Oops. How am I supposed to answer that? I can mind-link other Alphas because of my genetics, not because I’m a pack leader... I exchange a look with Elena, but she just shakes her head, telling me not to disclose my origins. I know. But I can’t think of what to answer. I’m not the Jade Moon Alpha, and I don’t belong to Damian’s pack either. Before I can answer, other wolves come running to us.
“Nora!”
Damian runs up to me. He and Nathaniel took the time to shapeshift and put on pairs of dark jeans, though they are still bare-footed, and their naked torsos are full of blood. It’s quite a gruesome sight, making them both beautiful and scary, like angels of death. And to say I saw him in a perfect tuxedo nottwo hours ago... A dozen other wolves come following them, all looking a wreck.
My mate comes to me, putting his hands in my fur, checking for injuries underneath all the vampire blood. He soon sees my arm injury and growls in anger. The two other Alphas tense up immediately.
“Stop it, I’m fine...”
“I told you to stay right where you were!”
“Yes, and if I did, I would have been alone fighting vampires, anyway! They ran through the whole harbor, Damian! I had better chances with the Sea Moon pack than alone.”
He growls again but doesn’t talk back. We both know I’m right, and this is no time and place to argue. He stands up to face the others. The atmosphere totally changed upon their arrival. All wolves gather behind their Alphas, except the purple-haired woman, who is still by Tonia’s side. Elena is also standing with her friend and other Opal Moon Wolves that arrived in the meantime. I notice Nathaniel is stealing glances at her, but she ignores him.
“The Black youngsters,” says the Sea Moon Alpha. “I don’t like seeing the likes of you on my harbor, but I guess this is what they call an emergency situation.”
“Indeed,” adds Lysandra. “How is the North?”
“We are fine. The remains are being burnt as we speak, and we chased them far enough. The White Moon Clan is taking care of whatever is left,” says Nathaniel.
Once again, he looks at Elena while mentioning the White Moon Clan, but she doesn’t say a thing.
“What was that? They attacked at the South-East, too.” Asks Lysandra, annoyed.
“They struck the North first. We received the Northern packs’ distress calls early enough and went to help them, but there were about a hundred vampires.”
“You mean only a hundred? How come the White Moon couldn’t get rid of that? Did they get soft or something?”
Elena, her friend, and the other Opal Moon wolves present immediately growl at her, vexed by her words, but she ignores them.
“It wasn’t only vampires. Something was helping them. I saw the water from the river catching and trapping wolves. Some were poisoned, too; we had many victims that way. Something was definitely off.”
“Sounds like a witch to me.”
All eyes turn to the old Alpha, Seaver, who is scratching his beard. Damian turns to him, frowning.
“A witch?”
“Witches are elemental creatures. If a Water Witch was helping them...”
“It would explain how they got past the first defenses so easily...” Whispers Nathaniel.
“Then what drove her off? Did anyone get her?” Asks Lysandra, looking around.
“We didn’t even see one. Only vampires. But she could have attacked from further away. I don’t know how their magic works.”
“Send some people to look at the bodies. See if they find a Witch among them,” orders Damian to some of the Blood Moon wolves.
I didn’t think of a Witch... I know very few about those, they are by far rarer than other creatures, too. All I’ve heard is that they look like human women and have mystical powers they use to cast spells and manipulate elements, as old Seaver said. The presence of a Witch could indeed explain whathappened. They are our natural enemies, like vampires. But would they ally with vampires?
“What about what happened in the South, then? That time, the trees helped the packs. I don’t think a witch would have changed her mind,” says Lysandra.
“And they can’t change their elements, either. What if there is another Witch left in the South?” Asks the Sea Wolf Alpha.
“If there is, she helped us. She was on our side,” says Elena.
All eyes turn to her, surprised to hear someone else other than the Alphas talk, but they don’t have time to discuss hierarchy now.
