Hunter felt his eyes burning as he was trying very hard not to release tears. He was really hurt because the man was his father. His actual father, so why was the guy treating him that way?He tried every time to be the son the councilman wanted or at least said that he wanted, but it was never enough. “He’s stressed, he doesn’t mean it,” Sarah told her son when she noticed the look of brokenness on his face. “You got this, my son. I love you, and your dad does too.” She reached for him and pulled him into a hug.Hunter hugged his mom back and sniffled dryly. His dad was already gone and was now sitting next to the other council members. He knew that his mom was just trying to make him not look too deeply into what his dad had just said. But the truth was that the man meant every word. That was just the way Councilman Roger was. “Thank you, mom. I understand,” Hunter said to his mom when they broke the hug. He flashed her a small smile and then watched her leave to go sit on the ot
Birds. The sound of birds echoed in the air and Lin’s eyes fluttered open. Her vision was blurred a bit, and then it cleared. She coughed lightly and then sat up from the ground. That was when she noticed that she was lying on some grass. She swallowed, her throat feeling a bit sore. She looked around and saw that she was somewhere entirely different. It looked like a huge jungle but it was very beautiful. She could also hear a few wild animals like monkeys and elephants. And there was a lightness that filled her that she could not explain. Her memory was fuzzy but all she knew at the moment was that where she was was not ordinary. It felt divine.“Hello, Lin,” A voice flowed smoothly. Lin turned around and her eyes landed on her mom. Her eyes widened and she could not believe what was happening. What in the world was happening? “Mom?” Her voice shook a bit. “My beautiful baby,” The woman pulled her daughter in for a warm hug. Lin could not even speak properly after that. Tear
Lin was finally getting better as each second passed. She breathed out a long sigh before looking at the others who had survived the venom. There were four people that survived, her making them five. Among the four was Hunter, looking pale like a ghost. He felt like throwing up and his body was still aching him yet he tried his best to look strong, especially due to the fact that his dad was watching him. When he glanced at his mom, he noticed that her face was wet with tears. She had probably thought that he was going to die. But she was now smiling proudly, while his dad looked disbelief and annoyed. He peeled his eyes away from his parents and then he saw the amount of people who had failed the pruning process. And all those who had failed were dead, lying on the floor, lifeless.It was not a pretty scene but what gave Hunter hope and strength was the fact that he had survived also when he looked to see the people who had survived, he saw Lin. His face lit up and he could not h
Lin opened the door with expectancy, she believed that she knew who was there. But little did she know that she was way off as to who it was.As soon as she opened the door, the small smile that she had on her face dropped so quickly.It was certainly not Hunter, but the guy’s father.“Lin, hello there,” Councilman Roger said in calm tone.”How are you, dear?”Lin was not only taken aback but she was also nervous. Why was the man at her door? “Uh…I’m doing okay, I think.”The man had his hands in his pockets and a small tight smile sat on his face. “That is good to know. May I come in? We need to talk.”Lin swallowed before nodding and opening the door wider for the man to step in.Watching him walk in, she tried to maintain her composure but she could not stop the fast beating of her heart.So many thoughts were running through her head. Like, what if the councilman was the one who had killed her parents?What if he was the one who wanted to get rid of her during the pruning process?
The both of them stared at each other for a few seconds as silence and awkwardness hung in the air.Until finally, Lin spoke, “Is that all you wanted to talk about?”The councilman let out a dry chuckle. “I’m only telling you to drop out for your own good, Lin. You already let your parents down when you left, don’t make it worse by bringing shame on them by failing tho quest.”The words struck a chord in the she-wolf’s heart. She blinked faster than normal for a few seconds before replying, “I won’t let them down, not this time.”“Hmm,” The guy mumbled and then released a sigh. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was now thirty minutes until midnight. He had tried to get her to drop out but since she did not want to do it the easy way, he was going to do it the hard one.“Have yourself a good night, darling. Good luck on the quest,” he said to her and then walked past her.When he did, he saw that she flinched a it and it seemed comical to him yet he maintained the straight face
Hunter followed Lin into the bus and soon all the other survivors entered too. It was now time for them to leave.He sat down next to the she-wolf and the vehicle started to move in just half a minute. A silence lingered in the air as they were heading out of the pack. No one in the bus said a thing, they only watched what was happening outside.Although inside was quiet, outside was completely different. There were sounds of cheers, howls, and growls of celebration ringing in the atmosphere.It was a glorious day for the pack; something that did not happen every day so almost everyone was out. It was literally a historic day for them!The noise faded away soon as the bus drove out of the royal compound and onto the main road.A few people still watched and cheered. But soon enough, they could not see the vehicle anymore.Lin and Hunter had thoughts running through their minds, yet they said nothing to each other. It was not awkward or anything, but everyone was just in their own h
Lin felt like her eyelids had been glued shut, her heart was thumping in her chest. She could not see a single thing.It was so dark!“I think we’re in the Dark Valley already,” One of the guys said. “You think?” Hunter replied in a sarcastic tone. Yes, it was so dark that he could not see a single thing but that was not much of a problem for him.And he knew that it was not going to be much of a problem for the rest of them, that is…except Lin.They all could shift into their wolves and that meant that they were going to use their instincts or animalistic senses to guide them. You see, wolves relied on a combination of their night vision, acute hearing, and strong sense of smell to navigate in low-light conditions.Their ability to detect movement and perceive their surroundings helped them move confidently and efficiently in the dark. So this was not going to be too hard for Hunter and the others. It was Lin who was going to feel the weight of the Dark Valley.Hunter began to wolf
Lin was trying her best to run but it was so hard. She wished that she was not so broken.She wished that she was not born this way. This was not only embarrassing but now her life depended on it also.What the heck? Why could she not wolf out? It was not like her parents were human or one of them was.She knew for a fact that no one in her family bloodline was human or even hybrid. None of them had to suffer what she was suffering?So why was this happening to her?It was not like she even had any string of communication with her wolf. There was complete silence between her and the animal.It used to really bother her. But when she had run away from her pack to live with humans, she had started to forget about all of that.There, no one cared about what her pack cared about. And this eased some of the pressure off her.That helped her to finally be able to breathe. But now, she was back in her pack. And was on this very dangerous journey that required shifting into a wolf for almost