Chapter 4: After Many Summers 2

*Pheobe*

    I stood up from the comfort of the hard ground and walked steadily to the hollow tree. I stretched a hand and my fingers danced on its hard surface as my gentle strokes gave it attention. The attention I would have given him. I rested my head on its hard bark and closed my eyes, imagining what he would have looked like by now. Two years is a long time. Probably those blue eyes would have gotten brighter by now. Or maybe his smile would have been crowned by a moustache. Oh! How manly he must have looked. The thought of it brought a smile to my face.

    I was still in the comfort of my thoughts and did not notice someone approach me. Not until I was tapped on my shoulder.

"Your father was looking for you again." I did not need to turn, I knew that smell and that voice.

"Rebecca, I do not care. You can tell him I am fine or dead. whichever pleases you is fine." This girl had just ruined the whole meaning of daydreaming.

"Yes, I could or you could just tell him yourself."

    There was a loud stump on a nearby tree and I lifted my head to see that it was him. The only one that bared the title of Poison claw in the entire clan, my father and chief of a stupid tribe I shall soon eradicate. He made his landing in front of me.

"So this is where you hide..."

"No, it is where I train." I corrected him immediately. I did not need to hide from any of them. Whether wolf or bloodsucker, No! I want you to know that I am growing and getting stronger and I am still coming for all of you. But those thoughts remained buried in my thoughts.

"Oh! Where you train?" He drew closer to me but stopped before my face. He took a few circles around me. Like a general checking the quality of his soldier.

"How many bloodline abilities have you unlocked?" He asked still looking at me like that. How it vexed me to see him look at me like that. I am your daughter for crying out loud.

"Four," I answered. I heard a gasp behind me, it must have been from Rebecca.

"Four!!!" I could hear the surprise in his voice but he immediately changed his tone.

"Four? Four is not bad, but you could do better than that." What did he mean by 'four is not bad? The closest person to me in the younger generation was Andrew and he just broke through the third bloodline ability a week ago. I knew how this worked, most werewolves never passed the second bloodline and remained there for the rest of their lives. Those of royal bloodlines usually had about four. That was why i said four. Four had a lot of significance in the tribe. It was the same amount as the number of toes on the hind leg of a wolf. When a wolf starts to develop more bloodline abilities above four it would usually show in the number of toes on each hind leg. But royal families rarely went into full transformation, so my lie was covered properly. If I was forced to transform now, he would be surprised to see six toes on each one of mine.

    Trust me, this was nothing impressive, most of the elders had five to seven but father alone had nine. It is true that it was much easier to unlock bloodline abilities at a young age. Therefore, the young ones were usually given the harshest of training. All in an effort to unlock potential. The effort was usually worth it. As the first daughter of the chief, the hell I go through during training would scare anyone. In fact on more than one occasion during combat lessons, I have nearly died. But all that they made me go through was nothing compared to what I did to myself. As the saying goes, "The student is not built alone in class, but by vigorous assignments and personal discipline. Those were the words of my teacher, popularly known as the 'Iron paw' in the clan.

"I will tell Jericho to increase your training hours. If you are still merely at the fourth, then slacking off has been closer a friend to you than hard work." He tapped my shoulder and turned to leave.

    I wanted to say something but it got stuck in my throat. Jericho told me that father did not unlock the fourth until he was twenty. I just turned eighteen a few days ago. This asshole should be proud but here he was running his mouth. Talking about increasing training time. How dare he?

He had only taken a few steps when he turned, "Today is the night feast, I expect you'll be there early. Our guests will be here before sundown."

Oh! my, I had totally forgotten about the Night feast. How time ran. So it was today?

    I and Rebecca hurried home. Preparing for the Night feast was vital. Very vital. I still had to make my hair and ensure the guest hall is according to custom.

Oh! sorry, I was just rambling on and on. Let me explain.

