To the Wolves

Chapter 39

At the brink of dawn, Olivia and Ethan ran through the forest, dodging the trees and skipping over fallen branches. The sound of their speeding breaths could be heard as their heartbeats roared in their ears. Olivia's footsteps slowed down as was exhausted, contrary to Ethan. After running for a few steps more she stopped altogether and huffed while placing her hands on her knees. Ethan stopped a few feet ahead of her after noticing her absence. He knew she was tired.

"Ethan, I can't!" She said.

"Yes, you can!" Ethan yelled. "They'll be here any second! We need to keep moving."

Still catching her breath Olivia heard the howls and footsteps of the wolves. They were close but out of sight. Having no choice, she gathered herself and started to run again. Ethan was still ahead of her when he saw the wolves getting close.

"Come on, Olivia! We're almost there!" He shouted, getting closer to the fog and the maze that knew was there behind it.

She frighteningly ran but made the mistake of looking behind her. One of the black wolves was directly behind her as she let out a chilling scream. The fog made it difficult for her to see but she focused her eyes on Ethan and ran in his footsteps. The wolf behind her grunted loudly as it leaped forward and grabbed the edge of her shirt, ripping it. She fell forward, thinking that this was it for her when Ethan caught her in his arms. She looked around to see that they had made it into the maze that was protected from supernatural beings. The torn piece of Olivia's shirt hung from its mouth as the wolf collided with the invisible barrier. The rest of the wolves followed, scratching and bumping into the barrier, trying to get past it.

Having composed themselves, they crossed the maze and walked into the cave for the second time, not knowing that they wouldn't receive the help that they were seeking from the witch.

***

Aubrey, accompanied by Dino, Oliver, and Lan, the three of the most trusted and powerful members of her pack, stood at the border of Mico's territory.

Dino stood by Aubrey's side, towering over her. He was dressed in a white shirt, black pants, and a long purple coat with huge collars, with only a single piece of jewelry adorning his finger. The gold ring that he had fashioned using magic in his early days of sorcery; it was a failed attempt with many side effects but he still wore it to remind himself of the tremendous progress he has made through the years.

On the previous day, Aubrey had a meeting with the trusted members in her house; the same house that once used to be filled with banters with her father, but now all that was left was silence until the meeting commenced.

Oliver and Lan sat on the chairs, Aubrey on the couch, while Dino remained standing.

"Is it wise to negotiate with that monster?" Lan asked.

"Dino says it is," Aubrey stated.

"If we do not want further damage," Dino spoke, "we need to come to an agreement with Mico. Or else we must prepare ourselves for continuous attacks."

"Then let's do that!" Lan said. "We will fight and win. They won't have the element of surprise this time."

"No," Aubrey said. "Our numbers are already halved. We cannot afford to lose more of our people."

"It is set then," Dino said. "I have already fixed a time for the meeting."

"I will need the three of you to accompany me," Aubrey said while leaning forward.

"Just us?" Oliver asked. "Shouldn't we be taking more members for protection?"

Dino answered him before Aubrey could.

"If we let an army accompany us then they will assume it as a declaration of war."

"Dino will be with us for protection," Aubrey assured. "So there is no need to worry."

Oliver and Dino had left the house, giving opportunity for Lan to have a private conversation with Aubrey.

"You aren't serious about this, are you? Peace? With Mico? Do you really expect that guy to agree to your terms?" Lan asked, strongly disagreeing with Aubrey's methods.

"No," she said, sitting at the same spot with her fingers interlocked in front of her. Looking straight at Lan, she said, "I will have to give him something that he wants."

"You, he wants you," Lan said. "He wants you to be gone. I am sure he will try to do that. But he wouldn't attempt that in public."

"Oh, no, he will," Aubrey scoffed. "If there's one thing that bastard loves, it is putting on a show. He loves attention and we are going to give it to him."

"And if your plans don't work? Lan asked. "What then?"

Aubrey stared at Lan before getting up from the seat.

"Use the enemy's enemy," she said.



