KIRA:
I haven’t seen this many tattoos in a long time. The inkling on the man’s body was running down his neck and probably the rest of his body because every visible part asides from his face has inscriptions and symbols on it. If he wasn't clothed, I would be able to tell how much of the ink he possesses on his body.
Of course, I recognize the man the instant he came into view. He was one of the symbols of authority of the territory I just saved my ass from through an intense escape. Although I must say this is the most closeup I have ever been to him.
He is a beta, to be precise. Second only to the alpha, like every other territory.
His aura proves how much force he carries about with him. Even with the distance between me and him, I could feel how much pressure he was generating. The pressure that could most likely suffocate me if I cross the line with him.
The pressure and everything... I don’t give a shit about it. It’s not like he could do anything to me. Maybe.
I wasn’t done taunting, so I say, “So you want me to repeat what I said?”
The beta stares at me like he’s looking right through my soul. Unlike the rest, he doesn’t glare at me but I know he is fuming at the moment. I better watch out for him.
“Do you dare?” I hear him say.
I take my hand off the tree, already feeling less numb from the pain in my leg. At least now I could stand on my own but I know walking would require me limping.
“Of course, I do,” I start to say, not minding that the pressure being passed to me was increasing. “I called you all cowards and that is clearly what you are,”
Growls filled the air instantly. At the same time, most of the men have shifted back to their wolves, ready to pounce at me at any given instruction. It is clear now that I have crossed the line with them and I’m bound to be punished.
The beta in particular raises a hand. And just like that, the growls cease. He then puts his hand down with his focus still on me. “You really are confident. But I know that confidence comes from knowing you are safe from our reach. You strongly believe we can do nothing to harm you because you have safely crossed the borderline. But do you know that your life could be ended right now and right here?”
The words send a reaction down my spine. Yeah, I can feel every threat that came with what he said. It makes the smile on my face wear off because this seems to be about to go the wrong way.
I push on, still. “How would you do that?" I ask, casting a gaze on the borderline to see how far away he was from it. It looks like a second walk. Something that would take me even lesser if I wanted to.
“Do you want to find out?”
Unconsciously I take a step backward. Was he trying to taunt me now? Using my card on me?
“You can't do anything to me. It would be wrong of you to cross the borderline. You as a beta should know that,” was my defense to push him back to where he came from.
“But did you think of what you are saying now when you did the same? And I am certain it is not the first time you will be doing such,” and that is when he begins to approach the line that separates both territories.
What is he trying to do? Is he going to cross the line? I better start to find my way out of here.
“Now what do I do with you?” his tone is laced with mockery as he stops directly on the line. He puts his head down briefly and when he looks back up, I can sense danger coming but I am too stunned to make a move.
And when I think he is going to finish me off, I get a saving grace.
“Stop right there, Beta Hunter!”
That was a pretty loud voice coming from behind me. I turn around with my heart beating so fast to check on my apparent savior. I catch the sight of a familiar man in a bodyguard uniform. A uniform that belongs to the guards of the territory I fall under.
The familiar man is close to where I am standing and I cannot help but keep my face on him until he arrives right beside me. He gives me a once over upon his arrival and then shifts his attention to the ones after the borderline.
“You shouldn’t be here, Beta Hunter. Are you about to take the life of one of our own?” that was the question he throws at the beta whom I realize hasn’t taken his gaze off of me. That’s some scary shit he’s portraying.
“Am I?” the beta asks and then continues, “If that was my intention, the only thing you would be meeting here is her lifeless body, I promise you,”
How can he say such words without remorse? I’m totally not uncomfortable here again and it is at the same time that I inwardly promise myself that I would try as much as possible to keep away from this monster of a man.
“And why would you do such a thing?”
“I have no answer to that,” and the beta turns around to start leaving. But he doesn’t completely go yet and instead turns around to spare us a glance one last time. “Tell your members to keep to the end of the bargain and we’ll do the same. Don’t say I didn’t warn you,”
With that, he is off with his men following suit. The ones that were still in their human form shifted to their wolves before taking off from there. It leaves me with the one who just saved my ass.
I turn to the side immediately to appreciate him. “Oh, Bradley. You saved me once again,”
I receive no response from him. Instead what he does is to shake his head and then turn around as he starts to walk away. That wasn’t the response I was expecting from him.
“Bradley?” I call out to him just as he begins to walk away. However, I got no response still. So I just proceed to follow from behind him just so I could catch up with him.
It was a bit uncomfortable because I could not walk straight. Thankfully the pain has subsided or I would find it really difficult to limp the right way. And he was not making it easy for me as he chose to walk a little too fast.
