AUTHOR'S POV
Scott and Lucas hurried back to Cory as fast as they could. Like lightning tracing the sky, every second matters. Rushing out, they reached the bonfire now crowded with more beastmen dancing in the loud tunes of the stereos, and bang of the drums. It was as if, there were no roads to choose but to go through them.
They decided to weave the rave. This time, no more wolves were stalling them in violence. More like, they became a living barricade with beating hearts and opinions. They pushed through the crowd, with force at each grunt. Not claws. No fangs. Just hands, weight and bodies. Booming screams saying she's not here. Hands held them back. Clapping their shoulders into a pull. People forcibly laughing blocking their line of sight. "Move", they didn't.
Scott's instincts came in. This is no longer chaos. It's a choreography.
The laughter went crazier. The deafening music clogged their ears. And even the crackling fire masks the important noises Scott is after. He knew that fighting them loses him more time. As he go, Lucas was dragged away into a different distraction. Disappearing into the crowd, that not even his voice can be heard. Scott couldn't stand the delay. He couldn't afford to bleed more time. Then, he snapped not into rage, but into focus. He shoved one off, and grabs a young girl by the neck. And for a moment, the camp stills. "Where is she?".
The drums slowed.
No one talked. Just eyes looking. Scott gripped harder, losing his patience. Instead of answers, he gets smiles. "If she wanted to see you", someone says quietly. "You wouldn't be this lost".
It was a punch Scott cannot dodge. He did let Diana go, and now, it's harder to take her back. But, that didn't put him down. He is going to take what's his, no matter how hard it gets. Scott released the girl who's turning blue from his chokehold. And without second thoughts, he releases a powerful aura letting everyone in the crowd submit to him.
The sounds died first. The drums stumbled, then gone. Like hands that seemed to forget why they were striking them. The voices curdled in their throats. Followed by every movement there is. Scott's presence spread not like heat, not even light. It was a heavy weight pressing to the beastmen's bones right into their instincts. Straight into the oldest part of them that remembered what an Alpha was meant to be. And next, the people's will crumbled, as their knees hit the dirt. Even the bonfire seemed to recoil, its flames shrinking, bending sideways as if the air itself no longer belonged to it.
A few fought hard with their knees. Their shoulders trembled, teeth clenched. Eyes burned gold against the pressure crushing them down. Fighting Scott's dominance out of their loyalty for Roman. Scott didn't care. His senses led him to his main purpose. Finding Diana.
Then, there it was.
The faint sound caught his senses. It was small, but precise in the silence that he forced into the world. An engine turning over, soft and controlled. His head snapped toward the sound. Strained and focused on chasing his Luna, he rushed his way out of the bonfire right into the bridle paths between the trailer homes.
As he track his way out, he cut between the camper vans following the fading screech of metal. The gaps... narrowed. Not fast. Not sudden. He didn't stop, and so did the mobile homes. Not even forward and backward as they should. He turned left, it was blocked. He doubled back, the path was gone. He forces forward, the vans slid sideways sealing the opening with a dull final thud. It blocked his way, leading him to a path that he didn't chose for himself.
It didn't feel like stopping him. It's more like leading him elsewhere.
He tried climbing, thinking that it was a smart way out. However, the world shifted. Above him, the roofs overlapped, closing like shutters, denying him of the sky. Each time he leaps up, a metal sheet roofs in. Like some force keeping him on the ground. He climbed the trailers, only to tilt sideways making his feet slide down the slope. He dropped down and eventually, decided to play along as he squeeze himself to the narrow corridor the maze was chosen for him.
The resistance eased. In fact, gone. He moved forward, following the path that remained with tightened jaw and sharp senses. There was an exit after all. Just not the one he chooses. In time, Lucas appeared along side of him from a tight alley of camper vans. He didn't even noticed the cuts and bruises Lucas had. Inching closer to the passage towards the rough road where Cory is parked, Scott stopped without looking when he sensed an interesting scent.
"Hey, what's the hold up??", Lucas uttered, licking the blood on his lip, as he hit Scott's back from stopping abruptly.