The sky filled with grey clouds acted as an arena for the impending thunderstorm. A loud boom was heard after the sky lit up for a split second. Frightened by the noise, the birds flew astray, seeking shelter.

Aubrey's clan was met by Bran, who formally and somewhat coldly, greeted them.

"Welcome to our pack's territory. You are here for a peace treaty, is that correct?" he asked.

"Yes," Aubrey said, with her hands in her jacket pocket caressing the knife that she was carrying.

Bran folded his hands behind his back. "You are guests of ours and must follow the rules of the pack at all times you are here. Rule number 1, do not engage in a conversation with any of the pack members. Rule number 2, do not wander around anywhere on the 'pack' property without assistance. And rule number 3, the obvious, turning on our territory is strictly prohibited. If you do so it will be seen as an act of war. Do you understand and agree to the rules?"

"Yes, we do," Aubrey said.

Mico and Aubrey took a seat opposite each other with at least seven feet distance between them. They were perched on the same platform where Olivia had almost been whipped once. The pack members gathered around to watch the meeting in anticipation of the declaration of war.

Aubrey sat on the chair with her legs crossed and her arms resting on the sides. The three members of her pack stood behind her.

Mico stood from his seat to address his audience.

"This meeting is kept public because I want you all to be a part of the integral decision that will be made today. Feel free to express your opinions," he said, tight-lipped, and then returned to his seat.

Aubrey waited for the crowd to settle down before she said, "thank you for accepting our request."

"What can I do for you?" Mico asked.

"We would like a peace offering," she said as the crowd went silent. She uncrossed her legs as she slightly leaned forward. "As per our understanding, there has been miscommunication and misinterpretation between our packs. We have never intentionally caused you any harm nor will we ever do so. We would be extremely grateful if you could accept our request to end this war."

"Peace offering, you said?" Mico asked. Aubrey nodded her head. "What do you propose to offer?"

"Our pack is blessed with abundant land and resources. We would be willing to share some of those resources with you if you agree to cease all attacks on our pack."

Scratching his chin Mico looked at Aubrey and smirked.

"Now why would I do that when I can easily wage a war again, and take everything that you own for myself without having to share it with you lot?"

Aubrey lost her composure for a split second. Her lips pursed as she looked at the crowd. Looking back at him she said, "we will also agree to safely return the bodies of the members from your pack who died on our territory. Dino has used his magic to preserve them. Not only that, we would also remain loyal to you and your pack, and will stand by you in any of your future battles."

The crowd let out a collective gasp after hearing about the preserved bodies, but they knew better than to say anything about it.

Mico laughed. "I have no shortage of an army." He said as he involuntarily touched his jacket pocket that held the container with Olivia's blood. "Let's see. I will agree to your proposal and I will leave your pack alone. You wouldn't even have to pay for it... if you give Olivia Jones to me."

Aubrey let out a mocking chuckle.

"Keeping my personal dislike aside and not letting it cloud my judgment, I will say that she is not a commodity that can be handed over. I cannot give you something or someone I do not have."

Mico smirked again, knowing completely well that she would refuse his offer. "I could kill you right here and take over your pack." He said casually.

"You could try," Dino said stepping forward threateningly.

Mico threw his hands in the air, backing down. "I wouldn't want to go against the greatest warlock that ever lived, not after what happened the last time." He carefully said, wanting Dino to fully be on his side, though he knew that Dino wasn't someone who could be easily manipulated unless given the right bribe. "We still haven't reached an agreement."

Aubrey stood from her seat. "We are offering you complete surrender. What more do you need?"

Standing up from his seat as well, Mico said, "I don't want your submission. The only way I will ever agree to stand down is if our packs merge." He paused before saying, "an alliance by marriage."

Mico looked at Aubrey's shocked face, and then at Dino, giving him a sly smile.

Aubrey was taken aback. Her immediate response was obviously 'no', but her promises given to her pack played again and again in her head. Dino came to her side and whispered something in her ear. He restored his position, and after a minute, looking down, Aubrey said, "I accept."

"No!" A commoner from the crowd suddenly shouted. "You can't do this!" He said looking at Mico. "Her pack members tried to murder your sister and ended up murdering a poor girl instead. We cannot allow such people to be our family."

