106

Bavanda’s face went pale, one would think the blood in her system had been exhausted. It was visible too that she wasn't breathing.

Baron, however, was outraged. “What?" He thundered, shooting up to his feet. Bavanda's hand which had been in his fell to the side, but she didn't move.

“What do you mean Loco has escaped? How the hell did this happen?" Baron yelled at the top of his lungs. “Do you realize the threat this has put all of us in?"

Steve bowed his head. “Alpha, I apologize on behalf of the guards.”

A low growl escaped Baron's lips, as his lips clenched beside him. “Get me the chief guard. Now!"

Steve scurried away, returning almost immediately with the Chief guard—a muscular man with a small frame. His head was bowed, just like Steve did. However, as soon as he was before the Alpha, he dropped to his knees, clasping his hands in front of him.

“Alpha, please forgive me. Forgive me, Alpha. This is all my fault, I made a mistake."

Bavanda remained still, yet no one noticed.

“What did you do?" The Alpha demanded.

The man hesitated, his head still bowed. “I… I asked the guards in charge to take last night off, since… since they had been working so hard lately. I… I didn't know…”

"What the hell?” Baron's voice echoed all over the room. "What do you mean you didn't know? How the hell were you supposed to know? Huh? Was the prisoner supposed to shove a flashcard in your face telling you he'd escape? Why do we keep guards there every damn time then?”

The chief guard was trembling now, his huge figure making the scene look awful. "I'm sorry, Alpha. I'm deeply sorry. Please, forgive me.”

Baron's face twisted in unmasked fury. “And if I don't? What if I choose to mount your head at the gates soeveryone will see that you have paid for the great danger you put us in?”

“No…no…no!” He cried, his whole body shaking with fear. Exactly what Baron intended.

Steve stepped forward, daring to reach for the Alpha's arm. “Baron, please…”

Silence fell in the room like a heavy cloak of darkness. Finally, the Alpha broke it. He heaved heavily, running his hand through his hair.

"Get out of my sight.” He demanded.

The chief guard rose to his feet, racing out of the room with immediate precision. Not another second was lost.

With just three of them in the room,the tension rose dangerously.

Baron began pacing back and front in the huge room, clenching and unclenching his fists. “Any clues?" He suddenly demanded.

Steve was still there. "There was a trail. We followed the trail as far as we could," Steve said, breaking the silence. "The footprints suggest he wasn’t alone. Someone led him out."

Bavanda's breath caught. Her pulse quickened, a cold chill running down her spine. Why did this make her so nervous? she thought. Why did this feel…wrong?

She swallowed hard, but the growing fear inside her didn’t subside. Her heart pounded violently in her chest.

“How dare they? Do they not fear the Lycan Alpha." Baron exclaimed, hurling his hands in the air.

Then almost immediately, he added, "We need to find out who helped him," Baron said. His voice was calm, but there was an edge to it. "If there's a traitor among us, we need to know before it's too late."

Bavanda’s hands gripped the arms of her chair. Her breathing became uneven. The room seemed to darken around her, the voices of her father and Steve growing distant, distorted. And then, she heard a third voice.

"You are not safe."

She gasped, her entire body stiffening. A deep, guttural voice echoed in her mind. It wasn’t hers. It wasn’t anyone she recognized. It came alone.

"They will turn against you. They will see you as a monster. You are alone."

The air around her seemed to ripple. A sharp ringing sound filled her ears. Her skin felt like it was burning.

"Bavanda?" Steve’s voice snapped her back for a brief moment. She lifted her eyes to meet his, and for the first time, both he and Baron noticed something was wrong.

"Bavanda?" Baron’s tone was sharper now, full of concern. He took a step toward her, but she suddenly clutched her head, groaning in pain.

The voices in her head grew louder. The room spun. Her vision blurred.

"Break. Destroy. Kill."

The voice wasn't just speaking, it was controlling her.

"No…" she whispered, shaking her head violently.

Steve and Baron exchanged a look before Baron tried to approach her.

"Stay away!" Bavanda suddenly screamed.

The sound was unnatural, almost inhuman. Baron’s eyes widened as Bavanda's body jerked violently. Her nails elongated into claws, her breathing grew ragged, and her iris glowed—a deep, unnatural gold that neither Baron nor Steve had ever seen before.

Her transformation had begun, but it was not natural. It was far from natural, it was wrong.

"Bavanda, listen to me," Baron said, reaching out.

She flinched and let out an agonized scream, her body convulsing. Her right arm snapped into the form of a wolf’s limb, but the rest of her remained human. Her breathing was erratic, her body caught in between forms.

