I Claim Your Love

Lothar and his men were low on forbearance. Just as he thought that his job was done, he was left disappointed for Einar still lived. He waited for a long time and stood guard near Einar to make sure he breathed his last but that was not happening soon enough. He was puzzled for Einar's resilience as the poison he used was enough to kill ten wolves at a time. He used all that heavy dose on this powerful Alpha and he still managed to hang by a thread.

Lothar huffed in frustration and ran his hands through his hair "I cant take the risk. Arrange another knife for me and make sure you double the dose this time." One of his men bowed and ran to the opposite direction to do the said job.

A vicious grin colored Lothar's face when he saw the man returning with a glimmering metal. The man carefully handed over the knife to his Alpha and backed off. Lothar raised the knife in air and laughed hysterically "My fellow soldiers, from this day on the blue moon pack will be ours. No one can stop us now.." He lifted his foot and crushed it above Einar's chin "I have done what no one could dare think of. The blue moon pack will bow to me because their mighty Alpha has fallen.." The people around him jeered and hailed their Alpha. Lothar gripped the metal firmly and aimed at Einar's head this time, making sure that blue moon Alpha is done once and for all.

As he was about to lower his hands a glint of light caught his attention and what followed was a sickly caw. A bird with grievous eyes and ink stained wings, seemed to float over him with a swift movements of its feathers. It flapped its wings and circled the men from above, booming its caw to the extreme. The jarring caws were sickening as it pierced through the men and brought little shivers to their body. After circling the men a few times, it landed on a tree branch which was directly opposite of Lothar and bobbed its head up and down. Lothar found this behaviour unusual and rather tried to ignore the black bird. He was wary of the raven as its eyes bored continuously into the eyes of Lothar.

The Alpha just gave a fit of petty annoyance at the bird and lifted his hands once more. As soon he did the motion a loud noise of fluttering wings could be heard from a distance. What followed left the entire pack stand in disbelief. A swarm of dark feathers covered the skies and painted the space above them in black. They cawed and hovered above the men before settling; occupying the branches of every nearby tree.

Lothar and his men looked in dismay at the scene unfold. Some were even trembling in their feet as the black birds were considered the bringer of bad omen while some believed they opened the door to hell. Lothar was wary of the intently gazing eyes which surrounded him completely but he was over confident of himself and undermined the signs in his arrogance. He ordered his frightened men to brace themselves as he lifted the metal one final time.

Lothar could do no more as the birds took off leaving the branches naked. They cawed and bellowed and aimed their beaks to the faces of the lowly people. Soon the men were dressed in black from head to tow as the birds scratched every part of their bodies with their beaks and their claws. The men cried in pain as they tried to free themselves from the painful stings of the determined birds. The Alpha was astonished by the sudden unprovoked attack and made an effort to save himself from the onslaught. On one such instance he caught hold of a bird and strangulated its neck to thrash it down to the ground. What followed left him bewildered in veneration.

The fallen crow had turned to ashes.

Lothar understood that these were out of the world creatures and should not be messed with. He instructed his bleeding men to retreat and return to the pack. The men heeded the order and struggled their way back home amidst the attacks of the birds.

****

With haggard breaths and an insecure mind, Callan, Garrick, Fayette and Archer followed the raven blindly putting their trust on the bird. Though Fayette and Archer did not have any fondness for the Alpha they were still worried because deep in their conscience they knew it was a matter of life and death. Callan on the other hand was apprehensive for a disturbed Garrick. He could clearly see the distraught and worried face of Garrick. He wanted to dispel his fears and put his mind to rest but decided against it.

When they reached the spot the first thing they saw was the blood stained land. The ground was colored with crimson patches all around. On approaching further the volume of redness increased as they could see a body lying to its side covered in a pool of blood.

It was Einar.

Garrick screamed his best friends name in absolute horror, assuming the worst for him. In his apathy he failed to take note of his nerves. Thankfully Archer was another shifter in the clad and reassured the members that Einar was still alive. Garrick soon kneeled in front of Einar's chest and convulsed his shoulders, trying to wake him up. He scrutinised the completely infused knife and decided to detach it from Einar's body. As soon as his hands reached the metal Callan screamed. "NO! DONT DO THAT."

Garrick retreated his hands in a jiffy, astounded by the sudden interjection. Callan took charge and urged Garrick to step aside. He then diligently but carefully held Einar's head and cradled him on his lap. "It is dangerous to take out the knife just now. He must have had internal injuries which could only worsen." Callan cautioned Garrick.

Garrick moved back a bit and looked around. He closed his eyes and sniffed all the smells around him. "I cant sense Rosaline anywhere."

Archer and Fayette followed suite to look around for signs of Rosaline. Right then Archer noticed something "Why is his face all blue?" He said looking at Einar.

