Chapter 3 Burning Truth

POV Krillian

It had been a long day today. This thought ran threw my head as I looked over for a split second to see Malik in the passenger seat and Mel in her car seat, both of them passed out asleep, before I put my attention back on the empty roads. We had done so much to say that I wasn't surprised they were out of energy. We had breakfast early with the pack; then, I headed out for a couple of jobs. Some idiots needed a barrier around their property, and I was hired. Mel and Malik tagged along with me, so afterward, we decided to go to the fair that wasn't too far from the location. Needless to say, these two tired themselves out! With the sugar rush for Mel and Malik having to chase after her all day because he's the one who decided to give a one-year-old a bucket of pure sugar, aka cotton candy, these two deserve the rest. I was pretty sleepy, too, but I had this feeling in my chest that wouldn't let the tiredness settle in my body, and it only got stronger once I parked in the driveway of the mountain peak land.

"Hey, wake up. We're home."

"Five more min..." I slapped him on the bicep.

"Hey!... Don't manhandle me while I'm asleep."

"Oh, shut up and get Mel. I'll get her bag." Maliki stretched as he exited the car and went around to unbuckle Mel. I waited for them in front of the vehicle, but my gut screamed at me that something was wrong here, and it was. There was not one light on in the entire pack house.

"What's going on? Is there a power outage again? Goddess, why is it so hard to get a good electrician up this mountain?" Oh, right, we do have a lot of power outages. Maybe that's it.

"I told y'all you should let me switch it over to a magic grid, but nooo, you all want to keep the electric.." A chill went down my spine.

"Kril? Kril, what's wrong? Let's go inside." My arm moved on its own as I stopped him from going further. There was a rustle that came from the bushes alongside a dark growl. "What's that?" Malik's eyes glowed, and his k-9s elongated as he let out his claws in one hand.

"I don't know, but it's coming fast." The words could leave my mouth sooner, and a man jumped from the bushes. Black foam and liquid were leaking from his mouth, and the veins around his body were dark and pulsing with magic that was pure evil. It moved quickly, but once it reached the moonlight, that's when I knew what had happened.

"A..Alpha?" Malik froze, but before it could reach us, I thrust my palm toward it, sending it flying back. "Kril, what are you doing that's the alpha!?" Malik was confused; I could tell.

"He's not the alpha anymore. He's been corrupt."

"What do you mean?"

"That thing before us is a corrupt soul, made from malice and evil magic." Malik grabbed My Hand.

"What are you say, that he's gone?"

"..Yes and no. Ignime von cretae" a golden flame enveloped my hand. When a being is corrupted by demonic magic, a part of their soul remains trapped forever, suffering in torment. There is only one thing that can free them. Hellfire."

"You...you have to burn him, don't you?"

"It's okay. His body can no longer feel pain. Plus, if we don't, he could infect the others." With that, he gave me a nod and turned away from the man running toward us. I could feel my heart break as I let out a stream of golden hellfire. Some think that the fires of hell are red or blue, but that's not the case. The fire of hell is golden. It's the only flame that can burn down to the soul, cleaning away all sins and impurities, for that is its very fuel, which is the exact purpose of hell. To burn sinners.

"Kril... I think we're too late?" Growls erupted all around us. I turned and looked at where he was looking. There were hundreds of them, and they all wore the faces of the pack.

"Malik, go." He looked at me as if I had lost my mind.

"What the fuck? No, I'm not leaving you to face this alone. We need to try and find any survivors." I pulled a sword from my shadow and handed it to him.

"Go to the safe place in the woods and see if anyone ran there." He gave me a look that told me he knew exactly what I was doing.

"Kril.."

"Think about Mel! She nor you shouldn't have to watch what I have to do next."

"Don't talk like you aren't being broken by this too."

"I was trained to do things like this; if you see any of them in the wood, just decapitate them. It won't kill them, but it'll stop them from moving and ensure you aren't scratched. Now go!" He quickly pulled me to him and kissed me deeply before running as fast as possible into the woods. I felt the beast start to move after him. My eyes flashed gold.

