Forty Seven

Camila and Ash walked closer to a group of wolves lying beside a river. They figured out they must have been from the same clan because of their gray colors. By living in the mountains for so long, Camila came to learn that the rogue wolves gathered themselves according to their fur colors and built their own clans. They had a different way of choosing their leader because they didn't go after someone who had much wisdom compared to the others, but they went as per their strengths. After gathering each other, the rogue wolves would shift into their human forms and engage in fights. The one who would defeat all the others would be crowned the same day as their leader.

"This is the gray clan." Camila whispered to Ash, who was walking beside her. "They are the strongest rogues in this forest, and they own all the water sources. For other rogues to come for a swim or to quench their thirst, they have to seek the gray leader's permission first." She explained.

"And who is the leader?" He asked curiously.

"The one with bluish furs. They make their leaders chew some herb that originated on the mountain. Although the herb is poisonous, it doesn't kill them; it only changes their fur colors." She said while pointing towards a huge wolf compared to the other's sleeping far away from the others.

"So, what do we do?" I mean, are we approaching their leader? Does he have a name?" Ash asked.

"Yes, he is Hanbir; he is very cruel and loves fighting." He enjoys nothing more than seeing other rogues surrender to him. Currently, his clan has the highest population compared to the others."

"You really know a lot about them, don't you?" Ash asked.

"Yeah. Do you think I used to stay here without doing anything? Whenever I got bored, I would always go out and try to learn about these rogues. That was when I came to know about them making plans and choosing their leaders." She explained. "I also know almost all of them by their names and their characters. And to answer your question, we won't pick a fight with them. We will approach them and talk to them nicely. If they refuse to join us, we will be left with no choice but to offer threats, because trust me, Ash, not even a single wolf would be ruled by some other person. From today onwards, they will all be under me." She declared.

Before Ash could respond to her, Camila had already dashed from their hiding place and walked towards the wolves. They got her scent in no time, and they all growled, standing on their feet. They were gritting their teeth in anger, clearly not happy about the fact that Camila was intruding. Ash mindlinked with her, wanting to know what she was up to, but she asked him to follow suit. The moment the wolves saw him, they jumped towards him, and if it were not for Camila's authoritative voice asking them to remain still, they would have jumped on him and tore him into pieces.

The wolf with bluish fur growled louder, causing the other wolves to stop their actions. Seeing that, Camila walked closer to them, with Ash trailing behind her. "I come in peace," she said to the bluish wolf, who stared at her for a long time while looking around to see if she had come with others. After making sure their surroundings were clean and safe, the bluish wolf turned to face the others, and in a process that seemed like mind-linking, they all ran behind the thick bushes and came out in their human forms.

"What do you want?" The leader asked. He was huge in his human form as well. He had huge biceps, and his hair was dyed blue. He was wearing a ripped blue jean, and he was shirtless. Another man, not as huge as he was, stood beside him, and he looked like he was his vice because they were whispering something against each other before they decided to talk to Camila and Ash.

"I want cooperation," Camila said.

"Copoeration? And what on earth is that supposed to mean? We don't have the whole day, young girl," the man who seemed like the vice responded.

"What we mean is that we would like to join forces with you." Ash explained.

"Join forces, huh?" Their leader spat, "How should we trust you? I mean, you may be spies sent by your alphas to come and see what we are up to. We can't afford to be blown away once again."

"Trust us, Hanbir. We harbor no such thoughts." Ash told him. The leader looked at him closely as if wondering from where that stranger learned his name, but he let go of the thought. He stared at Camila for so long, and after a while he asked, "What kind of joining forces do you two want? Do you want to be part of our clan?"

"No, we want you and your people to be part of our pack," Camila explained.

The other rogues laughed while looking at them as if they had grown horns. After seeing the serious gazes in their eyes, the leader stepped forward. "Are you asking us to surrender, seriously? Do you know how hard we have fought to be this powerful? That is not going to happen. Either you both surrender to me or turn around and go back to where you came from."

"You have to surrender, all of you, and I am not asking; I am demading." Camila growled at them. The wolves stepped forward, ready to pounce on them if they caused any problems. They expected them to run away, but they stayed still, standing on their words. Camila had made it clear again that they wouldn't be leaving empty-handed but with them under them.

"We are not in the mood to engage in a fight with the two of you because, honestly, it's of no use," the leader laughed. "I mean, it will be two against a thousand. So before we send the two of you back with your tails tucked between your legs, I'll advise you to leave us alone." Their leader warned

"We are not going back, Hanbir, and I'll advise you to surrender to us before we force you to because you won't like it." Ash growled at them, anger clouding his eyes. Hanbir and his people were making fun of them and looking at them as if they were kids. They kept pointing and discussing how nice it would be to rip them into pieces.

"Listen, you long-haired guy," their vice called, "this pretty lady you are with, you can give her to us because it's clearly that you can't take care of her, and that's not why you are going around threatening us. Our leader here doesn't have a mate, so if you offer this pretty to us, trust me, we won't fight with you, and we will let you go back unharmed." He licked his bottom lip. Ash lost his patience when they started gazing at Camila in lust. He roared, causing them to move backward. He shifted at the same moment, ran to the vice, and pounced on him.

Camila called him, asking him to step back and calm down, but it was too late. He had already snapped the man's neck and was now drinking his blood. When the others witnessed their vice getting killed, they lost it because they all shifted, and a war broke out. It was Ash against them. It seemed like the anger that had consumed Ash had given him the needed strength because he snapped their heads off their necks even before they would get to attack him.

