24 Ferals

Madeline groaned.

"I hate this," she grumbled, unable to open her eyes, what with the sun shining in her eyes.

"A dream in a dream, how worse could my luck be," Madeline scoffed.

This was extremely ridiculous. She almost fell for it, if not for her waking up in time.

She yawned, "Oh finally, that damned dream sequence is over."

Dreaming she was dreaming - as nonsensical as that sounded - was a nightmare she never wanted to relive.

Merely thinking about herself applying for a job in a company whose CEO turned out to be Xavier made Madeline laugh. She couldn't help but crack a few laughs at the thought of it. How could she not?

She sighed, crawling out of her bed before putting on her fluffy slippers. Today was the day she returned.

Excited to see Briar (and Xavier) again, Madeline brought a couple of her belongings, knowing this time she'd stay longer.

Trying not to think of the dream she had - wherein she dreamt of having a dream, she went on with her day, now on her way to Eudora.

Briar had already called her beforehand, so she was in the clear.

Nothing that'd happened in that nightmare of hers would come true. Briar was alright. Madeline couldn't have been more pleased to have heard Briar's voice at the other end of the call.

Driving to Eudora, Madeline hoped to see them, and she was delighted to see Briar awaiting her arrival. It'd been three days since she'd been here, and finally... she'd returned.

"It's great to be back here," she breathed, taking the entire place in. It didn't look so different to her.

"It's great to have you here," Briar spoke, having missed her friend dearly.

"Hunting for prey isn't as fun when your friend is waiting back at her loft for you," Briar admitted, noticing Madeline was searching for something.

"Looking for Xavier?" She questioned, her one brow raised.

"Where is he?" Madeline asked, trying to hide the look of disappointment when she didn't see him there.

"He's... occupied," Briar said sheepishly, knowing it was better if Madeline didn't disturb him at the current moment, for he had other things to do that didn't include greeting her upon her return.

"You'll probably see him later," Briar reasoned.

Madeline gave her a convincing smile, "Oh it's fine."

She walked closer to Briar, "So, anything's happened while I was gone?"

"Any improvements?"

Briar pursed her lips.

"Before we get to that, why don't we grab a bite?" She offered, knowing Madeline was the type of person to get hungry easily.

There were twinkles in Madeline's eyes - she was famished, to say the least.

"Great idea," she said cheerfully, knowing food was exactly what she needed. She'd been tired from her drive here.

Unlike werewolves, her stamina was extremely low.

On her way to the dining hall, Madeline was surprised to see less werewolves in the pack. What was the meaning of this? Had something happened?

Something was off; the atmosphere was tense.

Could this explain why Xavier wasn't here?

The air was chillier than before, and Madeline felt goosebumps on her fair skin. She shivered.

Eudora felt a tad bit different before - she wondered why Briar didn't seem to be affected. Was she used to this?

Madeline observed Briar, wondering if she had any idea as to what was causing this. Did she?

"Something feels off," Madeline noticed.

Briar froze in her spot like a child did when they were in trouble and were about to get scolded by their parent, or whoever was babysitting them.

"Oh? What feels off?" She asked unconvincingly, knowing she was busted.

"Do tell," Briar said.

"You know exactly what I mean," Madeline crossed her arms.

"You have that same face when you're hiding something."

"Not that you've ever been good at hiding secrets," she reasoned.

Briar pouted, "Do you really want me to tell you?"

"Tell me what, what's going on here?"

Briar stared at the grassy floors, "That, and what connection it has with Xavier."

Madeline blinked, "It's connected to Xavier?"

"Is he alright?" She asked worriedly, wondering if something had happened to him.

To her relief, Briar shook her head.

"He's not hurt or anything."

"And besides it would be difficult to harm him, he is the alpha after all. He's the most powerful person here, in terms of strength and rank."

"What I mean to say is... how he's at the forefront of dealing with this situation," Briar said, making hand gestures while she did.

Now Madeline was really curious. So this had something to do with Xavier - or at least it was him dealing with this.

'Hmm, could this have something to do with the full moon?' Madeline wondered.

'It is the most logical explanation to all of this.'

'But I should hear what Briar has to say since she knows more of this situation than I do.'

"So…"

"Do you know of the term 'feral'?" Briar questioned.

Madeline narrowed her eyes, looking really confused.

(Author's Note: Feral means a wild state, usually related to animals.)

"Of course I do," she answered, prompting Briar to take a deep breath.

Briar began, "Every full moon, when humans turn to werewolves, we risk the chance of going feral."

"As in, we completely lose ourself in our werewolf form and we become what we are to the outside world. A monster."

"The ones that turn to these creatures are called feral. And once one turns into a feral, there is no turning back. You're stuck in that form forever, and most either are slaughtered by one of their kind or roam Alaric, looking for creatures to prey on as they're no longer able to be like what they once were."

Madeline stuttered, "W-what do these ferals look like?"

Briar inhaled lightly.

"They look exactly like werewolves," she answered, studying Madeline's face to see if there was a change in her expression.

A look of realization dawned upon Madeline's face.

"So when you say Xavier's handling this situation… about the ferals…"

"You're saying he's the one who's going to slaughter them?"