Ch.4 New beginnings

All that could be heard was the clanking of metal against a plate as the wolves of moonstone watched the silver-haired boy devour his third helping of food.

"Good Goddess, and I thought I could eat a lot." Gabby had long since had her fill of the food before her, and so had Trevor and Chris, but Krillian had kelp eating.

"Do witches usually have a high metabolism or something?" Chris asked as he stole the last piece of bacon off of Krillian's plate.

"Yes, but not this high; all my nutrients have been going to Mel for the last week, so my body needs more food to replenish what it has lost."

"I don't understand. Have you just been giving her all the food?" Trevor asked

"No, I guess I could explain it better. Mel hasn't physically eaten anything for a week. The shadow spell I placed her in to protect her draws not only mana from my body but also nourishment from anything I eat and gives it to anyone inside it."

"Oh, so your only eating like this because your body lacks nutrition, do most spell do something like that?" Krillian looked towards Gabby as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"Not many eat away at the nutrients in your body; the ones that do are usually spells that involve keeping people alive such as the one I created for Mel, called shadow keeper. Although the constant use of magic will give you a higher metabolism."

"You created that spell. I thought only high-level witches learned how to create spells?" Krillian laughed awkwardly.

"Well, my aunt is a high-level witch she taught me most of what I know, the other stuff I picked up along the way."

"That was a lie and the truth simultaneously impressive." One of the women from the kitchen stood next to the counter. When Krill looked at her, he saw the power in her eyes.

"Oh, sorry, Lena, we didn't introduce you. This is one of Mama Ressa's daughters, and over there is her twin sister Lisa." Gabby pointed towards the identical women. Both had dark brown hair and were just a little bit taller than Mama Ressa, but there was a crucial difference in the way Lena spoke and the way mama Ressa spoke.

"Her Daughter? Your one to be pointing out lies." Lena's smile washed off her face when he spoke, but before she could say anything, a wolf with a giant sledgehammer strapped to his back walked in.

"Young Man, you've been requested by the alpha."

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"Someone, please tell me why I must do this again." Krillian stood in front of a table lined with raw moonstone.

"When a member of the moonstone pack goes through their first change, they each get to pick out their moonstone to show that they are an official member. For us wolves, it's a right of passage like no other it's something special like carrying a piece of the moon with you everywhere you go; it becomes a piece of you. Even though you are not a wolf, you are a pack member. Now you get to pick a moonstone as well." The alpha stood next to the table, leaning on one of the sides.

"Yuh, but why is it so important? It's not like I'm opposed to having one, but what is their purpose?"

"Well, for one, they symbolize that the Moonstone pack protects you. The second is because it's the tradition of the moonstone pack to carry a moon blessed In the light of the full moon for five years, one for each god of creation to show they we are the servant of our creator." This is what caught Krillian's attention. A moonstone blessed for five years and only allowed to absorb the full moon's light.

"Interesting?" Krillian held his hand over the large pieces of moonstone. He closed his eyes and paused for a second. It was only for a second that everyone could feel a spike in energy around the room, but it disappeared when the witch opened his eyes and picked up a piece of raw moonstone. " I'll take this one."

"I'll take that and have it refined and shaped for you." The woman behind the desk said as she held her hand for the moonstone.

"Don't worry about that. I can do it." Krillian dropped the ore into his shadow before anyone could object. The last thing he wanted was for them to fuck up the refining process and make the thing lose some of its power.

"Krillian, this is her job. You know she is more than capable of refining and shaping the stone for you." Chris held up his wallet and showed him a moonstone that was attached to it.

"If she did that, I do not doubt her abilities, but why force labor on someone else when I know how to do it myself."

"How will I get paid if you don't give me work?" The lady asked

"Well, of course, I will pay for the moonstone. What is it, 300, 400?" The lady went wide-eyed at Krillian's words.

"300, 400 what the stone is free. I only charge my craftsmanship."

"....Are you dumb? Please don't tell me that's in your contract?"

"No, not exactly."

"Good because those are some stupid terms that stone alone is at least worth 300."

"But it's just moonstone. Moonstones are dirt cheap?"

"The moonstone is yes, but that's not what's worth the 300; it's the blessing they pay for. A blessing like that isn't just a fancy tradition; it's what we witches call a sacred ritual. Something that calls for divine blessings from your creator. For every full moon in five years, Ishtar stores each stone with divine protection. You get it."

"So it bestows the moonstone with power. My family never thought about it that way. I'll have to talk to my siblings about that."

"Yes, you should; here's the money I owe you for the stone." Krillian tried to give her his money, but the woman wouldn't take it.

"You don't have to pay for anything; its alpha pays all dealings with the moonstone pack. Oh, and Alpha, I believe we will start charging for the stone as well." The woman winked at the alpha before exiting the room.