"daemonium captionem." The corrupt bodies slammed right into the invisible barrier around them. There was now no way for a corrupt to pass into the woods.

Before they could pounce on me, I quickly teleported into the pack house, but what I found was heartbreaking. The house was destroyed, and all around, layering the floor was the bodies of mountain peak.

"No." Quickly I teleported in and out and in and out of every room of every house in mountain peak, and it all was the same. The doors were smashed in, and the bodies lay on the ground, slowly turning into demons. Every wolf, man, woman, and child was murdered or turned into a demon. But what hurt the most was that there was only one coven in the world that could create a demon.

POV third person

Krillian teleported himself to the roof of the pack house, which lay at the center of the mountain peak property. All around, he could see them rampaging within the barrier he had put up. Until they saw him and came rushing to the pack house, but it was too late Krillian knew what he had to do. However, that didn't make it easy. Golden flames covered his entire arm, and without hesitation, he formed balls of Fire within his hands, making them grow larger and larger as he threw them at the houses of the territory. Each one erupted in golden flames destroying anything and everything within it. But he wasn't off the hook, yet the corrupt already turned had surrounded the building and were starting to scale up the side of it. Quickly the witch channeled the flames around him. The fire on his arms began to move slowly to the center of his palms; as he pressed them together, he formed a giant ball of fire, one so strong it seemed like a mini sun. With all his might, he compressed the mini sun into a tiny orb of glowing fire. He popped the little ball in his mouth as he took a deep breath, and when he opened his mouth again, a wave of fire came forth, burning everything on the side of the house. Nothing was left but fire and ash.

A loud growl was heard from behind him, but by the time he could turn around, he was already tackled off the roof. The witch acted quickly, teleporting him and his assailant within the house, making them fall hard to the wood floorboards on the third floor of the pack house. The corrupt wolf razed its claws, ready to rip him apart, but the fire quickly erupted from the boy's feet, burning away his shoes as he kicked the creature off him with both feet. It was fast as it got back up to its feet, but Krillian quickly swept its legs out from under him and shot a stream of fire straight into the creature's chest, burning the lesser demon to ash.

Before the flames could overtake the room, he made his exit. He stopped a little way down the hall. He could feel them slowly moving around him, trying to surround him. This wasn't good. Some must have changed hours ago—they were already gaining back intelligence. Krillian took a deep breath; he began to walk again while dragging his finger along the wall as he went, slowly setting the hallway he walked through on fire. Now they wouldn't be able to jump him from behind; the cowards would have to attack from the front. Though, that's precisely what they did. One by one, group by group, the lesser demons would leap from the few shadows left in the burning house, only to be greeted by hellfire. By the time Krillian made it to the lowest floors, the upper levels of the place were already engulfed by golden fire. The flames burnt so bright that you could barely see the wood the flames clung to. The witch stood in the living room as he walked up to a baby blanket on the couch. As he picked it up and held it to his chest, he teleported just before the vast house collapsed.

The next room the boy entered was very different from the rest. It was clean, white, and utterly untouched by the demons. Computers lined the wall. Quickly, the boy pulled out a thumb drive and plugged it into the computer. He started to type and download data. As he let the computer do its thing, Krillian picked up a cooler bag and opened the glass lab fridge. He quickly grabbed the samples in their test tube and placed them in the bag. He continued to fill up three big bags, dropping each one in his shadow before turning to the thumb drive and adding that in his shadow as well.

He glanced all around the room slowly; it was as if he was reminiscing, taking in every memory he had in there. A sad air went through the room when his eyes landed on a white lab coat wrapped in plastic. He walked over to it to see that on the front of the lab coat was his name. Tears started to fall on the plastic. He quickly whipped them away and stuffed the coat with all the other items. It was time to leave this place, but before he left, there was one last thing to do. Krillian made a fireball appear before him and sent it flying toward the far end of the lab.

