Winter
The cabin was packed with a lot of bodies. I was currently sandwiched between two people, grinding and swaying away to the music. I knew Lindsey was watching me with her signature worry etched on her face. She was my unofficial sister, who had reservations about how I went about doing my business.

I was suddenly pulled away from the two men. Before I could react, there was a ringing in my ear. The bastard slapped me.

"Hey, what the fuck--" before me was an angry husband.

"You were supposed to be home!" His sentences were coming out in pants. His breathing uneven, hair dishevelled, and his wedding ring was not on his finger. 

Wanting to piss him off more, I rolled my eyes and tried to saunter off. But I could only get so far as he pulled me back to himself.

"Why don't you go screw someone else and leave me--" Gunshots rang in the air, and anyone with something to hide started to scamper. Jack and I were close to the restoroom when a second shot rang. We managed to crouch behind the bar. Lindsey was already on the floor.

"By order of the Dark Knights, everyone on the floor now!" a voice ordered.

"This is why I came here." Jack whispered. The confusion on my face spoke for itself. "They were looking for you."

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Navrack.

The part of Grimsborough that rogues could roam free without attacks from the other neighbouring packs. The Council left this part of the land, unclaimed and inhabited, just so my kind --rogues (the wolves without packs) could have a place to stay unperturbed. That act seemed too good to be true. And it was. Mother saw through their scheme. A number of rogues went missing months after that injunction was made. It was just a ploy to get us at one place, so targeting us wouldn't be that difficult for them.

Soon, Mother was able to get most of the rogues together and form a pack-ish. She rules this part of Grimsborough to the obliviousness of the Council. Well, after the plague of death hit, they were right to point fingers at us, and that meant more deaths for us in the name of interrogations. Anybody taken out came back bruised, battered, and nearly at the brink of death. Jack had had his fair share, and so had other people. It was only a matter of time before they came for me, and that time was now.

The Dark Knights searched through the crowd and finally found us behind the bar. Wordlessly, they asked us to follow them in their van. It was a quiet journey to the butcher house (their headquaters).

They made us go through a lot of paperwork when we arrived. Then, before leading me to the interrogation room, they asked Jack to wait outside.

I took a quick glance at Jack before pushing the two large tainted glass doors open. The Dark Knights were the official security personnel for Grimborough. The name may be old, but they retained it in honour of past heros.

Stepping inside, I was met with white tiled walls and floors and a very bright light.

Are the people in here fucking blind?

"Winter Hughes?" An electronic voice asked.

"Who the fuck is asking?" The lights went out after my response, and I felt a hand on my arm.

"Follow me." Now, my instincts kicked in to punch the person, but seeing as I was a mouse in a huge cats den, reason had to prevail over instincts.

I quietly followed him in the dark as he led me to who knows where. I was not afraid. I could take whoever it was that tried anything stupid with me, down.

Soon, we reached a stop, and I felt a sharp sting in my arm.

"Ouch. What the hell?" I could feel the ground spin beneath me, and before I knew it, I was slipping into unconsciousness.

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I first thing I felt when I opened my eyes was the sun on my face. It was incredibly warm. It took me a minute to realise I was not in familiar terrain. My heart picked up its pace. Turning around and not meeting a soul in sight, my senses heightened to the peak. The endless stretch of grass and spots of wild flowers was a sight to behold. This was definitely not Grimborough and none of the places I was familiar with. Somehow, it drew me in. The wind blew with such gentleness, like a mother soothing a crying baby. It was as if it carried my name, and it called out to me.

Then I heard it.

A distant laugh.

It was peaceful. So calming. So carefree. It surrounded me, and it was difficult trying to guess the direction it was coming from. A hand sneaked its own into my palm, and my body freezed against its will. On instinct, I would have made an attempt to fight. But my limbs willed itself against me.

"Breathe girl. Breathe." My racing heart calmed, steadying slowly to the gentleness and love the statement carried.

Soon, the palm vanished, and it left something. A beautiful necklace shaped in the form of a heart embedded in a circle with unfamiliar words carved in them.

A howl took my attention back to my surroundings, and like water poured on a painting, the whole scene smudged away from my eyes.

The endless stretch of grass was now replaced with a dense forest. The moonlight peered over, granting light so I could find my way around.

Crunch.

I turned at once and bared out my fangs. I wasn't going to take any chances.

Crunch.

The sound grew closer and closer to me. My heartbeat picked up again.
Goosebumps caressed my skin. The necklace I had, had vanished from my palm. I had little time to think of what was going on. All I needed was to get back to Grimborough.