"You son of a bitch." The Alpha looked furious as she jacked the boy up in the air by his collar.

"Do you know how much money you just cost my pack?" Krillian teleported a reasonable distance away from her.

"Chill out; you can easily make all that money and more back. If I'm correct in assuming that the moonstone blessings process isn't owned by her family and is a pack secret, right?"

"Yes."

"And the contract she has with you guys now only talks about her abilities to sale her craftsmanship to you and outside sources, right."

"Yuh, what's your point?"

"You see, homegirl is going to come back ready to talk you into a new contract, one that will make her and her family rich. She'll want to sell those stones as well, but this isn't just an opportunity for her. It's also one for you as well. You hold all the chips. The right to sell a pack secret is the alphas. So, of course, from each sale, you should receive, let's say, 40%."

"Interesting, so witches are brilliant after all; now I'm not letting you leave this pack." The alpha grabbed the boy's hand, pulling him to the door.

"Ughhh, where are we going now?"

"It's time for the rest of your tour while your and Mel's room is set up. Then I'll have Chris take you somewhere to get clothes, like a perfect shopping date."

"What but Alpha?" Chris was right behind them as she and Krillian were leaving. The women had already shown the witch around the living area, the garden, and the pack hunting ground. Now she was dragging him out of the moonstone workshop. "Okay, here we are over. There is where Gabby works as the pack healer. There's another garden behind her building full of herbs she needs to complete her task. And to the other side is the armory. Some of our pack members like to use weapons, such as Lisa and Lena, who both practice archery and spear tossing.

"Oh, does your pack make their weapons?"

"No, not anymore. We lost the weapons craftsman from old age about three years ago. Now we have an empty workshop until we higher a new one." Chris answered Krill's question as he pointed toward a large building near the pack healer.

"Wow, that's a big building? So I'm guessing many of your warriors like to fight with weapons."

"Almost all of them like to use the twice soul weapon style." Krillian perked up at the name of the fighting style.

"Isn't that the martial arts that can only be used by wolves?" The boy's eyes were basically shining with happiness.

"You've heard of it?"

" OF COURSE. It's a martial art derived from the enhanced sense of a werewolf and can only be used with extreme strength. It's an extremely deadly martial art, and your enhanced strength makes every one of your attacks a lethal one."

"Well, they're sparing right now if you-"

"Let's go!" Krillian grabbed Chris's hand and started dragging him to the training ground. The alpha giggled as she watched them.

"My Goddess Ishtar, I don't know what direction you're taking this pack, but I can't wait to watch it unfold." The Alpha took delight in following them. They finally made it through the long stretch of open grass field to the pack training ground. There were a bunch of pack warriors sparing in the area, with The beta instructing them. Some were bare-handed and shirtless, punching with all their strength as their opponent would meet them fist to fist. The twice-soul barehanded style where they believed that the only way to avoid an attack was to match it with an onslaught of your own.

Though there was one match under the pavilion that caught Krillian's eyes the most. Maidox and a warrior circled each other with a long sword. Krillian could feel the vibe coming off them, and if he couldn't see their auras, he would think they were trying to kill each other. The warrior finally stopped circling when Maidox looked toward the alpha. His sword came slashing down at Maidox's head. The force of the slash made even the wind bend to its might, but Maidox was no pushover. He quickly matched the powerful blow with one of his own, but these two forces didn't meet in the middle as a match. Instead, Maidox's strength overpowered the other wolves throwing the sword back and taking the young warrior with it.

"Show off." Chris rolled his eyes at the slight smirk on The Gamma's face as he looked at Krillian, whose smile had disappeared entirely.

"What's wrong? I thought you'd be more excited about watching a match?"

"Yes, I was excited, but... that weapon is so weak that neither of them could use their full strength."

"How could you tell that the swords were weak?" It was the boy the gamma was sparing with that asked the questions.

"Krillian, this is Zane. He's Lisa's son and one of mama Ressa's grandsons." the boy smiled as he outstretched his hand.

"Oh, of course, he is." Krill's words made Zane's eyes cold even though he kept smiling. "Well, to answer your question, I have an eye for knowing the worth of items, and that sword may be worthy of humans, but they aren't equipped to handle the strength of werewolves. Especially those with high status."

"We know, but it's not easy to make good weapons. We werewolves don't have a long history of fighting with weapons like the other species, so we aren't as good at making high-quality swords. We mostly used our black Smith to Repair the weapon we bought from humans." The alpha responded bitterly to the witch's words.

"Plus, it doesn't help that the Elven tribes and the Witch covens won't trade or sell their methods or weapons to the packs, so this is what we have to deal with." Zane sheath his Sword as he spoke.

