Chapter 5
The healer hands the paper to Herald and starts working on Malakai’s wounds. The Alpha takes a minute before leaving the cottage and facing anyone else. The note is small with -
‘Hounds of the Horned One are coming’
-Zedakh NightClaws
The use of forbidden tongue in the note is proof enough that the followers of evil have risen. The history has so many versions that the exact reason for tribes getting fractured, and wolves abandoning their pack for the thrill of gaining sinister objectives is lost. Not that the reason matters now when all the evil forces have banded together under the same banner. There were rumours about the NightClaws Clan rallying and taking in every rogue wolf under their Zedakh, in common tongue Alpha- the great black wolf Balkan.
The NightClaws abandoned the grace of Moon Mother and accepted sanctum under the devil Sammael. They have tainted their souls with dark intentions and want absolute control over the clans to establish Sammael as the one and only god. However there was no news of a direct attack on any clan. Sending notes like this is a declaration of war.
“Is everything alright Herald?” Cory approaches his Alpha. Being the second in command, the Beta of the Winterfrost Clan, Cory is the first one Herald turns to when situations escalate to the bad side.
Herald hands him the note “This is a direct threat, Cory. Call for a meeting tonight and inform me if Malakai regains consciousness. Also send Donny to me. I have some important messages to send.”
“As you command Alpha.” Cory dips his head. Herald leaves him there and proceeds towards his cottage. The time has come now and any more delay can destroy everything. Niya and Vivian must be sent away first followed by finding a new sanctuary for the elderly, women and children. The rest will fight; will face off the evil himself.
Anger curls inside Herald thinking of relocating his clan but now is not the time to be stupid. His victory would ensure his clan’s survival and not by showing off power over Balkan. They are true savages with nothing to lose and Herald has the responsibility of an entire clan.
“Niya!! Vivian!!” Herald calls out.
“Father?” Is everything all right?” Niya comes out to the porch hastily checking her father from head to toe for injuries.
“Yes for now. It was Malakai and he was seriously wounded. Where is Vivian? I need both of you immediately to discuss something.”
“She is not here. I will go and find her”
“Yes, come back soon.”
Niya grabs her jacket from the sofa and sets off to find Vivian. Where could she find her? She must be with her new boy toy, lurking in the corners. Winterfrost clan is not bound by many rules and traditions are pretty much diluted here which gives the tribe people much freedom of their actions, especially intimate actions. But folks by choice don’t perform erotic acts in public view, well not yet. They prefer shadowy corners, abandoned places and behind closed curtains for such passions. Walking around the corner of Donny’s cottage, Niya encounters Lisa chopping wood with an axe.
“Hey Lisa!! Have you seen Vivi?”
“No Niya, I haven’t. She must be with Aiden…”
“Okay. If Donny comes home, tell him to see me once whenever possible.”
“Yeah sure.”
Something strange is happening and Donny might be privy to Father’s strategies. If not that, then at least he might be able to suggest to Niya some ideas to get rid of this mating issue. She can only trust Donny other than Vivi, but first she has to find her. Following the narrow trail from Donny’s cottage, Niya finds a group of children playing; one of them is the youngling Rico who transformed recently and is clearly playing the leader now.
“Hey Rico, have you seen Vivian?”
Rico looks at her with a bossy attitude and says “Yes I did. But what would I get if I tell you?”
“What do you want?” Niya crosses her arms.
“Would you wrestle with me next time on the training grounds?”
“That’s it?”
“Yes”
“Okay. I will take pleasure in breaking your nose,” Niya shrugs
Rico rolls his eyes. “We’ll see. The last I saw Vivian she was heading towards the abandoned shrine. She was not alone though, so be careful.” Rico winks and gives a nasty grin.
“How old are you, ten right? You should be careful not me.” Niya returns a smirk of her own before leaving them to their business. This is the nature of her tribe; there is no power play or special privilege for the Alpha and his spawns. Everyone is considered family and my father has been the brother, friend and parent. He and his ancestors have earned the respect and kept the justice intact and that is what Niya finds special about Winterfrost Clan.
After a twenty minutes walk, the shrine finally comes into view. The place was considered sacred once but then one stormy night before she was born, lightning strike destroyed the entire left side of the temple. Clan elders considered the event as a sign from Moon Mother to change her place of worship. Since then, the place is mostly abandoned, surrounded by wild vines and trees as old as time. Walking through the bushes Niya stumbles several times and her anger for Vivian deepens with each step.
