A storm rage through the night in the lands of Varnythia soaking the grounds, and making the paths of woods murky with the scent of wet stone filling the land from the rain. The moon was nowhere to be scene, blocked by the thick grey clouds that remained visible despite the dark night. The lands were lonely as people were in their homes, in the embrace of their shelter safe from the storm's rage.
Yet somewhere in the woods, in a small cave, there rested an old lady with her two grandkids by her side. A boy, a young pup about be a teenager and his sister a little bit younger by two years. The rain pelted heavily on the cave forming it's own unique rhythm.
The fire brazing through the chilling breeze, dim in its glow, it crackled holding it's own through the storm.
The grandma and her kids sat on the log of wood as though it was placed for them. The girl whimpered, crawling to her grandma's thigh for warmth while the boy stubborn to prove his independence, folded his arms to himself. The old woman saw the boy's arms tremble slightly in fear and smiled.
"Come my children let me tell you a tale as old as our clan. The tale of the green eyed lady", She spoke, her brittle arms lanky and skinny, resembling that of twigs. It ached as she stretched them forward, her hands coming in contact with the girl's cheeks to stroke.
The boy huffed, looking indifferen, he lean onto the walls of the cave, his arms still folded but his grandmother saw the way his ears perked up slightly in anticipation.
The girl's interest in the tale was clear as day, curling in even closer to the warmth of the fire but mainly to listen to tale her grandma was about to spin, her eyes half-closed but clearly listening, waitng for it to begin.
Their grandmother stretched her hands to the boy, pinching his cheeks. her touch carried a playful tease that full of love giving off warmth that transcended physical touch alone and will be remembered as a memory so kind. When she spoke, her voice was seasoned sound like a woman of her age with the years of experience and yet it calm and soothing, despite her old age,
"Many wolves have eye of yellow like gold," she began, with a stick in her hands that she stretched into the flames of the fire. The tip of the stick as began to spark as it caught on fire. The storm became quieter as though it too was eager to hear her tale.
"Some have blue eyes that are clear glow at night or are clear as the sky. A few are born with brown eyes like that of the soil and some with eyes as dark as the night" She paused, the fire crackling in her silence.
"But long ago, there was a story about a woman with eyes the color of deep green as moss or was it bright green like the grass?" She questioned, trying to recall her memory blurring as to how the story went.
"Those eyes that had never been seen before, even the priests believe the moon goddess's eyes were a cosmic blue not green."
The boy shifted, seemingly interested in the story.
The old woman watched and smiled, pleased that the fish had caught the bait. She had their full attention now.
"They called her the green eyed lady," she continued, her voice reducing to merely a whisper as though she was sharing a secret.
"Some believed she was merely a tale, a myth told to warn greedy pups and alphas who wanted more than they could get.
Others swore she was real, that their great great grandfathers had sworn they had seen her with their own eyes. A woman who walked with the wolves yet but was the weakest of them all as she couldn't transform into a wolf herself "
The rain outside gently calmed down, easing into a softer patter, the storm had subsided a bit which gave the wolves the chance to carry on their hunt on the lands.
"There was a woman, her body a temptation no wolf could resist. They say she dined with alphas and made Lords from thin air, wars were waged from the mere sight of her beside a man. Entire packs turned on each other, brothers fought brothers, all for the chance to attain her favor."
"The wolves would claim that wherever she ould smell of honey that trailed after her. She awakened the beasts in beasts all with a beautiful smile, they says she had a lovely smile one that could melt people's hearts but she seemed like she was never satisfied. The bond of mates, thought to be unbreakable, weakened in her presence. Men abandoned their mates for a chance with her, the discipline of warriors dimished. She had Varnythia in the palms of her hands, clans destroyed themselves for her favor"
"Rumors claimed that when she sides with you victory was assured for her presence alone tilts the scales of power, alphas who should have fallen in battle walked away stronger than when they left for war, territories that should have been lost grew into strong adversaries. Only Alphas with strength dare seek her and even they were caught in her web of men."
