Howl of Betrayal

ERVIN’S POV:

Pleasure. Ecstasy. And everything along that line was all I could feel at the moment as I reached my climax. We both fell to the bed breathing hard as I tried hard to return my breathing to normal. After a while, I noticed her breathing had returned to normal.

“That was awesome right?” I asked with a smile. When I did not get a response I turned to look at her. That was when I realized that she had fallen asleep. Her messy red curls were spread all over her face and pillow as she slept soundly. I could not help the little smile that crept up my cheeks. Stella was beautiful, just like her name. We had just finished having sex. My mind slowly wandered back to when I knew her. We became close friends till I fell for her. Fortunately for me, she liked me too and that was when our relationship secretly blossomed. Sadly enough, she was chosen by the moon goddess as the Luna of our pack. I sighed in exasperation as my mind strayed back to how it all started.

My mum used to be the Luna and the only witch in our pack before Stella was born. Stella was gifted by the moon goddess the same powers my mum had, so my mum took her in to nurture and groom her powers.

Uncle Cain, my dad’s younger brother was the pack doctor and the Blood Moon pack was in peace and everything was alright until that unfortunate day.

***

My brother Charles and I were on the list of the soldiers that would go for rounds and inspect the territorial grounds and our pack’s borders that day. My dad, the Alpha of our pack had purposely added our name. He wanted us to gain a little experience.

“Did you see Stella when she was helping Mum today at the botanical gardens?” Charles told me, with a tinge of hope lacing his words. “She smiled at me when I passed. I think she likes me.”

Although it was dark in the night as we trudged down the woods, I could still see the blush creeping up Charles’s face. Charles was in love with Stella but sadly enough, I also nurtured feelings for her too, but I never really told her. Luckily for me, Stella liked me too but I decided to keep it hidden because I loved my brother and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

“Ervin. You are unusually quiet tonight.” Charles said breaking into my thoughts.

“Yeah. I… I guess you are… right.” I managed to stutter a response. Charles stopped walking and turned to me.

“You don’t sound convinced. You two hang out a lot. Is there someone else? Is there something I do not know?”

My heart began to race as I stared back at Charles’s probing eyes. I forced out a chuckle and tried to sound convincing. “What? That’s absurd. I mean. Ye...”

“Shh!” Charles hushed stopping me. He tapped his ears and mouthed the word. “Listen. I hear something.” I stopped and listened to and I heard it. Footsteps coming in our direction. “Someone is coming…”

“Shhh!!!” He hushed me again, placing his hands under my mouth, blocking my nostrils. I gently plucked his hands away and that was when I perceived it. The foul stench of Rogues. My eyes widened as a looked up at Charles. He had the same surprised look on his face.

“We need to alert the others!” He mouthed. “Go back to the pack house and get the human fragrances that hide our scents, I will be on the watch. Alert the others as you’re going. Do not delay or get distracted, Ervin.” Charles ordered.

I nodded and with one final look at the direction they were coming from, I flashed out with my werewolf supernatural speed. I had gotten to the pack house, heading straight to the storage room. I searched every corner for the human scent and every single one we had was gone. I knew something was not right.

I headed straight to my dad’s room. I informed him of the situation at hand and he immediately headed to the borders with some warriors. He had instructed me to tell my mum, the Luna, and the witch of our pack to create some charms and potions in case anyone got scratched or injured by the Rogues. I did as I was told and headed back to the borders. I did not expect what I saw.

There was a trail of bodies of my pack members and rogues. I looked up and I saw my brother carrying and supporting my dad, the alpha. Fortunately, they had killed every rogue that attacked but my dad had gotten severely injured. I have never seen him in such a weak state, yet he claimed to be fine and tried to seem strong.

We helped him walk to the pack house. Luckily Uncle Cain was awake and ready to attend to him. It was not long, my mum rushed into the room to see him. Seeing him in that state broke her heart more than any of us.

“He would be fine Luna Rhea.” Cain adored and started inspecting and cleaning his wounds, administering my mom’s potion to him. She stayed with him all night till the next morning. It was her earthshaking and piercing cry that woke everyone up the next morning. The poison from the rogue’s attack had already traveled up to this heart. My uncle did not notice this in time and now my dad, our alpha was dead.

My mum rushed out to her room. My brother and I followed her in a bid to calm her but she already seemed calm. She pulled out a black box from underneath her bed, said some spells, and the enchanted box flipped open. She grabbed some dark objects and rushed to my dad’s room.

Stella and those that lived in the pack house had already filled his room and were staring in sadness.

“Luna Rhea.” Stella greeted stopping my mum. “Those things are dark objects. You said never to indulge in dark magic.”

“I can bring him back to life with it.” My mum said reassuringly and began her work. We could all see how straining it was on my mum but no one was saying anything. It was when we saw dark lines appearing on her skin and she began to shriek and twist in pain that Stella jumped in to stop her, but my mum had created a barrier spell to stop everyone from getting close to her. The magic my mum was practicing was so dark and it took her life in the process. It was one very dark and gloomy day I always pray to forget.

***

“Ervin.” Stella breathed as she laid on my chest staring up at me with her bright emerald eyes. Her voice brought me back to the present.

“Hey..” I whispered as my hands instinctively reached for her curls, shifting them away from her face. “How are you feeling?”

She looked away as she turned red blushing. “Ecstatic.” She mumbled. Her hot breath seeps through my clothes into my skin. It sent waves of shivers down my body and I could feel myself get a little aroused. She seemed to have sensed this as her hands reached out to my member but I stopped her.

“We can’t do this anymore.” I sputtered.

She stopped and looked up at me. “Huh?”

I sighed and gently pushed her off me. “It’s not right. We have to stop.”

“I don’t understand.” She said her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Did I do something wrong?”

How do I explain this so that she does not get mad? I asked myself. “Listen Stella. I love you. I do, but we need to stop pretending. You are betrothed to my brother. You need to start fulfilling your duties to the pack.”

Stella scoffed staring at me unbelievably. “My dad, the Alpha is dead. Charles is the next in line to be our alpha and you, his Luna. The faster you both get together, the faster we can get the pack back in one piece.” I explained slowly to her. “Charles is a nice guy. He is my brother. He is set to be the Alpha of our pack once you both are mated and he is head over heels for you.”

Stella scoffed again shaking her head.

“You are blessed by the moon goddess and given these gifts to be our Luna. I love you so much, but I cannot let the future of the pack go down the drain because of my selfishness.” I explained to her.

“I did something wrong,” Stella said sitting up and turning to face me. She held my hands as her eyes bored deeply into mine. “Please tell me so I can fix it. I love you, Ervin. Please tell me. I wanna fix us.” Stella pleaded, her voice shaking towards the end.

“You are perfect. You did nothing wrong. I love you and It is because I love you I can’t be selfish with you.” I mumbled softly. Even I could not believe where I was getting this courage from. I could feel my heart heavy as I spoke to her. Tears had pooled in her eyes as she held my hands tight trying to not cry.

“You mean you are okay with never holding me, never kissing me again? You mean you would feel alright watching me and your brother together always? You mean you don’t want to ever make love to me again Ervin… just done?”

That was when she lost it and she broke down crying. Seeing her crying brought tears to my eyes as it dawned on me what I was doing. I could feel my heart shattering into pieces as I pulled her into an embrace and hugged her comfortingly. Just then, I heard footsteps approaching my door and then a knock.

“Ervin. Open up.” My brother Charles said from the other end of the door. Both of us stilled at the sound of his voice and my eyes grew wide open.