Eventually, I catch up with him and say, “Why are you ignoring me, Brad? Did I do anything wrong?”
“That should be the most ironic question of the year,” he responds without looking at me or bothering to stop. Couldn’t he show a little sympathy for my situation?
“Why?”
I guess that was enough to make him stop. And to be honest, it was a relief that he did because I was finding every reason to.
“You’re asking me why, Kira? You really are asking me why?”
“Of course,” I say, still acting oblivious.
“Do you want to get yourself into trouble? Or worse, do you want to get yourself killed? How many times have you been warned not to venture into the land territory of the Night Blaze pack? What were you even doing there in the first place?”
I instantly put up a pitiful font. It was to get Bradley to become calm with me. It’s worked many times in the past and I’m sure it would now as well.
“I was super bored. And it was the only option for me to get rid of the boredom,”
“At the expense of your safety?”
“But I’m not doing anything wrong,” I defend myself.
“You’re not doing anything wrong? Okay, agreed. But let me tell you now that your actions could cause a huge problem for the whole pack. If Beta Hunter decides to use your actions today against us, there is no way we are getting out of it. So you had better start thinking things through before you choose your next exploring location. Our pack and theirs are not on good terms and it does not seem likely to change.”
I do away with the pitiful font as I scoff at what he just said. Of course, I know about that and it is something that even the littlest of kids have an idea of. Don’t know why he needs to remind me.
“You had better start getting back to your quarters. Your mother is worried sick about you,”
The thought of that ignites a spark in my head. “Did she you send you here to fetch me?”
“Yes, she did. So get your groove together because I’m taking you home now,” he tells me and then spins around as he starts to walk off again. I follow suit immediately.
“And here I was thinking you are here as my knight in shiny armor. Pfft,”
“I still am, you ingrate. I just saved your pitiful self from becoming a thing of the past,”
“I would have made it out on my own,” I counter his claim.
“And how would you have done that? By running your mouth as usual?”
“Screw you!”
He doesn’t say anything in return. However, I can see that he has a sly smile on his face and it was enough to make me smile as well. I do love the banters with him. Never has a sour feeling to it.
We keep on walking through the open clearing of the woods. It was through the path that would lead us to the main city which is where the living souls exist.
I still am limping but it’s been improving considerably. I’m sure I can make do until I reach my destination.
Bradley then says to me when we are almost out of the woods, “To be frank, Kira. It’s best if you stay away from the Night Blaze pack. You’re not doing yourself any good by trespassing and breaking the code that binds both of our packs,”
“Aye aye, captain.”
REID:I’m starting to realize how much I hate paperwork. I’ve got a pile unattended to and I’m certain it will be that way until the motivation kicks in. As for the motivation, it doesn’t look like it’s going to come in anytime soon.Perhaps I should have joined the warriors to hunt down the intruder they told me about. It could have taken my mind off this tedious work. Wonder if they did catch the intruder because I haven’t heard anything from them yet since they began the hunt.Being the head has not been easy over the years. I have tried my best to emulate my father’s reign as alpha yet I do not seem to be getting the same result as him. Don’t know what I need to do to make it better.I suddenly feel a presence joining me through the open door of the study room I am in. As I am directly facing the entrance into the room, I have an instant view of who it is.“Hunter, you’re back,” I say to the newcomer who turns out to be my beta. The man with a lot of ink on his body that has had m
KIRA:“I think I’ve tried my best, Kira. I’ll be going back now to my duty post,” Bradley says as soon as we stop in front of the little building in sight. Looks like something that could only house a family of two or three. Apparently, it’s my house. And we are four living in it.“Thanks for fetching me as usual, Brad,” I tell Bradley with a huge smile on my face. The look he gives me tells me he is not buying my act. But I still decide to play along with it. “What?” I ask him.“Just get in. Your mom’s waiting for you,” was what he says and I give a playful nod in return as I turn to walk up the balcony into the quarters. “And don’t get yourself into any more trouble!” he calls out before I could reach the top of the mini stairway.“Yeah, yeah,” I force the words out of my mouth, already eyeing the door in front of me. I do not bother to knock before pushing it open to get myself into the apartment.The first thing my eyes catch sight of is a woman standing behind a table. The items
