Aries

A/N: Sorry for the late update. I know, I told you guys that I am planning on taking part in NaNoWriMo. Since I have to write 50,000 words this month, here are the first 4633 words.

Yes, I will begin my new book after finishing Aries. This is purely because I have an exam which is getting postponed like crazy and I don’t know when the actual test is. To begin a book while writing the previous book sounds stupid to me. So, after Aries is over, I will write the next book, but won’t update it soon. Only after I write half the book, will I update, this is for a regular updating schedule.

I have planned what book to write this November (as per the majority, but keep the votes coming in!)

I hope I am doing it right. Let’s see. (Basically, only two more chapters and epilogue to go!)

**********

It was not long before the bond from Liv opened. That opening hit me with a force. The veil was lifted and I knew. I just knew what Liv was trying to protect me from.

Alioth, Saiph and my other pack members gave me a frown, while Aries, Taurus and Megrez seemed to understand what was going on. Taurus, I could understand seeing from the fact that he was like an extended family. I bet Megrez knew because she was what a hybrid, as Aries called her.

Rhaze neared me. “What is it, sis?”

I took in a deep breath to nail the fire that was threatening to escape. Each time that fire tried to find a way out, I blocked it. Varian and Rhaze were nearby. If that fire was out of my control, these two would get hurt.

Just like that, Aries came next to me and held my hand. The second he did that, the fire cooled down. Perhaps, I had calmed down enough to reel in the flames.

“It’s bad, Lyra,” he muttered. “Controlling your anger like that is very bad.”

“If I did not,” I hissed, gripping his hand. “Rhaze and Varian will get hurt.”

He sighed and did not say anything else. But at his one look, my sister and Varian took two steps back.

“What happened?” Rhaze asked me.

I looked in her anxious brown eyes. At that moment, she was not my sister. She was a Beta asking her Alpha what was wrong to protect her pack better. I could feel the shift in her role. She was more into her rank than into the family bond we had.

“Liv told me,” I pulled myself to say. “About the wolf who betrayed me.”

Aspen snarled. “Who is it?”

I snapped my eyes to meet Rhaze. And for some reason seeing the strength with which she met my hard glare made pride flare in me.

“A wolf who knew the password of the lab,” I said. “A wolf who was a part of the research. A wolf who was the head of the defence of cyber in West Pack.”

“Cheryl,” Brent whispered. He had not left? “Cheryl? That wolf? She freaking took whips for you that day! Whips that broke Cat more than it broke her. Now she betrayed you?”

I nodded. “She gave the passwords to Harper. Out of her free will. She even imprinted on Max, the newly appointed Delta of West Pack.”

“The fuck?” Jed swore. “What is wrong with that female?”

“I wish I knew,” I growled. “But I know one thing.” I exchanged a look with Aries. “My battle is not on the ground.”

Alioth gave me a cool glance. “What do you mean?”

I looked at her. “Liv showed me what has happened in West Pack. Harper brought all the projects back. Especially the mind-control project. She had inserted a kind of nanites that makes her control the minds of her soldiers. Not to mention the hybrids she has created. While Cheryl might have cracked my computer open, upon my command, I can bring the project to a stop. I am the only person authorised to stop it. I have to go to the lab.”

Megrez inhaled sharply. “I will accompany you. I think I know what you are talking about.”

“This is screwed up,” Miguel commented, running his hands through his hair. “We can’t even kill those wolves then. They are being controlled.”

“Damn it,” Eric muttered. “You’re right.”

Taurus glanced at Alioth and Saiph. When two Soul-Bounds nodded to the Warrior, Taurus said, “I will go after Gaelan. Alioth and Saiph will find Dubhe and get her out. Aries... I don’t think it would be advisable to separate him from Lyra. As much as she is a pulsar, we still have Melantha to think of. If I am being sure, Melantha will be waiting for Lyra.”

I closed my eyes, waiting for the rush of anger to pass through me. What reason did Cheryl have to betray me? How could she hate me so much? What have I done? I thought we were friends.

The raging betrayal burned worse than any embers. Even Andrew was obsessed with me in a twisted way for him to betray me. What did Cheryl have?

“Not to mention,” I said after I levelled my breath. “The West pack is moving on us. We have to go.”

For several seconds no one moved. Some were stunned over the stars’ arrival and some were frozen over the words I had said. The ones who had gone to get ready for the battle had also come out with whatever weapon they preferred.

Only a few preferred weapons, for many, relied on the ability the three daughters of Moon gave. To a wolf, nothing was more dangerous than his or her claw. For a vampire, his ability was his greatest asset and for a witch or a wizard, nothing was more reliable than their magic.