Krillian quickly exited the lab door; it was located right at the edge of his barrier where the pack land met the edge of the woods. The witch turned and glanced at the kingdom burning in gold before he dashed off into the forest, weaving his way through the trees as they became thicker and more complex as he got closer to his destination. Thought the moment he entered the clearing in the woods known as the safe house, his heart snapped in two. There in front of him on his knees in the forest dirt, a sleeping Mel in one arm and a sword drenched in black blood in his hand was Malik. Before, lied two demons, but it was who they were that made him freeze. It was the gamma of the mountain peak pack and his 12-year-old daughter; it was Malik's father and little sister. He saw the wolf shaking as he watched the two bodies crawl toward their heads and slowly reattach themselves.

How many times has Malik had to go through this? How many times was he forced to behead his own family? This endless cycle needed to end; without a second more hesitation, Krillian burned both demons to ash. The sword dropped from Maliks' hand, ringing as it hit the stones on the forest floor.

"Malik?" The wolf only stared at his hand, his body still shaking as Kril walked up to him, pulling Mel from his arm slowly and placing her in the arms of his shadow. The shadow gently pulled Mel into the safe place within him.

"I-I-I-I k...illed them."

"No, they were already g...." The sounds of wild howling cut off Krillian. "Rogues."

"I can't do this."

"We need to go."

"No, no, no, no, no, I can't leaves them!" Krillian tried to pull the wolf away from the burning bodies of his family, but Malik only fought back. "I can't live with these memories; please just leave me here." He stopped and let go of the wolf as he looked down at the wolf's tear-stained face. He looked deep into his eyes to see the boys second soul growing smaller and smaller, slowly being sniffed out by the lack of Maliki's will to survive. Krillian placed a hand on the boy's cheek.

"You really can't live with these memories, can you?" Malik only sobbed even more. Krillian pulled the boy to his chest. "Then it's okay; you won't have to remember until your ready." A kiss was placed on his forehead. For only a second, his veins pulsed, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head before he passed out cold. Krillian Stood over his friend, and just before the rogues could make it into the clearing, he waved his hand over Malik making him undetectable to anyone who would wish him harm. They completely covered the area in front of him. There were at least 30 of them, and Krillian knew that even if he could take them down in time, they would end up trampling over Malik by the time he had.

"Where is he, witch!?" It was a dirty brown wolf that spoke; he stood at the head of the formation.

"Who?"

"The last of the Mountain peak wolves, where is he!?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I smelt him. He was right here with you, and now he's gone. Tell me where he is, or we will rip you and this mountain apart to find him!" The rogues started to stalk closer, barring its fangs, but the moment they got close enough to him, a giant thin circle surrounded them and Krillian.

"Sorry, but I won't let you have him." Krillian threw up his hands, and in a flash of light, he and all the others disappeared from the mountain peak forest.

________________________________

"Seeing as you all just found out about mountain peak, I guess that means the weekly check-up to the elder was due; that means they chased me for a week. So I must have teleported somewhere between New York and Vermont; gods, no wonder I was so depleted." Everyone sat staring at what they had seen, but worse was what they could smell in the air. They could smell the heartbreak coming from Krillian as he tried his best to appear unfazed.

"Why... Why was the last part so fuzzy I couldn't even make out what was happening." Malik looked up at everyone. First, his eyes made contact with Chris. His eyes were filled to the brim with rage and jealousy then they stopped on Krillian, who wouldn't even look at him.

"Oh, I see now; it showed why you took my memories, wasn't it?"

"......Yes, I'm afraid you couldn't see it because your mind still isn't ready to know what happened." Malik had a sad look on his face before he stood up.

"Fuck this. Can someone show us to a room?" Malik started to walk towards the door with Maidox following, but before he opened the doors, he stopped. "By the way, for anyone who might think he manipulated the memories shown and that he is just a mass murderer, you should know that if he were, he would have never known about the Mountain peak lab. It was the place we as a pack kelp cloaked." With that, he and Maddox left the room.