KIRA:“Don’t you know how to knock, you moron?” I yell at Adam as I struggle to get a nearby top on. It’s a sort of body hug and the only thing I can grab quickly to cover up my naked torso.“The last time I checked, there isn’t a door at the entrance,” Adam, shielding his eyes from my view with his hands says.“Then at least you could have waited outside a little before barging in here like that. What the hell, Adam!”“It’s not my fault that this is my room too,”“And so? Can’t you respect my privacy? Would you like it if I barged in here while you’re in the middle of a jerk-off?” I counter his defense. I’m not about to let him hear the end of it yet after putting me in this situation.“That’s if you ever catch me doing one,” he says, looking all pleased with himself. He still has his hand over his face but I can tell because of the smug smile plastered on his face.“What’s going on in there?” Mother’s voice resounds from the parlor into the room.“Nothing, mom. Adam is just being a
REID:Hunter spun around the moment we step foot on the premises that we should not have entered. From the corner of my eye, I can see that he has his pistol held out but not pointed at me. And what warranted that? It’s because we were presently surrounded by several men in red who have guns pointed at us.I look at the ones directly at my front, a dry smile starting to make its way to my lips. Of course, I anticipated this so it was no surprise that they showed up.They are the warriors of the Red Legion which is where we had planned to come. Known to be deadly and quick in finishing enemies off due to their intense killing routine as training. To get past them would take a miracle, as so I heard. Fortunately, I didn’t come with my men or it would seem like I came here for an attack.“We come in peace,” I announce loud enough for all of them to hear. My hands are raised high above my head in an act of surrender just so they could get the memo that we are not here for a clash.“Yet yo
REID:As I try to settle in, I notice how the interior of the building is nothing in relation to the structure outside. The edges inside were smooth and not some oddly shaped design with no definite explanation. Feels like a roundhouse inside a square-shaped structure.Where we are now is plain. And when I say plain, it truly is. Nothing of quality to show for it as they seemed to neglect anything that would make the room stand out.I just have to overlook all that as I focus on the Elder who is comfortably seated and looking right ahead of us through those eyes that seem pretty dead. The pupils were not even part of the regulars and if I had any other conviction, I would say he is blind.I’m totally uncertain about what to do. I have no idea if I am to speak first, judging by how the settings around here were. One thing I know now is that I have got some serious explaining to do once my father finds out that I visited the Elder.‘Hunter, should I go ahead and speak?’ I mind-link Hunt
KIRA:“So, Alexia, we are here now,” I say as I take a look around the woods. Won’t lie, being in here is giving me vibes from two days ago when I was on the run away from the warriors of the Night Blaze pack, even though I am not in their territory at the moment.‘You should try using the mind-link just as I’ve taught you. It’s going to be embarrassing if someone catches you talking to yourself,’ Alexia, my newfound spirit wolf, speaks in my head which startles me a bit. I’m still not used to this whole thing about having a living entity in me. Pretty sure it would take me a while even though I have come to accept my new identity.“It’s sort of difficult,” I say as I bend to pick up a stick on the ground.‘Just shut your mind off other things and you will see it would work. Takes quite a lot of practice but in no time you’ll get used to it,’I start to consider what she says. She’s right about it being embarrassing if caught. But it doesn’t change the fact that I’m not used to this w
KIRA:Slowly I turn around, mustering enough courage not to reveal my emotions. “Wh– What are you talking about?” I ask.The distance between Bradley and me was a little much now due to walking out on him a few seconds ago. So what he does first is to cover up the distance a little.“I only asked a simple question,” he says, his eyes seeming like they could see through me.“That didn’t seem like a question to me,” I rebuff.“Do you have anything to hide?”Anxiously, I peel my eyes off him for a brief second before looking back at him. “Do I look like I do?”Bradley folds his arms below his chest. “You tell me,”“Well, I don’t. So stop questioning me like I’m doing something wrong,”So I turn around once again to leave. I do not even bother to listen to note if he was on my tail but I am sure he is.He proves he is directly behind me when his voice gets straight to my ears. “You could have just said ‘no’, you know? You didn’t have to be so dramatic about the whole thing,” was what he s
REID:I bend over to take a look at the slimy-looking substance on the pavement. It looked strange and possibly with no viable explanation of what it is by merely looking at it.“You said you saw what it looked like, right?” I say as I stand up to my feet and then turn around. Standing there was Hunter and Ryu, the pack head warrior that had put a link through to me during my visit to the Elder.The statement I made now was directed to him because he had been the one to inform me about the second wipeout of a household in the pack. And that is what I am trying to investigate with him.“Yes,” he responds with a nod.Briefly, I stare at the substance again on the pavement and then back at Ryu. “So what has it got to do with this?”“I think it has a lot to do with this. Because this is the only evidence that something actually happened in here. More like a remain,”“This looks like some kid made a mess of things and not like an evidence that something happened,” I say, proceeding to proc