05

At 5 p.m. in the evening, the atmosphere became more still like a void planet, then a thunderstorm struck twice with a red flashlight that will definitely meet you irrespective of where you are, and a strange wind filled up the entire community. Everyone was scared and terrified; children were found clamped in their mother's breast, mates were holding each other tightly, the trees were not left out, and animals were running for their lives. There were blood spills at every boundary of a given territory, and this allowed it to cross into a new clan to devour them.

The alphas are shifting; they howl and groan to protect the community; the moon goddess is prayed to send the full moon; and the clan, packs, and territory need more wolves to fight for them.

It is the beast—the masked monster—who has been terrorizing the entire wolf community in the last five years. It comes on the 12th, 17th, and 25th of every month. It kills and devours every wolf, werewolf, and animal it beholds.

He is seen as the demon of hell; he is the mysterious harbinger of death.

While I held my baby very tight to my chest, I tugged the curtain a little closer to see if I could see anything. Everyone seemed so terrified, but I wasn't that scared; I was rather curious to at least behold its face. This is the first time in my life that I am seeing the sight of the monster's visit. In the past, my dad would have us all locked up in the inner room while he went out with the rest of the rogue soldiers, the Gammas, in search of this unknown monster. It is said that despite their search, they haven't traced its route or even exactly how it looks. The last thing I heard about it is that the great old sorcerer of the moon star pack is the only one with a picture of what the monster looks like. My father once said the sorcerer's price is for him to make peace with their alpha; only then can the wolf communities be peaceful again.

How can that even happen when Alpha Leo is my dad's greatest rival—not just my dad, but our entire pack?

Alpha Leo is the youngest alpha of his time, a great and powerful wolf. He used to be my father's ally. He uses his position to suppress his pack, and when it became too much for the pack members, they came to my father to help them speak to him. Their relationship took a flip to the south when he refused to stop hurting his pack, moreso when he started hunting down wolves from the shadow moonpacks who dared step foot in his territory.

Unfortunately, I am his son's mother, and he doesn't know yet.

He groaned while he asked me, "What are you looking at; you are not scared?"

Would you sit down before the monster see you and come for all of us?" one of the men who had come to visit his wife and newborn pup yelled at me.

Fear booms in my stomach. I don't have my wolf powers. How do I defend my son if the monster comes here? I quickly obeyed his command and did as instructed.

Bones started cracking like popcorn struggling for its life in a chef's hand. I looked behind me; it was the man that just spoke to me; his skin began to shrink away; he bent downwards; his light bluish eye turned red; there was the appearance of fangs; and hairs started to grow rapidly all over his body—not even a blink of an eye could one count its speed—his cute nose protruding out like the curve of a banana or even looked more like a parrot's mouth. His fangs kept enlarging, and a pointy, big antelope-like ear began to pop up from his head. He became a wild dog, and while hauling and groaning, he ran out through the window like a sharp noise.

Not just him alone; I was very surprised at how most people were shifting to go out to fight and protect us from this unknown beast.

Everyone in the ward was very calm; a lot of women fought the urge to shift just to be with their newborns.

Who is this beast? The monster that has turned the road into a pool of blood

About three hours later, I tugged the curtain a little closer, and the atmosphere became clearer; there were no strange sounds nor trees shaking. I was able to look through the main road, damn!

The roads were covered with blood, and there were a lot of naked people, all trying to hide publicly, but unfortunately, that's the price of shifting.

Troops of ambulances started entering the hospital as though it were an ambulance day meeting; unfortunately, it was the result of the monster's visit.

"Everybody clear the road; everybody clear the road." Those voices continued.

Adjacent to my ward is the accident and emergency department. All the nurses and doctors I could see now had a red dress in contrast to their usual white dresses; their hands were all soaked in blood; the gloves they had on made no sense again; and they needed more health workers to come help them as many were still coming down from the woods. Some were still in their wolf form in the woods, while others were naked at every corner of the road.

It was indeed a memorable day of my life; it happened right before me—not my dad's story, but Elina's.

I jumped down from the window to go look at my little Leo; he was pretty cool, unaware of the historical event that had taken place. I grabbed him, kissed him, and even felt more need to protect him.

"My son, my son." A woman kept shouting.

"He is my son; save his life, doctor." "I lost his elder brother three weeks ago to this dreaded monster; he is all that I have got."

I became so emotional that tears began to drop from my cheeks to the ground. What about my parents—are they safe? Will they at least remember they have a daughter who could also be a victim of this beast?"

The tears became more intense as I remembered my family and what they did to me.

"Are the kids safe?" Is everyone alright?

The doctors asked, while going around the entire hospital, ensuring no one had collapsed from this horrific attack.

"Please, I know some of you were discharged earlier today. The hospital management had warned that no one leaves today." One of the junior doctors said.

At six o'clock in the evening, I went to the bathroom to freshen up. I usually love to be the first to shower. I didn't want anybody coming to shower with me, as there are few rooms here. I am still that shy little girl who loves her privacy.

I came out of the damn shower, and before walking down to my room, there is a fancy mirror built directly on the wall that, after showering, one can enjoy the fun of looking at one's face, which is very tempting to ignore. As always, I love to look at my face, and while I raised my head above my head, I noticed a moon-like shape on my palms. At first, it was very bright, but as I looked closer, it became blurry until I could barely see it.

"What could this be?"