Chapter 23

~Alistair~

It was the day of the full moon, exactly one month after I had met Eliana at the cemetery. A month ago, my life had just been about working hard in the company, working out in the gym, making out with Jenny to relieve myself of stress, and buying things online that I didn’t need when I was bored and tired of playing video games alone.

If anyone had told me things were going to change so much over the span of one month, I probably would have told that person that it was not possible. Unexpectedly, things had taken a new turn, and I was in another phase of life just like that.

I had fallen in love for the very first time, and it was surprising that it had been a human being I ended up falling in love with, I had defeated the Beast of Vengeance, I had given Garrett another chance, I had had fun at the beach, had gone on dates with Eliana, had a dinner with a girl's family, a human had found out that I was a werewolf, I had had sex and enjoyed it.

I was no longer just a billionaire who was indifferent about everything, and just wanted to get revenge; I was now a man, who cared about everything, even the things that weren’t my problem, and I now knew that revenge wasn’t necessary.

Carrying out a revenge would hurt those who offended you, yes, but it won’t take away the hurt you feel. Besides, carrying out a revenge could make things go too far, like what had happened with the Beast of Vengeance. Sometimes, it was best to be the bigger person and let go of things, and just let karma do its thing.

Today, I was involving myself in something that shouldn’t be my problem again. It was like I had now taken the problems of the world upon my shoulders. When Jennifer and Eliana had came to me with their theory of what had possibly happened to Sam, Eliana’s friend, whose body was never found, I had been quite adamant about doing what they wanted.

However, when I saw the pleading look in Eliana’s eyes, I had decided to give in. Although I didn’t believe he was still alive, I decided to at least, give the situation the benefit of the doubt. Even if we weren’t going to find him, I figured that we should give it a try at least, so that Eliana could finally find the strength to move on.

“What are we still waiting for?” Garrett asked, breaking the silence.

“Eliana isn’t a ‘what',” I said.

“Oh. We’re waiting for Eliana? Why is she coming along? She’s human. Anything can happen to her. I don’t think it’s safe for her to be out in the forest with us. You of all people should be more concerned for her safety, instead of consenting to her coming along,” Garrett said.

“Eliana is fierce, so, I’m not worried about her. I think she even has more chances of survival, compared to the rest of us. I’ve learnt not to underestimate her,” I said.

“Exactly!” I heard Eliana say, coming into view, with a backpack strapped on her shoulders.

“Where have you been?” I asked her, walking towards her.

“I’m sorry for keeping you all waiting. I was stuck in a traffic for some minutes,” She apologised.

“It’s all good,” Jenny said, wearing a smile on her face.

When I saw Jenny come into my office the previous day, with Eliana by her side, I had been surprised, but happy that Jenny had decided to bury the hatchet, and become her once cheerful and friendly self.

Eliana removed a black t-shirt from her backpack, and gave it to me.

“For Sam?” I asked.

She nodded her head, in the affirmative. “Yes. I have the same one, too. I got it for him on his 17th birthday, and he got the exact type for me when I turned 17,” She replied.

I smiled. “He must have been a funny guy,” I said.

“Yes, he was. When I asked him why he wasn’t creative enough to think of something else to get for me, he said he just wanted us to have matching t-shirts. He left it at my place when we had our science fair project in senior year. He was my partner,” She told me.

“You guys must have shared so many fond memories with each other. I see why you want to give in everything you’ve got to at least, try and find him,” Garrett said.

She nodded, in agreement with what he had said.

I squeezed her left shoulder, reassuringly. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure I find him for you, and even if I can’t, I’ll find his bones, at least, so, you could bury something of his, instead of just an empty casket to remember him,” I said.

“Thank you...all of you. Even if we don’t find him, I’m still grateful that you all chose to come out here with me,” Eliana said, as a means of expressing her gratitude.

“It’s not a problem, Eliana. You’d do the same for us, too,” Jenny said.

