Hexed Alpha

July 15, 1973

The mystical rays of the moonlight struck every space in the forest, giving a lighter shade in every surface it touched. Squeaks of bats and other animals filled the air, along with the howls of the wolves. The freezing kisses of the gentle wind made the understory cold. It was the perfect time for a celebration – a triumph for the defeat of the wolf hunters. Bodies of dead wild bores and deers were gathered in a widely flattened rock in the middle of the deep forest to be the pack’s dinner.

“ The moon goddess, with her blessings, gave us the strength to conquer the wolf hunters. Our triumph is the triumph of all our kind.” Theodulf, the Alpha, led the ceremony by giving thanks to the moon goddess and to his brave warriors who protected others from the hunters. “ The humans killed some of our brothers and sisters with their weapons. They may have harmed us, but I want all of you to abstain from your wrath against them. I still believe that we could live with them in harmony.”

“Are you completely out of your mind, Theodulf?” Liam, one of the warriors, jumped over the broad stone table and shifted into his wolf form. “ Your cowardice will put us into danger!”

“ We already killed the ones who killed our members. Why should we harm other innocent humans? We spent most of our existence hiding from those harmless creatures, and now is the time to blend with them. We can live normal just like them.” Theodulf raised his voice, his eyes glowed red, and fangs showed up.

“ How can you trust humans when they killed our ancestors and members?”

“ We also killed theirs. Killing all of them will not put us into harmony. Aren’t all of you tired playing victims?”

“ This is not how a leader thinks, Theodulf. You are not far different from your lame father – controlled by pity and never thinks of the pack’s safety. Have you forgotten how all of us almost died in the hands of the Superior hunters? If only you are not his successor, you will not inherit his position.” Liam shifted back to his human form and sat with the Betas, devouring the fresh meat from the wild boars.

A bloody montage flashed in Theodulf’s mind. The screams and howls of the werewolves burnt by the humans came playing into his ears, making his anger boil inside him. He felt the pain of losing a family again. It was a night of solidarity between humans and werewolves, but everything changed when they discovered that it was a trap. His mother and father fell into a pit with silver spears, and the others were enclosed in a silver cage and burnt under the moonlight.

His eyes turned bright red as he struck a sharp stare in Liam’s direction. He wanted to attack him, but he chose not to. There’s no point in proving his strength to someone who he already defeated once.

“ Tell me, what do you know about leadership?” he said in a calm voice, provoking Liam’s pride. “ If you think leadership is all about rage, or wrath, or the constant exposure of your strength, then no wonder why you did not become one.”

“ Don’t boast your inherited position, Theodulf. Your strength is nothing compared to mine and –.”

“ I defeated you once, and I can defeat you again. Don’t be too hard on yourself by thinking you are above others, Liam. You may be of elite blood, but you’re just a member of my pack. I have my rules, and all of you are bound to obey them.” Theodulf stood up and indulged himself in seeing how Liam’s face contorted in anger.

“ I can’t believe I belong to this lame pack.” Liam turned his back and decided to leave the small gathering. He flashed into the darker side of the forest with his werewolf form, and his thundering howls echoed, disturbing the sleeping birds.

Everyone continued devouring the fresh meat in front of them. Theodulf came back to his calm state and joined the pack at the table.

“ Alpha, Liam has a point. Humans can’t be trusted. They consider us a threat to their kind.” Miya, one of the female warriors, said.

“ There are only twenty-four of us now. If we take the risk of reconciling with humans, it might be the end of our kind,” Hans, a beta, said while holding organs in his hands.

“ If we try to reconcile with them, they might take that as an opportunity to kill us all. They know our weakness, and they can outnumber us. We have fewer chances of winning if that happens.” Liana, Theodulf’s soon to be mate, stood up and had her way to his place.

“ ...Then we will find a way to make things right. We already know their weapons, and we need to find a way to be immune to it. We still have a potential ally if things will not work – the Moon Mages,” Theodulf said. He was so determined to reconcile with humans.

“ After killing the hunters, do you think they will trust us? What if we will be caught in a trap again, Theodulf? What if history will repeat?” Fear splintered in Liana’s heart. “ We can’t always let our soft side drive us, Theodulf. Our kind is at stake here.”

“What if it will work? Don’t you want to live without fear? We also have our human side. We can assure them of their safety if we stay in that form and never hurt anybody.”

“That is away from our normal life, Theodulf. We are werewolves. We can’t be with humans.”

“ We have to believe in possibilities, Liana. We have to trust the power of reconciliation. You have to trust me.”

Silence dominated the place. Everyone was speechless. Their mocking glances made Theodulf feel so small. He tried to lead the pack the way everyone can see acceptance over hatred, and solidarity over war, but they seemed to be stuck with the idea that werewolves should always live in the shadows of the forest – that their kind should always hide in the fear they created.

