WEREPIRE

“Tell me, Orphiea. Who is this one destined to overthrow me?” Alpha Magno demanded.

Orphiea, the high seer of the Dark Shadow Pack, held her cane firmly, stamping it against the stone floor. Visions of stars and swirling galaxies danced ecstatically around her head, a cosmic map hidden from everyone but her. She had been a seer all her life, witnessing both the ultimate beauty and the deepest ugliness of the world. Once again, Alpha Magno was forcing her to speak the secrets of the future.

“Someday, one of the newborns in this pack is going to rip you off your throne,” she said, her voice sounding like a dark promise.

In the shadows of the assembly, Martha and Jacob felt terror grip their hearts. Their relationship was already a forbidden crime across pack lines, and Martha had just given birth to a little girl. It would be a death sentence if Alpha Magno discovered their secret. They had to do everything to protect her. Before the Alpha could officially decree the execution of the pack’s newborns, the couple slipped away and rushed back to their cabin.

“This is madness, Martha,” Jacob argued, his hands trembling. “We cannot disobey Alpha Magno. If we are caught, he will kill us both.”

“And what? Just let him slaughter our daughter?” Martha snapped, her tone sharp with maternal fury. “Have you lost your mind, Jacob? How many times has Magno ordered an atrocity while we obeyed him like mindless dogs? It is time to flip the script. We have to send our girl somewhere far away. Somewhere safe.”

Martha wrapped the infant in white satin. She moved frantically, tearing through the wooden closet and upsetting the crib in her haste. Cradling her sleeping angel close, she felt her heart break. The baby felt so warm, so perfectly peaceful. Martha wept for the cruel hand fate had dealt their child, but there was no other choice.

“We have to go now,” Martha whispered, her ears catching a distant sound. “Magno’s minions are coming.”

“Right. You go ahead through the backyard and sneak into the woods,” Jacob said, his vampire instincts locking into place. “I’ll stay behind and distract them. Never let anyone hurt our child.”

Jacob stepped out the front door to face the threat alone. Within moments, Silvio, the ruthless leader of the Dark Shadow Pack Troops, approached with a squad of armed men.

“Jacob!” Silvio barked. “Word has reached us that your wolf wife gave birth. You must obey Alpha Magno’s decree. Surrender the offspring now if you want to avoid punishment.”

“Please... just let her go. She’s only a baby,” Jacob begged, dropping to his knees before the commander.

“Don’t be stubborn, Jacob. Your child is a prophesied threat to the Alpha. She has to die,” Silvio asserted coldly.

“But she’s just an innocent child!” Jacob lunged forward, grabbing Silvio’s leg to stop him, but the commander stepped on him, crushing him into the dirt like trash.

The troops kicked open the door and ransacked the cabin. Finding only the mess Martha had left behind, one of the men yelled, “Boss, the house is empty! They must have fled!”

“What are you waiting for? Find them!” Silvio roared. He glared down at Jacob, who was still pinned to the ground. “Tell us where your wife took the child, and we might spare you a beating.”

Jacob kept his jaw locked tightly. Never, he thought.

Losing his patience, Silvio hauled Jacob up by his collar and delivered a crushing blow to his face. Jacob’s jaw cracked, and dark blood dripped from his nose. Despite the pain, he glared at Silvio with a look of cold defiance.

“Don’t act tough, vampire. You’ll only regret it,” Silvio sneered. He clenched his fist and unleashed a brutal barrage, beating Jacob within an inch of his life.

“Fuck... fuck you,” Jacob spat, his face heavily bruised, several teeth breaking free from his mouth.

“Tch!” Silvio spat on Jacob’s bloody face before tossing his broken body to the ground. “Drag him back to Alpha Magno. I’ll find Martha and the brat myself.”

“Yes, boss!” The guards grabbed Jacob by his arms, dragging him toward the palace.

Along the path, neighbors and pack members quickly turned their faces away. Fearing Magno’s wrath, no one dared to intervene. Left with no strength to fight, Jacob could only pray that his wife and daughter would escape the slaughter.

Deep in the forest, Martha ran as fast as her werewolf speed could carry her, clutching her baby tightly against her chest. At the edge of the woodland, the trees suddenly broke open to reveal a wide, paved highway. Realizing she couldn’t outrun the wolves while carrying an infant—and refusing to abandon her husband to die alone—she made a desperate choice. She would leave the baby by the roadside, hoping a traveling human would rescue her.

Hearing the distant rumble of an engine, Martha quickly laid the crying infant on the grass beside the asphalt and dove into a thick patch of bushes.

A car slowed to a halt right beside the bundle. A man in his thirties stepped out, followed by a chubby, sharp-faced woman. They looked around the empty highway, completely bewildered as to who would abandon a newborn in the middle of nowhere. Martha held her breath, remaining perfectly still as the man gently scooped the baby into his arms.

As he lifted her, the little girl flashed a sweet, radiant smile. The man’s expression softened instantly. Even though his wife threw her hands up in a grumpy, protesting gesture, the man shook his head, carried the baby into the backseat, and drove away.

The taillights had barely faded into the distance when Silvio and his troops burst through the tree line.

“She’s over here!” a tracker shouted.

The soldiers surrounded Martha, lowering their spears, swords, and shotguns.

“Where is the child?” Silvio demanded, his voice shaking with rage. “Speak now, or we will break you.”

Martha glared at him, her jaw set. She would die before she betrayed her daughter’s whereabouts. Frustrated by her silence, Silvio signaled his men to pin her arms. He drove his fist into her stomach again and again until she coughed up blood, but no words left her lips.

“You and your husband love playing the martyr,” Silvio growled, rolling his shoulders to prepare another strike. “Let’s see how tough you are when Alpha Magno gets his hands on you.”

“Please, don’t take me to him,” Martha whispered, tears of agony tracking through the dirt on her face.

“You think you can beg your way out of this? Even if I stay quiet, the Alpha has eyes everywhere. He will know,” Silvio said. “Tell me the truth before he makes your death a slow nightmare.”

“Never!” Martha choked out.

Gritting his teeth, Silvio delivered a final, devastating blow to her abdomen. The sheer force of the impact stole the breath from her lungs, and Martha collapsed into the dirt, darkness finally claiming her.