Callan closely watched Einar's face and pursed his lips. "Perhaps he has been poisoned."

"But his mouth is free of foam." Fayette reasoned.

Callan held Einar's chin to open his mouth. He saw no traces of the poison being swallowed but he was sure that Einar was injected with it. However if not taken through his mouth than... "The knife!" Callan uttered in realisation.

As if stabbing him wasn't bad enough that Einar had to endure the pain of the piercing knife which was lacerated deep with poison. It was done to make sure Einar had no means to survive. "We have to take him to Aurora. Only she can help him now." Garrick said in a panicked voice. He looked at the three people surrounding Einar "The pack must not know. It will create a state of panic among them and if the word goes out we will be left vulnerable."

"Why are you looking at us?" Archer squeezed his eyes at Garrick. Surely the words of Garrick could be interpreted as a blatant distrust among the 'outsiders'. He gritted his teeth and looked at Callan and Fayette before uttering "Are you trying to say that we will sell you out mutt?"

"No! I have faith in you two." Garrick quickly retorted. He did not wanted to seem like a villain in this scenario.

"Than what do we do?" Fayette asked worriedly.

"Take him to my house. It is the closest from this place and we will call Aurora there." Callan suggested.

at each other. Callan's house was in isolation with less people staying around. This would be advantageous for them to help Einar stay away from

Garrick "Help me get

help him get up. He put one of his arms around his shoulder while the other arm was held by Callan. However when Garrick was about to move a step further he faltered in his place. A sudden surge of pain dominated his head as he squeezed it with his fingers to make it go away. Archer looked

I am

at the blue linings around Einar's wound "It is Alsim; the wolf poison!" She

of a mountain where a small river flowed through its backyard. Since the settlement there was rare,

side on the bed. Archer than tore Einar's shirt and trashed it outside. Fayette on the other hand brought a wet cloth and carefully cleaned the surrounding area of the

after witnessing the mighty Alpha lying in a vegetative state. She quickly sat near the edge of the table and examined Einar's body. Suddenly she jerked her hands back and sighed heavily pursing her

bad is it?"

his blood stream, had it not been for his beasts he would have died after

of

"I know what it is. It

do you

grow them." Garrick still looked doubtful so she further added "It may be poison for you but we grow them as medicinal herbs." Her eyes met that of the wolf and both stared at each other. Confused

the theriac but I don't have all the necessary elements

"What do you need? Just tell me and I will

hand when he was about to run for

Aurora."

looked at Callan before replying "We would require a handful of

exasperation. Aurora looked quite pitiful herself. Noticing their expressions Archers interest perked "Why do you both

other two items but the purple grass grows in the peak of the mountains of Elenoir." Callan

is

snow

the window. The Elenoir mountains were famous for a lone standing tree. Beneath the tree laid a bed of long tipped purple grass which had strong medicinal properties. The problem being that the grass was available only for a quarter of a year when there was no snow. However the majority of the trouble was to get there in these harsh weather conditions. It was an unachievable task. Only a divine

gasped as her eyes were gleaming with hope. She looked at her friend "Callan can I have

he squeezed his eyes "You know it is worthless to try. What would I

its you Callan. You have to take the risk. Just believe in yourself and this.." she pointed to the bracelet in his

paused for a moment before saying "But it would be freezing

a way. Think of it as chance to prove your worth to Einar. Besides he does not have much time

fiercely looked at

****

Aurora thought that his being here was necessary to handle situations if something goes awry. Meanwhile Rosaline had made her appearance with a young girl in the Ashton house. She was found by a wandering Arthur near one of the borders and decided to help her. He connected with Garrick and took the pair to Callan's house. Thus Arthur was now part

go collect Alsim shrubs and Callan would be

in a chaotic way. What fascinated Arthur though was the way Callan was carrying his gait. Being a human he showed resilience and languorously braved the extreme weather conditions. When they had reached halfway of their journey the fog was so dense that it was impossible to look at a distance beyond ones arms stretch. However, Callan walked confidently ahead as the fog thinned instinctively like it

amazing!"

"What?"

these extremities but now when I am here I assume that the

you talking

see! The river currents down below are always wild as far as I remember but not today. Even the path from the foot of the mountain up till here is uneven

absorbed that he forgot the bracelet would create some magic and help him. The fact that Arthur was taking a note of these changes was worrisome. Aurora had always warned him not to reveal the secrets of the bracelet to anyone or use its powers in front of anyone. But the bracelet had been acting

a large tree bending to a side with the weight of the snow. Clouds swirled around them in an icy greeting while the snow coated the entire land ahead. Callan gestured Arthur to come

to its original green and brown color. He was left disappointed as the land he dug was barren. There was no sign of any life on the lands near the

we do now?" Arthur