Mother of the Moon - Chapter 134 - The Feral and The Hut
Lunaya.
Venus was already up and waiting for me, sitting on the edge of her cot. It was just about midnight, Cleo wasn’t back and Alyse was still asleep.
“Ready?” I asked Venus quietly, so not to wake Alyse. She nodded, stood up and walked out of the tent. As we walked through the forest an uncomfortable feeling rose in my stomach. The forest itself is quiet and dark. The trees are tall and strong, their thick branches shield the ground from the moonlight. It was eerie quiet. Usually the sounds of animals fill the air, owls, bugs, creatures of the forest. But tonight there was nothing. Nothing but an unpleasant feeling of being watched.
Venus was walking a few paces behind me, lost to her own thoughts. I slowed my pace and allowed her to catch up, so that we now walked in step with each other. I scanned the tree line around us, trying not to move my head too much. I lifted my eyes to the tops of the trees and across the earthen floor, searching for any signs of life. There was nothing visible, but something told me that my eyes were being lied to.
“Venus” I whispered, stepping closer to her side,
“Yes” she replied, just as softly,
“Something doesn’t feel right” I told her.
“I know, I feel it too. Act normal, don’t draw attention and keep walking”. We walked for another ten minutes and the feeling only intensified. The unmistakable sound of a twig snapping pricked my ears to attention, but I resisted the urge to turn to the source.
“Did you hear that?” I whispered harshly,
“I did” Venus replied.
“We can’t go to the hut, someone is following us”
“We won’t. Instead, we are going to go in a large circle. What way is the hut?”
“Straight ahead and to the right, about a half hour further at this pace” I told her as another snap sounded. Whoever is following us is either untrained or just sloppy.
“Okay, we will start to veer left and circle back around to the other side of the territory. No matter what happens stay at my side and stay mutual”.
I followed her lead and very slowly we started to move to the left. The feeling of eyes on me remained. After about fifteen minutes the winds changed direction, now coming in from behind us, and the foulest of all smells hit my nose. A Feral. Hot garbage, rotting flesh and chemicals. The scent changes from Feral to Feral depending on the depth of their wildness, but the key elements always stay the same.
“Can you smell it?” I whisper hissed,
“Yes” Venus whispered back.
“If it’s just a Feral we can take it down”
“We don’t know if it is just a Feral. There could be more than one or it could be a trick”
“Ferals don’t do tricks” I huffed quietly, my frustration taking centre stage.
“No, but smart Weres that know how to manifest the scent do”.
I didn’t think of that. I need to give Venus more credit, she may be young but she is smart. We continued on our long walk, the Feral didn’t get any closer. In fact after the winds shifted, the smell slowly disappeared, the further we continued to walk. It’s smart, still has a hold on its humanity. Which means its either still on the cusp of becoming full Feral or it has only recently lost its human. Or Venus is right, and it is just a ruse to make us let our guard down.
“It’s gone” Venus spoke, still staying quiet but no longer whispering.
“It’s smart” I replied,
“What are your thoughts?” she asked,
“Meaning?”
“Meaning do you really think a rogue Feral stumbled into the territory at the same time the Goddess made her appearance?”
“You don’t think it was a Feral” I said. I didn’t need to ask, I could hear it in her tone.
“I don’t. I think there is a bigger game at foot here”
“You could be right” I agreed,
“And you? Do you think it’s just random?”
“Nothing is random when it comes to the Triple Goddess” I said firmly.
-
Once we arrived at the little hut, over an hour later than originally planned, we greeted Elaine and Phoebe and briefed them about the near encounter in the forest. Elaine decided she would do a full sweep of the forest before heading back to the village. Phoebe agreed easily and Cleo was called to join them through Elaine’s flash. My argument about Alyse being left alone in the village was nullified. Finding the scout in the forest was more important, as much as I hate to admit when I am wrong, this time I was. Alyse is surrounded by warriors and diplomats, she’ll be fine.
Mid way through our debrief, the screaming started up again. The girls pain filled screams were dulled by the layers of the hut, but I could still hear them, as if she were screaming directly into my ear. It ripped at the pieces of my heart, and I so desperately wanted to comfort her. I can’t though, and that caused me more pain than the sound of her torture.
