"He sprained his ankle," Vy said as she stood up and walked into the balcony. Without a second word, Vy took to her Raven form, surprising everyone in the room. Lycster, who scrambled to see her from the daybed, called out, "Where are you going?"
In her Raven form, she was perched on the railings of the balcony. Her piercing black pearl-like eye glistened under the rays of the sun. She did not say anything. She simply ruffled her feathers and flew up into the open sky.
Lycster wanted to leap out and chase after her, but he could not. His ankle was still healing from the injury. Hazel and Elisa were fl.u.s.tered, uncertain about what had just happened. He a.s.sured them that everything was alright.
"She will come back eventually," he said with a sigh. Lycster laid back down on the daybed and took in a deep breath.
How foolish was he to think that rich folk in the Capital would be just like the nice people back in the Prism Sector, or back in Timbretune? This was the big city and there would always be people with big egos.
Hierarchy, status, Lycster cared for none of it. But he knew about the deep-rooted hate Vy had for these things. She hated how the rich folk looked down on others just because they were poor or were of a lower status.
"She"ll come back once she"s cleared her head," he whispered to himself.
~
The rays of sunlight reflected on her s.h.i.+ny black feathers as she flapped her wings. Soaring through the sky, admiring the scenery around her always helped to calm her down. But the anger she had bottled up this time was not going to disappear so easily.
-Dotty, where"s the nearest forest from here that I can hunt in?-
u003cLet me check.u003e
After a few seconds, she gave Vy a set of instructions on how to get there. Unlike a regular forest, all the trees in this forest had plum purple leaves. The entire forest was in varying shades of purple. The leaves rustled in the wind, it was calming.
But the emotions she had bottled up were about to explode. They were stuck in her throat, she wanted to let them all out. In the distance, she spotted a small hill. Vy flew down to it and switched into her Wolf form.
She stretched out her front paws and her entire body. With the wind in her fur, she looked up into the sky and took a sniff of the surrounding forest air. She concentrated on her heightened senses, looking for prey.
But there were none.
Instead, she found a pack in the distance. A playful brawl between wolves might help get all these emotions out, but Vy was not sure. Before she knew it, the pack had caught on to her scent.
They were amused by her scent, it was like nothing they had ever smelt before. Vy was not shy, hence she went downhill and met them in a forest clearing. It was a small pack, about 10 of them or so. When they met Vy, most of them simply circled her, only the Alpha and his beta stood their ground, standoffish.
The emotions the Alpha displayed was strong and oppressive, but that was simply because Vy had not projected hers. As soon as she did, the Alpha took a few steps back, and his entire pack returned to his side.
The Alpha"s fur was dark grey and his underbelly was white. His piercing yellow eyes were difficult to miss. His Beta, on the other hand, had grey fur all over and light blue eyes.
-Can you hear me?- a voice spoke in Vy"s mind.
Vy was taken aback, the voice came from the Alpha!
-Yes, I can hear you.- she replied.
This was not a regular wolf pack, this was a pack of werewolves. Upon realising that they could understand each other, the Alpha was the first to take a human-like form. Vy followed suit.
"It is rare to see any shapes.h.i.+fters in these woods," the Alpha said. His voice was deep and rich.
Vy did not smile, "I am not from around here."
Her lack of expression was difficult for the Alpha to figure out if she was friend or foe. She was not hostile, he knew that. She was angry, he could see that.
But Vy"s curiosity about the werewolves helped her to put aside her anger for a while.
"Do you live here," she asked.
The Alpha shook his head, his shoulder-length black hair moved together with the breeze.
"We came from the Yellow Ring Mountains, about a two days journey from here," he replied.
The Beta, who was also now in human form, whispered some words to the Alpha. "Alpha, I don"t think it is wise for us to tell her…"
Before he could finish, Vy a.s.sured him, "Don"t worry, I won"t tell anyone."
The Beta was surprised by Vy"s interjection, but he did not say anything else as his Alpha waved him away.
Vy forced a smile, she wanted to be courteous, "It"s really nice meeting you, but I have some hunting to do."
With those words, she turned back into her wolf form and was about to take her to leave when the Alpha called out, "Wait! At least tell us your name, should we meet again, I would like to learn more about you."
Vy turned around and replied through telepathy.
-My name is Vyrena Blackfire, and you?-
The Alpha placed his hand on his right chest and bowed, "I am Alpha Darric, of the Moon Ring pack."
Vy acknowledged his introduction before she ran off into the woods to look for her prey. On the other hand, the pack was buzzing with chatter. The mysterious shapes.h.i.+fter whose emotions were strong enough to make the Alpha take steps back. This was unheard of!
"Alpha Darric is she a threat to us?" the Beta asked.
He was worried about the safety of their pack and the others under them. Shapes.h.i.+fters in the past have been a hit or miss. Those who could s.h.i.+ft into the form of a wolf either did not care about the packs that roamed the lands, or sought to rule over them.
"I doubt it, Bertuf," the Alpha replied.
With their keen sense of hearing, they could hear Vyrena making her kill in the distance.
"She would make a strong ally."