"She was no Lunaris, not even a shaman or a priest but her presence felt unnatural, some even claimed she could contend with the moon goddess in being worshipped. Beware her green eyes for they glow with greed, something in those eyes destroyed wolves, some alphas even ran mad from her.
Even witches rumored that she is desired by the entities beyond their understanding. No one can resist the promises of pleasure she carries and yet they said she never bonded with a mate and every beast that fell into her web never survived. She gives but takes more than tenfold. She vanished without a trace and was never heard of again."
The grandmother let her words hang in the air, watching as her grandchildren processed the tale as they didn't quite understand it but were fascinated by the tale of the green eyed lady.
"Now rest pups," she said softly. "And remember that greed will never be satisfied It will only devour one whole if they chase for too long."
Meanwhile in the stormy night, a girl for her dear life in the murky grounds of the woods,
Her mind was flooded with two many emotions, regret of her poor choices as to how she arrived in such a scenario. Her heart pounding against her chest at a fast rate as the wolves chasing her closed in on her yet something flickered across her face, it almost looked like curiousity? But it was quickly washed away by the fear that jolted her senses back to survival mode. She wondered if leaving her home her master had built for them was pure foolishness, if she should have stayed and continued waiting for his return, that might have been wiser. If maybe she choosing different could have prevented this. Lost in thoughts, she fell with a loud "oouf" leaving her lips and slammed onto the murky grounds. It's not like She could keep up anyway the wolves were merely waiting for her to get tired as they were too fast to lose to a weakling as herself.
There she layed, surrounded by the unknown predators.
Slowly, she lifted her head rising the upper half of her body up. Rain dripped down her eyelashes, blurring her vision, her hair tangled and sticky as it clung to her neck and face. Thunder rumbled before lightning followed briefly.
And there it stood.
A big wolf, larger than any of the other wolves that stood behind it in comparison, in all its dominance, it raised his head. It's fur was darkend by the rain. It's eyes glowed. It resembled that of an alpha she has read in Many lycanthropy books. It was obviously the leader of the other wolves, with an unspoken signal, the wolves that had been pursuing her stopped at once, surrounding her in a circle, they waited for the beast's command as if it was a king and they were his loyal soldiers.
Her emerald eyes met his amber ones.
The wolves shifted back into human form one by one. Their transformation was an uncomfortable scene to see, it was her first time seeing bones cracking and restructuring, fur sinking back into skin and the skin morphing in a rigid process. There they stood naked in the rain, unbothered by their nudity as it was normal for their kind.
A boy with blonde hair, no older than Eighteen or nineteen, lifted his head and stood up from the ground he had crouched on as his wolf form. His bangs clung to his forehead with of small ran rain drops streaming down his face.
His eyes landed on the girl kneeling in the mud to which something primal stirred inside him, it felt unnatural.
She looked around twenty or maybe even older, he estimated but not too old for him. Just old enough to make the stirring in his body feel justified.
His name was Jackson, son of the Alpha of wolf bane pack, and he carried that title with all the arrogance and confidence it could possibly have. He was lean but well muscled, His blue eyes, usually held natural confidence some would even call it egoism as he knew he stood at the apex of the pack hierarchy as the son of the alpha.
He felt his skin crawl with agitation as his nose caught whiff of an addictive scent that rolled off the mysterious girl, it was compelling like an aphrodisiac to a starving wolf. He felt his breathing become faster and his hormones rise as though it was being stimulated by her scent. It made no sense, the only explanation being unless she was in heat?
He had already found his mate from another pack territory. The mate bond although incomplete, should have locked his attraction to any other person in place forever. It should have made him incapable of wanting anyone else. It was the biology of their kind.
This was wrong. Worse than wrong, it was and should be impossible. The mate bond didn't work like this. It was then he noticed how his pack members could smell it as well.
He glanced around at his pack members and saw the same restless energy in all of them as all the men were affected. Their breathing uneven and their nostrils flared as they smell the scent that clouded the wet air from the rain. They were all reacting to this girl? every single one of them, bonded or not.
The air itself began to feel diluted like it was spreading, corrupting it. It was thick and sweet in a way that made them dazed. It was
intoxicating, and went straight to the most primitive part of his brain, slowly clouding his sense of reasoning.