“Guys, the full moon is out,” Garrett disclosed, pointing an index finger at the sky.

We all looked up, and saw that it was true that the full moon was out, and that all we had to do, needed to be done now.

We were in the forest, close to where the accident had occurred ten years ago, as we had all figured that if he had to be anywhere, it had to be that forest. No one had reported seeing a wolf come out into the main road, so, it was right to assume that if at all he had been transformed into a werewolf, then, he probably had never left the forest, except he did, and wasn’t seen.

The moon intensified our powers, making us stronger, and increasing our hearing ability, and also the ability to track someone that had gone missing for over ten years, with just his scent.

“I can’t seem to catch his scent anywhere in this forest,” I said.

“Let’s just move forward. We could catch his scent if we’re closer to him, you know,” Jenny said.

If I didn’t know her any better, I would have said that Jenny had some other plans in mind, and was hoping to get something out of finding Sam, as she was so hell bent and determined to find him, as if it was her own friend. When I asked her about this earlier today, she said that she had been nothing but mean to Eliana all this while, and all she just wanted was to make it up to her, and earn her trust.

“Ow!” Garrett yelled, wincing in pain.

“Shh. I think I heard something,” I said, hushing him up.

“All you heard was the sound of me removing a twig that had somehow struck my arm,” Garrett said.

“No, it was something else,” I said.

“Positive?” Eliana, who was directly behind me, asked.

“Positive,” I responded.

I had heard a heartbeat...a human heartbeat, but I wasn’t ready to tell the others just yet, so, we could all jump into conclusion. Perhaps, it was a hunter, who was trying to catch an animal by this time, or it was just a werewolf we didn’t know about.

I was holding an arrow, to shoot at anything that decides to cross my part, same as Eliana, while Jenny and her brother, Garrett, were holding guns, in order to prevent something terrible from happening.

We walked deeper and deeper into the forest, kicking away stones, and waving off leaves that were in our part. I didn’t know why I was passing through the most narrow part in the forest, it was just like I was being pulled or drawn towards that direction, and I kept on going.

Garrett began to sniff the air, as we stepped into a dry path, without bulrushes, shrubs or trees. It was just a section of the forest, whose land looked like it had been cleared by someone, who wanted to make use of it for something else.

“Hey, did you catch a scent?” I asked.

“Yes, I think I did,” Garrett replied.

“I did, too. It...it smells exactly like the shirt,” Jenny said.

“Why can’t I smell anything?” I asked.

“Maybe it’s because you’re holding the shirt, and so, you’ve mixed up the scent you were supposed to catch...”

“Shh!” I said, in a commanding tone, cutting off Eliana.

“What?” She asked, in a whisper.

“I think someone’s here,” I replied, also in a whisper.

“Who?” She asked again, still whispering.

“How the hell am I supposed to know that?” I retorted, also still whispering.

“Why are you guys whispering?” Garrett asked, in a loud tone, obviously irritated.

We heard a loud growl, which spoke of rage.

“That’s why,” I replied, in a normal tone.

“Oh! I forgot you said that you thought something was here,” He said.

“Well, the deed's already been done. Thanks to you,” Jenny said.

We moved towards where the growl had come from, and just then, a deer ran past us, making Eliana’s heart start pounding, then soon, she relaxed.

“Thank God, it was just a deer,” She said.

“Thank God? You should be afraid. In case you’ve forgotten, Miss zoologist, deer don’t growl,” Garrett said.

“Exactly. That means there’s a wolf out here, and I think the deer was the wolf's prey, and Garrett’s loud voice gave it the distraction it needed to run away for his dear life, which means that we are going to meet a very angry wolf, who’d probably try to kill us, for depriving him of its dinner,” I said.

“I see,” Eliana said, nodding her head.

As soon as she had said that, we saw a greyish-yellow wolf come out of the shadows, growling under its breath, running on all fours, as its long bushy tail swayed from side to side.