“ This is not the kind of leader we expected you to be, Theodulf. We don’t see safety for the pack from the way you think,” Liana’s tears sparkled as it fell to the ground.

The others were disappointed. They expected a strong Alpha – the one who can protect them with all his power and strength, the one who can lead a pack like the way the legendary Alphas’ led their ancestors, but it turned out that Theodulf is just like his father who brought their kind into danger by believing in solidarity between humans.

The silence broke out when his members shifted into their werewolf forms one by one, creating a cacophony of howls and roars under the burning full moon. Their furs shone like silk strands when struck by the moonlight. Eyes of yellow and orange glowed as they slowly walked past him.

Theodulf watched his pack leave, thinking about how his father handled the pack before. He thought maybe he’s too young to be an Alpha, or maybe his pack just wanted to stay away from humans as much as possible because of the trauma. He realized that being a leader is not just about voicing out what you think is right but also understanding what others feel and protect them at all cost.

He was about to stop them from leaving when a shower of flaming silver arrows rapidly hit them from the sky. And because they were in their wolf form, some of them were severely wounded, making them weak and unable to battle.

He shifted into his wolf form and dashed into Liana to protect her, but he’s too late. Liana was hit by three silver arrows at the back, making her fall to the ground, unconscious. He tried to sense where the arrows came from, but he didn’t sense any humans or wolf hunters.

The betas pounced into the forest to attack whoever attacked them, but they didn’t see even a single enemy. Arrows continuously hit them one by one from unpredictable directions, making them weaker and weaker. Iron nets with intense sealing spell fell from the trees and trapped Hans and Miya, slowly burning them into ashes.

Theodulf felt a presence of moon magic from the silver arrows and the trees. He pounced into the forest and howled to create a magic-canceling shockwave, exposing the moon mages hiding from the trees using their magic.

Ingrid, the leader of the sentinel, furiously attacked the moon mage that aimed its arrow at Theodulf. Her movements were as fast as the wind that shook the canopy of the forest. Heavy forces empowered her razor-sharp claws and destroyed the throat of the mage.

The remaining warriors snarled as loud as they can and dashed through the mages on top of the trees, tearing their bodies into halves. Blood dripped from the leaves down to the ground.

Theodulf bolted across the branches, aiming the source of the mages’ power – the Senior moon mage. Flaming silver arrows came blocking his way, but he managed to dodge them. He burst into an inestimable rage when he reached the senior mage. Spells and barriers blocked his attacks. But after multiple attempts and assault, he broke it, giving him the chance to behead the mage.

His fury was immeasurable. He thought that moon mages were on their side, but it turned out his wrong. The relationship between the moon mages and werewolves has been constantly fine, but something was controlling them, making them unloyal to the wolves.

His body was severely wounded, making him weaker and weaker. He gazed at the other wolves fighting the other mages. 

His hopes to survive slowly diminished when more mages appeared while they were decreasing in number.

He was supposed to join the others when another batch of flaming arrows came flying in their direction, hitting his members to death. He sensed the wolf hunters were coming, and only four of them remained – Ingrid, the sentinel leader; Hector, an omega; Maurice, a delta; and him.

He somersaulted in their direction and joined them, but as they continuously fought for their lives, they were surrounded by the mages and wolf hunters. The smell of the burnt bodies was suffocating them, making them weaker and weaker.

“ You have to save your life, Theodulf,” Hector said.

“ Don’t worry about us. We were ready for this. We promised your father to protect you and the pack,” Ingrid’s voice was slowly deteriorating.

“ Run as fast as you can. We will cover you from their attacks.” Maurice was kneeling, unable to stand up straight because of his wounded legs.

“ I would never leave all of you. I am your Alpha, and my duty is to protect all of you. We must all survive. We are the ones who remained, so we have to get out of here together.” Theodulf can’t let his remaining members die.

They waited for the opportunity to escape. When the enemies reloaded their bows, they ran as fast as they could. Theodulf remained behind their back to ensure their safety. He received most of the arrows, draining his strength faster. He went to the opposite side to divert the enemies’ attention. His members went deep to the opposite side of the forest and vanished in a blink of an eye.

He kept running with vision getting more blurry and his strength more drained until he reached the cliff. He was hesitant to jump at first, but when he heard the wolf hunters getting closer and closer, he jumped with nothing but little hope to survive.

Memories came flashing to his mind – Liana’s sweet smiles, his moments with his family, and the triumph of his pack. He opened his eyes slightly and saw the moon glowing so bright. He wished to the moon goddess to spare him a second life to make everything right. After chanting his song to the moon, his vision became dark, and he can’t feel his body anymore.

He let the wind take his soul. He wanted the rocks on the ground to be gentle to his wounded body, but it seemed impossible. He completely lost his consciousness while gravity kept on pulling him downwards. Before his body could touch the ground, a glowing portal promptly appeared and brought him to a world different from where he came from.