Scott wasn't surprised at all. He finally found who made the path for him. "You are too late", the voice didn't rise. It slipped through the silence like it belonged there. "But... I can help you keep up". Scott turned towards the shadows, and found a woman under a brown cloak untouched by the pressure - head lowered just enough to respect, yet not enough to submit. "You can keep breaking the ground beneath you", she said, almost bored. "...but she's already moving".
"Do you know her?", Lucas whispered, squinting. "We should hurry". Lucas' voice hinted urgency, yet Scott stood still, not understanding why his ears are more invested at voice of the sigma wolf.
"I'm glad to meet the other Alpha", the woman said. "The Luna is such a pretty, young thing.. No wonder two great Alphas are bewildered at her extraordinary beauty".
"What do you know?", Scott asked, keeping his eyes on the cloaked chieftain.
"Heh. I know where your Luna is", the woman said exposing her clasped hands under the lantern above the trailer home. "I can help you", she offered.
"Why would you help me? Let me guess.. you're not going to tell me easily", Scott bluffed. Though, something tells him that an important clan member who doesn't readily show itself to anyone, brings a message worth his time. "And… what is it for a Sigma wolf like you, Oli?", Scott asked.
"I'm impressed. Your senses are stronger compared to other Alphas.", amazed with how Scott recognized her from her scent, and not by her scars. Oli removed her cloak showing herself to the two wolves of the Grayback Clan. "Calm down, Scott. I can hear your thoughts from here.", her face twitched, hearing his curses underneath his hardened face. "Diana really does have an unparalleled charm taming two strong Alphas.", she added.
"Cut the crap Oli, and quit wasting my time!", Scott growled making the lights flicker with a flick of his aura. "Go straight to the point".
Oli smirked at Scott's arrogance and emergence. "Why do all Alphas have one thing in common?", she scoffed keeping her distance. "Listen, I'm not helping you, I'm helping my son.", Oli answered, which seemed to surprise the two. Scott didn't uttered a word, but Oli replied like he did. "Yes. I'm his mother.. A friend of mine saw visions of my son, being imprinted on a Luna with eyes like sapphire, and as blue as the open sea. In his visions, the girl will arrive in this town after the red-tainted moon appears in the sky. My son will drown in greed, power.. and addiction to her scent cradling him to his own death.", Oli warned in monotone. She laid everything that explains her truth, giving no room for Scott to doubt her intentions. "However, there's also another Alpha who imprinted first on the girl. The Alpha who needs her the most. The Alpha who will save us all", Oli's words flickered Scott's interests. He listened more. "I refused to believe in Dolphus' visions. Then, when the Blood Moon owned the stellar sky, I gasped in denial seeing how the moon was tainted in red. And tonight, I stared at her blue eyes glistening even in the dark. The prophecy of Dolphus Crumbe was brought to life. And all I need to do, is find the other Alpha who would take the Luna away from my son", her face tightened, serious at every word not out of kindness, but out of the cold terrifying foresight. Not even hiding her betrayal.
"Where are they now?", Scott asked.
"They just left. They are headed to the Valley of the Falls.", Oli revealed with her face calmer than ever. As if a large boulder was lifted from her chest as she choose a choice that hurts less. It was not emotional. Not desperate. It was decided.
"That place is..", Lucas shook his head, unwilling to believe what he just heard.
"The home of the werewolves", as Scott completed his sentence. The forbidden place where even an Alpha's voice doesn't have weight. "Why would Roman go to some place that he himself cannot stand a chance to fight?", Scott gritted his teeth.
"His father lived there as soon as he turned to a werewolf", Oli replied, turning around as if not interested to share more. "Time is running, you better go. Tick, tock, tick tock", Oli walk back to the shadows, leading herself to the camp.
It was then settled. The two rushed where their car was parked, with Cory nowhere to be found. In separate ways, they tracked Cory which eventually led them both to some place on higher ground. Right there, they found Cory running towards them shouting, "I know where they are! Come on!!".
"What happened to you?", Lucas scanned Cory from head to toe, seeing his friend in total disarray as if he was badly beaten up.