A silhouette rushed past the trees, and like moth drawn to flame, my curiosity propelled my feet against my better judgment. Following stealthily, I slipped in between the trees, trying hard to stay quiet and follow. There was a clearing, but I stayed behind the trees to watch. Soon, the silhouette became a clear figure; a woman.

With her back turned to me, she removed her cloak. She muttered certain words, and a house came to view. She turned back, and I caught sight of her face.

I knew that face from anywhere. Those two slightly different coloured eyes; a blue orb in one and a brown orb in the other. That pointed nose, with a scar that ran across her left eye.

Mother?

She looked quite younger. Her brown hair bounced past her shoulders with each step she took towards the house.

"Mother." I called. She stilled for a moment before turning. Her eyes focused on something. For a moment, I thought she was looking at me but she was looking past me. Something was behind me. Before I could turn, something or a certain someone walked right through me.

"Don't do this." Mother quaked. "She has a child for you." Despite the cloak, the muscular build of shoulders told me he was a man. He approached her with slow steps. Like a prey to predator. And without a word, he took out a knife and  plunged it to her heart. Mother gasped and held onto his shoulders.

"You won't get away with this."

She dropped to the floor as life slowly drained out of her. The crimson that kissed the earth slowly turned white before sinking deep into the earth. Her skin turned pale within seconds, and the man vanished before I could react. She lifted her head, her eyes completely red, with blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. Her voice sent chills to my spine, and before I could reach out to her, I was surrounded by familiar white walls.

"Death began with her."

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Noah

"Alpha!"

There was banging on the door, and it was beginning to match the pounding in my head.

"Alpha!"

I tripped over the bed sheets, knocking over the whiskey on my bed stand. I watched as the bottle hit the ground. It's content painting my carpet. I was seconds away from screaming at the person on the other side.

I made my way to the door, making sure to avoid the shards on the floor. My white carpet had officially been stained.

Someone better be dying.

"There is something wrong with Calvin and Ethan!" He rushed out. It took a moment for the information to sink in between the booze and the other emotions I was trying to suppress at the moment.
He was already gone before I could get a word in. I picked up the pace and first went to Ethan's room.

And it wasn't exactly what I was expecting.

Present in the room were three other pack members who were trying their hardest to pin him down. He was white as his sheets, his mouth pressed into a thin line, as his hands held on tightly to his sheets.

I decided the best course of action was to phone Arthur.

"Do you know the time, Noah?" His voice came through on the second ring. "It better be someone dying."

"It may or may not be that sort of situation. You need to get down here now."

Without another word, he ended the call, and I knew he was already on his way. The situation with Calvin wasn't any different from Ethan's when I went to check on him, too. His mate, Lorinda, was crying and not helping the situation at all. I had to get her out and soothe her for a while.

Thirty minutes later, Arthur arrived.

His brown waves were disvelled when he peeked his head from the door. He was in his pyjama shorts, and he hadn't bothered about wearing a top. His infamous scowl was etched on his face, and judging by the scent coming from him, it looked like I interrupted a moment.

"We have a---." The door shut with such force. It rattled. The lights blinked rapidly, and the room vibrated with the power radiating off from Arthur. I had grown accustomed to the breakages each time he had to use his power. His black orbs now shone a silver hue. His pale skin glowed, and with a snap of his fingers, we were in Ethan's room.

"Leave us." The statement was directed to the guys that held Ethan. They hurried out of the room. As if on cue, Ethan got up. His eyes looked dazed, but Arthur wasn't paying attention to him. His attention was on the wall.

There was a shadow, and it was cast by Ethan.
Slowly, the shadow the wall turned into that of a woman. I wasn't new to some of these things, but sweat suddenly broke on my brow. There was a rapid increase in my heartbeat.

What the fuck was going on?

I was afraid. I haven't been afraid. Not in a very long time. Not since that time. 

The shadow stood up, and slowly, it began to morph into something I had never seen, and I've had my fair share of these mysterious creatures. It had two horns and some snakes for tail. It moved out of the wall and manifested before us. Arthur seemed focused, but I was more afraid even at the sight of it. I was beginning to contemplate if staying here was worth it.

In a split second, Arthur reached out and grabbed the creature by the neck as it tried to reach for me. The silver hue radiating from his hand slowly dissipated it away. Creeping slowly over Ethan's body was black thorns that came from under his bed. It wrapped itself around his arms and legs. The thorns began to bud white roses, and after a while, Ethan began to open his eyes.

Arthur turned to look at me with eyes that screamed urgency.

"There is a witch in Grimborough."