ENCHANTED WORLD SERIES BOOK 4: MOON CHILD'S WAR

Two Days Later...

Alli cracked her eyes open and the light in her room beamed so brightly that it had her eyes tear. She lifted her hand up and covered her face from the assault of the light. Her joints ached with a dull pain but it was something she was used to because she had been through the worst pain in the past forty-eight hours. It was nothing like what they told her. The pain was indescribable and it had her going in and out of consciousness like a yo-yo. During that time, her body was constantly dipped in hot water because apparently the transformation was like no other and her body kept on losing temperature and seizing up.

At times she heard Titus’ voice booming as he barked instructions to the physicians who were aiding her to go through the change, other times she heard the silent whimpers of Corleen as she clasped her fingers tightly around hers, willing her to make it through the transformation.

There were other times when she was sure Faelen himself was in the room with his distinct scent and his silent presence watching over her. Donny was present too, sadly telling her stories of how Blake was and how she felt about him. Alli wanted to wake up and tell everyone not to worry but because her wolf was forced to surface before her time, her spirit wasn’t fully developed which in turn caused Alli to fall into a deep sleep in order to aid her in her quick development. She was as terrified as Alli. She was confused but already she took it upon herself to protect Alli from most of the gut-clenching pain waves that rose to a peak where Alli couldn’t even think of anything else then subdued for a little while, giving her some time to catch her breath.

On one occasion, Alli was positive Ruvin was there. She didn’t know whether it was in her dreams or in real life but his pattern suddenly woke her up from her deep slumber. She felt his fingers on her face, felt his hot lips against her forehead, and at one time felt his body resting next to hers, holding her close and chasing away the nightmares. Just the act of holding her in his arms brought so much comfort that, for a moment she forgot she was going through an unnatural transformation.

Her mind raced back to the man responsible for it. Was any being allowed to have so much power like that? And what did he mean that she had more power than the rest? Did he mean the three wolves he killed? What was the relation because she now understood they weren’t random killings? He fed off them--in a very uncannily way that had her skin ripple with goosebumps.

What was he? Was he a Mage like his daughter? Alli was lost in all of it.

She sighed softly and opened her eyes again, this time her eyes quickly adjusting to the light in the room. She watched as the softy light beams filtered between her fingers and noticed the difference in her fingers. They looked long and lithe. Her fingernails were slightly longer than she had kept them and she remembered that she had a fading lilac nail polish on them but now they were clear and shiny.

Her old human nails fell off and new ones protruded in their place. She tried clenching a fist but pain through her fingers down to her elbows. She hissed softly as she quickly relaxed her fingers again. There was an irritating swishing sound to her left and when she turned to look she realized it was the movement of the curtains in the light breeze that was making the swishing sound. It was so loud.

A loud humming sound had her head snapping yet to another window where, when she narrowed her eyes she was able to see the bumblebee knocking itself on the glass trying to enter the room. It was amazing how she could see so much detail of the insect all the way from her bed.

Her ears caught yet another sound, the dripping of water and she found herself rising from the bed like the vampires in movies. Her bones protested at the sudden movements but Alli bit her inner cheek and swung her feet onto the floor. The carpet felt strange underneath her feet. She felt pin and needles jabbing at her with every move she made.

Every sense was heightened and she knew it would take her a while to control it. She felt like she had the worst hangover of the century! Not only was she sluggish but feverish and cold at the same time.

She finally made it to the bathroom and the first thing she did was tighten the tap that was dripping water. There were two sunken sinks in the marbled countertops with a large rectangular mirror that Alli couldn't help but curiously turn to it.

Alli spotted herself in the mirror and she gasped in surprise. It looked like her yet she couldn’t quite recognize herself. Her eyes were no longer one color. They had a citrine brown core that was bordered with the jade. It was a peculiar combination, one that was bound to catch attention in public. Her eyes looked larger than usual and her face was more molded. Her cheekbones appeared higher, her nose perkier and her mouth fuller. Her lip piercing was missing and there wasn’t even a tiny hole to point out that someone took it off! It was all smooth and radiant.

Her hair appeared to have more volume and it glowed with health. The pink and blond streaks seemed messy and smudged and when she ran her fingers through it, her hands came back with pink.