“Curse you Vivi.” Niya says under her breath when the bushes almost reach her waist. Walking up to the stairs she wonders if Vivi is really here or not as she must have heard her coming; she didn’t even try to be subtle. But just then she heard something that made her stop in her tracks and go still. Tip toeing around the broken pillar and peeking inside the temple, the scene displayed before her knocks the air out of her lungs.
Vivian is entirely topless with her legs hooked around Aiden in a locked position on the ground. Aiden’s abs looked chiselled and Vivian’s fingers rove over his chest and back, taking pleasure from every ridge and dip. Their lips are locked, both devouring each other hungrily and Aiden is caressing her back all the way down to her ass. Vivi’s body is perfect with her voluminous breasts and the curve around his tiny waist is what any male would die for.
A moan escapes Vivi’s lips as Aiden trails kisses down her neck and flicks his tongue over her right nipple. She arches her back more to let Aiden take her breast fully in his mouth while he grabs hold of the left one. This is the first time Niya is having such graphic display of sexual intercourse. Her entire body trembles with tension as her mind and body wars against each other. This is way beyond what she imagined the other night, this is pure ecstasy. Despite knowing it is wrong to watch such an act like this; her feet keep rooted on the ground and her body starts craving the touch that Vivi is experiencing.
What would it be like if someone touched her like that? Will she be moaning like her if someone kissed her neck? Vivian opens her eyes for a split second, her head arched back and meets the hungry gaze of her sister. Immediately her eyes widen and she jumps from Aiden’s lap to grab her top and cover herself.
“Niya!! What the hell! What are you doing there?” She cries out which startles Aiden.
The trance now broken, Niya for the first time in her life feels dumb and extremely ashamed. Shit! What was she thinking!? Very reluctantly she draws herself out and stands at the gate of the temple speechless. Vivian and Aiden, now fully clothed, approach her, with Vivian’s cheek burning red. Niya is not sure if she is more humiliated or angry.
“You go ahead, I will catch up with you later.” Vivian says to Aiden. When he leaves successfully avoiding Niya, Vivian crosses her arms and asks “What the hell were you doing? Were you spying on me?”
Still not able to construct meaningful sentences, Niya just stands there shaking her head.
“This is not the way to learn about flirting and meeting sexual needs…”
“What? No Vivi, trust me. I was just searching for you, I didn’t know you would be doing whatever you were doing here!” Vivi arches her eyebrows and Niya sighs.
“Look, I was not here to spy on you or anything, I don’t want to learn all these acts of pleasure. The only thing I learnt is that your guard is down whenever you are engaged in any sexual act because either of you didn’t hear or even sense me coming. That is terrifying.”
Vivi relaxes a little bit “You are right, but it is fun you have to agree. Anyway, you like what you saw?” She puts up one of her iconic smirks.
“Shut up! You are shameless!! It was not my choice to stumble upon such a moment. And you don’t even love him do you?”
“Oh no! He knows that. It will be different when I love, sis.”
“But what about your chastity?” Niya asks “How will you explain to your mate all these passing encounters?”
“This is the problem with you Niya. I haven’t been imprinted on if that’s what you are worried about. I just had minimal sexual innuendos. It is not my fault that I haven’t come across my mate yet, who would satisfy what I crave for. It happens to everyone after the flowering age has passed; I bet it happens to you too. You just are determined to hide it well and I happen to act on them. No one said that I would be the perfect, pure bride waiting in exile for my husband to be. What if he is in the middle of some sexual act right now while I am explaining all this to you?”
Niya absorbs all this information and reflects back on her own desires. It is clear that she has no experience with whatever Vivi knows and yet a small part of her wants that kind of pleasure, the part she keeps hidden inside.
“Why did you come looking for me?” Vivi asks
“Father asked me too. He was tense and wanted to have a meeting with us. Malakai is gravely injured.”
“What!?” Vivi jumps back with shock. Malakai had been Vivi’s trainer for a long time and they share a bond similar to what me and Donny have.
“Yes, Let’s go and ask father for details. We must help him in any way we can.” They both break into a run and it is not until they are a few metres away that Niya gets a feeling of being watched. She halts to look back once and finds nothing but a silver furred cat watching them with unflinching gaze and unnerving stillness.
“Come on Kitty…” Vivi tugs Niya’s jacket “Don’t stop, it’s just a cat.” Niya resumes her course but can’t shake off the intensity of the slit pupil gaze that felt ancient.