and deeply concerned.
Seraphina. Something had happened to Seraphina.
He quickly turned back to Freya, conflict evident in his amber eyes:
"Our talk will have to wait, I need to attend to something urgent."
Before Freya could protest, he was already turning to Thor, his voice carrying the sharp edge of command.
"Clean this scene immediately. Clear the ruins and put adequate security barriers up where the attackers penetrated the pack. Double the perimeter guards and establish rotating patrols. I want to know how they got this far into our territory without being detected."
As if summoned by the urgency in his Alpha's voice, his Beta, Sebastian came running into the scene with many warriors, all of them stopping short when they saw the massacre spread before them.
"Sebastian..." Alpha Grimfang called out, relief evident in his voice at seeing his Beta.
"Ensure the lady is taken care of and provided with comfort. Give her one of the better guest rooms in the manor, she has earned it tonight." He said.
"Of course, Alpha." Sebastian nodded, though his eyes remained fixed on the dead Lycans scattered around them.
"Make sure she has everything she needs." The Alpha added before starting to walk away with Williams walking behind him.
The hours that followed passed in a blur of activity: cleaning and clearing the ruins, and quiet contemplation. Freya had been escorted to a spacious room on the second floor of the Alpha's manor, far more luxurious than her previous accommodation. She had bathed away the blood and gore, changed into clean clothes that Sebastian had provided, and now stood by the large window that overlooked the pack territory.
It was past midnight, and the events of the day weighed heavily on her mind so she couldn't sleep. She kept replaying the moment when the power had surged through her, the way the divine energy had taken control of her body and turned her into something she barely recognized.
The Moon Goddess had warned her that her abilities would manifest, but she hadn't expected anything like what had happened tonight.
"This power..." She murmured to herself. The ease with which she'd destroyed the Lycans troubled her greatly.
They were supposed to be among the most powerful supernatural beings in existence, and yet they had fallen before her like nothing.
The memory of their shocked expressions, the way they had seemed more confused than aggressive, nagged at something deep in her consciousness.
Then she remembered something important:
"Why did the event and timing changed from what I was told? Should I say I'm being tested or what?" She was hoping the Moon Goddess would appear and give her a response since she knew she was always hearing her. But the only response was silence, leaving her alone with her doubts and questions.
At that moment, her eyes caught sight of movement at the far end of the pack's border. She leaned forward and her enhanced vision picked out a massive shape moving through the shadows.
A wolf. But not just any wolf.
The creature was enormous, easily twice the size of any werewolf she'd ever seen. Its coat was a deep black tinted with silver and even from this distance, she could make out the distinctive build that marked it as something far more dangerous than a common werewolf.
"A Lycan?"
Freya's blood ran cold, then immediately heated with anger.
"How dare one of them return after what has happened? Have they not learned their lesson from the slaughter of their packmates?" She didn't wait to finish contemplating before rushing to leap from the window.
However something made her pause. The wolf wasn't moving aggressively. It wasn't prowling or stalking or showing any signs of preparing for an attack. Instead, it simply stood at the border, its massive head turned directly toward the manor.
Toward her window.
As if it was waiting for her.
Recognition hit her like a lightning bolt. Those eyes, even at this distance, she could make out the distinctive red glow. She'd seen those eyes before, in the wilderness.
"That is the same wolf that has saved me..."
Without thinking, without considering the consequences, Freya pushed the window open and jumped down. The landing was perfect and she straightened up immediately then began racing toward the direction where the wolf waited, her feet barely touching the ground.
As she drew closer, she expected the Lycan to flee or prepare for battle. Instead, it remained exactly where it was, those red eyes fixed on her with an intensity that made her chest tighten with an emotion she couldn't name.
She stopped about twenty feet away, close enough to see the individual strands of silver in its dark coat, close.
The wolf was unflinching, instead it was radiating a calm patience that was completely at odds with everything she'd been taught about Lycan behavior.
"I need to know why he helped me before anything." She decided, silencing the part of her nagging mind that was reminding her she was supposed to fulfill her divine purpose by ending every Lycan as soon as she laid eyes on them.
Taking a deep breath, Freya looked directly into those haunting red eyes and spoke:
"Who are you and why did you help me? Do you have a motive? Moreover, what are you doing here?" She blurted out the questions, all at once.
In response, the Lycan did something that had her jaw touching the ground.