"Ash, stop it." Camila yelled, causing Ash to stop in his tracks. He looked back at Camila, and that was when Hanbir's wolf got the chance to pounce on him. He tried to fight back, but the wolf had gripped his neck. He growled painfully, trying to scratch the huge wolf on top of him with his claws, but he failed. When Hanbir's wolf saw that he was about to win, he growled so loud that the birds flew away and elongated his fangs. When he was about to sink his teeth into Ash's throat and suck all the blood out of his veins, a red glow burned him into ashes.

"Akshar, are you okay? Akshar, can you hear me?" Camila called the moment she reached Ash's wolf. She dragged the wounded wolf to a clear area, hid him beneath the grasses, and charged towards the other wolves, who were still battling their teeth with anger. She roared, pushed her shoulders back, and let her Lycan take over. She was huge, causing the other wolves to look like kids in front of her.

When they realized who they were fighting with, a few of them attempted to run, but it was too late. Camila's Lycan growled, causing all the trees surrounding them to break down. Some of them died on the spot after the heavy branches fell on them, and the ones that remained unharmed were entrapped. They were left with no choice but to face her.

The Lycan matched forward, huffing and challenging them for a fight. A few confident wolves charged towards her, but not even a single one of them reached anywhere closer to her because, with one breath, she could emit fire and burn them into ashes. "How dare you touch him?" Her Lycan kept screaming at them through the mind link.

"How dare they? No one can touch my friend and go scot-free. Ash, none of them should leave this place alive. I repeat, No on!" Camila whispered to her Lycan. On her order, the Lycan growled, moved backwards as if she were surredering, and dashed forward at a huge speed. She huffed, a cloud of smoke accompanying her, and when she was about to drop it into their heads and burn them with it, a miracle happened.

Camila realized that her wolf couldn't control the cloud of smoke anymore. She screamed at her, asking her to drop it on them, but her Lycan kept on saying that she couldn't. "What do you mean by you can't? They hurt my friend; kill them." She asked her.

"I can't, Mila. Someone else is controlling the cloud of smoke," her Lycan told her.

"Someone else? Who? We are stronger than everyone else. Stronger than all of the wolves combined. There's only one person we can't defeat. Wait, are the moon gods here?" Camila gasped. Her Lycan turned to see who was behind them, but she gasped. "Ash?" She called.

Camila took over her Lycan and ran towards Ash, who stood looking at her with shock in his eyes.

"I don't know what happened, Mila? I saw your Lycan wanting to burn them, and I guessed you must be the one who told her. I tried mindlinking you and asking you to stop your Lycan because we need them alive, but you didn't hear me. I guessed you must have blocked me from reaching you. I shifted to my human self and ran to you, but the cloud above you burned me, so I came back here and wished that the cloud of smoke refused to take your Lycan's order, and I guessed it worked. I really don't know why it happened, Mila." He explained.

"Wish that the cloud would take my Lycan's order." Camila asked him while shifting back to her Lycan form. Ash closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and mumbled some words. Camila Lycan's got all her power back because she roared again and the cloud of smoke fell, and they witnessed all the rogue wolves burn into ashes.

"My god, what is going on, Mila? What is wrong with me?" Ash asked while stepping backward. Camila shifted back to her human self and threw herself into Ash's arms.

"You are my guardian, Ash? Isn't it amazing?" She giggled.

"Gurdian? What are you talking about, Mila? I am a fucking werewolf." Ash yelled, confused with all that was going on.

"You are not Ash, or maybe we have grown up thinking you are a werewolf, but you are not. Listen keenly to me, Ash. There is something I have been hiding from you, but I think this is the best time to tell you. When I first shifted, I realized that I couldn't control my Lycan. I have never been able to control her," she chuckled, "so when I found a book about the Lycans, I took as much of it as I could and tried to see if I could learn how to control her, and that was when I read about the guardians." She took a deep breath, jumped from Ash's arms, and sat back on the ground.

"The book says that every Lycan is brought to this world with their guardians on their sides. So all this while, I have been asking myself who my guardian is and how I can find him. I did look for him, but that was after I read in another book that Lycan's guardians are their mates. Because I didn't want to have anything to do with Alpha Killan, I decided to let go of the idea of looking for him. In fact, the main reason I decided to live in my beast form forever was because of that. The books said that a Lycan living without their guardians is an abomination because they are bound to bring doom to the world and not peace as it is intended." She explained.

"But I am not your mate, Mila. How can this be possible, and being your guardian, what does it mean?" Ash asked, getting more confused.

"I don't know about that, my dear, but the books said a Lycan without his or her guardian is incomplete and an abomination, and a guardian without his or her Lycan is incomplete and an abomination as well. Another part also says that it's only a Lycan who can control his guardian when filled with anger, and it's only a guardian who can control a Lycan when consumed with anger, because it's in this process that when both of them are alone they will end up bringing doom." She responded to his question.

"Is that the reason why I felt like I had lost all my energy when you screamed my name the time I attempted to kill all the rogues?" he asked her.

"Yes, no one could stop you, and my screaming took all your powers the same way you did to me. You wished for me to stop, and I did. I wished for you to stop, and you did. Do you know what that means?" She asked him.

"It means that it's only you apart from the gods who have power over me, and it's only me apart from the gods who have power over you? He asked.