“West Pack is moving on us,” I repeated. “We have to get moving.”

Immediately, Miguel took his rank of Delta and nodded at the Deltas, Zetas and Reishes. The ones who trained their packs, covens and tribes readied. They placed the wounded in a safe tent and three warriors were posted to protect them while the doctors stayed behind.

The second in commands oversaw what the third in commands were doing in place of their leaders. The other third in commands, the Gammas, Thetas and Ayins stayed back in their homelands to do the leader’s works of protecting the ones who stayed behind.

We left our camp, running in a formation that would allow us to split perfectly to do our jobs. While the five stars could have sped ahead, they maintained their pace for the other creatures of the earth.

The sky grew sombre, painting itself in a shameful colour of murky grey. Though it had chased away the clouds, it still did not bring any light as it did a week ago. Perhaps, it was ashamed of the war that was going to take place now.

The earth beneath our feet sang a Warsong to the winds that carried the harsh beats to wide and far. Birds refused to spread their wings today and the flora that we encountered lacked life that they usually had when the sky wore grey. It was just the beats of our feet running that matched the pace with which my heartbeat.

At the place midway between where our camp lied and West pack, the army Harper had made against me stood. I could not tell if they were here by their own choice or they were here because Harper forced them to be.

Seeing them, the troops behind me sped up, only to be stopped by a peregrine falcon landing before us with a grace that had my heart soaring.

People from both sides paused when they heard her cry loud - a cry of a mother, mourning the loss of her child. Varian who was next to Miguel parted his lips and took a step forward as though he could not believe what he was seeing. He was the only person brave enough to walk to the falcon.

Not even the warriors Harper had brought with her to West Pack could step forward.

Nearing that large falcon who was glaring at the West pack with beady eyes, Varian dropped to his knees and choked, “Aislynn.”

The falcon turned its gaze on Varian who bore the full intensity of her glare.

He did not tremble to see such hostility. The fool was happy that she had come here today.

“Aislynn,” he cried. “Come back.”

With a short cry, the feathers gave way to skin and in place of the fastest bird, was Aislynn who embraced her mate.

********

The mates’ reunion was short-lived. Against me stood many wolves I recognised from West pack, but the one who led them, I had no idea who he was.

His sandy blonde hair fell over his scarred face as he grinned at me. Next to him, a male came. A male I was familiar with. Andrew smirked at me while fiddling with a dagger.

And on the other side of that sandy-haired male stood a female I thought I had known. Cheryl’s cold glare cut right through my soul. Thank Luna that the one who betrayed me was Cheryl and not Reece. Reece, Liv, Aurelia, Rhaze and I were more close-knit. Cheryl and Catherine who were twins never went so well with us even though they were part of our group.

Did Cat know about this? Did she feel betrayed as well? Or did she betray me too?

“Lyra,” Cheryl called. “I would say it is a pleasure to meet you, but I am pretty sure that you won’t share my feelings.”

I nearly burst out in anger. Aries who stood next to me grounded me. “Why?”

“What why?” Cheryl asked.

“Why did you betray me?” I asked, raising my voice above the winds that carried the sonnet of rain.

Cheryl smacked her lips. “I loved Max. He said that if he was going to leave his mate for me, I had to do something to prove myself to him. I told him and he let me imprint on him.”

The sandy-haired male smirked. “Isn’t that lovely?”

So, that was Max. The current Delta of West Pack.

“He was the fourth rank,” Cheryl said. “He has looks and he can satisfy me. What more do I need?”

“B-but,” Rhaze protested. “This is not you!”

Cheryl rolled her eyes. “It is not. I mean, I was that innocent girl who loved her friends and all. But... that was before I met Max. He made me realise my worth. He said that I was a female who was worthy to stand next to a ranked male as his female. How long was I going to stand in the shadow? I was the head of the cyber defence of West Pack. But did it really get me? Nothing. It was time I made some decisions in my life.”

Just what had happened to Cheryl? That female took bloody whips for me that day Ethan banished me. She was tied to a tree and even with a sliver of her life hanging, she defended me. Where had that girl gone? Why was she reduced to believe that she was ‘worthy to stand next to a ranked male’? If she wanted a rank, she should have challenged a ranked member and earned it. Not by making someone break his mate-bond and imprint on him.

“Decisions?” Rhaze laughed coldly and even I was a bit scared of that laugh.

For a split second, Cheryl’s eyes revealed fear before she masked it with arrogance.

