Forbidden Destiny

Chapter 4: Winds of Fate

There was a change in the atmosphere around the pack. The air felt colder, a sinister ambience no one could explain. Kian was alert, having positioned himself on top of the hill overlooking the valley, grey eyes slightly gleaming as he scanned over the horizon. Amara stood by his side, concerned, and looped her arm with his. "What should we do? We can all feel the presence of the enemy." Kian agreed, "No one can deny the prophecy anymore; an enemy lurks in the dark, waiting for a chance to kill all that matters to us, and we must be ready."
Amara locked her eyes onto Kian's. She saw in his eyes a burden mirrored by his leadership position. "What is the prophecy, Kian?"

Kian sighed, and his action told what pressure he was under at that moment. He spoke loudly to ensure the whole pack would hear him. "Some time back there was a war whereby the heads of the pack and the witch of the caves fought. The witch lost and submitted to the pack after they had vanquished her and her black magic. She promised that she would cast a curse of a war that originated from the traitor within the pack. And yes, it's true. That has been passed on through the generations by the elders in the pack. The Lycan Corporation is their ally. Time is running out.”

After this revelation, the pack felt fear, and a black cloud seemed to be hanging over them.

Kian responded to this, breaking the silence, "We are a pack; we protect one another and fight for each other. The enemy must never doubt this in his mind and heart; can a pack like this fail to bring him and his evil down to his knees? They will die knowing they were beaten by a pack. " Kian let out a cry, and then the rest of the pack followed. They began to walk back to the camp; then the pack were no longer scared but only worried. Kian walked behind Amara, and for a while, both of them were silent. Then Kian caught up with her and turned to her, "We have to talk, now." He was guiding her towards their usual sitting area during the days of the meeting. He was not beating around the bush but turned straight to the oak tree, and Amara, willing to know whatever was in his mind, followed. He asked her to sit. "Listen to this," he said, his eyes filled with tension and sadness as he was looking straight at her. "I have a confession to make, something I should have told you days before today."

Amara furrowed her brow. "What is it, Kian?"

Kian inhaled a deep breath, his eyes sharpening. "We are no ordinary pack, no, we are the temple keepers of an old spirit, the same spirit that possessed the witch to curse our pack.”
After having said whatever he had to say, Amara could only open her eyes in horror. "You have the soul that uttered the curse in your midst?"
"She could not help but heed the call of the pack," Kian growled through clenched teeth. "She spoke the curse when angry and, realizing the mistake two hundred years later, wanted to atone for it; but it was then too late to undo and so she sacrificed her life so that her spirit would be with us until it happened."
A cold chill touched Amara's stomach, and her neck began to tingle. "Why didn't you tell me that before?"
"I wanted to protect you. But now I have realized that we have to do it together, that I can't run away anymore. Our powers must combine to face more stumbling blocks that come our way."
Amara took his hand into hers and squeezed it. "This is my promise to you. We fight through this together, and I defend the whole pack.”
Among the friendly pack, with the prophecy revealed, tranquillity turned to discontent. Disloyal words crawled through the air with the gust of wind that carried the apprehension. The strong unity in the pack started to fray.
The determined Alpha, the leader of the pack, called a meeting. His dominant tone thundered through the tense ambience. "We are threatened by an enemy from within," he stated while looking over the pack of wolves.

"But we have to stay together, we are a pack, and we should not leave one of our own however things may be; only this way do we stand a chance to defeat the enemy.”

Though the oratorical quality of his speech was persuasive, a seed of doubt was being sown. It made the members look at each other and converse in hushed tones, polluting the very atmosphere with tension. Fast erosion of team unity was happening due to the realization of an exterior enemy approaching and the possibility that one among them was a traitor.