"In my people's defense, we barely like to trade methods amongst other witches, let alone a species we have traded blows with. In the witch's world, the only way to obtain the things you want is to either be well connected, by respect or fear, or to learn how to make it yourself."

"And how exactly did you obtain the things you want?" Krillian snapped his head toward Zane. "No disrespect, but I'm also training to be the keeper of the armory, so when weapons as deadly as yours come near me, I tend to inspect them with these eyes of mine, and to say the least, those things are drenched in blood." Cold air surrounded the boy, and every wolf near them could feel it.

"My mother was one of the best blacksmiths my coven had ever seen, and my father was the most feared witch in his class." The witch gave the wolf a look that sent a wave of terror. "I guess you could say I'm the product of both, and I don't like being questioned about my past by someone far weaker than me." A growl left the boy's mouth as he approached Krillian and got in his face.

"The only way a little weak bitch like you could ever beat me is because of magic. We all know Your species is weak." The witch boy smirked up at the angry wolf.

"Alpha, can you please always me to shove his foot down his throat?" The Alpha looked between the two before she nodded her head.

"Alpha, can I have a request for their match?" Chris asked, only to receive a nod from his mother. "I don't think they should be allowed to use weapons Krillian is far superior with weapons than anyone here."

"Alright, you two go to separate ends of the mats; this will be hand-to-hand combat that means no magic. Are you alright with that, Krillian?" The boy only nodded in response; he took a stance and pulled in a deep breath, and as he breathed out, his veins began to glow like molten gold.

"What the hell? The alpha said no magic!"

"Zane, why don't you use your eyes, and you'll see that he isn't using any magic." The boy's eyes glowed silver as he looked at a smirking Krillian. He could see swirling energy in his core just above his stomach. He wasn't pulling in energy from around him. Instead, the glow in his veins came from the power in his body. "What the hell? If he's not using magic, then why is he glowing?"

"From what I learned as a child, magic is the act of pulling the mana of the universe within you and then willing it to obey your commands. But this is not mana. This is Chi, the energy within your body. Every creature in the world can use chi to strengthen their body but to see him use it to this extent makes me want to ask if you're sure about fighting him."

"Yes, I am, and Alpha, you could at least try to courage me."

"For what, so you can die?"

"Whatever I'm doing this, someone needs to put the witch in his place." The two circled each other Zane studied the way Krillian moved. His body seemed perfectly protected, but he was also completely relaxed. His stance reminded him of taekwondo, but it was also different. He watched him for a bit longer before he decided to get close and attack. He threw a punch with a lot of power behind it aimed at Krillian's face; it almost seemed like he would get hit. The boy was still calm as he ducked under his arm right out of the path of his fist and kicked straight up at the boy's jaw. The pure power behind it lifted him off the ground, but before he could go all the way up, Zane kicked out at the witch, only for him to catch his leg in between his elbow and knee.

A cracking sound resonated out in the air. You wouldn't need superheating to hear the sound. Zane dropped down on one leg as Krillian let him go and backed away.

"I apologize for breaking your leg. I didn't expect you to attack midair, it shows that you do have some skill, but I do advise you concede."

"Oh, don't you worry about my leg? This fight just got interesting. Your speed is out of this world, and I can't give up until I see all you have." Zane's bones healed as he swiped Krillian's legs from under him. The witch's flexibility was that of only a witch; how he bent his body into a handstand and kicked out at Zane was nothing short of amazing. Zane used one arm to block the attack from hitting his face as you used the other to push his body off the ground. This action caused him to turn in a backflip and land on his feet.

Krillian bends backward onto his feet as Zane comes for him again, only to take a different stance; with only one hand, he can block every punch the wolf throws. It was almost as if his punches were being sucked into Krillian's fist, but it was for Zane to pull out one faint, and he could punch Krillian in his face one good time. The Witch boy stumbled for a second, but when he stood straight again, his face was clear of all emotions. Zane came after him again, but this time it was almost as if he was fighting a different person. The wolf tried to kick him in the face, but instead, his leg swiped over the boy's head, only for him to jab his pointer and index finger into his leg. When I came back down to the ground, Zane stumbled to the side. That was all the time krill needed as he round-housed him right in the face, but this wasn't the move that finished him. As Zane was about to get back up, the witch raised his leg straight in the air bringing it down on his skull and knocking him flat onto the mat.

"You knocked him out in three moves. You were holding back the entire time, weren't you?" Chris asked in amazement.

"Yuh, the only reason I knocked him out is that I kinda lost my temper when he punched me in the face, and I knew if I didn't end it now, I'd end up hurting him. Can we go shopping now? I feel all loosened up now that I have a good stretch." The glow faded from Krillian's body as he walked towards Chris.

"Yuh, we can head out now. Do you want to bring Mel along? Chris pointed towards the tree line where Malik and Mel were sleeping at the base of a giant oak tree. Krillian smiled as he watched the two of them nap together like they invariably used to.

