264 Encounter With The Otherworldly

Alpha Darric took a closer look at the bottle of truffle oil that the Blackfire siblings had brought. He uncapped it to take a whiff of the fragrant oil. 

"So this is made from truffles and olive oil?"

"Yes. My brother and I went truffle hunting while we stayed in the Prism Sector in the Elves Alliance. We struck up a deal with a restaurant so we sold them truffles and sometimes we also got some of their homemade truffle oil."

"It goes well with almost anything! Adding an additional flavour and aroma!" Lycster added with excitement. 

The Moon Ring Pack lived in the Yellow Ring Mountains with their own settlement. They occasionally traded goods with the neighbouring packs in different regions. Sometimes, they would also travel down to the human towns to trade and barter goods. 

Alpha Darric had always hoped to expand his territory. Securing more funding for that to happen was one of the key things he looked at doing. 

When Beta Bertuf returned, Darric consulted his Beta if he might have smelt something similar to truffles. He believed that if they do have it, they could potentially make great profits from selling it. 

"I vaguely recall the foraging team bringing back something similar once. None of the elders knew what it was." 

"Now we do," Darric declared with a smile, "This could help set the plan in motion."

"But, my Alpha, we don't even have a clear idea of how it looked like. We don't know what to look out for or how we can find it," 

"We can help with that!" Lycster said excitedly. 

Bertuf sniggered, "How can both of you possibly help?" 

Alpha Darric hit Bertuf on the back of his head, causing Vy and Lycster to chuckle. From her spatial storage, Vy retrieved a pocketbook. She handed it to Alpha Darric. It was a small book titled, \u003cAromatic Funghi\u003e. 

"It was Lycster who found the first batch of truffles. Subsequently, I found this book that helped us to identify what we found. It also gave us a better idea of where we could find the ones we needed."

Vy went on to explain the key things that they had to take note while hunting for truffles. Lycster gave his input too. Although the werewolves were a little sceptical to believe that a young boy his age would be helpful, they soon realised that he was indeed knowledgeable. 

Her brother had always been a fast learner. He also never failed to impress her with his independence and willingness to help. 

-Whatever did I do to deserve such an adorable little brother.- Vy said to herself. 

After a couple of hours, all was quiet with only the crickets singing their chorus in the night. Next to the crackling fire, Darric sat in silence with Bertuf at his side. 

"Does she seem different to you since the last time we met?" Darric asked his Beta. 

"Different?"

"Yeah,"

"Different how?"

Darric could not quite pinpoint what was different about Vyrena Blackfire, but something told him that whatever happened to her after they met changed her. Since they had not met Lycster the first time around, they did not know that he had an arm missing. 

"Alpha, do you..." 

"What?" Bertuf's question caught Darric off guard. 

"You seem really interested in her, so I figured-"

"No, no way. Besides, she isn't my mate. I just…admire her."

Having been brought up to take the position as Alpha of his pack, Daric never really knew anything else beyond what he had been taught. That was one of the reasons why he wanted his pack to interact with others beyond the comforts of their home in Yellow Ring Mountains. 

Vyrena was one of the few people he had encountered on his journey that was mysterious yet friendly. There was something about her that just intrigued him. The way she spoke, the things she did. 

Just then, in the darkness of the forest, a whisper of sound alerted the werewolves. There was never a dull moment in the Shrouds Forest. 

"Did you hear that?"

"Yes," Bertuf replied. 

Both of the werewolves took to their wolf form. They left two of their pack members to guard the camp alongside the rest who were sleeping. Together, the Alpha and Beta made their way through the forest. Using their heightened sense of smell and awareness, they scanned their surroundings for the source of whisper they had heard. 

Some spirits are out to take the soul of others. Others merely look for a body to take over and walk among the living. With the Moon as their guide, they made their way cautiously through the forest. 

Taking in a whiff of the air, Bertuf sensed something out of the ordinary. He immediately alerted Darric to a rotting tree stump nearby. When they came up to it, they noticed that all the plant life surrounding the tree stump had withered. 

"Something is nearby," Bertuf whispered to his Alpha as he quickly scanned their surroundings. 

Spirits were much more difficult to track compared to regular animals. For one, they do not usually leave tracks like regular animals do. But some of them leave markings which gives them a clue on what and where they are. 

"Look, over there," Darric said as he noticed another spot with similar withered plant life. 

Whatever was causing this was nearby. For a split second, Darric sensed something. A cold shiver down his spine, ruffling the fur on his back. Trusting his instincts, he leapt to the side and spun around. 

Lucky for him, he had just dodged a surprise attack from a leech shroud. The ghostly spectre had no physical form. It had a translucent form that looked like a decaying corpse but its head had been replaced with that of a gaping mouth filled with rows of sharpened teeth. 

It gurgled and spluttered. The leech shroud had no eyes and bone-like limbs. 

Beta Bertuf came to his Alpha's side, thankful that he had gotten out in the nick of time. 

"That was too close for comfort," Darric said. 

"But how are we going to defeat this?"

"With some help, from the Moon."