Chapter 3

The day turned into night, and the moon was crystal blue and bright in the sky. The night was silent and dark. The nightingales that sang high in the trees did not sing a song tonight. Not even the wind rustled through the leaves on the branches. Alex had closed his eyes to sleep, but still, he was restless. The quietness of the night was too intense not to be bothered about it. He opened his eyes and tossed on the bed. Seeing that the moon’s reflection in his room was still a shining light of brown-tinged gray, he closed his eyes, hoping that the restlessness he was feeling would go away.

In a sudden manner, a dark gray cloud passed through the moon, and the brown-tinged gray color of the moon turned into the red moon. Alex’s eyes were still shut, and there was not a single cry of a wolf to alert him that the red moon had appeared tonight. Almost immediately, he could no longer feel anything; his eyes did not open, and he was numb from his head down to his feet. He was no longer aware of his surroundings.

Laying down rigidly and numb on his bed, Alex could not hear the leaves on the branches of the trees rustling, nor could he hear the shrill cries of wolves that pierced into the night. His eyes were still shut, unblinking, and his body, as cold as ice, was unfeeling and unmoving. No one could tell if he were under the influence of the red moon or being controlled by it without knowing the evil atrocities already happening.

The inauspicious night passed, and as morning approached quickly, Alex woke up with a migraine in his head. He hissed as he placed his hand on his forehead. “I slept just fine last night. How did I get a migraine?” He muttered as he let out a hiss. He could feel his temper getting out of hand at just the slightest thought of having a migraine, and he tried to keep it in check. He was very temperamental and was trying his best to stop being angry by any means possible. For he knew what would happen if he stayed angry and the repercussions that came with it.

Just then, he heard wailing outside the pack house, and his guard immediately came on alert. He jumped off the bed, throwing on a white plain long sleeve shirt over his body, and briskly walked out of his room, wearing his famous long, blank, and emotionless look on his face. He walked down the stairs and saw Hendrix coming into the pack house with an agitated look on his face.

“I was just about to come to you,” he said in a worried tone.

“What happened?” Alex asked as he got down the stairs.

“It happened again last night,” Hendrix said.

“Do not speak in riddles, Hendrix. What happened last night?” Alex asked, his face still not revealing any emotions.

“The red moon appeared last night, and it took the usual number of wolves,” Hendrix broke the news to him.

There was no trace of emotion on Alex’s face. Hendrix could not tell what was going on in his mind. It was as if he were devoid of emotions, but Hendrix knew better. When he saw Alex clench his hand into a fist and momentarily close his eyes, he knew he was fighting to control the anger that was about to surface in him. If he did, he would unleash the

“How did they get out of the carriage?” Alex asked, intruding into Hendrix’s thoughts, that he was forced to leave his mind and be back to the present situation at hand.

“I’m yet to find out, Alex,” he replied, and Alex opened his eyes, unclenched his hands, and walked out of the pack house with Hendrix right behind him.

“Alpha,” the people gathered, falling at his feet. “We’ve lost our brothers, husbands, and fathers again,” one said.

“What’s going on, Alpha?” Another question was asked in a voice filled with tears.

“Are we just going to keep dying like flies?” Another person asked tearfully.

“What’s happening, Alpha?” Another asked

“Your proffered idea did not work!” One yelled bitterly amidst her tears. “We need an everlasting solution to this!” She yelled again.

Alex stared at them, watching them all speak, rant, and lay out their agony, pain, and frustrations on him. He stood rooted to the spot, wondering how on earth the red moon appeared this time around without his knowing and how the pack members got out of the carriages to end up being devoured by the red moon.

“Tell us, Alpha, are we cursed?” Another cried out. “Are we cursed?” He reiterated.

“Tell us!” They demanded in one voice.

“You’re not cursed,” Alex finally said. “This situation, as it is, seems beyond my control. We’ll get to the bottom of this, but first, do tell me how the dead wolves got out of the carriage,” he said to them.

“We really do not know.” We were all in the carriage and had slept off. “Then in the early hours of this morning, we noticed we were incomplete and went searching for our missing people, only to find them dead in the woods,” someone explained, and Alex was more confused than ever, but he did not show it.

“I believe the Diamond Shadow pack is responsible for all the deaths of our people. “They have been our archenemies for centuries and must be using the art of witchcraft to murder us. Our people cannot just be denying under the light of the red moon,” the same man who explained what happened in the carriage said.

“Yes, it is true!” The other pack members agreed with him, but Alex didn’t. He was not positive that the Diamond Shadow pack was responsible for these killings over a mere feud between both packs.

***

“Not again!” Jayden yelled, sending everything on the dining table flying into the air and crashing into pieces of the floor.

“Calm down, Jayden,” Lauren said worriedly to him, while Mia shuddered at how much anger was in her father’s heart.

“How do I calm down, Lauren? The Red Moon has taken another set of wolves from our pack! If things continue at this rate, we will become fewer!” He yelled out, fuming in rage.

“You have to calm down, father. Anger will not solve the issue at hand. We must find a solution to this,” Mia suggested to her father.

“Solution, you say?” He asked, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “I’ll find the solution, Mia. I’ll march to that horde of barbarians and tell them to stop these atrocious acts or there shall be war,” he declared, outraged.

Mia’s eyes were wide with shock. “You can’t be so sure that our neighboring pack is responsible for this,” she said, trying to calm her father down.

“They are, and I’m ending it all today!” He said it adamantly as he walked away from them.

“Jayden,” Lauren called after him, but he did not listen.

Mia covered her hands with hers. “This is not happening,” she muttered into her hands.