Sapphire Nightborne

Words can't describe how happy I was to dump the duty of an Alpha back to Xander, he was much better at the job than I was. It was amazing how he could still remain so calm and polite after listening to people drone on and on about their problems. One of my biggest flaws was that it was really hard for me to sympathise with people as I was brought up through harsh training where you either faced your problems head on or let them consume you. Asking for help was almost out of the question as that was seen as a sign or weakness, thus we rarely asked for help in front of our trainers and tried our best to help one another in secret.

I was currently on patrol with Brendon and Amelia as we set traps just in case Damien tried to come through.

"This is one of the weirdest things I have ever done as a safety measure, Sapphire."

I rolled my eyes as Brendon repeated the same thing... for the tenth time. The two of us as well as five guards were sitting on the forest floor stringing tiny bells on a string. The sight had to be comical I admit when I took in the 6 burly men struggling to string the bells.

"This is our last stretch, Brendon. Be patient."

My fingers were nimble enough to tie the last knot and stood back to admire my handiwork. This was a long-forgotten method but proved to be useful in the war against Man.

"Are you going to finally enlighten me on how this contraption works?"

"What do you notice about the string, Brendon?"

"It is really thin and... oh."

"Exactly. We have lined this string all over the edges of our borders. I made sure the string was as thin as possible and the bells as tiny. If I flicked a bell, it would barely make a sound, but we have strung so many around the entire border that if one person would to step on one string, the whole pack would be able to hear it."

"That is really bri..."

All of us stilled as the bells began to ring, their soft chimes rose in a crescendo till the forest was filled with their sound. It surrounded as all as Brendon and the guards immediately formed a protective circle in front of me, this might have irritated me at one point, but I knew with my new title, my safety had to be prioritised.

Claws and fangs made their appearance as we stared into the dense foliage, the bells still ringing around us causing us to strain our ears to detect a sound besides the bells. Brendon pressed me close to his body, an arm wrapped protectively around my waist. The guards moved in a slow circle, snarling towards the trees in front of us... waiting. The bells finally stopped their song.

A scream pierced through the air.

It was Amelia. She was at the other side of the forest with another group of guards setting up the bells as well. I wanted to break from Brendon's grasp and run to her, but I knew I had to be rational for it was most probably a trap.

"Brendon, take two guards with you and alert Xander and Jared. I will take the others and go find Amelia."

He huffed, clearly not happy with the situation, but pointed at two of the guards. They nodded as they shift and ran.

"Take the path as close to the settlement as possible!"

I watched as they disappeared from my view before gesturing towards the remaining guards.

"Let's go but keep your senses on high alert as whoever attacked Amelia and her group could very well be still in the area."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

There was the ever-present discomfort in my back as I bent forward, watching my hands turn to paws. My eyesight was crystal clear as I could see every little detail down to even the movement of a butterfly's wings.

We took off as if the hounds of Hell were at our heels, dodging the various trees, not stopping even when their branches tore at our skin. I skidded to a halt when I picked up a scent I knew all too well.

Blood.

We followed the scent as it got stronger and stronger... my ray of hope growing weaker and weaker. The scent was too strong just to be the result of a small scuffle... someone had died. My legs felt as though they were on fire as I pushed them past their limit, my guards felt the same way as they each started to slow down only to be nudged by their comrades to keep the pace.

My mind went blank as I found the first of the massacre.

A medium-size grey wolf laid in front of me, her tongue lolled to the side as blood poured from her mouth, eyes still opened. One of my guards had already shifted back and was on his hands and knees, emptying his stomach of its contents. Bile filled my mouth as I looked to see the other part of her body lying a short distance away.

"She must have been trying to get help."

I turned to one of my guards who had also shifted, but unlike me was wise to bring his clothes along. He placed his shirt in front of me before turning his back, the other two followed suit. I shifted with my back facing away from the corpse, pulling the shirt over my head, letting the fabric fall just above my knees.

I reached down to the girl's body who had already shifted back, softly brushing my hand down her face, closing her eyes.

We walked slightly further till we came across the main scene, the carnage. The bodies of the other two guards laid marred and shredded, their limbs scattered from their bodies. My stomach churned as I stepped over their bodies, eyes searching for my cousin. She was the only family I had left, I couldn't lose her.

My body was thrown to the ground as something slammed its entire bodyweight against me, my hands instinctively raising to protect myself from the hulking creature above me. My hands gripping the sides of its jaw, causing my blood to drip down onto my face as its fangs grazed my skin. My guards recovered from their shock and shifted in record time, using their bodies to push the creatures away, circling it as it stood in the middle snarling.

I shook my head as I stood back up, my blood covering the front of the shirt, my claws extended as I advanced towards the creature, ready to give the killing blow when I stopped in my tracks.

"Amelia?"

She gave no sign that she heard me as she continued to snarl and hiss at my guards, her maw dripping with blood. She had done this... she had killed all these people. That girl was not trying to run for help for Amelia and the rest... she was trying to run from Amelia.

My hands started to shake, my body following it. I swayed as my legs seemed to lose their strength, my vision going blurry as darkness seem to encroach around it, almost if I was looking through a tunnel. Not now...not now.

My guards were torn between running to help me and keeping Amelia at bay. My legs finally lost whatever strength they had left, and I braced myself to hit the ground... but I didn't.

Strong arms encircled me, pulling me closer. My heartrate began to calm just the slightest when I took in the familiar scent. Xander was here.

"Just breathe, Sapphire, I am here alright. Focus on my voice, just my voice and nothing else."

I could barely make out his words as my head still spun.

"Sir, what do you want us to do with the Werecat."

"Let her pack bring her back, I asked some of them to meet us here. Don't harm her, I will deal with her later."

"Yes, Sir. What about the... the bodies?"

"Bring them back and notify their families. Half of the group should stay here as Sapphire is in no state to be moved."

"Yes, Sir."

There was a mess of movements coming from every direction as people moved all around trying to move the bodies as respectfully as possible. Xander softly placed his hands over my ears as Amelia's Pack came, trying to block out her snarling as well as the pleas of her pack... knowing that I would still be able to hear it.

I have no idea how much time passed before my heartrate finally slowed down. I looked up to see Xander, he gave me a soft smile before reaching a hand down to my face to wipe the tears I didn't even notice was there.

"Xander...I am so... so..."

"It's okay, love."

"Amelia, I can't believe she did that, all those people and their families...I never thought."

He pulled my closer to his chest and stroked my hair as I started to sob again.

"Something was wrong with her, Saph. Her eyes were pure red, not her usually yellow."

That statement made me feel a myriad of emotions. Relieved because she did not kill those people on her own will. Guilty because I felt relieved, by her own will or not, people today lost their family members. Scared as someone had managed to sneak past our borders to do something to Amelia.

"How did you find...never mind, Brendon probably went to warn you."

"Brendon? Only one of your guard came to warn me."

"What!"

Qn: What do you think happened to Amelia?