ITHRA I fell to my knees with another blow to the head from Athaliah. Blinded by my bodily fluids and earth, I could hardly make out the frame of Azriel, who stood at the far end of the farm. “Get up.” Athaliah urged, dragging me by the hair. “Second lesson. Do not stay down for too long. Every second is valuable, and the more you stay down, the more dominion your enemy has over you.” She dragged me up and cut me short with another heavy blow to my stomach. My body erupts in pain, and I feel my internal organs struggle to keep up. Athaliah continued to drill her fist into my guts, and I tried and failed to prevent myself from it. It became evident that I didn’t have enough skills to defend myself. All my life, I craved power and went after everything that could grant me dominion over my enemies. I was already at a disadvantage. Born as a witch without powers. I tried all I could to get myself armed and ready to attack before they attacked me. However, I never thought there w

ITHRA“Ithra…” A voice called in a ghostly tone, “There is no more time…”I looked around the dark forest without fear. “Sarai, where are you?”“At the heart of the forest. Let's meet at the heart of the forest...”The voice returned to me. I nod and turn eastward toward the forest. I stare longingly at the mountain, “I’ll be there, just hold on!” I called back and started my sprint towards the mountain. Wait! The voice called back, Sarai’s voice. I come to a halt. “Take the book! Don’t come without the book! You need the book!”Confusion clouded my features, “What book? I don’t have any book.”“The ancient witches book. Get it, you’ll need it. You’ll need your powers…”At the mention of my powers, I felt a dark aura surround me. It immediately dawned on me the implications of her words. I still didn’t have my powers. I was still weak. “Get the witch’s book and get to the heart of the forest, Ithra.”“I’ll be waiting.”My eyes flew open, and my heart rate increased. It took a wh

ZADOKMy jaws tightened as I saw Alpha Cole of the BloodMoon pack walking towards me with his flavour of the night. It was one of the reasons I despised social gatherings. I put on a fake smile and met them halfway. “Alpha Zadok! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you. I thought you would miss this year’s ceremony too.”His words were a double-edged sword. “It’s hard to miss when I am the host. I’ve been quite busy these years. I didn’t realise I was causing an uproar by my absence.”“Nonsense! We are all busy, Zadok. We all have packs even bigger to run. Yet you don’t see us shying away from the public’s eye.” He gestured around the hall - as though aiming to drive a point. “One will think you are hiding something, especially with your status as an unmated Alpha wolf. Don’t you want to find your mate? Or perhaps choose one from the strong females that attend the ceremony this year.”“Don’t blame me if people find it hard to mind the business that pays them,” I force a chuckle,

ZADOK“They are coming! We need to run.” Ithra’s voice was panicked. As well as concerned. I managed to get on my feet, holding the bleeding gash on my stomach. With my movement, I felt pain all over again. “Why the hell was this taking so long to heal?” I mumbled, gritting my teeth in pain. “At this rate, you'll die before we get help.” Ithra's eyes fixed on my wound, which poured out blood. I could understand her concern, but I didn't have it in me to remind her I was an alpha and I couldn't die from loss of blood. With my delayed healing, I was losing blood and getting weak fast. The rogues used a silver weapon. Ithra helped me to an oak tree, and I relaxed, trying to preserve my breathing. “I'll just find some herbs to stop the blood.” She said and got up, “Try reaching out to the others with what you guys do in your mind.” My eyes perked at her words. Before I could ask what she meant, she was gone. Grudgingly, I tried to reach the others via mind link, all to no avail.

ZADOKWhere is she? I wondered as I trudged through the dark forest alone. I heard the snap of a branch, and turned to see a giant spider walking towards me with the intent to kill me. Not today. I thought and immediately picked up a large, strong tree branch. Before it could get to me, I charged towards it and hit it severally till it reduced to tiny pieces on the floor. I threw the branch as I continued my search for Ithra. I can’t believe she wandered off on her own. What exactly did she think going off to her death? I followed her trail eastward, carrying a decent tree branch, just in case anyone else tried something funny, hoping I got to her before danger did. “Zadok...” I heard a voice behind me, and I turned around with a swift movement. Nobody. There was nobody behind me. I continued my journey with vigilant eyes. I had heard stories about the deadliness of the dark forest. And how it reduced even the greatest to a delusional moron. I was determined to make a mess of t