“What the heck?” It seemed that dye didn’t settle well with wolf hair too. “What else is new?” She muttered to herself as she washed her hands, the movement singing in a dull pain, and noticed the black smudge on the neck of the tank-top she was dressed in and when she peeled the strap off, her tattoo was all smudged. “Urgh!” she growled.

She needed to soak her body in hot water once more or else she was going to be as stiff as a wooden board for the rest of the day. She moved to the large bathtub and began running some hot water, adding several bathing salts and foams from the little stand beside the bathtub.

Soon the entire bathroom was filled with a soothing smell and heat that already had her body relaxing. She shed the oversized pajama bottoms and the tank top then wadded into the hot water, sighing like a content cat when the heat engulfed every part of her body, already working its miracle in her aching bones and washing away the remaining ink of her tattoo. She rested her head back and breathed in softly. It was utter bliss after what she had gone through. She didn’t want to remember all the grotesque memories so she quickly pushed them away and closed her eyes.

She felt the quiet presence in her mind and almost forgot she had acquired herself a wolf. She was almost invisible where she was and it looked as if she was trying not to spook Alli with her invasive presence.

A small smile appeared on her face. I guess you weren’t planning on showing up this soon, huh? Alli thought quietly.

It was not my time...the words shimmered and Alli shot up from her sitting position, pain streaking down her back causing her to slouch back into the water and swallow at least a gallon or so of the soapy water.

“You can talk to me?” She exclaimed loudly after she managed to cough out most of the water and brush away the foam from her face. She looked down at the wet hair on her shoulders and noticed the pink dye running down her body.

Of course...you are my keeper. She answered.

Keeper? What the hell are you talking about? Wolves don’t talk to us. You just remain a presence in our minds.

The wolf remained quiet for a moment and had Alli thinking that maybe she was just hallucinating...until she spoke again. You have had an unnatural transformation resulting from a very powerful energy source. That energy tapped into your undiscovered, limitless powers and abilities and it triggered my rapid development.

Only enchanted beings are able to communicate with their wolves. Alli emphasized the point, not believing that she was able to talk to her wolf. She must have gone crazy thanks to the forced transformation.

You are not crazy....the wolf assured her. You are me as much as I am you. We share the same life force, the same mind, and the same soul. I am your protector and you are my keeper. She explained simply.

Alli clutched her head and tried to shake away the voice. This was strange on so many levels. How was that man able to trigger the transformation in me? Why did he wield so much power?

The wolf went silent and Alli thought maybe she too was confused but suddenly she sprang into action when the bedroom door was opened. Alli’s body went cold as her entire vision changed into infra-red. She could see through the walls as someone entered the room.

Her wolf started processing the information about the intruder rapidly from the scent to their familiar pattern and finally their voice.

Corleen. She said quietly then retreated back to the corner of Alli's mind.

“Alli?” Alli heard the fear in Corleen’s voice as she entered the room and didn’t find her in her bed.

“In here!” Alli called out.

Suddenly the bathroom door burst open and Corleen entered with her hand on her throat. Her eyes were wide with shock when she saw Alli in the bathtub. “Alli?” The strangled sound came out before she dashed forward and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. “Oh, thank goodness you’re alright.”

“But I’ll be dead in a minute if you don’t let me breathe.” Alli struggled to say.

Corleen burst out laughing as she pushed back cupped Alli’s cheeks. “You have no idea how much you scared me these past two days.”

“I scared myself too, believe me,” Alli assured her sister then frowned when she saw fresh blood blooming on the bandages wrapped around Corleen’s shoulder. “I opened your wounds.”

“It doesn’t even hurt. What matters now is that you are alright.” Corleen frowned as she touched Alli’s hair. “Your dye is running out. Your piercing fell off on the first night of your transformation and the ink on your tattoo raised to the surface as new skin replaced your old human skin.”

“I know. I guess I have to go for more permanent solutions.” Alli sighed.

Corleen burst out laughing. “I hated them.”

Alli giggled back. “I know.”

“Oh, Alli.” Corleen hugged her again, this time more gently. “I am so happy to see you have made the transformation. You look--so--so grown up all of a sudden.”

Alli was not used to seeing Corleen so emotional so she basked at all her affection knowing she might not see this side of Corleen again in the future.