"No, you do not want to wake the little girl up; the last time I made that mistake, she almost gave me an aneurysm."

"Noted, don't wake up sleeping beauty." The two laughed as the Alpha watched them walk toward Chris's black SUV.

"So, are they?" It was Zane who spoke up while Maidox helped him up.

"How'd you figure it out?"

"These eyes of mine can see anything, even the red string of fate."

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"Uggggghhhhhh, can we please be done shopping?!" Krillian dragged his legs as he walked beside Chris, who pushed a cart around Walmart.

"Oh, come on, this is just Walmart."

"No, it's not 'just Walmart'; it's the fourth store we've been to." Krillian's hands waved dramatically as he spoke, and the people walking by gave him weird looks.

"Well, you're the one who said you needed more diapers for Mel."Krill only pouted, knowing that the wolf was telling the truth. Chris looked at him as he pouted and crossed his arms; his long silver dreads were placed in a messy bun, some of his hair hung loose, covering his shoulder as his honey-brown eyes seemed to glow in the light, but that light didn't only illuminate his eyes. Still, it practically had his brown skin glowing and revealing every chiseled muscle in his jawline, and all threw out his body. He was so caught up with how handsome the boy was that he couldn't help what came out his mouth next. "You're sexy when you pout." A dark blush came on Krillian's face as he looked away from Chris. It was silent for a while, almost to the point where Chris was about to apologize.

"Well... maybe I'll pout more often then." A smirk appeared on Krillian's face as he pulled diapers off a shelf along with baby wipes. This time it was Chris's turn to be shocked; that was the last thing he had expected from the witch. "Close your mouth before you catch a fly." Krillian got close to Chis as he spoke. He placed his hand on the wolf's chin and lifted it close for him. A low primal hum came from his chest, which caused him to back up quickly with a blush on his face.

"Wwe should get to the check; out my dad starts to worry when pack members get.." Chris looked around and got close to his ear. "...stuck around humans for too long." Krillian shivered in disgust out of reflex as he thought about the fact that there were a bunch of regular humans walking around him. "What, do you not like humans?"

"Only the ones who aren't self-righteous and believe they know everything about the world." Krillian pulled out a pair of shades and placed them on his face.

"So basically, you only like a human who has a connection with the True world, so it's only blessed humans for you." The clerk gave Chris a weird look, but when he flashed her a dashing smile, a blush appeared, and she stared all dreamy-eyed. Krillian looked between the girl and Chris. Chris started to look weirded out by how the girl eyed him like a piece of candy, so he took it upon himself to end it. He cleared his throat and pulled down the shades he had put on before they got to the cash register.

"Honey, wipe the drool off your face and do your job, please." This time the girl's face turned red from embarrassment; she quickly swiped the items and asked for cash or a card in a nasty tone. The witch quirked his brow and snatched the shades off his face.

"Listen, ms. 402 North Welten Lane," the Girl and Chris's faces went into shock when he spouted out her address. "I am not the one, so cut the attitude and learn to drool over a sexy guy without everyone noticing, just like the rest of us." The girl nodded and averted her gaze. She was utterly creeped out by Krillian’s words, but by the way, she gave him a once over as well. She probably thought he was hot too.

"So I'm sexy, huh." Krillian ignored the wolf as he picked up the bag after Chris swiped his card, and both of them walked to the SUV and got in. " You know she wasn't the only one staring at us, right."

"Yuh but the rest of those people didn't work there; she should have been more respectful." Krillian's dreads swayed in the wind from his open window. The sun was setting. A shiver went down the boy's spine. "You should drive faster. I have a bad feeling." Chris didn't question him as he began pressing the gas on it. They were flying down the empty road not that far from the pack house, but out of nowhere, the wolf slammed on the brakes. "What are we stopping for..."

"Krillian, look." Before Krill could finish his question, he looked out to the road in front of them only to see that it was covered with decrepit-looking beings. Black blood dripped from their mouths as they slowly walked down the road toward them. "Are those the thing we saw this morning?"Krillian's nodded his head in horror. "What do we do now?"

"Roll up the windows and run them over. I don't think they are here for us, but if we let them keep walking down this road."

"They'll infect the townspeople, won't they?" Krillian nodded one last time just before Chris stumped on the gas. He began to bull dose through as many of them as he could. He swung the giant SUV in every direction he could, doing his best to knock all of them down, and as he did, krillian let down his window and began to burn every demon in sight.

"We need to hurry. The packs are probably in worse danger. This was just a small group to spread infection and increase numbers." He didn't need to say anything cause Chris was already speeding. Krillian's looked to the moon as he sent up a prayer. 'Goddess, please let Mel be safe.'