"I'll explain later", Cory answered, catching his breath, as the three race back to the car.
Immediately, Cory started the ignition. Loud studs of the doors slammed close. Suddenly, Lucas and Scott halted as they sense someone closing in. Lucas gasped at the familiar presence appearing in his side of the car window. "Hi Boys!", Christina exclaimed. Lucas' eyes widened, while Scott hardened his face at the sight of her.
"Oh.. she's the one who'll help us.. and uhh.. She offered some help, Alpha. She said she knew where exactly to go", Cory explained, as he smiled awkwardly to Scott.
Christina turned her eyes to Scott who seemed very unhappy to see her."First of all. I know you are all not happy to see me. Trust me, The feeling is mutual. But, seeing Cory get beat up by a bunch of Black Creek Mutts, how can I just watch?", Christina said peeking in the open car window at Lucas' side.
"What are you doing here?!", Lucas asked.
"I was invited to moonbathe here. I was leaving when I heard that the Alpha of this clan imprinted on a weird.. ugly she-wolf. So, I hang out a bit more to meet her. Surprisingly… I was right about her being ugly", Christina pouted.
"You always put your nose in other people's businesses", Scott said. "On the ugly part..I'm sorry were you referring to yourself?", he added.
"I'm sure she is", Lucas grinned.
"You never change huh? Anyway, you will be needing me tonight. I know where he took her. And, you don't have to worry about me still having feelings for you. I already imprinted", Christina said, making them feel comfortably about being with them. "So what? Are we just going to talk here? Or you guys are going to let me in?", Christina asked as she pouts her lips.
After a long pause, Scott eventually found the words to say. "Make sure you're not telling lies", he said, as Christina open the car door and hopped in the car.
Earlierin Parking Lot
It has been only a few minutes since Scott and Lucas went down the car to look for Diana. Parked in the middle of the road, Cory was vigilant and sensitive in all the movements and sounds occurring around. He roamed for a while. Away from the blundering zone of the camp. While walking in the rough terrain, his feet was led through the trees and dark bushes until he hears loud thudding sounds and clacking of metals. A voice screams calling out for help, and a demand for freedom.
Peeking out from the bushes, he saw a black trailer home attached to a car parked in the woods, far from the camp. A familiar voice of a woman shouts to open the door. "Luna..", Cory whispered, as he check the area with his eyes if it's guarded. Then, he slowly and cautiously approached the trailer. Right when he was about to creep up the door, he felt a big hand strangle him from his nape and threw him backwards. "Where are you going, punk?", a man twice the size of Cory appeared, sizing him up.
Cory crouched down and darkened his eyes. "Let the Luna go", he ordered. The large man with a long beard smirked and attacked Cory in no time, as the latter swiftly dodge and was able to land farther from him. "You can't hurt me, we have a pact", Cory said.
"Pacts don't apply if we won't shape shift, dumbass", the man replied as two more shirtless men appeared on the side. It was an exemption among wolves allowing violence as long as they are in their human forms.
Cory gritted his teeth as he prepare for battle. He can't simply shape shift and kill them all for that it is marking himself with a death sentence. "Alright then, I'll finish you all one by one. Just fall in line", Cory said, as he leap and attack one of the men. Cory dodged every attack, not squaring them up. Being relatively smaller than his enemies had its advantages. He moved like the wind. Slipping between them, ducking a swing that would've taken his head clean off. Driving his fist into a rib, then already gone before the man could fold. A second later, he got distracted with Diana's screams. Then, a fist caught his shoulder, spun him... making him drop in his one knee. And that was the beginning of him getting the jabs that have always missed.
Not too long, his arms felt heavier with every swing. The punches miss, yet he kept standing. No more planning ahead, no more thinking. He was swaying and almost bleeding. Getting beat up, Cory fought with all his might when suddenly a brown she-wolf appeared growling and snarling at the beastmen. Afraid to break the pact, they backed up and ride the trailer home driving out. The wolf caught a glimpse of the woman inside the trailer, as she shift to her human form. "Diana?!", Christina uttered.