Grayson pushed her away heavily and disappeared into the forest. Zelda was too shocked to say anything, she froze, and her mind raced.

“Is it Grayson? No, it can’t be him; they just look similar.” Zelda thought to herself, “No, I need to confirm it.” she snapped out of her thoughts and decided to follow him into the forest.

"Oh nooo..." Zelda cried out when she looked into the forest. She saw many tattered and dirty wolves crouching. Their stance showed that they were ready to attack.

"No! A rogue attack!" She said to herself and immediately turned around, her paws morphing back to their human form. At full speed, she ran back to the mansion, and in one minute, she was there already.

Climbing through the window, she jumped out. She rushed toward the emergency room. There was an alarm on the emergency room wall, and as soon as she came in, she slammed her palm on the alarm.

"Luna..." The guards present in the emergency room stood up immediately after they spotted the Luna. They were surprised that she had come to sound the alarm, then they realized it was a rogue attack.

"Summon the fighters; prepare to attack," Zelda instructed, taking the place of the Alpha since he wasn't there.

The guards present in the emergency room were ready for any incoming attack. They were prompt in relaying communications to other fighters.

On the other hand, Zelda had run out of the emergency room. As she ran toward the window, she tried to mind-link Grayson, but he cut her off.

"Could that figure be Grayson?" She asked herself and then tried to communicate with him again, only for him to block her off completely. She decided not to worry about him; since she had a pack to protect! She was anxious and not panicking.

It wasn't the first time she would face a rogue attack, even before she became Luna. She had been trained right from childhood to fight and protect as the Alpha king's only daughter.

Immediately she jumped out of the window, her nose was replaced with a snout, and her clothes shredded into pieces as her hands and legs morphed into paws, which enabled her to land on the muddy floor with ease.

As soon as she hit the floor, Zelda felt a sharp pain course through her body from her heart, and she let out a painful cry. The other wolves that had followed after Zelda were already warding off the attack, but they were worried about the Luna.

"Luna... Are you alright?" The head guard mind-linked Zelda but he was only met with the deafening echoes of her painful howls in his head.

However, Zelda didn't stop to even know what was wrong with her; it was obviously her heart condition. She forged forward, slashing her paw with sharp and glistening claws against a rogue wolf that came at her. She opened her large mouth with all her might and tore off the wolf's neck with sharp fangs.

But then her energy was depleting really fast, and her hind and forelegs became weak as she slumped to the ground. From afar, she was able to spot Grayson's and Delilah in their wolf forms running toward the battlefield.

Grayson and Delilah quickly joined the fight, not caring to glance around for Zelda.

"W…where have you been? Is that figure you?" Zelda questioned through the mind link amidst her cries of pain. She looked at Delilah, who was always one step behind Grayson. It looked as if Delilah was protecting him with her life.

Zelda's snout crinkled at the sight of Delilah's wolf.

"What figure? What are you talking about? I had to attend to the rogue wolf remanded in the dungeon. I wasn't out playing," Grayson snapped angrily at Zelda. His voice sent shivers of pain through Zelda’s head and mind, making her speechless. At that moment, he easily warded off an attack from another rogue wolf, showing off the power of an Alpha.

Also, at that moment, Grayson receives a message and relays it to Zelda, "The other borders of the pack are being attacked as well. We have no warriors to fill in for us until later. You should stay put if you can't fight." Zelda heard the contempt in his voice but ignored him nevertheless.

“Thank god, it’s not him.” Zelda breathed a sigh of relief; she wanted to smile, but the pain from her heart had increased tenfold, and she felt more uncomfortable as she lay flat on the muddy floor of the forest. Her loud intermittent cries had turned into painful whimpers. Her eyes were dazed. Even with her heightened senses, all she could see were blurry figures of dirty and stained wolves fighting.

Zelda was slipping in and out of consciousness.