Rhaze snickered. “Rich. Really rich. Betraying your Alpha results in death. Don’t you know that?”

Cheryl growled. “I will accept Alpha Ethan Verir as my Alpha the second we win.”

Aries smirked at her. “How cute.”

At that, Max and Cheryl noticed him. The second their gaze landed on him, a few took a few steps back. While Cheryl stayed frozen, Max nearly pissed himself. Andrew snarled and took a step forward.

Miguel cocked his head. “With him around, you think you can win?”

Andrew let out a strange laugh. “You haven’t seen what those bastards Nira gave birth could do. If you did, you will not be so arrogant.”

Taurus cleared his throat. “I hope you know that though those hybrids may be Dubhe’s children and Dubhe be Ursa’s daughter, we Warriors tied with each other. I can brush off Dubhe’s powers like dust. You think you can get away with what you did to Dubhe even if you have her children protecting you?”

Andrew rolled his eyes. “You don’t know anything, Second Warrior. When you see them, you will know.”

The male who stood next to Andrew yawned. The one whom I thought was insignificant. “Are we going to keep yapping the entire time? I thought we came to fight.”

“Devin,” Max said. “You think you can take care of the stars here?”

The vampire smirked. “I can. I am Bonded to Dubhe.”

Megrez snarled and literally pulled a spear out of thin air. I was not sure what it was made of, but it looked silver. Whisps of grey smoke mantled her like it was a swirling storm and she was its eye. Her eyes that glowed an eerie shade of silver did not help the look. In all, she looked like a Goddess of War many cultures around the world described.

Unyielding and fierce, I could understand now what Aries said about her being powerful. She was not just a star or a pulsar. She was a hybrid. But at this moment, she made Chaos her core. The waft of destruction from her was strong.

“Finally a worthy opponent,” Devin smirked.

I had never bothered to harbour hatred. Hate was a negative emotion and it did more harm than the joy of revenge to me. But I did manage to hate a few people in my life. And among them, Devin was one.

Dried blood colour eyes that were filled with twisted malice stared at me. What made him have that much confidence I would never know. Did no one teach him never to underestimate his opponent?

And what did he mean by Bonded with Dubhe?

What he did is punishable by the worst possible death, Aries said. Unless that other soul is interested in you or is your Soul-Bound, you can’t Bond with anyone. It is akin to forced Marking, like rape. The punishment is not instant death, it is by making you lick and desire death and just when you think your punishment is over, when you think you have hope to live a good life, you will be killed by destroying every evidence of your existence.

I glanced at Megrez who was being held back by her sister. As much as Alioth was powerful, she could simply not contain this dark hybrid. And just as they wanted, Megrez broke from Alioth’s grasp and launched herself at that vampire.

This was a part of their plan. They wanted us to be distracted from Dubhe and her children.

Before Megrez could use her powers to hurt him, I sent my energy to reel her back, in spite of knowing how powerful she could be.

That was when I realised how right Megrez had been when she said Aries might be stronger than her after we Soul-Bounded. While it should have been a difficult job for me, I could easily pull her back.

Her mind was filled with ununderstandable rage and protectiveness over her sister. In her eyes, she was taking revenge for her sister whom he had harmed. She would be happy to kill him and walk with any consequence. Dubhe must be avenged for what had happened to her. No one could treat anyone like this.

Devin’s smirk dropped when he noticed me literally pulling Megrez off him. Him distracting would allow Melantha to either prepare herself further or allow her to escape.

“Remember what we planned!” I said, locking my gaze with Cheryl. “So as per that.”

Aries gritted his teeth and nodded at Taurus. “There’s a change in the plans.”

Since when? And why were they telling me this now? Of all time?

“That Zayin who hurt Antlia,” Aries snarled. “He is here. As much as Corvus made him submit, for hurting Ant, I have to spill his blood. Other Rankers of his Tribe are hiding somewhere. When I find them, their end will not be nice. Apparently, me damaging his Tribe is not enough.”

He would not accompany me to the lab. That was what he was trying to tell.

“What-” Rhaze began.

“Go,” I said. “Avenge Ant.” I turned towards him. “Avenge Nash.”

If it was not for the power that was buzzing a Warsong coquettishly in my blood and soul, I would have begged him to stay with me. That made me inhale sharply. This burst of power was not from Aries, it was the power Chaos had given me. The power Chaos had locked in me.