“You will not enter the hut” Elaine demanded, looking directly at me.
“I won’t” I assured her weakly.
“I mean it Lunaya. The Luna-mother made it very clear, we are to guard only. Can you be trusted with this?” she admonished me.
“I won’t go inside, I swear it” I replied, giving my tone the extra firmness that Elaine was chasing. After seeming satisfied with my response, she continued,
“Okay then, two more she-wolves from Tri-Moon have come to guard. They are currently running a small perimeter. They seem capable enough, but under no circumstances are they to be left at the cabin alone. Understood?”
“Yes Beta” Venus confirmed, and I nodded along.
“We aren’t to trust the Tri-Moon pack?” I questioned. My imagination filling me with questions and reasons as to why Elaine would make such a call.
“Until we can be certain of their loyalty and faithfulness to the Goddess, only us, only the Weres I trust will be left alone with her”.
I felt warmed by the fact that Elaine just inadvertently said that she trusts me, but cautiously wary of her stance on the Tri-Moon pack members. There is a lot of good here, I can see that much. But we really don’t know anything about them, any of them, my child included. Elaine is right to be cautious. And dammit I just handed it to her again. Shit, maybe my aversion to Beta Elaine is slipping, if not already gone. Fuck, I like her. I had come to respect her since our descent down the mountain, but I wanted to hate her so bad.
“Keep in contact via flash and keep your eyes open” Elaine said looking from Venus then to me, obviously because I can’t flash with her.
“We will” both Venus and I said at the same time. She smiled and turned to look at me and mouthed the word ‘jinx’. I chuckled softly and shook my head, it’s easy to forget how young Venus is. She always comes across as so mature and serious, when in fact she is only a couple of years older than my daughter.
Without saying another word, Elaine and phoebe jogged away into the forest. Venus took her stance at the door, and I began my walk around the hut, scoping out the structure. There is only one window on the building, the broken glass had been bordered over by a plank of wood. I stood on the opposite side of the hut to Venus and scanned the surrounding forest. After a good twenty minutes two she-wolves came jogging through the trees towards where I stood. I leaped forward, my claws sprung free and I growled a warning to the two women.
“Stop where you are” I demanded of them,
“Chill lady, we’re of Tri-Moon, here to watch over the Luna” one of the she-wolves spat with her palms up in front of her. I roamed my eyes over both of them, looking for signs of insincerity. They were a little shocked, if not fearful, but they showed no signs of dishonesty. I stood up straight, nodded my head and withdrew my claws.
“Your names?” I asked them, still holding onto my authoritative tone.
“This is Casey, and I am Faylene” the first one spoke, first pointing to the girl beside her and then at herself.
“What news around the perimeter?” I asked them firmly.
“Two males from Howlers were wandering around the forest. After a brief interrogation, they admitted to wanting to get away from the village and the scent of the Goddess in order to stay loyal to their mates. We sent them back to the village with assurances that the Goddess was no longer there” Faylene told me. She was tall, slim built and possibly in her early thirties. Clearly the leader of the two.
“You told them her location?” I growled lowly,
“I’m not fucking stupid. Of course I didn’t tell them where she was” she snapped back. The younger woman next to her, Casey, almost broke her neck with how fast she turned to glare at Faylene.
“Watch your disrespect she-wolf” I roared letting the full power of my voice roll over them. Faylene shied away, turning her head to the side and dropping her shoulders. Casey trembled and bowed. Like an actual bow. No one has ever bowed to me before. I didn’t know that my voice could elicit such a response.
“I’m sorry, it’s just been a long night” Faylene mumbled softly.
“Apology accepted. And good job on the Howlers. Myself and my pack mate will watch over the cabin, I want you two to continue to scan the surrounding forest area. Keep a three-kilometer radius and one of you need to report back every half hour. Understood?”
“Yes Miss” they chorused and turned and walked back through the trees.
I took my place back by the window and let my eyes roam across the foliage, up the trees and deep into the darkness. The screaming was intermediate. Loud and shrill one minute to moaning and groaning the next, but there was hardly any respite. Casey came back first and reported that there was nothing to report. Faylene came back next with the same. After she left, I heard movement from inside the cabin and ran around to the door. Gunner stood in the doorway with his teeth bared, growling down at Venus who was growling back.
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