“And your eyes. They are so beautiful.” Corleen brushed Alli’s wet eyebrows. Were those tears in her eyes? Corleen blinked them quickly and forced a smile. “I should let you finish up bathing, huh?” Alli nodded and Corleen sighed before getting up and looking down at her wet jeans and her t-shirt which was soaking with blood as well. “I guess I will have to go and change. Come down for lunch when you are done.”

“Isn’t it morning?” Alli asked remembering the sunbeams entering her room.

“It’s two in the afternoon, Alli.” Corleen smiled.

Alli’s eyebrows snapped up her forehead. “Crap!”

“Hurry up and come down. Lord Faelen and Titus will be happy to see you up and about once again.”

Her heart sank just thinking about Faelen. “Corleen, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, what?”

“I thought you were under Faelen’s team in order to discover what happened to Xavier. Why are you like this suddenly?” Alli didn’t want to bring up the past but she really wanted to understand her sister and her sudden mind change.

Corleen’s smile faltered and Alli wanted to kick herself. She was still recovering yet here she was snooping around where her nose didn’t belong. “Because Lord Faelen isn’t my enemy. Someone else is and I will find them and bring justice to their doorstep.”

“You mean there is a rogue in Faelen’s ranks?” Alli’s eyes widened.

Corleen nodded. “Yes, and he is the one who had been sending human hunters to come and catch wolves. In turn, he or she is protected--but we shouldn’t talk about this now. Get done and come down for some food. You haven’t had anything to eat for the past two days and you’ve already lost so much weight.” Corleen frowned disapprovingly.

Alli rolled her eyes and it felt as if her eyeballs were about to fall out. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

Corleen gave her a little nod and smiled broadly before she made her way out.

Ruvin crossed his arms on his chest and looked down at the pale male resting on the clinic bed. Edon had not woken up for two days now even though Briar did her best to treat his wounds after their ordeal with the mutant wolves in the woods.

He, too, had his wounds healing excruciatingly slow even though he was the ultibreed and that should have prompted an accelerated recovery. This brought on another theory to the whole thing. Perhaps they were all tainted by poison that was not visible in human equipment no matter how sophisticated it was.

Ruvin could think of several poisons that could be invisible to the human equipment; spax from the pixie mushroom rings, rune poison from the Runelia plant, Marianda one of the deadliest of poisons from the Realm of Spells or mesoma from the meta-puff fish in the Bylithe Sea of the Realm of Light...or it could be the same poison the Lord Mage and the Dark King suffered from.

But since that sort of poison was created using the dark energy, it could not exist in the human realm...unless someone managed to contain it--more like a very powerful sorcerer.

“How are his vitals?” Ruvin asked Briar who gave Edon yet another vial of unicorn blood to try and fight off whatever poison that had entered him. That got Ruvin even more convinced that it was no ordinary poison because if it were, the unicorn blood would have neutralized it--well apart from the Marianda poison that had no antidote. But it was rarely used because most people didn’t know where precisely the poison was contained in the plant and one couldn’t take and process the entire plant in hopes to find it because if processed wrongly, it neutralized itself and became harmless.

“Still not good.” Briar rubbed the moisture on her forehead. “I don’t get it. Why isn’t the unicorn blood working?”

“Because it is not a normal poison we are dealing with.” Ruvin expressed his thoughts loudly. “I think we are dealing with a sorcerer poison which means, we need a high Mage to perform a healing session.”

“We can’t ask Zach to do it. He has exhausted his last energy.” Briar said stiffly.

“We need Tron and Willow to return.” Ruvin raked his disheveled hair from his forehead and turned towards the corridor that lead to the laboratory where the mutant wolf body was being investigated by Raul and Vixen. Quentin was also helping where he could. He took snapshots of the writings on the wolf’s skin and searched through a secure line on the Internet for anything similar to that that could lead them to the answer. Zach had seen the writings and refused that they had anything to do with a Mage.

“It’s not even Ancient Mage.” Zach had snickered at the series of hieroglyphic-like writings on the grey wolf skin.

Which brought them to a conclusion that whatever they were leading with was not a sorcerer. No sorcerer could be that strong in a realm that didn’t support otherworldly energies because the Mage were by far the only species of enchanted beings that depended heavily on those energies.

“I have seen you sneaking out of this place every night for the past two days,” Briar noted as she made Edon comfortable and turned to Ruvin with a knowing expression on her face. “It’s only a matter of time until they sniff you out in that toy-house.”

