After the crowd dispersed, Fenris went to work with everyone. His goal was to help clean up the festival. Everyone was more motivated to complete everything with their future alpha guiding them. I followed behind him, thanks to Shade carrying me the entire time while he ordered the fallen enemies to be buried with respect, surprising many.

"They're the same as us. Fighting for something they believe in." Fenris addressed their concerns.

Even though many were torn to shreds by the beasts I unleashed, he still wanted to send them off with dignity. With the help of others, my wolf collected their remains, burying them in unmarked graves within the forest.

The fire was put out by fire and water elves before it got too out of hand, but I still left my mark as parts of it were burned off. Mia chatted with me while Fenris worked with the others to complete everything.

Even though she was pregnant, she was keen on helping, too. While speaking to her, I learned she was Owen's on-and-off girlfriend. Their relationship was shaky, but the pair had gotten their stuff together and agreed to get married a week ago, finally tying down the blond wolf.

However, with the turn of events, that would never occur. In an instant, a father was taken away from his unborn child and fiancée. Realizing the gravity of the situation made me feel hollow. My father didn't want me, but this wasn't the case for this unborn child.

Owen would've been his baby's loving and caring father, and Mia would've been a happy wife, but my grandmother and her plans tore away their life. In the end, fifty dead Lycans of the five hundred gathered.

Slowly and steadily, more details of what had happened emerged. Even though I burned most of the corpses that attacked, one was found intact near the forest edge. When the corps members analyzed it, it showed the same substance in their bodies found in the cups.

Luckily, the Lycans had ingested no parts of the corpses, but if they had, the same fate awaited them as those who drank from the cups. I had prevented them from spreading thanks to my hasty action of burning them down. However, that also included our dead, as their ashes were collected for their family members.

My flames burned away their clothes, but their jewelry could still be used to identify the piles of ashes. The more information that came out, the more of a savior I appeared, which I disliked. All I wanted to do was rescue my light, but I saved his clan—ones who threw little embarrassing jabs at me for wearing Fenris's clothing out in the open.

I always thought I would be insignificant to them, but some even said we matched, and that was like a dream. However, their alpha glared at most comments, triggering the rowdy Lycans to return to work.

Even so, most of their comments made me lose myself in my thoughts. It didn't help that rumors were already breaking about what I did behind closed doors. Amara wouldn't let me leave her sight, continuing to check on me throughout the day.

Every hour that passed, I felt better. After they cleaned everything up, the sun was halfway down, making it four to five in the afternoon when we headed out of the festival location as a unit.

Most elders who stayed behind enjoyed seeing their young alpha take the lead after a disaster.

"A promising start." They called it.

Many weren't happy to see me by his side the entire time, yet kept quiet and wary of me. Mia and her brother rode in a carriage with Owen's urn, and other family members carried the rest out. The ride to town was long but not eventful. I almost felt bad for having Shade carry me out of the forest while Fenris led the pack as I trailed behind him.

She didn't mind carrying me, especially after I gave her some of her favorite treats, which were usually sweet. Once in town, everyone rested well at the biggest and most famous inn in Silverant, Silver Clouds, which was entirely run by Lycans and had the capital's best delicacies nearby.

The last time I was in this district, I refused to take a step on it, but today, they left me with no choice. If I wanted to stay with Fenris, I had to show my face around there, which pleased him. Ezra, Liam, and the silver wolf all clapped when I stood in the newly built part of town.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Remnants of the explosions still existed, but it barely appeared like anything horrific had happened there. The town was resiliently moving on, rebuilding each time stronger. Luckily, Shade's form wasn't menacing, keeping her from scaring the kids, much to her horror, as they wanted to pet her.

Something I tried to avoid as their moms would glare at me. This cat wasn't friendly, but to my surprise, she let them pull on her ears and tail without a single complaint. Their parents all stared in horror while she let the children do as they pleased, especially after seeing her in action.

Lily, why are you letting them smother me?! Shade whined, shifting her gaze towards me.

Oh, you won't die, and they don't know any better.

