Howls and growls echoed through the dark woods, shadows too fast, and blurry to be seen with human eyes moved swiftly. the sound of a body slammed hard against a tree was heard followed by a hiss.
Then suddenly, it became silent.
The moonlight glimmered through the thick leaves of the trees. Underneath were blood stains, brown leaves painted red and pained groans and coughs rang through the night as more blood spilled from the unfortunate victims.
"Why did you attack my pack?" A cold yet restrained voice came. Eyes glimmering a bright ember. The moon cast a dark shadow upon his features, making him appear more menacing. Blood dripped to the ground from the claws of his half shifted right hand.
"Answer me," he commanded, his voice reverberating. As if the wind was on his side, the leaves rattled and the dead ones around were blown away in that instant.
A visible shudder ran through the man on the ground, clutching his abdomen.
Around them lay piles of dead bodies. Shifters in the human and beast forms sprawled, lifeless, torn limb from limb.
"P…par… pardon, p..please," the man stuttered. Blood spilling from his mouth with every word he uttered.
"Not only did you trespass into my territory, you killed members of my pack," he said through clenched jaws. "Yet you have the guts to ask for pardon?"
He squatted down, his hand clamped on the man's throat. "Do you think you deserve it?" He asked.
The man's hands quickly shot to his wrist, holding on to dear life. His feet flailed as the tips of his toes tried to remain grounded. Uneven breaths escaped him, and color began to drain from his eyes.
"I'll ask you one last time, and you better answer carefully," he said if he wasn't talking to a man who could barely breathe. "Who sent you?"
"N…no one," the man managed to say.
"Do you take me for a fool?" he asked.
As difficult as it was for him, the man shook his head and then said, "It's…for…re…venge."
The sound of bones cracking echoed, and before a second passed, the man's body was thrown lifeless on the ground.
His gaze lingeared on the corpse, cold and distant.
"Alpha," another voice came from behind.
He didn't turn, just glanced over his shoulder, and the new arrival understood that that was the only response he'd get.
"We have subdued every last one of those who attempted an escape," they reported.
"Mm," he nodded. "Clean up this mess and find out who they are," he said and walked away.
"Yes, Alpha," his subordinate replied with a bow of his head.
Once he was gone, they looked around and couldn't help but shudder.
"This is gruesome, even for us," one of them said.
"I am still not used to this even after so long," another muttered.
***
Far from the gruesome scene in the woods, a girl lay curled on the ground. Her back aching from being struck with the cane over and again.
Blood dripped from open wounds, tears streamed down her eyes, but she didn't dare make a sound despite the pain.
Her tail was tucked between her legs and face buried between her knees.
It was even a wonder how she could assume such a position even while lying down.
Suddenly, her beast ears perked up and nose sniffed the air, then she stilled, her body shaking. Out of instinct, she crawled under the little bed at the corner.
"No," she uttered, voice trembling. "Not here, please."
But the footsteps kept on approaching, closing the distance slowly like a stalker in a nightmare. Before long, the door to the basement was pushed open, and a head poked inside.
Blonde hair and brown eyes was all she could see but that was enough to send fear into the girl on the ground and she tried as much as possible to lower her breathing, turning the already silent room more silent.
Seconds seemed longer than minutes and every second that passed pressed down on her mind.
"Rhea…?" the blonde girl called, stepping into the room. "I know you're in here, I can smell your stench. There's no point hiding. Save me the trouble and show yourself," she said.
But silence was all that greeted her ears.
"You know what would happen if I get angry, right?" she warned, her voice still maintaining its sweetness as if she were giving praises and not threats.
She pushed down the small stool that exists as the only furniture in there, and it hit the ground causing Rhea to tremble in fear where she hid.
"Just where could you be hiding?" the girl said, taking slow steps towards the bed. She stopped once she stood before it, her hands resting on the worn down frame.
"Could be hiding…." she squatted, knees and palms pressed on the ground, her eyes searching underneath, "...in here?" She completed her sentence.
Rhea jolted but the sudden movement sent pain throughout her body, and her head banged on the bed frame.
"Got you," the girl said, smiling like she just found a lost favorite toy.
She grabbed Rhea's leg and and roughly pulled her from under the bed. Rhea cried out in pain but it was as if the girl was deaf to it all and continued dragging her around the room.
"I'm sorry," Rhea began apologizing even though she had done nothing wrong. "Please, spare me."
"You should have shown yourself when I was asking nicely," she said. "You have no one but yourself to blame."
Letting go of Rhea's leg, she went around and gripped a hand full of her hair.
"Please, let me go," Rhea pleaded, her hands shot up to the girl's hand that held her hair. "Please, Gemma."
"Because of you, father is in a bad mood…" the girl, Gemma said, eyes glaring sharply at Rhea. She slapped off her hands as if it were a parasite. "Do you know what that means…?"
"That's enough, Gemma," a male's voice came from the door, interrupting Gemma.
She frowned and glanced at the person by the door. He leaned against the frame, hands folded crossed his chest, his expression that of boredom.
"What?" She hissed, but still didn't let go of Rhea's hair.
"Father wants everyone in the study," he said, his eyes then shifted to Rhea, "She needs to heal too if she is to be put to use again."
Gemma growled, displeased that her fun was interrupted.
"You're quite lucky today," she said and roughly released Rhea's hair. "Let's go, Julian."
Once the door slammed shut, Rhea cried, unable to hold it back anymore.