Filed to story: Wolf Crying Mate of the Alpha by Jazz Ford
Alec grins as he stands.
‘What is it?’ I ask.
‘There is something I have always wanted to do with you,’ he says.
‘What is that?’ I ask.
He takes my hand in his to assist me in standing. ‘I want to dance with you under the stars right now,’ he says.
His eyes flicker like a flame, and his gaze is filled with love and affection. I give a nod. He puts one hand around my waist and lifts the other, and we begin to waltz. I’m overcome with zeal and zest, and I can’t help but smile shyly at Alec.
‘I love you, Nina,’ he smiles.
‘I love you as well, Alec,’ I whisper.
Alec intensifies the waltz till we can’t dance any longer. I giggle, and he laughs until we are both out of breath.
‘The sun will shortly rise.’ I smile, ‘We should go back to the packhouse since I know you dislike the day.’
‘As long as I’m with you, the day isn’t that horrible,’ he grins.
We travel down the hill holding hands. I come to a halt as I notice all the shadowy figures hidden amid the trees.
‘Are they vampires?’ I ask.
‘Come and meet your Queen!’ Alec shouts.
Several dozen Vampires emerge from the trees and bow in front of us. They then approach and kiss Alec’s hand, followed by mine.
‘Where did they come from, and where will they stay?’ I ask.
‘They have been hiding in many places away from people and supernatural beings, awaiting my return. They will stay close to me now that I am back, most likely here in these forests. Thus enabling them to continue serving me in the manner they did hundreds of years ago.’
‘Then I’d like to extend a warm welcome to Shadow Crest.’ I say to them all. They nod, smile, and bow in unison.
As we make our way back to the packhouse, we hear the distant noises of helicopters and jets. Everyone exits the packhouse to investigate the sounds.
‘They discovered us! But, how?’ I panic.
Magnus mind-links the entire pack to get themselves ready to defend our territory. Our town is rocked by explosions. We turn to find a bomb has destroyed many houses. Other planes continue to fly above and release additional bombs. Soldiers in their hundreds approach, armed.
Kadva uses his abilities to keep them at bay with fireballs, while the witches and I use our spells against them, ‘Repeliate!’ I yell, sending a dozen troops into a brick wall. ‘Tremendous Nebulous!’ May casts, and the area suddenly becomes hazy, making it difficult for the soldiers to see us.
‘Tumultuous Volley!’ I say, a large cloud appears, and lightning strikes repetitively. Alec screeches, calling the vampires forth. They appear and help fight the soldiers, but hundreds more arrive. More bombs are dropped, destroying our whole village. Rubble and dust are strewn everywhere.
A tank is coming towards us, ‘Inferno Flamo!’ I yell. A massive ray of fire slams into the yank, completely engulfing it in flames. I feel my body beginning to weaken.
‘Reaper,’ I mind-link. ‘Where are you? I need your power,’
‘Trying to evade being struck by gunshots and explosives,’ he mind-links. ‘Incoming for landing,’ he says as he crashes forcefully on my shoulder. His eyes blaze a brilliant white, and the black mist emanating from his body drifts into mine.
‘Aqua Bedew!’ I yell. A tornado of water arises and rips its way through the army of troops, collapsing into a river of water, sweeping away numerous men into the fields.
A dozen soldiers creep up behind Magnus as he battles against five other soldiers. ‘Repeliate!’ I shout, and they fly away into the air.
We are surrounded by destruction and death-a nearby soldier struggles for air. I kneel alongside him and grab hold of his vest, pulling him up.
‘Tell me how you discovered we were here. How did you locate us?’
‘Tell me now, or I will end your life for you,’ I threaten the soldier.
He coughs out a small amount of blood.
‘A few werewolves from the wolf council survived. They were weak and on the verge of death when they returned to human form. In exchange for sparing their lives, they revealed to us the exact location of each pack on a map. Army units have already been dispatched to all areas, and the majority have been annihilated.’ He says.
I take a step back in horror, ‘You’re trying to kill us all?’ I say with trepidation.
‘Of course. You are all a threat to humankind with your magic abilities and capabilities of shifting.’
‘You have to tell your men to stop, please,’ I beg.
He laughs, ‘Until you cease to exist, they will never stop.’ he adds before collapsing. I take a step back and look at Alec, Magnus, and the others. Tears stream down my cheeks.
‘He is right. The humans will never stop now that they know we exist,’ I cry. They have destroyed Shadow Crest, and more military will arrive at any moment. We have two choices, stay and die or return to Mysteria?’ I say.
‘Mysteria?’ Everybody says.
I make a beeline towards the packhouse. Due to an explosion, the left side has been destroyed. I enter my bedroom, retrieve my burlap sack, stuff it with a few spellbooks, and return outside with the book of magical history in my arms.
‘I just finished reading this book a few weeks ago. It describes how supernatural beings originated from another dimension, a world known as Mysteria. Thousands of years ago, a portal opened, allowing humans to access Mysteria and supernatural beings to enter this world. When humans waged war in Mysteria, the portal was closed, never to be reopened. They allowed the peaceful humans to stay but forced the remainder to return to earth. This book demonstrates how to open and close the portal,’ I say, handing the book to Kadva, who then passes it to Yiselda after reading it.
‘Do you believe we can open it?’ I ask them.
Yiselda carefully examines the page. ‘It takes a great deal of magic, Luna. Some of us may perish as a result.’
‘If we stay here, we will perish.’ I say.
Yiselda sets the open book flat on the ground and extends her hands.
‘All right, then, let’s do this. If we die, at the very least, we will be surrounded by loved ones,’ Yiselda explains.
‘There is something I need to do first,’ Alec says. He opens the portal to Silverfay forest and summons the Grimghouls and the Shadow Reapers. One by one, they jump through the portal and change back into their pixie or elf forms. Once they have all returned to Silverfay forest, he closes the portal.
‘After all this time, all I had to do to change them back into their natural forms was to return them to Silverfay forest,’ Yisleda growls.
Alec smirks and nods at her.
I take Yiselda’s hand, and Kadva takes my other hand. Then, fern, May, Lilac, Ela and Ria join the circle. Once we are connected, holding hands, Yiselda begins the chant. We repeat the words repeatedly until our eyes start to glow one by one. I can feel my energy, my magic being drained from my body. I’m feeling overwhelmingly weak. The others are also struggling to hold their footing. Finally, Reaper gives me his power, helping me to regain strength. The portal begins to open.
‘I see it, keep going, Magnus,’ yells. The witches fall to their knees but keep a firm hold of each other’s hands. As the portal opens further, I can see people in a stand staring back at us. They are beautiful with different coloured eyes, and then I noticed some of them are green and bulky. A beautiful young woman with long black hair and violet eyes approaches along with a large handsome man with brown hair. Another in armour approaches with scruffy black hair and a few scars on his face. Horses gallop by with green-skinned bulky riders carrying jousts. There are flags, and everyone is dressed in medieval attire. Then I realised the portal had opened in the midst of a jousting competition in Mysteria.
‘Magnus, get any surviving pack members to jump through the portal now and Alec, same with the vampires.’
Several dozen pack members, including my parents, Ryker, Astrid, Flint, and Josie, leap through. When we let go of each other’s hands, the doorway will begin to close. I yell to the others, ‘We will be the last to leap over.’
‘Alec, Magnus, you must go. We will follow both of you.’