"That was rather cold of him." It was the beta who spoke. Krillian shook his head at the words.

"No, he's only putting on a tough guy act as usual; if he were being cold, he wouldn't have taken Mel with him."

"I was wondering why he took her with him, but seeing as he's your boyfriend, I guess you're okay with it."

"Malik and I are many things, but together is not one of them." Krillian rolled his eyes as he spoke.

"But he kissed you?" To Chris, his words sounded forced, but no one paid them any mind.

"Yes, he did, we have a complicated relationship, but we could never be together."

"And why is that because he's a wolf?" It was Gabby who spoke up this time. She was aggravated with the thought that he would deny the boys love just because of his species.

"No, because one day he will find his mate, and I will lose him in the process." The wolves in the room grew quiet and shut their mouth at what he said.

"Okay... so now that "that" is over, let's move on." It was Denah with a preppy voice that cut the tension in the room. "Alpha, if you would."

"Yes, this crucial evidence is enough to clear you of any crime being committed. Though I am rather reluctant to let you leave, especially now knowing that you have a child with you."

"I can handle myself, Alpha Alexandria."

"Oh, I can see that, but still, I have my reasons, so I'll give you two choices, and I believe it will not be a hard choice for you."

"And these choices are?"

"Join the Moonstone pack or kill us all to leave." Krillian's eyes went wide at what the Alpha proposed.

"Alpha Alexandria, you know I won't attack you, but why?" Krillian's head hung low as he spoke. " I bring nothing but trouble, so why are you so willing to bring me, a Witch you know nothing about, into your pack."

"Simple, you, your child, and Malik are the last surviving members of Mountain Peak. We could never let their children live without a home." Tears started to go down his face slowly.

"But I'm not; I'm not eve...." Before he could finish his sentence, the Alpha hugged him as she held him to her chest.

"I understand your conflicting emotions. The wolves of mountain peak show you nothing but love, and you had to put on a brave face and push down your emotions to do what needed to be done, but you don't need to push down your pain anymore." Not too much longer after her words had hit his heart, the witch started to shake and cry. He sobbed in her arms like a baby, and he didn't care who was watching. However, it did take a long for him to stop before he backed away from her with a smile on his face.

"What's up with you damn wolves and making me feel emotions and shit." Krillian whipped away his tears as the Alpha laughed.

"So what do you say?

"I...I need a bit more time before I decide."

"You do realize your other choice is to kill us, right?"

"As you can see, I could easily teleport away."

"And we could easily track your ass down."

"Why are you so got damn stubborn?"

"Cause I'm a grown-ass woman. Now I said what I said, and unless you want to be tracked down and dragged back here, you'll sit your ass down somewhere." Krillian just rolled his eyes at her.

"Okay, while we give him time to stop being stubborn and say he and his daughter are joining us, let's prepare a tour of the pack house after we discuss the terms of your magic contract for joining. You'll also pick out the moonstone ore that will be polished and refined for you." Samuel spoke as he started to give orders to the wolves around him to prepare for a tour of the pack land.

"For now, Gabby and Chris, would you two take Krillian to the packed kitchen to receive something to eat." Gabby quickly grabbed the witch's hand with an excited look. "I'll find you for the tour when we're ready!" Alpha Alexandria yelled after Krillian and the others.

"You're going to love Mama Ressa's cooking," Chris smirked at Krillian as the boy looked for help out of Gabby's firm grip. Chris took this as his chance a placed his hands on the boy's hips, picking him up in the air, causing the hybrid to let go as he placed him down beside him.

"Chris-" Gabby started to complain but was cut off by Trevor, who was right behind them.

"I'm pretty true Krillian here doesn't want his arm ripped off just because you have an appetite the size of Tartarus." Gabby rolled her eyes as she and Trevor kelp walking and sniping back and forth at each other.

