Alone. The female was always alone within the darkness left to wander and haunt the edges of Moladion within her dark thoughts and painful past. There was absolutely nothing within this physical realm that caused her fear. Her past provided the rare opportunity to seize fear and actually become it. Outside of Moladion were other lands that held other packs and within those packs each had their superstitions. Tick Tock was not from Moladion. She was from another land and in a pack that held many superstitions. The day that Tick Tock was born was supposed to be a celebratory occasion. Tick Tock was supposed to be the Heir; her parents were respectable Alphas and her birth was supposed to bring hope, joy, stability and opportunity. Yet their child was fated to do no such thing, not with the cursed mark. Her Father had shuddered in horror, her Mother wailed in agony, at the moment they realized their progeny was cursed. Her once bright future was demolished by the patch of light grey fur between her eyes and along her forehead. A particular superstition her pack believed in was that any wolf born with a light mark on their forehead was destined to become a dangerous monster bringing destruction and chaos. The poor pup was doomed from the start. Now she was a monster destined to bring despair, sadness, chaos, and misfortune. Fate had marked her since birth to become a monster that embodied fear.

Her life could have ended right then and there. She was a helpless newborn and her parents could have destroyed her. Yet her Mother succumbed to her need to care for one so young, clinging to the false hope that her only daughter wouldn’t grow to become the monster she was fated to be. It was not long before the young pup would grow and hear the dark rumors, the terrible tales, about what her presence would befall upon the pack. Other members would snarl at her, their eyes harsh and glaring; although she tried to be on her best behavior, she was always shunned. Only her Mother believed that with time, care, and love could her cursed daughter not become what they all feared. Tick Tock did not understand, and even though her Mother attempted to save her innocence, the deprived pup eventually learned just what she would become.

Tick Tock did all she could to not become the creature her pack feared her to be, but as Fate would have it, just as she was completely weaned, during the first day of autumn her Mother had grown sick and died. Her pack was superstitious and they allowed their own fear of her to consume them. They believed her Mother was her first victim, that she had somehow stolen her Mothers’ life force. Soon other wolves began to get sick and die after the passing of her Mother. No one ever thought that the cause could have been a terrible disease that roamed the lands, because they believed the reason why those within their pack were dying was due to the young cursed wolf that lived among them. It wasn’t long before her pack decided it was time to destroy the wolf that caused them much grief - only then did Tick Tock truly experience what it was like to fear.

Quickly, the ill-fated pup ran for her very life from the pack that should have embraced her and loved her. Their heated snarls spurred her on faster, their teeth nipping at her flank caused the child to cry out, desperate for them to stop. Her whines did not stir any one of them to comfort her - not even her own Father. When she reached the line between her home and the outer lands her exhausted small legs could not carry her any longer and she fell. Without hesitation her father pounced upon her, desperate to kill the creature he believed murdered his mate. Her bright blue eyes speckled with violet stared up in absolute terror as she watched his claws dig into her face. His claws raked against her face, over and over again, as she whimpered and cried out in agony. Somehow she managed to get out from under his grasp; in a desperate attempt she darted through the bushes leaving her Father and his pack behind. Only when she found a babbling brook did she slow down to rest and fill her body with water, resting her nerves as her young mind stumbled to put the pieces back together. Before she could take a drink she gasped in shock at the destruction of her face. It was that night that something within her innocent mind began to grow dark, clouding all thought and reason, as her soul began to twist and turn into something unrecognizable. She swore an oath to herself that never again would she allow herself to experience fear and allow herself to be weak. She would not be like them. Her mind would not be weakened by false dogmas. Her body would not crumble in defeat by the attacks of another. Fear would be an emotion she would use against others and never allow another to use fear on herself in any way. Weakness in herself wouldn’t be tolerated. Weakness in others would not be accepted. She understood what her true destiny was about, to obliterate weakness in all things. Over the years within the loner lands the young wolf would rely on her instincts to survive. The need to live, for herself alone, was a powerful and driving force. Yet she could not squash and dismiss her longing to be among her own kind. Deep down she desired to feel connected to another, a need that all social creatures were accustomed to having, but she knew it could never happen to her with her former pack. At night she would watch her former pack feeling the natural need to be with them, even though she knew she would never be accepted by them.