Ruvin couldn’t help but smirk. “It is never going to happen. Being an ultibreed has its perks...I can mask my scent.”

Briar shrugged. “Or you could just feign stupidity and timidness like Kesley Miller--or should I say Aro?” She muttered dryly. “I can’t believe she thought she could get away with that?” Briar moved away from Edon and removed her latex gloves before dumping them in the recycle bin. As she and Ruvin made their way out of Edon’s room, Briar sighed. “Do you think she knows about that male riding around on wolves?”

“I don’t know but I plan to try and meet her again,” Ruvin suggested.

“It could be very dangerous this time around. If at all this male is a Vampyr, they might try to hide it and silence anyone who knows of it. You know how the Nosferatu think so highly of themselves. They would not want to appear weak in front of others, especially Lycans.”

Ruvin quirked his eyebrow at Briar wondering where that sort of thinking came from. “You think they would want to harm me if this male proves to be a Vampyr?”

“I’m just saying that you should be very careful,” Briar assured him as they walked through the corridor right to the end where Raul and Vixen were working on the wolf body. They were greeted by the awful smell of rotting flesh and guts. Both Vixen and Raul had face masks on but Ruvin doubted they helped much.

“What the fuck is that smell?”

“I could say that is the counteraction of a spell fortified by evil when used in conditions that are not fit.” Raul removed his mask and cringed at the smell as he talked.

“And what spell is that?” Ruvin frowned at them.

Vixen turned the head of the mutant to the side and showed Ruvin the mark on its neck. Ruvin didn’t know much about Mage spells but he had been around Zach long enough to have seen that symbol in one of the Mage books. "Pyrius Possession. But I thought Zach said those were not Mage symbols.”

“There are not and as you can see.” She pointed to a long sharp hook-like slash that went across the Mage spell. “This spell has been tempered with in order for it to work in this realm. As a result, there is a burst of energy for a limited time before the body is completely disintegrated.”

“So, you mean to say that even if we didn’t kill these freaks, they would have eventually died on their own?”

Vixen nodded. “They wouldn’t have made it through the night.”

Ruvin's punch landed on the frosty fire-proof glass wall beside him forming a spider-web-like crack as rage passed through him like the fires of Hades. “So Edon is fighting for his fucking life for nothing!”

“You didn’t know that, Commander,” Raul said quietly. “Plus, I think we need a Historian for the rest of this shit.”

“No Historian would want to be yanked out of their comfortable life in the Mage Fortress for this,” Ruvin said tersely feeling as if he had been backed off into a corner.

“Indigo wouldn’t mind.” Raul shrugged his broad shoulders.

“She’s a newbie.” Ruvin knew she didn’t even have a hundred years in the Lord Mage’s service.

“But she knows a lot more plus she thrives for things like this,” Raul explained.

“I agree with Raul,” Vixen answered.

“Me too.” Briar quickly added.

Ruvin gritted his teeth. It looked like he didn’t have much of a choice since his own team was going against him. His knuckles seared with fiery pain. Add that to the undulating pain from his back and Ruvin was a second away from violence.

“Fine!” He barked. “Contact Willow and Tron and tell them to return with Indigo. I hope you three are not wasting my time or you will be spending the rest of your days pinned to a computer finding out what the hell this is yourselves.” He pivoted on his boots and stalked out.

“What is up with him?” He heard Vixen murmur thinking he was already gone.

“He hasn’t been laid in a long time.” Briar chuckled lightly.

A low growl made its way up Ruvin’s throat as he walked out. It was true. He needed to get laid and thanks to his daft and slow mind, he managed to complete the mate bond with Alli when he went to see how she was doing and found out that she was completed her transformation. It was like a light switch the moment he slipped into her bed beside her trying to keep her freezing body warm.

Now, his hormones were raging, he was in pain and he was infuriated! He knew that if his state continued, someone was going to get hurt. Ruvin had one more thing to deal with as he made his way to the first floor and budged into Lukas’ room.

Just as he suspected, Lukas was still in bed with Izzy beside him. Lukas had his gun trained at Ruvin’s balls, his eyes glazing over to show his wolf was crawling just below his skin. Izzy’s big eyes just stared at Ruvin as color flooded her face.