Then did Jackson actually take a good look at her.
She was beautiful but even that word felt inadequate, too small to describe what he was seeing. Her body seemed designed specifically to draw eyes and hold them captive. She had an hourglass shape that even her torn, muddy dress couldn't hide. full breasts that rose and fell with her frightened breathing, a narrow waist, wide hips that he wanted to grip, and a rear that strained against the wet fabric clinging to her body. The torn dress tried it's best to hide her, tried to maintain some modesty, but it failed miserable. the dress soaked by the rain, clung to her like a second skin.
But physical attraction to a physically aesthetic female should not cloud their minds to such an extent? This was compulsion. This was wrong and yet as of this moment his body didn't seem to care about wrong or right.
Jackson swallowed hard, 'Why do I feel like this?' he thought desperately, trying to find some rational explanation to explain his unhealthy amount of attraction to this woman.
"Please," she said, her voice soft despite the fear in its tone, interrupted his thoughts abruptly."I mean you no harm. I am only in search of my master."
Several of the pack members were staring at her openly now, not even trying to hide it. Some of their eyes had darkened with lust as they stared at her. They felt the same hunger as Jackson although some believed it was just because the lady was attractive.
A growl instinctively left Jackson's mouth, it rumbled deep from his chest in everything primal, as if warning the others to back off, for observing something that wasn't even his yet. It startled even him, he had never made such a sound before not even when other males had gotten too close to his actual mate, although he doubted his mate needed protection.
Jackson's wolf surged forward, taking some sense of control, and before his human mind could process the action, he stepped forward and grabbed a fistful of her wet hair. His fingers tangled in the dark brown strands of her hair and then he yanked, not hard enough to truly hurt, but enough to make a point, to establish his dominance to the members.
Her head snapped back in response to his pull. Her scent hitting him properly now that he was close enough to really breathe her in. It felt good. He couldn't even deny, it was like a drug.
His hands twitched with the urge to grab those hips and pull her against him and he smirked knowing that if he hadn't found his mate at last year's festival he would have jumped for the chance without caring about the consequences of bonding with this mysterious chick. Oh how his mate had rehabilitated him from his playboy ways, he thought.
She winced, as he held her hair, her face contorting in pain and her green eyes rose in gaze to meet his. They were bright like emeralds held up to sun, but he saw them slowly darkening with discomfort and fear.
She did not fight him, her wolf instincts must have told her that fighting him would only be pointless as he's the dominant one here, that's what Jackson estimated from her expressions but the way her lips pressed together into a thin line as though she held back which told him she wanted to. There was defiance there, buried under the fear, and somehow that made her even more attractive to him.
His mind, the rational part that was quickly losing ground to his wolf, told him to let her go. She was not their concern. She was a stranger, clearly either a defective wolf who must have been kicked out of her territory or a rogue who couldn't had no shelter for the storm, and nothing about her or her appearance calmed the mind.
In fact, nothing about this situation felt normal, bringing her into their lands could spark conflict with whatever pack or group she belonged to if she did belong to one. It could also piss off his father if she turned out to be a real threat.
But his wolf mentally warned him that he may never see her again if he leaves her here.
Before he could think about the choices again to rationalize his decision, he released his hands from her hair and carried her up in bridal style as if she weighed nothing at all. She was lighter than she looked, he thought to himself.
Gasps rippled through the pack members mouths, as they watched their future alpha carry the woman to to their territory despite the suspiciousness of the strange woman.
Alera stared up at him, clearly shocked and confused as to where he was taking her instead of leaving her behind in the woods or simply killing her with his previous hostility. His grip was firm, almost possessive, his fingers pressing into her flesh in a way that would probably leave light bruises. Jackson did not look back at the others, didn't acknowledge their shock despite feeling the tension in the air he has caused.
With the rain quieter and easing up well, he walked forward, carrying the girl in his arms like a prize he had won. The members following him behind, their loyalty greater than the gossip but the rumors will surely spread. Alera's eyes fluttered before closing, exhaustion finally kicking in as she went went still in his arms, not aware that nothing from here on would ever be the same again.