"I apologize for her. She tends to get excited when it comes to food." Krillian laughed nervously as he refused to make eye contact with the wolf before him. This only

Made Chris agitated with the witch. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Yyyoure hands." Chris looked down at his hands. He hadn't even realized until now that his hands still had a firm grip on Krillian's hips. However, the look on the witch's faces made him want to snatch him off his feet and take him to somewhere very different from the kitchen. So before he let go of the boy's hips, he gave them a tight squeeze; this made Krillian make a sound that would echo in Chris's head all day.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize ." Krillian could see the lust in his eyes as he spoke.

"It's fine." Krillian had to clear his throat to make sure his voice didn't crack when he spoke.

"Come on; we shouldn't keep those two waiting; even though Trevor jokes that Gabby is a bottomless pit, he's no better." Krillian laughed at what he said as the two of them began to walk.

"I felt that those two were more alike than different."

"Oh, by the goddess, don't let them hear you say that I made that mistake once, and I still haven't heard the last of it yet." The two laughed as they talked and made their way to the kitchen. The moment they entered, they received weird looks from Gabby and Trevor, who sat at the bar stools in front of a high counter. Gabby gave Chris a glare like no other.

"What?" Chris asked as he saw Gabby glaring at him. Trevor only huffed at his best friend.

"Don't play games with me; you know exactly why I'm glaring." Chris closed his mouth and nervously scratched the back of his head. "Hey, Krillian, come sit by me. Mama Ressa will be back in any minute." The girl's tone had changed entirely while she patted the seat between Trevor and herself.

"You do love food, huh."

"Yuh, plus I have a selfish reason for wanting you to sit next to me." Krillian quirked up his brow as he sat on the red cushioned seat.

"And what's that?"

"To ask you some questions about magic. As you can see, I was raised with wolves, so I don't know much about magic."

"Oh? What about your parents?" The girl's smile slipped for a second."

"My dad was the witch, and he died before I was born."

"Oh, I'm so sorry; I should have been more sensitive to the matter."

"No, no, you couldn't have known."

"Still, I know how questions like that can bring back sadness." The others looked at him as he spoke. "I lost both of my parents to the last war. So I know how it feels." Silence fell over them before someone spoke.

"Why does it smell sad in my kitchen." It was an elderly short woman who spoke. She wore a purple dress. She had curly black hair with streaks of gray in it, but what caught Krillian's attention was her eyes. "Ahh, Mama Ressa hasn't seen a witch in a long time. The woman looked as if she could see his very soul.

"How did you know?" Trevor asked as he looked between Krillian and Mama Ressa. Krillian smiled as he bowed his head toward the older women.

"It's an honor to meet someone blessed by a creation goddess." Mama Ressa laughed at the boy.

"Oh no, the pleasure is Mama Ressa's." Mama Ressa shook Krillian hand with a smile. "Alright, time for Mama Ressa to get cookin'." Not too long after, two other women carried different breakfast ingredients.

"How'd you know About mama Ressa?" Chris leaned on the counter, looking at the handsome boy.

"Well, it's easy to tell when a wolf is blessed with Sacred sight. One was how she looked at me. It was like she was looking at my soul. The second part was that she knew what I was just by looking at me."

"Yuh, you know what they say? You can't hide anything from her all-seeing eyes." Trevor waved his hands in the air as he spoke.

"Mama Ressa saw that, Trevor, no bacon for you."

"How your back is towards me?!"

"Trevor, she and her kids can see everything in a 360-degree radius; why do you think you can get away with making fun of her."

"She's old. I thought maybe she wouldn't be able to see as well by now." When those words left his mouth, a wooden spoon beamed him on the forehead—knocking him from his stool.

"Okay, I had that coming." All four of them laughed as Krillian and Chris helped him up. The four teens talked as mama Ressa and the two women who looked much like she passed out the food. There was a full-course meal. The three cooks had prepared French toast, pancakes, veggie omelets, bacon, scrambled eggs, and sausage.

One thought went through Krillian's head as the beautiful smell of food hit his nose