Upon finding the key, unlimited energy crashed my body. From where it came, I might have an idea, but I decided to dwell on it later. Glimpses of dark space came to my vision before it disappeared. The final lock of my powers was let loose and my soul was my own. I knew who I was. I was feared. I had caused the destruction of many things in the past and before I came to Origin, I had destroyed worlds. My core was destruction.

And just the way Aries left a part of his soul to protect me, I could scoop a part of mine and commanded it to protect him and it did so without a protest. That shocked look on his mortal face told me everything. All this while, he had been alone, although he had twelve comrades. This was the first time someone was looking out for him.

As much me being safe put him at ease, him being safe put me.

“Charge!” Max yelled when I slowly moved my gaze from my Soul-Bound.

Without another miscommunication, Taurus traced Gaelan and Alioth and Saiph moved to find Dubhe. Aries left to find that Zayin while Megrez grounded next to me. It was putting a strain on her body.

Miguel roared and plunged himself to war, while Aspen gave herself to it. Varian and Aislynn followed Aries after giving me a nod. They needed this. Losing a pack member was painful enough for me. How would it be for them to lose their child?

Rhaze and Kaina picked their battle with Max and Cheryl. Brent and Jed moved together towards Andrew. As everyone picked their battles, I found my way.

It was not like I did not want to get my hands with blood. If given the chance, I would tear these betrayers’ heart in a split second, but I had to go to that lab. If I don’t stop this project, Harper would be able to mind-control these shifters to fight. Mind-control them to an extent where she would block their pain and make sure that their brain does not perceive anything related to death unless it was severing the head or ripping the heart or complete blood loss.

I began to run towards the small opening on the ground. But it was not an easy run. Wolves, vampires and magycs came at me. Claws, fangs and iron-nails were all I could see.

Their hair was mangled and eyes were frenzied. They were in sort of a haze. Bloodlust. It was at that time, a few people formed something like a shield around me. Nadia came up to my left, Corvus to my right. Sheila had sprinted next to Corvus, but a witch pulled her.

“Leave!” I commanded them when I spotted Alioth and Saiph running ahead of me. “I will go with them. Don’t protect me anymore.”

With a nod, Nadia cut left and aided Zahra and Corvus spotted a warlock and had a battle of spells with him. Seeing me coming behind them, Alioth and Saiph nodded.

“I am sensing Dubhe to be in the North-West sector of West Pack,” Alioth said.

“That’s where the lab is,” I said.

“How much more distance?” Saiph asked.

I bit my teeth. “At the pace of a shifter, half a day without rest.”

Alioth swore. “We can’t even run at our original speed here.”

I frowned. “Why not?”

Saiph gritted his teeth. “To do that, we must be in our prime energy forms and since this is a crowded battlefield, it has the chance to kill everyone without a chance.”

This fields, I remembered. This was filled with so many varieties of wildflowers each season and when I had been twelve, my dad brought me here. That year, a wolf named Kira coloured these fields with various shades of peonies. Columns of haughty red, playful orange, coy yellow and passionate pink still stayed behind my eyes. It was a vision I would never forget.

Unfortunately, that year, Kira died of a fight with another wolf and this field was left to the wildflowers to claim for themselves. As much it gave a home to thousands of flowers in spring, in winter, it secretly housed dew and dinky icicles in the early hours of dawn. As the days of winter progressed, it bared the naked branches and the secrets behind the leaf morphology.

The field that was known for flowers was now being drenched in blood and death. Even the sky hid behind the darkening clouds and lightning danced a haunting dance behind that thick curtain.

The air that was once filled with sweetening fragrance was now soaked in the scents of betrayal, vengeance and power. Along with it was the smell of piss, sweat, blood and flesh.

The plants that smiled upon seeing sun would be traumatised by seeing the amounts of death that would pile up today.

Saiph spotted Devin who was fighting with Megrez. “I will aid her and come back.”

Alioth nodded and her Soul-Bound left. But Saiph was replaced by two people I trusted my life with. Miguel and Rhaze. My sister was running in her Wolf form.

Her Mating with Kaina had proved to be very fruitful. Her Wolf was bigger, faster and much stronger. She snarled fought her way. Her message was clear. No one was to mess with her Alpha.

Miguel, though not shifted, was here for the same reason. Instead of shifting to his other skin, he had morphed his hands to that of a bear that held fire in its palm. If his enemies did not fear the bear paws, they certainly feared his fire.

At a distance, I saw a lightning crash down to Earth. More specifically on a male. Varian growled as the bolts of electricity coursed through him. Just as people feared Miguel’s fire, they were terrified of Varian’s electricity.