Angered with all the wrongs they had done to her she began to plan out how she’d enact her revenge. The only way to do such a thing was to become the very thing they always feared - to be the malicious monster her pack had believed her to be. One winter’s night she strode through and attacked one of the guards; his carcass would become a warning to all that more deaths would ensue. To attack her pack became a monthly delight. The girl worked like clockwork, attacking and maiming her former pack members. She took away the weakness within her former pack, allowing them the ability to build from there, but they couldn’t see the opportunity she gave them. Only when she was able to kill her own Father did she leave her former pack, never to haunt them again. She left them as their superstition foretold: despair, sadness, chaos, and misfortune.

Eventually her wanderings brought her to different packs and she would try and join. Yet it would seem tales about the black wolf with a light grey mark on the forehead, between the eyes, had traveled all over. Once again she would enact her attacks on packs that did not allow her to join angered that her desire to be with her own kind could not be given. Stories about her grew and she tried to find a pack that was not aware of her or the destruction she left behind. When she walked into Moladion she stopped trying to join a pack and accepted that she may never become a member of any pack. So she stayed along the outskirts observing, learning, and attacking those she perceived as weak within the loner lands. She was nothing more than a dark shadow that wandered within Moladion. She hardly spoke to others and that need to be among others of her own kind slowly ebbed away.

No one knew her name. No one had ever heard of her. There was not a soul within Moladion that knew who she was or even what she was capable of. No one looked upon her with significance or value. Yet Fate would change that. Fate would allow the cursed creature to develop a bond with another, providing the she-wolf the rare chance to fullfill a forgotten desire.

Here within Moladion she discovered what ‘imprinting’ was and she despised it. Ever since she first felt the touch of being fastened to Chael she felt the need to destroy him. He was weak, absolutely weak. So, she went against their bond, she ignored the stabs of pain within her soul as she tore into Chael, taking his life and ridding Moladion of another weak individual. Eventually Fate decided it was high time for Tick Tock to be tied with another individual, and this time, it would be with an individual that was just as strong as she. Tobias was a terrifying legend and she was the lucky girl to carry his soul. It didn’t take Tick Tock long to accept Tobias and allow the chain between them to remain. He was like her in a way. Both misunderstood and judged for the good deed they did within Moladion. They obliterated weakness without thanks. Tobias would forever be chased and hunted down, but she remained unknown and never caught. Being his imprint she was aware that her life could be threatened by others, but to be concerned for his own well-being…well…it never occurred to her she would want to fix his problem.

Ever since they met that night within the dark fields of Asteraia, Tick Tock had been bothered twice from Jaidah. First a young pup nearing adulthood had managed to track her down and investigate her in order to find more information about her imprint. Then Jaidah had decided to try and steal the two and Tick Tock blocked it. Infuriated by the infiltration and attempt to take her and Tobias’ freedom away, she felt that it was high time to teach a lesson. As the age old saying goes, keep your friends close and your enemy closer, the darkened she-wolf stalked the outer edges of the pack. Quietly she watched the Alpha noticing how she swelled and delivered another litter. A shame really that she was more concerned about procreating than whipping her pack of deadbeats into shape. Over time the scent of the pack seemed to fade, including Jaidah’s scent, and out of all the packs this one was weak. This one hardly had any activity left. It was far too easy for her to trespass and wander about the pack without anyone noticing her presence let alone defend their home from her. Their Alpha’s presence wasn’t around any longer and the need for the pack to be together was gone without their endearing ‘Night Mother’ around them.