“What the fuck, man!” Lukas gritted his teeth placing the gun on his bedside table.

“Have you checked for the mark?” Ruvin asked Lukas.

“What?” Izzy murmured looking at Lukas in confusion.

Lukas sighed and shook his head. “I didn’t mark you--” Then turned to Ruvin. “Yes, I checked for it and she doesn’t have it.”

Ruvin narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure?”

“Yes! I checked every part of her and she doesn’t have a mating mark!” Lukas growled.

“What mark are you two talking about?” Izzy’s head snapped up in alert.

“Four black claws. You would have felt a fiery pain around the area where it appears.” Ruvin explained and he felt his heart twisting in his chest as Izzy nervously looked at the two of them. He knew at that moment that she had the mark. “Where did it appear, Izzy?”

Lukas’ face went as pale as a ghost.

Izzy pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and sat against her folded legs, momentarily forgetting that she was completely naked. “I didn’t know what it was and it scared me so I tried to hide it.” She explained as she parted her hair mass and revealed it.

It was located on her head, covered by her hair. It was no wonder Lukas couldn’t see it. He should have known something was different about her because, since that day Alli left, Izzy did not have braids on her head. She had her hair down and around her like a lioness.

“So this means....” Lukas’ voice cracked as he looked at Izzy in a whole new light.

“Yes, it means no more fucking around.” Ruvin gritted his teeth. “Get dressed and meet me downstairs in thirty minutes.” Ruvin walked out leaving the two mates staring silently at each other.

Ruvin wanted to say he felt like he played cupid but he stopped himself. The humans believed that cupid was the god of love that went around pairing people by striking them with love arrows to their hearts but Ruvin knew that sick so of a bitch. He was no god. He was just a mischievous forest nymph that preyed on unsuspecting people, giving them thoughts of love so that they had sex and he fed on the energies they released during that moment. After that, the individuals were filled with regret, sorrow and the feeling of being dirty and he moved on to the next. They called him Erocus, back in the enchanted world.

He wasn’t going to last for long being as tightly strung as he was. For all, he knew maybe Erocus might have used his abilities on him because all he could think of was Alli. Ruvin gritted his teeth and fisted his hands. It was about time that he finally claimed what was his. He was an enchanted beast and no weaklings were going to stand in his way in getting his mate back.

Alli was something he never thought he was ever going to have because he doubted he was that favored by the Heavens. When it finally happened that there was a female created specifically for him, Ruvin didn’t even know how to go about it and now that she has come to age, Ruvin wanted her with every fiber of his being. He wasn’t going to let her get taken away from him just like the way his childhood was and just like the way the only family he knew was.

“Hey, there, grouchy. What’s the hurry?” Zach suddenly stepped in front of Ruvin.

The male looked thoroughly whipped with his dark eyes fading, his skin pale and he looked like he had lost a little weight. The human realm was no place for a Mage. It drained them like the way a Nosferatu drained his victims.

“I’m not in the mood, Zach,” Ruvin growled at him.

“Neither am I but I need to talk to you about something.” The male looked a little uncomfortable and that caught Ruvin’s attention. He wouldn’t mind making his friend even more uncomfortable.

“Speak...while I still have the patience.” Ruvin crossed his arms and turned his entire attention to him.

Zach extended his hand and touched Ruvin before flashing them out into the woods. The male staggered when he did so and Ruvin had to steady him before he flopped onto the ground. Concern began creeping in.

“Are you fucking insane?” Ruvin snarled at him. “You can barely stand on your two feet and you are still exhausting the little energy you have left. Do you have a death wish?”

Zach waved his hand in front of Ruvin as if it was no big deal and sighed. “I am leaving this evening anyway. I think I have overstayed my welcome.”

Ruvin snorted in agreement. Although he wasn’t entirely happy to see the male leave, they had no choice but to let him return to the enchanted world before he killed himself there.

“But I need a favor from you.” His eyes turned grave as he looked up at Ruvin. “That night in the cemetery, I picked up a low hum of energy around the male I decapitated. I recognized a spell on him, a lock of some sort but I have never seen anyone use that spell in a long time much less in the human realm. Whoever did it was a very powerful Mage--”

“Or sorcerer,” Ruvin muttered.

“It can’t be a sorcerer because the strand of that spell was pure--as pure as Lord Mage’s,” Zach explained.