Not far from us, Aspen was fighting a female who shifted into a lioness and back to eagle. That sight nearly made me stop and stare. Where did Harper even find a shifter?

I shook my head. I was not far away. The change in the scents gave it all away. We were in the Pack grounds.

As much as I did not depend on the sun, me being a creature of space, I just knew the time. I had been running for the better part of the day and only when I glanced at my dress, did I see it drenched in the blood and the stench of iron filled my nose.

My hands were stained with that crimson liquid and had occasional licks of the fire I could control. How many had I killed? How many had I harmed today? Did I even fight? Did I put all my training to use or did I just use my powers and hoped to wing it?

But that wolf that died by my hand then answered me. That wolf had come head-on to fight me, but I had barely moved yet managed to dodge the punch that was headed my way. My hands found that wolf’s neck in a matter of fractions of seconds and my fingers burnt him. In addition to choking him, I had burnt his carotids. It was a cruel way to die and that dilated pupils told me that he was being controlled by someone.

I had killed an innocent. But if I was going to see that, how many had died because of me? Of Ethan? Of Harper?

As we came to the inner parts of the pack, there were sparse shifters, but all were highly trained ones. But to my surprise, they did not attack us four.

They attacked Livvia who was snarling furiously at them as she attacked them back. Next to her, was my Gamma Reece and Mike who protected each other against the West Pack.

At a distance, Catherine and Sam were fighting their way towards me.

But none compared to the amounts of these highly trained warriors rushing towards a wolf I was so familiar with.

In addition to fighting Ethan, Cain was being attacked by other wolves too. But he proved me he was worthy of his Hunter Mark by standing his ground. Cain’s Wolf barely had a scratch, but I would not bet he would escape unscathed if all warriors rushed towards him.

Seeing this, Rhaze ran to aid our brother. Seeing Rhaze’s massive form, Cain faulted for a second, before giving her a growl and began to fight together, as they had always trained.

As much as Livvia, Reece and Mike were doing good, Catherine did not look well. In fact, I had the perfect example of a living zombie.

Nearing me, Cat whispered just a word in my ears, ”Carmen.” Why was she telling me her mother’s name? “That’s the password you need to enter the lab. Cheryl changed it to that.”

A breath of relief left me when I realised Cat had not betrayed me. Was it that separation from her twin that was killing her?

“I have to stop Cheryl,” Cat muttered. “I have to be the one. I have that right.”

With that, she nearly pushed me and stumbled in the direction I had come from. Inwards into the battle.

“What happened?” I asked Sam.

He shook his head. “Cat’s mate is Max. Max brainwashing Cheryl killed her. Twins have a strong connection and Max broke it. While Cheryl imprinted on Max, Cat refused to get any help and slowly crumbled to insanity. With their parents dead, you can guess.”

I nodded and said, “Follow her and keep her safe.”

With that, Sam left. I glared at Miguel. “Leave. I can feel your restlessness. Go to Aspen.”

As soon as those words left my mouth, he burst into flames and a Pheonix flew into the centre of the battle.

I was merely a few feet from my lab when another stab in my heart resonated in my body. Another pack member had died.

The pain was so raw and intense that I nearly crumbled. It was true when they said higher the rank, the higher and intensely you would feel.

As pain overtook my other senses, flames broke the transient restraint of my skin and enveloped me as though I was in danger. My fire was never hot for me, but Alioth took a few steps back. This heat was refreshing.

My human skin was replaced by the scales and slowly, my bones cracked and I feel a tremendous change in me. A huge change. Like suddenly I felt a lot of cells growing, new organs developing and a new pair of limbs spouting.

Limbs? Did snake have limbs? The last time I checked, they slithered on the surfaces.

Only when she was far below me did I realise I was not a normal animal. That set of wings clinging to my back and that puff of smoke from my nose gave me a huge idea of what I was.

Yet, the reflection I saw of myself on the glass of the lab, stunned me. As much as Harper, Alpha Violet, Alpha Charles and Dubhe were shocked, I could not care less.

Staring back at me, was a dragon.

Any guesses of who is the pack member who died?

And are you all happy for Lyra shifting into a dragon? (I know you are)

Next is a bonus chapter, written from the POVs of many characters. (Example: Brent, Cat, Aspen, Varian and Kaina)

Why? It is all about perspectives.

Any guesses about what will happen to Ethan? To Harper? To Nira? To Alpha Violet (Ethan’s mother)?

Did anyone guess the betrayer to be Cheryl?

Two more chapters to go!

If you can, you can follow me on Instagram: @quillsecret (I will leave the link in my bio)

Until then,

~Quill