She is woken up by the chirping of the early birds. She slowly opens her eyes and winces as the rays of the sun flash against her pupils. Soon, her eyes adjust to the light and she looks around, trying to figure out where she is. She can't tell for sure, but from what she can see, it looks like she is in a dungeon. Suddenly, she becomes aware of the pain behind her head; it feels as though she was hit with a very large object. Layla tries to move, but she is restricted by huge chains tied around her ankles and wrists. She closes her eyes as she starts to recollect everything that happened, leading her to this point. She had been experiencing frequent waves of nausea due to her pregnancy, and then discovered that walking through the woods for a while helped, so she made it a force of habit. Usually, guards followed her while she took her walk, but yesterday, she just wanted to be all alone, she wanted the serenity of the forest to speak to her. Thus, she walked alone into the forest. As she did, she felt much better and began to sing. As she did, she felt uneasy. Was it the baby? Nah, it was not the baby, something was not right. She kept walking, trying to stay calm. But then, she heard footsteps and as she tried to turn, she felt something heavy hit her behind her head, and she almost immediately, slipped into oblivion. Who the hell did this to her, and what the hell does he want? Could it be Devon's enemies? What the hell is going on? She is still trying to decipher who her captor(s) is (are) when she hears footsteps thudding heavily against the concrete floor. She breathes slowly, trying her best to look unaffected. She lowers her gaze and sees the feet of three people. Slowly, she lifts her eyes and her gaze settles on the man in the middle- the other two are apparently his guards. Layla cannot believe her eyes when she sees who it is. The Devil himself. Uncle Ryan.
The Island of Meridian is a very beautiful one. It is home to many animals- lions, snakes, crocodiles, hyenas, you name it; but one thing that makes this island stand out is that, in it is a vast forest named centuries ago as the Terrain. The Terrain is a forest quite alright, but it is home to only two species of creatures and they are: witches, and yes, you guessed right, werewolves.
Legend has it that these creatures, combining their strengths, managed to evict every other creature in the forest, sending them to God-knows-where. Thus, you can boldly and comfortably say that the Terrain only has wolves and witches. However, it should be noted here that the wolves are largely more in number than the witches, as the total number of witches at a given time must always be twenty- this was commanded by the moon goddess.
The wolves and witches were all together in unity until about one hundred and twenty years ago, some of the wolves decided to revolt and break away from the rest, creating their own pack. They named their pack the Brazen pack, and just six witches followed them.
The remaining wolves also decided not to have anything to do with the members of the Brazen pack and so, they named their pack the Onyx pack. They had more witches with them, fourteen in number, to be precise.
Development in terms of architecture, finance, population, government, and economy is almost on an equal level between the Onyx pack and the Brazen pack. In both packs, there are schools, colleges and universities, hospitals, parks, gardens and even museums. However, you can be sure of one thing, there is no relationship whatsoever between the wolves and witches of either packs; no inter-mating, selling, buying or what-have you.
Alpha Dennis is the leader of the Brazen pack, while Alpha Bruce is the leader of the Onyx pack. Thankfully, there has been peace between both packs, and no war has been declared for decades.
Dennis, forty-two years old, has a younger brother named Ryan, who is forty years old. They both grew up to be fine, young men. They are pretty close and people say that they are inseparable. Naturally, Dennis, being the elder brother, became the Alpha of the Brazen pack after their father passed. He was only twenty-three years old when the mantle of leadership of the pack was passed to him. Ryan supported his brother with all his might and they became even closer. However, Dennis decided not to make Ryan his Beta because he did not want the pressures of leadership to sabotage the brotherly friendship which they have built for years. It is worthy of note that Dennis consulted Ryan before making this decision.
"I just want us to remain the way we have been; I do not want the pressure of this whole Alpha/Beta thing to destroy what we have," Dennis explained.
"I understand you perfectly, brother," Ryan said.
"I am glad you understand; and so, Sebastian will be my Beta, while you will lead the entire army of the pack," Dennis pronounced.
"It would be an honor," Ryan said, and bowed out of his brother's office.
Exactly three years after Dennis' installation as the Alpha of the Brazen pack, he went on a lone patrol in the woods and found a young woman, a blonde with beautiful blue eyes injured, with no one to help her. Had he not found her, she most definitely would have died.
He brought her home and took her to the hospital for proper treatment. In a few days, she was out of the hospital, hale and hearty. Her name is Catherine, and Dennis fell in love with her in a matter of days. Ryan was also attracted to Catherine and he tried to woo her, but it was obvious that she only had eyes for Dennis. When Ryan realized this, he backed off.
Two months later, Dennis and Catherine got married and she became his Luna. Things happened really fast and in a year, on Alpha Dennis' twenty-sixth birthday, a bouncing baby girl wolf was born to them. The whole pack jubilated and the child began to grow.
Her name was Layla, and she was a beautiful baby; blue eyes, just like her mother's and coffee- brown hair, just like that of her father.
One year after she was born, Ryan also found his mate, Sasha, and they clicked immediately they set eyes on each other. Ryan still had strong feelings for Catherine, his brother's wife, but he chose to keep them bottled; he could not afford to make any mistake- he loved his brother too much.
Sasha got pregnant and had a set of twin boys named Dylan and Bryan. The boys were handsome princes, and Ryan adored them. Two years later, the moon goddess blessed him and Sasha with another baby, a girl, this time around; she was given the name Tessa. Sadly, Dennis and Catherine could not have another child no matter how hard they tried. Thus, they decided to stop worrying about conceiving another child; instead, they showered their baby girl with love, attention and care.
The whole family lived and still lives in a large house well known as the Edifice. It has about sixteen well-furnished rooms, and it is always swarmed with servants. Layla, Dylan, Bryan and Tessa always played about as kids, and they loved each other so much, up to this day.
The bond between Dennis and Ryan did not wane at any point, and they both performed their leadership duties efficiently. Dennis managed the pack well, while Ryan took charge of the army and the protection of the pack. During their leisure time, they went into the woods to hunt for deers, elks, and other animals that werewolves like to eat. After, they would come back to their blissful families.
What could go wrong? One would ask, right?
And this is why what happens twelve years later will shock the Brazen pack, and of course, you, my dear readers, to your bones!
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