    The night feast has come to be a tradition here. I use the words 'has come for certain reasons, because it was never there before. The night feast was an occasion aimed at bridging the gap between  The Poison claw clan of werewolves and the Isaac family of vampires. It is an occasion carried out every twenty years by both families to facilitate growth and develop friendly relations through competitions.  The participants of this event were strictly the younger generation. Anyone below the age of twenty-five was eligible to participate. Out of all the 'friendly' events between both families, The night feast was the most anticipated.

Why you might ask? That's simple.

    Through the ages\, werewolves and vampires have only had three basic things in common. Firstly\, is their ever heightened urge for sex... Ahmmm *cough* I mean carnal relations. The second is their undying taste for flesh and blood. And lastly is their unrelenting pride.

    As supernatural beings, there both feel that the entire world is beneath them. Well, it should be, I mean we ARE on top of the food chain. But who really sits on that pyramid has never really been answered.

Back to the answer to that question.

    The night feast is the one and only event between both families that actually permitted killings! The young ones have always been known to have grave 'impulses' and the Night feast allows them to explore those urges. It was also a place to spot talent both for the clan and the vampire family. Potential threats of sorts. Besides both families have kept each other at bay for a long time. Strengths between both tilting here and there were fine. But if the strength became overwhelming on one side, it could mean the end of the other.

    I remember father saying a blood oath-bound both families to only three rules during the night feast. Firstly, all members of the family below the age of twenty-five and above the age of seventeen must participate in the event regardless of status and condition. This would help eliminate the weaker ones in the families. I know right! it's a cruel world.

    Secondly, there shall be no external help from the adults or spectators the moment the event started. Thirdly and lastly, any decision made during the event is the individual's responsibility to take, except in the case of death. This last one has a little clause following it. It states that adults shall not take revenge for the loss of lives. These were the guiding rules that have held this tradition for years. Everybody has been preparing for this event for a very long time and that included the Isaacs.

    While I sat and my friend Rebecca made my hair, she updated me on the latest news of our guests today. The event was going to be for three nights. That was three very bloody and memorable nights.

"It is going to be a bloody one this year. Have you heard of the kids the Isaacs are bringing over?" I shook my head in response.

"This year's participants are not weak. I heard the Isaacs are even calling home their young ones studying abroad. Amongst the ones coming from out of town are the; 'Thirst twins' Illeri and Ayo, Precious 'the spotless,' Sonny 'the lucky' and the worst one of them, 'Crimson eyes. All of them I heard are quite dangerous but that 'crimson eyes' is the worst. Information on him was kept very tight, not even his name was revealed. All we know is that he was turned earlier this year but his talent surpasses all his peers. Rumours had it that his eyes are always red." I laughed a bit. There was no way that was possible. Everyone knew that vampires eyes were all amber in pupil colour. This girl had been listening to rumours too much.

"Should I put your engagement knot?" She asked as she fixed the last strands of my hair, "You know you have to wear it or your father will get very mad." I reluctantly nodded.

Please don't ask me how it happened. I was going to tell you guys anyway.

  This engagement was a major setback, one I really did not expect. It was a week ago. Andrew's father, a prominent elder of the clan invited over guests to celebrate his son's breakthrough on a third bloodline ability. In the midst of the celebrations, that fool that calls himself what I really don't give two fucks about had the guts to imprint on me! He imprinted on me in the presence of the superiors of the fucking clan.

Ahhhh!!!

The thought alone still pisses me off till now. For those of you that don't know, A werewolf imprints only once in a lifetime. And when it does, the opposite party usually imprints back immediately or worse a few minutes after. It was considered the purest of bonds. But the weird thing was that I did not imprint back. It has been a week now and I still have not imprinted back. The elders of the family did not care, they were all excited. Even father celebrated it. Everyone said that it was a match made in heaven.

  Well, the heavens can go **** itself for all I care. I am not interested in that godforsaken fool. I have been buying my time even hiding my breakthroughs. This occasion is exactly what I need. Both families must grant a sensible request each for the winner. I don't care who I have to kill to get that request token. I'll do it. I have to break out of the chains put on me by my clan and get back on the revenge plan.

  They have to pay for taking him from me. For taking my Leon. I'll kill all of them and I'll start with their proudest progeny, Crimson eyes.

Or so I thought...

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