"Z… Zelda..." She heard Grayson's so loud in her head, and then she felt a sharp pain in her heart. She howled out only to see a sharp claw digging continuously into her body.

Zelda was powerless as blood flowed out uncontrollably. Grayson and Delilah rushed toward her only to see that she had lost consciousness.

****

An unknown amount of time passed, and Zelda woke up in her bedroom. She looked around only to see Lisa sitting silently in the bedroom.

"What about the rogue attack?" She asked her maid Lisa, her hands roaming all over her body, but she couldn't feel anything. She couldn't feel pain, anything!

She then turned to Lisa since she expected that Lisa would have an answer to her question, but Lisa was still sitting silently.

"Lisa..." Zelda shouted to get the maid's attention, only to see Lisa stand up and walk out of the bedroom, silently and slowly, leaving the door open.

"What is happening?" Zelda grumbled. She then pinched herself, thinking she was in a dream. But then she only felt like she was holding soft and thin flesh, which was about to wither.

"Oh no..." Zelda said to herself, not able to comprehend what was going on. She then rushed out of the open door. She wasn't surprised that there was no maid or guard at her door. She thought they were all attending to the aftermath of the rogue attack.

Hastening her steps, she walked toward the common hall of the mansion. It was a gathering area for members of the pack would gather after an attack or during a celebration. As she moved closer, she noticed that the hall was too silent for such a gathering.

Every door was left open, so she was able to see the number of people gathered there. Walking into the hall, she saw that everyone looked sad apart from their silence. Coupled with that, no one seemed to notice the presence of the Luna.

Her head whipped to the left when she heard a conversation between a mother and her son, "Mother, why is everyone so sad?" The little boy asked.

Zelda, on the other hand, nodded her head frantically to the boy's question. He asked the same question I was about to ask.

"Pup, the pack just waged a fight against the wolves; we are counting our losses." The mother answered, her lips quivering. It was obvious she was hiding more than what she said.

"Yes, mother. Do we need to do something for the pack?" The boy asked again, but Zelda had already zoned out of their conversation.

The mother's answer didn't give Zelda the answers she needed. Why was everyone looking so sad? Even a little boy could feel the tenseness in the air. Why was no one walking up to Zelda to greet her as the Luna?

She couldn't even talk to anyone, and then Zelda searched deep in her mind for her wolf. She knew if everyone else forsook her, her wolf would always be by her.

"Little Zelda," She called her wolf fondly. "Can you tell me what's going on? Everyone here is acting all weird, and it's getting really spooky." She said to her wolf, but then she was met with a deafening silence.

It was like her soul and mind felt empty; she then realized she couldn't even feel her wolf. Her only conclusion was that her wolf had gone into a deep sleep. "Yes, that must be it." She said to herself.

Refraining from talking to her wolf, she looked up only to see a flowy white dress being prepared. It was in a shape and size similar to what was used to dress a dead person in the pack. Also, numerous lit-up candles were scattered all over the main hall.

Zelda never needed her wolf and someone to talk to more than that moment. Her heart, which was supposed to be hurting, felt empty. Suddenly, they sounded an alarm, and everyone stood up. They moved in practiced steps, slowly and solemnly.

"Why is everyone leaving? Where are they going?" She asked no one in particular and then walked behind everyone. Walking behind everyone was draining and torturing for Zelda, but she had to observe everyone's movement.

A few minutes later, everyone was standing outside, making way for an aisle in the middle. The men were standing on the right side, and the women on the left with children holding onto their respective parents.

Zelda's eyes moved away from the arranged members of the pack and locked on a white coffin placed on the other side of the aisle.

"Why is that here?" She asked herself and then remembered she had seen a dress meant for the dead.

"Did that person die during the rogue attack?" She reiterated and then walked slowly toward the coffin. She also watched to see if the members would stop her or acknowledge her presence, but no one did.

As soon as she got to the coffin, she peeked inside only to see herself lying in it; is she the one dead?