The Indifferent Luna 1 - Austan wolf

“I can’t go back with you anymore.” I said to Adela as I stepped out of the water.

I had followed her to the stream and had washed and scrubbed myself clean of all the blood, both dried and fresh that was on my skin and hair while she waited.

“Why is that?” she asked nonchalantly.

Why was she pretending she didn’t know what was happening or what had happened? She did know, she has to. If she didn’t, why wasn’t she asking me?

“Can’t you see? I would only cause harm to your pack. I have no control over my blood rage and at any moment I could go on a killing spree.” I said dejectedly with so much shame and embarrassment as I picked up and began to put on the clothes she had laid out for me on the grass.

After she found and convinced me to follow her to this stream to have a bath, she mind-linked her pack members and had Selene bring me clothes.

“And you think going back to winter hollows would solve that? Your blood rage isn’t going to disappear with you avoiding it Silveen, it would only disappear when you get your revenge on whoever made you like this,” she said gesturing to me. “And you can’t get your revenge if you aren’t strong enough. You have to learn how to harness your blood rage and use it to your advantage against your enemy and that is what I want to help you with.” Adela said with so much conviction and I almost believed her.

“What about your pack? I could hurt them!”

“You shouldn’t be the one scared of hurting them. They should be the ones scared of you. For thousands of years, we Austan wolves have provoked the fear and respect of other wolves not just because of our abilities but because of the strength of our wolves, especially when we enter blood rage. If you can harness your rage and use it to your advantage the world would bow at your feet and if the world bows, do you know what that means? Your enemies would be easily found. As for my wolves, you are a good opportunity for them to step up their game and live up to the expectation. Training with an Austan wolf in blood rage would be nothing short of an honor to them.”

I looked at her now speechless at how certain she was that coming with her was the best decision for my life.

My wet skin made the clothes cling to my body and the cool morning air created goose bumps on my damp porcelain skin which had turned pink from the harsh scrubbing I had earlier been engaged in.

“But Reika said I have to keep on killing to keep the bloodlust at bay.” I said

“I never said that!”

“Yes, you did.”

“I said accepting the rage!”

“What is the difference?” I asked.

She rolled her eyes and shut the link. She was angry and I know it but I can’t worry about her now, I have too many problems of my own.

“Then we would get you, enemies, to vent your frustration upon. We are warriors Silveen, we are not without enemies nor are we a pack without constant attacks from others. My pack has a lot of enemies of our own you know, and the problem is not how you would survive in our midst. The problem is if you can accept yourself as an Austan wolf with blood rage.” Adela said as she stood to her feet patting the dust off her backside.

I looked at her, she was saying the same words that Rieka had said but why don’t they understand that I wasn’t scared of being an Austan wolf, I just didn’t want to kill anyone.

“And that is impossible.” Rieka pitched in and I sighed.

“How then do I hurt people without feeling guilty?”

“Simple, you don’t hurt people for fun Silveen, That’s what psychopaths do. You hurt only your enemies in self-defense. It is called survival and that was what you did to Layla, even though she turned out to be an animal.” Rieka said.

“You should hurry up with the clothes,” Adela said gesturing to the way I was dressing slowly even though I had begun to shiver from the cold air. “The others are waiting, we have a long journey ahead of us.”

With that, she left me to my thoughts and I hurriedly clothed my chilling bones.

I have made my decision.

I would give this a shot if it doesn’t work out. I would leave voluntarily.

..............................................................................................

The walk was as long as Adela said it would be, we’ve been walking for the past three hours and no one seems to be getting tired or weary. I don’t know how long it would take before we get there, I was getting tired but I didn’t say a word about it. I followed them diligently.

I hadn’t said anything to anyone either, I only followed behind at the back of the group with my head still a little bowed. I received water whenever they passed it around and accepted the food they gave whenever we stopped for a five minutes break while muttering a low thank you.

The girl, Selene was the one who was always being ordered by Adela to give me things. She was pretty surprised when she heard my first thank you. As for Rieka, she hasn’t spoken to me once in the past three hours, she was practically ignoring me out of anger.

“We’re here.” I heard Adela say suddenly and looked up to see..... a castle.

My jaws slacked as I looked at the large castle built with black stones from afar,

Why is their castle so large? How many warriors could a rogue pack possibly have to build such a castle? How influential and strong was Adela really? I asked myself as I remembered what Kira had once said about the dark mistress lair.

I looked from the castle to the smiling Adela and realized not only Adela but all the other werewolves with her were staring at my reaction and even though the others were not smiling, they were proud of the castle. It was evident in the twinkle in their eyes.

I swallowed uncomfortably from the attention I was getting.

“Come on, let’s go home.” with this Adela began to walk towards the castle and we all followed her, she was the boss after all but I was occasionally looking up as I stared at it in awe.

The closer we got, the larger it became and soon we entered the clearing.

“This is a lair?!” I exclaimed.