"Hey! Daries was it?" It was the bear-like Alpha walking towards him. He wasn't dressed like a man of the cloth like his wife and daughter, he wore a plain shirt and a pair of jeans.
"Yeah, that's my name…sir." Daries said after bowing.
"Sir huh?" Alpha Luca chuckled. "Where are you headed?"
"I'm just going on a walk."
"I see." Alpha Luca rubbed his full beard. "I was about to do the same thing. Why don't you join me?"
"No, I wouldn't want to intrude." Daries refused.
"I wasn't asking you." Alpha Luca in the same cheery voice, but Daries could sense a hint of bite underneath. Daries simply nodded and followed him.
"Where were you headed son?" Alpha Luca asked casually.
Daries almost scoffed at that. "Just the inn. I was going to explore the town a bit."
"What for?"
"No reason. Just for fun, I guess." Daries shrugged.
There wasn't a sliver of hostility that could be found in Alpha Luca.
Perhaps that was because he didn't see Daries as a threat. Daries instinctively sized up every person he came across. And he could tell that fighting someone like Alpha Luca would be troublesome.
They walked from the temple to the main gates.
"Good morning Alpha." One of the guards piped up when they came closer. "You're a little late for your morning walk."
"Good morning Adrian. I had to attend to our guests this morning." Alpha Luca laughed and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
Alpha Luca turned and so did Daries, merely copying his movements.
They walked past each and every street; and at the end, Alpha Luca would talk to one person to receive updates on everyone who lived there.
The information was all largely mundane, especially by Daries' standards, but Alpha Luca still listened with rapt attention.
Daries also noticed that he called everyone he met by their first names, not their family names or their position in the pack, but their first names.
It warmed his heart though it left behind a lingering ache. He was more like a father than a general.
"Are you enjoying the walk, son?" Alpha Luca asked.
"Not particularly." Daries replied dryly.
Alpha Luca merely laughed. It seemed that was his response to everything. He was such a happy-go-lucky kind of person. It sickened Daries but his chest also burned with envy.
"You're the only one who talks to me like this, you know? Well…the only one here." Alpha Luca remarked.
"I'm sorry-" Daries started.
"No you're not. Do you know what your scent smells like?
Daries narrowed his eyes,"My scent?"
Alpha Luca stopped mid stride and turned to Daries. He slowly moved closer to Daries then sniffed. "You smell like an Alpha."
Daries stiffened and looked him straight in the eye. "How can you be so sure?" he asked in an even tone.
"Here's the proof right here." Alpha Luca grinned. "If you were an ordinary wolf you wouldn't be able to withstand my gaze, talk less of looking me in the eye like this. You aren't David's son. Who are you?"
"I'm her page". Daries replied, sounding bored.
He truly was even though one wrong word could lead to his death. His eyes scanned the surroundings looking for an opening. The place wasn't exactly crowded but it wasn't desolate either. He wasn't sure that he could beat him in a fight but he was sure he could outrun him.
"I'm sure the girl is from Ironwood," Alpha Luca continued. "What I don't understand is why you're with her."
"I'm her page." Daries repeated.
"I know for a fact that you haven't seen the inside of a temple in over a decade. So why are you following a priestess? Are you trying to steal the moonstone and sell it?" Alpha Luca demanded.
"Moonstone?" Daries blurted out. "Look, I'm-"
This time he wasn't cut off by Alpha Luca but by a bloodcurdling scream in the distance. Daries and Alpha Luca took one look at each other then instinctively ran in the same direction, towards the source of the scream.
In the part of the market near the forest, a woman was wailing on the ground. Before they got close enough to touch her,they stepped in something.
They both looked down at the same time and saw the deep crimson liquid on their shoes. Up ahead was a man with his innards out, his torso was ripped open. He was partly eaten.
Around them were screaming people scurrying about, but there was no assailant in sight. Besides, a simple fight between wolves wouldn't end in such a manner or have people screaming their heads off.
Daries bent down to talk to the woman beside the body but she didn't respond. She didn't even realise that Daries was there.
Alpha Luca grabbed a man who was running and held him in place by his shoulders.
"What happened here Logan?" He demanded.
The man's face was pale and he was trembling like a leaf.
"Th-there was…" he stammered, barely able to get the words out.
"Calm down and tell me what happened here so I can help." Alpha Luca said firmly.
The man took in a shaky breath and cried out, "It was a zombie wolf! From the forest." Logan pointed a quivering finger into the woods.
"Where is it? Where did it go?" Alpha Luca asked.
"It ate Dominic. And went back in through there." He pointed to the right this time.
"Arian," Alpha Luca whispered.
Daries' eyes widened. Lira was there too. Daries wordlessly dashed into the forest as Alpha Luca was barking commands to nearby guards. But there was a thought lingering in Daries' head.
Why would a zombie wolf come into town through the forest, kill someone then go back out? It didn't fit the known pattern of behaviour they had. Zombie wolves only ever attacked and ate werewolves.
They ignored other species and only attacked when they felt threatened, but they never ate. A zombie wolf would ordinarily attack and try to eat every wolf in its line of sight. Daries couldn't see why it would turn back into the wood.
He felt goosebumps rise on his skin as the thought crossed his mind. He realised the reason why he was seeing zombie wolves a lot more often in his journey.
They were attracted to Lira.