"Make it stop!" she shrieked, gripping her own hair as she thrashed.

Steve took a step back, his face pale. "This isn’t normal," he muttered.

Baron hesitated for only a second before lunging forward, trying to grab her shoulders and steady her, but she reacted instinctively.

With a speed that surprised even herself, Bavanda lashed out. Her clawed hand slashed across Baron’s torso. A deep growl escaped his throat as pain erupted in his stomach. Blood seeped through his shirt, and he stumbled back, his expression twisting in pain.

"Damn it, Bavanda!" Steve rushed forward to help Baron, but Bavanda wasn’t finished.

She turned wildly, eyes flickering between lucidity and madness, her breathing uneven. Her body twitched, as if her transformation was fighting against her. The furniture in the room trembled. A vase shattered to the ground. She let out another ear-piercing scream, her power radiating uncontrollably.

"Bavanda!" The voice cut through the chaos like a knife.

Avynna.

She stood in the doorway, her eyes wide with shock.

Bavanda’s wild gaze met her mother’s, and for a split second, everything froze. Her breathing hitched. The voices in her head roared one last time, but Avynna’s presence was like an anchor. The chaos in her mind began to fade.

Her body trembled violently, her glowing eyes dimming, and then—darkness.

She collapsed.

“Bavanda!" Avynna screamed, rushing to her side. "What happened to her?” She asked nobody in particular.

Baron, leaning over something so he wouldn't fall in his injured state, said, "Get the pack doctor. Now!”

Steve hurried away to do as asked. He returned in no time with the doctor.

“Alpha! Luna!" He greeted, then proceeded to the wounded King. “Alpha, what happened?"

Baron shook his head. “No! Not me. Check her first. She started acting out and then she lost consciousness."

The doctor, confused, listened to Baron, and headed over to Bavanda's side. There were no sounds except the heavy breathing of everyone as they waited in anticipation.

"I don’t understand," the doctor muttered, after what felt like eternity. "Her vitals are stable, but something…feels off."

Avynna knelt beside her daughter, brushing her hair away from her pale face. "What do you mean something feels off? Why isn’t she waking up?" Avynna’s voice was tight with worry.

The doctor's face was filled with concentration. "Give me a minute, Luna. Let me see if I can connect with her mind.”

Silence fell again, until Avynna couldn't hold it in anymore. "Doctor, what's going on? Please say something.”

The doctor shook his head. "I don’t know. Her body seems fine, but…her mind—it’s as if something is holding her back."

Baron, sitting on a chair nearby, clutched his stomach, his face pale. Avynna turned to him immediately.

"You're hurt," she whispered.

"It’s nothing," Baron said, but the doctor had already noticed. He lifted Baron’s shirt, revealing the deep claw marks left by Bavanda.

The doctor’s expression darkened. "This isn’t healing," he muttered.

Steve frowned. "What do you mean?"

The doctor traced the wound carefully. "A scratch like this should be closing up already, but it’s not. It’s as if something is preventing it from healing."

"Alpha, briefly excuse me, I'll get some ointments to apply on the wound. You're bleeding too much, you might lose consciousness.” The doctor said, rising to his feet.

He rushed out without an answer from anyone. About 5 minutes later, he returned with a box in his hand. While applying different sorts of balm on the Alpha's wound, his eyes fell on Bavanda.

His breath seized, which everybody suddenly noticed.

"Doctor, what's wrong? What did you notice?” Avynna hurriedly questioned, her face pale with worry.

The doctor hesitated. "Oh! It's…umm… it's nothing."

“What do you mean it's nothing?" She roared at him, her patience running thin.

“Pardon me, my Luna. It's just that… she's still alive, but she looks blue, like… like a corpse.” He mumbled, almost inaudibly.

A heavy silence filled the room. "What’s happening to my daughter?" Avynna whispered.

No one had an answer.

***

Elsewhere…

The forest was unlike anything he had ever seen.

Thick, blackened trees twisted unnaturally, their branches like skeletal fingers reaching toward the sky. The ground was covered in mist, swirling ominously around his feet. A heavy, eerie silence hung in the air, broken only by the occasional distant sound of hissing.

Ahead of him, a massive throne loomed.

It was crafted from dark stone, jagged and uneven, as though the earth itself had been torn apart to create it. Around the throne, snakes slithered, their scales gleaming in the dim, unnatural light.

A figure sat atop the throne.

Shrouded in darkness, the figure’s form was barely visible, but its presence was suffocating. The very air around it seemed to pulse with power.

Loco stopped a few feet away, his heart pounding.

Then, a voice—deep and resonant, filled with an ancient malice—echoed through the forest.

"Welcome home, son."