Chapter 1: Invisible
1284 Words
She was an oddity, so out of place that everyone practically ignored her existence. Despite possessing similar looks to her sister, Iris Wellington has a fate the opposite of her.
Selia Wellington was the darling daughter of the Silver Moon pack’s Alpha, the girl whom everyone adored. On this day, she officially turned fifteen, which meant also her coming of age ritual would be held.
Everyone gathered, excited for their Alpha’s daughter and, if she was lucky, she could even find her fated mate. There was none who didn’t present in this ritual; most werewolves had abandoned whatever they were doing, freeing the schedule just for attending this gathering.
It was such a contrast to Iris’ coming of age ceremony, which was held a few months ago. Only a few people came, and some did out of pity. The abandoned daughter of Alpha Wellington that was always invisible.
She wasn’t as strong nor charismatic as her half-sister, who had successfully turned to her wolf form at the age of five, and touted as a genius that only appeared once in a hundred years. Everyone was so excited when the news spread that they held a party and celebrated it for days.
“Miss Iris, you don’t want to come forward to accompany your sister? All your family members are there.” Someone suddenly said to Iris, who was standing alone in all her quietness.
She scrutinized the person briefly, then looked away without answering. The man clicked his tongue and then walked away, leaving Iris standing alone under the shadows of the trees and faint moonlight.
There was no need to look in the man’s direction to see what he would do next. He had approached a group of werewolves that stood together, discussing something. They must be gossiping about her right now.
In the middle of the werewolves gathering, and right beside the flickering fire, Selia did the formality of turning to her werewolf form; something that most would happen to most werewolves in exception of strong ones who could turn to their wolf’s form in their childhood.
She howled loudly to the moon above, the thundering voice resonating through the woods. Followed by the other werewolves of the pack that gradually shifted to their wolf form, including Alpha Wellington. Led by him, they ran through the woods to return to their residents.
Iris was one of the last werewolves to shift to her wolf form and followed from behind. She had actually been fidgeting since earlier, her premonition telling her that something bad was about to happen. Most importantly, they were out in the open, and although the woods still belonged to their pack’s territory, it was situated near the Nether Mountain.
She sniffed, and the unpleasant smell instantly assaulted her senses, and out of instinct, she instantly told the werewolves running near her through mind link. “Be careful!”
However, as usual, they just treated her as if she didn’t exist and continued to run with relaxed speed, still in the euphoria of their genius Alpha’s daughter finally coming of age.
“Watch your surroundings!” The premonition in Iris’s heart grew stronger and she couldn’t help but give another warning.
“It’s your sister’s coming of age today, Miss. Don’t destroy it by doing a stupid prank.” One of them sneered.
“We won’t fall for it.” Another one added.
Thus, they ran ahead of her and insisted on ignoring her.
Yet, only a few seconds later, the situation grew chaotic. The formerly quiet forest had turned into a situation akin to purgatory; blood splattered on the ground, pained howls and the smell of blood thick in the air. Her words had come true.
Originally, she thought that it was the demons attacking them, but Iris found out soon that she was wrong. They were unlucky. In the coming of age ritual this time, they had accidentally chanced upon a group of rogue werewolves.
Besides the demons residing in the Nether Mountain, rogue werewolves were another threat dangerous to normal werewolves, because often, they had lost their sanity. Rogue had a bigger body as they were full of explosive power, black fur, and a crazed look in their eyes.
“Protect Miss Selia!” a lot of them shouted, as the stronger werewolves began to retaliate against those rogue werewolves. Of course, they would have her as a priority, because she was also the hope of their pack.
Iris tried to maneuver herself in the midst of the attacks. She was nimble enough to avoid claws directed at her, although her body also slammed against others a lot of the time so that she had to struggle to balance herself.
It was also beyond her how she arrived at the near Selia, where there were a lot of werewolves forming a circle around her. Even their father, Alpha Wellington, always stayed beside Selia, warding off any attack coming their way. He was so strong that he easily snapped any rogue’s neck with one claw.
Iris’ eyes fluttered, and she hid the emotions swirling in them.
“Don’t just stand there, you are so useless!” Until she heard someone shouting at her. It was the Beta’s son, Danny Brooks, who appeared beside her and tore open a rogue’s neck with his claws.
The lapse of focus had caused her to almost lose her life, and she gasped. Danny shot her a disdainful look, and he growled as he shoved her towards the place where Selia was standing and said with a sneer. “Go stand there, be as wise as your sister, and don’t bother us.”
Everyone was panicking, and things were all in a mess. There were screams of agony, crying, and mourning in the middle of this battle.
“Let me. I can also fight.” Selia tried to bypass some werewolves that were guarding her. It was at the same time that Danny had shoved Iris towards her, causing both of them to be kicked outside of the protective circle from the rebound force of colliding against each other.
Iris groaned as her body hit a tall tree. Not far from her, there was also Selia, who had just slammed against a rogue werewolf. She fought a bit with it, but because she wasn’t ready, she accidentally hurt her arm. Luckily, she managed to kill it before the rogue bit her neck.
It was also at this very moment that a group of rogue werewolves swarmed toward them. Iris’s pupils constricted, and she struggled to get up. She fought those rogue werewolves until her fur was all red and covered in blood.
She nearly couldn’t hold it in anymore, gasping for breath as another claw managed to get her neck. Blood spurted out, which made the rogue werewolves around her crazier. At this very moment, she was desperate.
None was helping her.
However, the sight of the battle near her couldn’t break her heart further. Although Selia had gone back protected by the werewolves of their pack, her father, Alpha Wellington, still stayed close to his favorite daughter, Selia.
In her desperation, Iris even felt like giving up. She had always been invisible anyway, an awkward existence that shouldn’t exist so that she wouldn’t disturb Alpha Wellington’s family. Wasn’t he, Luna Lucy, and their daughter, Selia, a perfect family?
She was alone, fighting this horde of rogue werewolves. The enormous body of a rogue slammed against her and she bounced a few meters to the ground. When it jumped at her slumped figure, she could sense the death approaching.
Iris sent one last look at Alpha Wellington, and then she closed her eyes.
- Writer
