A Wolf's Tale (Book #4) Storm Of Vengeance

Chapter 12

"I know everything about her." The elderly wolf's disfigured face, whom they learned goes by the name Hidden, lit up under the fire's faint glow. "I knew that the moment I found out I was expecting pups, that I was about to bear something evil. Much beyond my imagination."

Misty sat beside the fire, trying to warm the chill that ran through her bones. Cayden at her shoulder. They perked their ears in interest.

Finally, everything was about to come clear.

"Her real name was Samara. She was made to be evil the second she was born. It wasn't easy, raising a pup that caused nothing but trouble. When she turned old enough to walk, mysteriously, one of her sisters went missing. Of course, as any concerned mother would, I went out to search for her. Only to find the little thing in a puddle, drowned. At first, I thought that maybe she had wanted to explore and went out alone. I didn't have a single clue that Samara could have done it." Hidden's abnormal eyes grew distant, living through the terrors of her younger years once more.

"As they grew older, Samara killed the rest of her brothers and sisters. I didn't know it was her until I caught her strangling her younger brother to the point that blood was rolling down his throat. It was then I realized that she was a troubled pup and that I needed to be patient with her. Darkness was within her. It stuck with her the whole time she grew up. One night, when she was a young adult, I had a dream. A message from the wolves in the sky. They warned me that I had born an unclean soul and that she was of dark magic. Demon wolves had put her in this world to terrorize and harm others. And the good wolves had no way to stop her." A pause.

Misty exchanged a confused glance with Cayden.

"I learned that she had been born before. Many times. She's lived different lives, coming back stronger than the last. She's been in the bodies of many creatures. Strangely, she haunts certain wolves until their dying breath.

"One day, she and I were having an argument. She thought she was ready to take on the world alone. That she no longer needed me. But my motherly instincts said otherwise. Because she wasn't right in the mind, I begged her to stay with me, to live with me so I could make sure that she didn't hurt herself, or others. She refused, and our fight escalated to the point that she ravaged my face. She left me alive, to live with my hideous appearance and the scars that she left on me, for the rest of my life.

"Everything she's done still haunts my dreams. I've isolated myself and moved to this forest, where no wolf would ever find me. It's for the better, honestly. I haven't seen her since. And although it does get lonely, I prefer it to be kept that way. I've heard her around here, killing others, but I've remained hidden so well that she's never found me. After the events of that night, I named myself to Hidden, to remind myself that no matter what, no matter how much I wanted to go out and see others, that I would stay in hiding. I couldn't expose myself to the rest of the world. I knew too much, and if she found out that I was telling others, she would kill me. I've been waiting for years for someone to come hunt her down. I've been spared to help the young ones of today."

Misty's jaw was on the ground. She shook her head. Mystique–Samara–was the living, breathing form of living evil. Of demons and all things wrong...She was the force of dark evil magic...

"You haven't seen her since?" Cayden's voice shook.

Hidden sighed. "No. The day she did this to my face was the last time I saw her. I've heard her out in the forest, killing the innocent. She killed that young one you saw earlier about a week and a half ago. It was the most terrifying sound."

"She haunts specific wolves?" Misty finally spoke.

Hidden nodded gravely. "Yes, let me show you." She waved a paw, and above the flames, scenes from the past played in the air. "Thankfully, the good wolves above granted me the ability to show others the past. They were preparing me for this day."

Misty's ears perked up. She gasped, watching the deaths of wolves that didn't deserve to die in unthinkable ways.

In the scenes replaying, Samara impaled a live wolf on the branch of a tree, leaving him there to die. In another, she slowly ripped the pelts off of young wolves, slowly, agonizingly painful. A third, she led an elderly she-wolf to a cave and trapped her in there, laughing as the river washed inside and drowned the old wolf.

Misty blinked in disbelief. "Why would someone do something like this?"

Suddenly, a familiar scene played in the firelight...

With a cougar, and two terrified pups...

The cougar reached under a bush and yanked out the nearest body. The pup wailed, digging its paws in the dirt, attempting to hold on to anything. A sickening series of snaps followed the desperate shriek. Then, the pup's mangled body lay, lifeless and bloody.

Misty's brother.

"River..."

Another flashback.

A brown wolf vigorously fighting off a group of mad dogs, lashing and biting in every direction possible. Then, a pile of dogs fell on him, tearing and scratching. One, in particular, gave a lethal blow to his throat. His matted, battered body stumbled and fell, crumpling to the cold hard ground, where he bled to death.

"Jumper..."

The last one was the most unbearable.

A black wolf, fighting back pain as the skin on his pads were ripped off, stripped until they were nearly down to the bone. Two wolves held him steady as a bloodthirsty she-wolf sunk her claws into his flesh and peeled back his fur in bloody, dirty clumps. His howls filled the air, rang with agony. And finally, a deadly bite to his throat, in which the life drained from his eyes as he lay, his breathing growing fainter until he gave his last.

"Rascal..." Misty had tears streaming down her cheeks. He had been helpless, his cries unheard as Samara ripped him apart piece by piece.

Misty closed her eyes and sobbed her heart out, feeling the grief of it all weigh on her shoulders.

Her brother, best friend, and mate had all fallen to Samara's demise. Cruel, torturous deaths.

Samara has been the one to make Misty's life a living nightmare. Her intentions to ruin everything started when Misty was a pup when she lost her brother.

Cayden placed his paw on top of Misty's offering his comfort. The she-wolf began shaking, trembling so hard that she could feel her bones quaking.

Misty looked up, her green eyes swimming with emotion. "Is there any way to kill her? To stop her?"

Hidden grew somber. She waved a paw, and the scenes of the past blew away in the breeze. "There is one. But no one has achieved it. Every wolf that has tried to kill her has died in the process. You would die."

Misty was desperate. She needed to kill Samara once and for all. To stop this madness. To get revenge for killing River, Jumper, and Rascal. "It's worth a shot. One life for the rest. One life to preserve the lives of others. Please, I need to know."

Hidden's face melted into stone. She stared right into Misty's soul. "You must have an evil greater in your heart than Samara has in hers. She is invincible because no one can match her strength, no one can match the hate within her."

Cayden swallowed. "Do you have any idea where she might be?"

Hidden shrugged regretfully. "I can't be certain, but keep going in the direction you're already going. More answers lay there. Unfortunately, I am forbidden to speak anything about them. Be careful, young ones. Samara is the most dangerous creature in the universe."