We remained fixed at where we stood, as the wolf approached our direction. At first, it hadn’t noticed us, or maybe it did, but was too focused on getting the deer that had escaped back, to even pay the slightest attention to us.

Then, Eliana had panicked and her bow had clattered to the ground, causing it to turn towards us, with a menacing look in its hazel eyes, like it wanted to eat us up, instead of the deer that had gotten away.

I was about to glow my eyes at him, so that it could tell that I was not just a fellow wolf, but also an Alpha, and leave us alone, when I saw it concentrated on Eliana, without looking like it wanted to eat us again, even as her heart pounded heavily with fear.

It walked slowly towards us, not with the intention of harming anyone, but looked surprised, amazed, and fond of the young woman, standing a few feet away from him.

As he drew nearer, Eliana looked like she was about to pass out. It was as if her heart was on the verge of jumping out of her chest, and she tried her best to remain in the spot where she stood, as I had advised everyone earlier on not to run.

When it stood before Eliana, like a dog, it wagged his tail, which was the most unusual thing I had ever come across. It seemed as if he knew her.

Another unusual thing happened, as Eliana’s heart stopped pounding so loudly, but now became focused, and she looked directly into the eyes of the wolf, then like someone under a spell, walked towards it, with watery eyes.

“Shouldn’t you do something?” Garrett asked.

I shook my head, giving him a negative response. “Can’t you smell it? It’s Sam,” I replied.

“But she can’t perceive its scent, how did she know?” Jenny asked.

“His eyes,” Eliana replied, obviously listening to our conversation, as she knelt down, and took the wolf in her arms, encircling her arms more and more around its shoulders and neck, and it lay on the ground, whining affectionately, with its head buried in her arms.

“Do it now!” Jenny ordered.

A lot of people, including my father had said that an Alpha could transform a werewolf with just the sound of its voice. It could make it go from being a human to a wolf, or from being a wolf to a human being. What I wasn’t sure of was if that could be possible if the wolf hadn’t even made a transformation for once in a decade. However, I was willing to give it a try.

“Sam!” I called, but the wolf only just stared at me, curiosity booming in its eyes.

“You’ve got to try harder than that, Alistair. Anyone could just call him “Sam". Talk to him like the Alpha that you are,” Garrett said.

“Sam!” I yelled.

“Samuel Evans!” I growled out loud, with my eyes emitting a red glow, as I became a half-wolf, half-human.

It seemed terrified, then, his eyes twitched between a blue glow, and its normal hazel eyes, and it soon started vibrating, and rolling on the floor, growling out loud.

In fear, Eliana ran to where I was, holding me tightly, without being able to hold him down anymore.

A loud cry was heard, and right before our eyes, a slim tall young man with fair skin, auburn hair and hazel eyes, lay before us, naked.

“I wish I was gay,” Garrett said, looking in admiration at his large penis.

“Sam,” Eliana called.

He looked over at where her voice had come from, and slowly, he stood up, wearing a confused look on his face.

“Eliana?”

She left my arms and ran to meet him, and embraced him tightly, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, as both of them shed tears, which was expected, as they had finally gotten to meet each other after so long of being apart.

“Isn’t it making you annoyed? I mean, seeing your girlfriend hugging a naked man. I’d be enraged if I were in your shoes,” Jenny commented, in a low tone.

“Alistair, I don’t think it’s anything serious. They’re just meeting each other for the first time in ten years. I’m sure Eliana’s oblivious of the fact that he’s naked,” Garrett said.

“Yeah, Alistair, it’s nothing...maybe,” Jenny said.

I clenched my fists tightly, swelling up with anger as I watched Eliana embrace a grown-up naked man in the forest, and as minutes rolled by, I knew that I had probably made a mistake by transforming Sam back to being human.

My head told me not to think too deeply about the issue, but I couldn’t stop myself from feeling bitter and angry, as the seed of hatred and jealousy had already been planted by his presence.