Lily! Not fair! You're totally doing this on purpose! She cried, shaking off their grimy hands and jumping onto my shoulder.

By the time they organized everything for the next day, the night had set, allowing the moon to grace us with its presence. Everyone had rented a room in the inn to stay. The first issue arose when Layla stormed over, adamant about sleeping with Fenris and me, something he refused, enlisting the help of Liam and Melody, who would stay in a conjoining room with us.

Some rumors had reached Layla's ears, and she wasn't happy about them. However, she didn't push it further since her future fiancé wasn't a pushover. In my mind, there was only one real problem in this inn: the only showers were public bathrooms.

I would also have to be separated from Fenris, someone I was used to showering with. Sadly, there were no unisex showers, just females and males. Cautiously, I went with Melody, who reassured me that no one else would see me but her.

However, when the black Lycan saw my new body, she couldn't keep her hands off me. It would be the first time I felt someone else's skin on my body other than Fenris. She held me close to her heart and called me beautiful.

When I told her she was crazy, she smirked widely. That was the first time I saw pure evil in her eyes. In a tease, she grabbed onto my chest with her hands, tracing my scars that had become more like tattoos on my skin.

I couldn't help but yelp as Shade laughed in the background, refusing to help me out of Melody's grasp.

Payback is a bitch! The little feline snickered.

In my struggle to get away from my captor, I slipped out of the shower stall we were in and into the outside. I tumbled into Amelia, whom Layla and Kira accompanied. I braced, thinking the white wolf would shove me onto the ground, but it never came.

Instead, she glared at me to get away from her, which I did faster than I realized.

"Sorry!" I apologized for what happened.

Melody popped her head from the curtains, instigating the older sister to stand up from where she was before she quickly stormed off without berating me and disappearing into another stall. Shade dropped a towel on me as Layla couldn't believe her eyes upon seeing the fresh changes to my body.

Instead of commenting on them, she bit her lip, grabbed Kira, and followed Amelia to the other stall. Somehow, I survived without panic attacks.

"They really dislike us, huh?" Melody commented.

I scowled at her for getting me into this situation. However, Fenris's older sister was acting strangely again. Back in the cabin, she had left before uttering a word at me when she saw the black wolf, too.

What kind of blood feud do you two have?

After taking a second, less eventful shower, Melody informed me it had always been like that since she started working at the shop inside the building. Whenever Amelia spotted her, it was like she saw something unpleasant.

However, the black wolf thought it was because of the runt thing. So, she paid no mind to the elder sister's gestures, which she was used to. However, to me, it seemed like it was something more.

Every time Fenris's sister saw my friend, there was a hint of pain in her eyes. After the shower, we left without further implications for the other girls. Liam and Fenris were outside the bathroom, waiting for us and chattering with each other.

The rough handling from the morning hadn't affected their friendship. They had gone into the male showers when we went to our side, but thanks to the incident, I had taken longer than usual. I apologized for making them wait longer than expected.

A scruff from Fenris, who didn't mind it at all, met me. The robes the inn provided for us were covered enough to make me feel comfortable wearing them. Mine was white with beautiful pink flower patterns, while Melody's gown was black and had firework patterns.

Fenris wore one that was a solid navy blue, which matched him so perfectly that I was almost left in awe upon laying eyes on him. Liam wasn't far behind with his solid grey one. Most females that passed by stopped to gawk at both boys, who were unaware of how pleasant they were in the eyes.

"Such young eye candy," most of the onlookers called the pair.

However, the boys couldn't care less about the comments the women threw their way. They only had eyes for us. Melody, who fixed her hair, matched Liam perfectly, while I was a bit of a mismatch for Fenris.

I never thought I would feel so ugly next to him. Most unsuspecting people didn't know who I was and called me a servant for the Lycans, much to my annoyance. Luckily, all the rest I had while riding Shade gave me the strength to walk alone.

Fenris insisted I hold on to him if I ever felt wobbly or weak. We would stay in town until they held the funerals the next day. They had moved the moon festival into town, opening the festivities to everyone, especially those in mourning.