Ruvin couldn’t keep up with what Zach was trying to say until it finally sank into him. “Are you trying to say that this person could be from the Royal Mage bloodline?”

“Either that or she, too, is an Ancient,” Zach explained.

Ruvin turned in irritation towards Zach. “And how the hell do you know it’s a female?”

Zach looked at him as if he had suddenly sprouted horns. “Where the fuck was your mind when Corleen told us about the female who saved them--oh, wait, let me take a guess--in your dick since Alli was in your arms.”

A slow smile appeared on Ruvin’s face as his mind raced back to Alli...but then someone else came into mind. “Asari....”

Zach frowned softly as if he was testing the name in his mind. “Could it be her?”

“It definitely was her. If that male was a rogue....she would have been there to kill him. It’s not the first time she has done so.” Ruvin was even more determined to go and see Aro again.

“Then she must have placed the enchantment to lock his soul because he can't die,” Zach revealed as his eyes widened. “There had only been one more Mage who had been able to perform that enchantment according to the ancient scrolls! Lord Mage and Lady Lyrah’s mother; the late Queen Sapna!”

This was getting too complicated. Ruvin thought. “So, you think Asari is related to the late Queen Sapna?”

“Either that or she has been able to access the late Queen’s manuscript,” Zach explained. “We need to find her. There is something about her that seems...” His voice faded in wonder.

“No, I need to find her...you need to go back home.” Ruvin pointed a warning finger to his second in command and best friend.

Zach scowled. “Fine, besides, I think I will be a better help back in the enchanted world than here.” He sighed tiredly.

“No more flashing, Zach. Learn to walk.” Ruvin landed a heavy hand on Zach’s shoulder, smirking when the male almost toppled over. “Sucks being powerless, doesn’t it.”

“I’m not powerless!” Zach gritted his teeth as he pushed the hand away. “I’m just exhausted.”

Ruvin barked in laughter as they headed back inside.

Alli rubbed her chest softly as she wandered around the fortress until she finally arrived in the dining room where Faelen, Titus, and Corleen were seated. Two more girls were there that Alli didn’t recognize. One had blond hair and was sitting beside Faelen without any expression or emotion on her face and the other was sitting beside Corleen with a black bob around her small face. She had a small smile on her face that brought a chilling feeling down Alli’s spine. She didn’t want to be caught alone with those two, she thought.

Just as she was about to enter, the blond’s head snapped in her direction and there was a sudden uneasy feeling going through her as if a thousand ants were crawling in her mind.

Charissa!

Alli remembered her sister warning her about this specific wolf who made it a habit creeping around people’s minds learning their secrets and abilities. Alli’s wolf unfurled from her slumber and quickly slammed a mind block, shielding her from further exposure from the leech.

Charissa gasped loudly in surprise, catching everyone’s attention.

“What is it?” Faelen turned to her but Charissa’s eyes bore into Alli’s as if she was suddenly out for blood. Faelen followed her line out sight and saw Alli standing awkwardly at the door. “Alli!” He got up, surprised to see she was up and healthy.

Don’t move from there, Faelen, please don’t move...her prayers went on unheard as Faelen moved around his chair and approached her.

Even Titus got up with relief flooding his face as he too approached her. Corleen continued sitting with a big smile on her face. The girl beside her had her eyes narrowed as she studied Alli intensely.

“How are you feeling? Are you alright?” Faelen asked as his eyes scanned from the tip of her head to the sandals on her feet. “The color in your hair is gone, and your piercing--”

“Thank God!” Titus grinned crossing his arms.

Alli scowled at him. “I getting a permanent hair dye and a new piercing,” she assured him.

Titus rolled his eyes. “I bet even that nasty tattoo is gone.”

“It wasn’t nasty, Titus! You are such a--uhm.” She turned to Faelen remembering she was talking to her superior. “I mean, sir.”

For the first time in as long as she remembered Faelen, amusement swam in his eyes. Alli pursed her lips. She wasn’t used to this new Faelen. She was used to the old one that she hated with all her heart.

“We were just talking about you. Come, sit.” Faelen ordered.

Alli scooted away from his outstretched hand, not wanting the feeling of repulsion to hit her again, and quickly made her way to her sister, briefly acknowledging Charissa who nodded begrudgingly, and the black-haired who didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow.