Mico's eyebrow twitched with annoyance as he looked at Bran who stood on the side. Bran signaled one of the soldiers standing behind the crowd. The soldier went up to the man and quietly pulled him out of the area.

As the man was being dragged out he suddenly shouted, "isn't that her?" pointing to a girl whose head was covered with a dark green scarf. The man was finally dragged out of the area but all heads turned towards the girl who was trying to conceal herself. The crowd collectively gasped as they saw Lillian watching the meeting with Victor by her side.

"My sister and her captor," Mico said.

Not expecting to be caught, Victor and Lillian were taken by surprise. They were waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike but now any chance of that happening was slim.

Mico said, "please escort my sister carefully and seize the traitor!"

Lillian spat on the ground.

"He's not a traitor or my captor, and I'm not your sister."

Some of the audience members let out an audible gasp. Mico uncomfortably laughed, as he said, "she is still in shock from the murder of her friend. My poor sister is greatly suffering and needs intensive care. In addition to her condition, it also looks like she has developed a Stockholm syndrome."

"I'm completely fine! You're the one who needs help." Lillian yelled as Victor tried to stop her from further aggravating the situation.

Looking towards Kyle, who stood behind him, Mico said, "help my sister get safely settled into her new room."

Kyle nodded and as he moved to go towards Lillian, Ric and Alec, who stood separate from the crowd, immediately stood in front of Victor and Lillian to protect them.

Kyle stopped, looking at Mico for further instructions.

Mico sinisterly laughed. "You want to bring me down with two men?" He said hysterically.

Victor looked at the people and said, "Oh, it's not just two."

The crowd split and half of them stood behind Victor.

Mico's laughter left his face as an outraged expression replaced it.

"Traitors! All of you!" He breathed heavily. "This makes me sad, but for the sake of love that I have for all of you I will give you one last chance to switch your allegiance and stand with the right side." He said in an angry voice and waited, but nobody moved a muscle.

Mico turned and signaled Dino, who stepped forward and looked at Victor. Victor immediately felt immense pain in his head as he crouched to ease some of it. "That!" Mico declared as he pointed towards Victor, "will be the fate of anybody who sides with the traitor."

Looking at Dino's actions, Aubrey confirmed her suspicions and looked at Lan.

Terrified after having witnessed the horror scene, the pack members who stood behind Victor slowly started moving away as Mico mumbled under his breath, "that's what I thought."

Victor was still in pain and was unable to act when Kyle grabbed Lillian and took her away to the Alpha's mansion. Ric and Alec, too, stood down, knowing that they were at a disadvantage.

A thunderbolt of lightning went off in the sky.

Looking at the gloomy faces of his subjects, Mico said, "You all should be celebrating! It is a joyous occasion. Our pack is expanding thanks to my engagement with Miss Aubrey." Looking at Victor who was screaming in pain, he continued, "and now we are at last getting rid of the pack's enemy once and for all."

Dino stopped his magic and went back to where he stood beside Aubrey. Victor fell to his knees, seeing dots before his eyes. Bran went to Victor and roughly dragged him as the crowd parted into two to form a path for their former Alpha. Bran left him at the platform where Mico stood.

"Why don't we do this the old-fashioned way?" Mico said as Bran handed him the antique sword that belonged to the pack for centuries.

Aubrey suddenly stood to her feet with her hands balling into fists. She slyly took her knife out of her pocket and was about to step forward when Dino pulled her back.

"Don't ruin this," he whispered in her ear. Anger surged inside her as she thought about killing Dino instead.

Bran pushed Victor on his knees as Mico held the sword in the air. Victor closed his eyes as thoughts of his first mate surged to his mind, thinking that he would reunite with her soon. Strangely, he was at peace.

Victor opened his eyes to see a black wolf running towards him, thinking that it was his personal grim reaper. The wolf glided through the parted crowd as death closed in.

Mico swung the sword in the air but he was knocked down by the wolf that ripped his skin to shreds, all because of the trickle of stolen blood that had stained him.