The night Tobias found her in the Susil Crags she had been pondering on whether or not it was best to attack the pack as a whole for their leaders’ mistake in her attempt to steal them or would it be best to attack Jaidah alone. It was when Tobias claimed he did not hate her he had unknowingly lit a spark within the she-wolf that she hadn’t felt for a long time. The need to belong to others was slowly becoming a heated desire. That need to be among a pack was starting to grow, but she knew she could never be a member. She was born from Alphas and she was far too dominant to be controlled by another. Even Tobias had a difficult time in forcing her to submit to him. By birth she should have been an Alpha and it was time she took her rightful place even if it wasn’t for the pack she was born in. She had been hated and despised long enough and she longed to be among wolves that would understand her and allow her to be as she was. Tobias was just as brutal and monstrous as she and she was sure that if he could not hate her, perhaps others would not hate her too. Jaidah had surrounded herself with members that believed they were ‘bad’ and she didn’t use them properly, she allowed them to grow weak, and that wasn’t their fault. Tick Tock was sure she could build them up and make them like her. Perhaps then she wouldn’t be so alone anymore. She was sure she could train them, be among them - take away their weakness and replace it with strength. The status quo within Moladion was destroyed with the Angel pack no longer in charge. Jaidah remained missing, and Asteraia remained weak, with the disappearance of their leader. Tick Tock would not betray them. She would never abandon them. She could save them, she could teach them, and perhaps they could destroy all weakness within Moladion – together. The time was right and it was time to act now before this opportunity would be blown away.

Earlier the previous day she called out her challenge daring Jaidah to come out of her lands and to the designated location where Tick Tock had chosen would be their place to fight. She dared Jaidah, where ever she was, to prove that she was not weak, that she could defend what was hers without having to rely on others. It was Jaidah that decided to send one of her members to investigate about her imprint and it was Jaidah that attempted to steal her and Tobias. Jaidah alone deserved to answer for her crimes and no one else. The challenge was answered by another, and since Jaidah chose for another to take her place it proved to Tick Tock that Jaidah was nothing but weak. It was a clear sign of disrespect and the monster was greatly offended by this. Jaidah would not answer to the wrongs she had done to herself and Tobias, and so, this opponent she faced would have to be a victim.

With just a few hours till dawn she laid beside her imprint quite content to be at his side within his hidden abode. As he slept peacefully she would lift her head and observe his resting form. She knew he needed to be protected from Jaidah and anyone else who sought him out. He was the only creature she ever knew that did not loathe her and so she would provide him safety in return. There was safety in numbers and being within a pack land may deter others from finding him and harming him. She would provide him a new place to call home. With her mind set she nuzzled the side of her imprints’ face finding the touch soothing as she uncurled herself from beside him and walked away. Leaving his cozy den she felt the soft cool crisp summer winds as it smoothed back her thick ebony fur. Cold sapphire eyes, flecked with violet, stared straight ahead as she ignored the soft cries of her soul begging her to return within Tobias’ den.

The location of their fight would be held among a grassy flat field that was near the lands of Asteraia decorated with small mountains in the background. The cursed monster would run at a swift lope exercising and awaking her muscles, those strides became longer as she neared her destination. Both ebony ears stood at full attention atop her skull as she noticed the darkness was slowly being ebbed away by dawns’ early light. Her easy lope would transition into a steady walk as her banner was raised high behind her, her skull carried high as she placed herself at the center of the vast field. The grass was short allowing only the smallest of creatures to hide like rabbits or weasels. The ground was level and flat with only a few stones scattered about with colorful wildflowers surrounding them. The location seemed so tranquil and peaceful and it was a shame that this place will soon turn into a terrifying and frightful spot with the fight that would occur. Here she decided was the spot where she would fight Jaidah’s chosen knight that stood in her place. The ground was firm, the grass soft, and there was enough space for her to work with. As the sun seemed to peak behind the mountains behind her she felt the warmth of the sun like fire begin to heat her obsidian spine. Quietly her massive paws carried her body in a tight circle her ears swirling like radars, her eyes narrowed, inhaling slowly, as she moved in such a way to detect her opponent not knowing who to expect. Her breathing was even as she continued her walk keeping her muscles taunt and her mind ready to defend or attack. Today was a new day. Today she would not only take away Jaidah’s pack, but she would take away a packs’ weakness and replace it with strength. Today she would return to her imprints’ side knowing she had protected him, and given the two of them a place where they would belong.

Fate had given her the cursed mark that stained her forehead that foretold what horrible things she was capable of. Tick Tock was destined to bring despair, sadness, chaos, and misfortune to all - and Jaidah was her next victim.