Alli’s stomach grumbled at the sight of food. Titus pushed everything towards her, teasing her that she could swallow the whole planet with her hunger.

“Choke on your spit, Ti--sir.” She cleared her throat and bit into a French fry.

“Lord Faelen was thinking you should attend the Debut Party this Saturday since you have transformed.” Corleen suddenly spoke.

“In all my years of living, I have seen never anything like this happen before,” Faelen stated in wonder. “The news has already traveled to the Wolfen families as well as the House of Five and they all want to meet the miracle of the century.”

“Deidre is already here as we speak. She is waiting for you in the gardens.”

Alli felt like she was in a circus and she was a rare breed of some exotic animal or a person who was born with a rare abnormality and was put up on display for everyone to see. Didn’t Corleen tell them exactly how it happened? For all, she knew maybe she had some evil blood streaming in her veins.

“The Debut Party?” Alli asked softly.

“Yes.” Corleen smiled. “Donny is on her way here as we speak. She has been coming from the first night when your transformation began. I called her today and told her that you are awake and the first thing she was thinking about was the debut party.”

Alli didn’t know why but her eyes suddenly skittered towards Titus to catch him casting his eyes down suddenly and the smile on his face disappearing. Was he really going to claim Donny on Debut Night if Blake hadn’t appeared? “I don’t think I want to come--”

“It’s a must for every newly transformed wolf to participate.” Faelen’s voice left no room for discussion.

“But I didn’t have a normal transformation.” Alli reminded them and suddenly the whole table went quiet as everyone individually pondered on that certain aspect. Alli decided to add more fuel to the fire by adding, “something very evil prompted my transformation. I could be turning into a Varga right this instant.”

“Alli,” Corleen said warningly.

She didn’t tell anyone this but she was terrified of what this meant. How was it that she could communicate with her wolf? How was it that she was alive after a moonless transformation? She was an abomination because she couldn’t classify herself as an enchanted being either given that both her parents were just normal wolves.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Alli.” Faelen turned his grave expression to her. He, too, was feeling the pressure because if word got out to other clans that there was a wolf that hadn’t followed the normal wolf traits, they would want to know how it happened which meant spending her entire life in a science lab. “We will take this one day at a time and closely monitor your progress.”

“In the meantime, eat up and go and meet Deidre,” Titus assured her.

Alli nodded and as she reached for a piece of apple, the bob-haired girl also reached for the same piece and their fingers touched. A cold sensation rippled across Alli’s skin and as she blinked her entire world leached of color become dark, cold, and bleak. Alli looked down at her hands and when she looked up, the girl was looking back at her with faded eyes. She was as pale as a ghost with her skin pulled tightly against her. She was dead!

Alli yelped and pushed herself out of her chair, sending the chair crashing into the window behind them and shattering the glass.

“Alli?” Corleen was suddenly beside her, holding her carefully. “What is it?”

Alli was panting as color returned into her world and she managed to look at every one. The girl with the bob was standing, her eyes twirling like a stormy sea and her palms opened facing up as if she was ready to attack her. “Uh--” the strangled sound escaped from Alli’s lips. “I think I need fresh air. I’ll go and see Deidre right now.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Corleen asked.

“No!” She quickly objected. “I’ll find my own way. I’m alright, Corleen, really.” Without waiting for more questions, Alli dashed out.

Her wolf was prowling, snarling towards the girl with the strange eyes. She was a protector, just like she had said. A she-wolf with power and authority--Ylva...

That was the perfect name for her.

Calm down, Ylva. Alli tried to coo the wolf but she only calmed down when they exited the house and were suddenly in the gardens.

She wanted to hurt you....keeper. I saw her intentions. Ylva explained.

She wanted to hurt me because I attacked first. It was a reflex action from her. Alli didn’t want to kill anyone and hoped that it was just a terrible dream, a by-product of what she had gone through the past two days.

Ylva was still skeptical as Alli approached the woman standing in front of her dressed too casually for a member of the House of Five. She was in a pair of jeans and a silver blouse that was made entirely of lace with a silver camisole inside.

I don’t trust that girl. Ylva hissed as she retreated to her favorite corner in Alli’s mind after planting the seed of doubt in Alli and leaving it to germinate to foolish skepticism...