Chapter 50: There is no sun here. There isn’t even a moon

"Brother, what are you doing?" Liliana asked after she had finished bathing.

Cassian was still busy working on the giant tree in front of him with the dagger he had brought.

"Are you finished?" Cassian asked without turning around.

Liliana walked toward Cassian and then crouched beside him. "Yes. What are you doing?" she asked again.

"Collecting tree sap," Cassian answered casually.

Liliana looked at the sap inside the bottle that was now beneath the tree in front of Cassian. "What for?"

"This tree is the same as the one we were on when we arrived in this secret realm. There is light in its sap. We can use it as a lamp when night comes."

"Let me help," Liliana said as she reached for another bottle beside Cassian and the dagger she had brought inside her backpack.

"Ehm," Cassian answered.

After fifteen minutes, Liliana and Cassian had successfully collected four bottles filled with sap containing a shimmering light.

"Let’s go back. It will be dark soon. We need to be with our pack."

"Ehm," Liliana answered with a nod.

Living in the wild with a pack was advantageous and much safer than being alone. At least for werewolves.

"Young Alpha, Liliana, you’re back?" one of the pack members asked.

"Beta Gio and Beta Mano have hunted many giant fish from the river. We can eat them now," he said.

Cassian nodded and handed three bottles of sap to the man.

"Distribute these to them. They will help us see in the dark here."

The pack member frowned. "Alpha, will these be useful?" he asked. "We are werewolves. Our eyesight is very sharp at night."

Cassian only gave a low smile. "Whether they are useful or not, we’ll find out once night falls completely," Cassian said without intending to explain further.

He handed the other bottle in his hand to Liliana.

"Hold this. Don’t leave it lying around."

Liliana accepted it and nodded without asking anything.

Cassian was such a clever future Alpha. Being able to rank among the top ten future Alphas at Mirena Academy, his decisions were clearly worth considering.

Liliana put the bottle into her bag and then ran after Cassian without looking at the pack member.

The pack member frowned. Finally, he followed them with the three bottles of sap in his possession.

There was a small stone table there. Small here meant about the size of ten ordinary humans, and this was clearly very small compared to the other objects surrounding them.

Cassian sat in the middle when Beta Mano invited him to sit. Liliana sat beside Cassian.

There were three fish the size of Harimau Belang that had been cooked in three different ways: grilled, boiled, and made into soup.

"Finish these fish before it gets dark," Cassian said, looking at the pack members in front of him.

"Yes, Alpha," they answered in unison.

Everyone ate calmly without saying much.

Once they were finished, Cassian threw the uneaten fish head to Harimau Belang.

"Eat it. Don’t cats like fish heads with bones?" Cassian said casually.

Harimau Belang growled lowly. He had already been holding himself back because Liliana and Cassian had ignored him. He had even accepted that he was not allowed to enjoy the fish with them.

But now he even had to accept being given leftover fish heads with bones?

Harimau Belang stared at Cassian with an unhappy look.

Cassian only waved his hand, not intending to calm him.

He looked up at the sky, which had already begun to grow completely dark.

His guess was correct. It should have been.

Liliana approached Harimau Belang. "Eat it. It’s useful for training the sharpness of your teeth," Liliana said.

Harimau Belang looked up at Liliana with a wounded expression.

Liliana laughed softly. "All right... all right," she said casually.

She took canned raw meat from her backpack and handed it to Harimau Belang.

"Eat it all," she said.

Harimau Belang immediately approached and rubbed his head against Liliana’s arm with a satisfied expression before eating his canned food.

The pack members stood looking at the sky while gathering together and chatting casually.

"Strange, why is it almost dark, but there’s no moon here?"

Liliana also looked up at the sky above her, which was beginning to darken. Without realizing it, she moved closer to Cassian.

"Take out the sap bottle," Cassian ordered after a while.

Liliana nodded, unzipped her bag, and took out the bottle.

In an instant...

Blup!

"What happened?" several pack members asked simultaneously.

"I can’t see anything!" someone said.

"Damn, am I blind?" he asked.

"Are you experiencing the same thing?"

"Damn. Did we get poisoned by the fish we ate earlier?" someone else asked.

"Damn. I’ve lost my sense of smell!"

"Hey! Who stepped on my foot?"

"What is that a foot?" he asked.

"Damn, what are you doing?"

"Stop pulling! Do you know what you’re pulling?" he asked angrily.

The atmosphere around them instantly turned chaotic.

Until Cassian’s voice rang in everyone’s ears.

"Silence!" Cassian ordered firmly.

Everyone stopped moving instantly. They all looked toward Cassian’s voice at the same time.

Cassian was now standing beside Liliana and Harimau Belang.

"Wait. Hey, I’m not blind?" a pack member asked.

"You’re right. We’re not blind. We’re safe."

"Silence!" Cassian snapped again, cutting off their words.

The place became quiet again, just as it had been before.

"Alpha?" Beta Mano called. "What... what happened?"

"Take out the sap bottles I gave you earlier," Cassian ordered.

Their gazes immediately fell upon the bottle filled with sap in Liliana’s hand.

"Hey... right. The sap bottles. Quickly, take them out!" Beta Mano ordered.

The pack members who had been asked to carry the sap bottles from Cassian nodded and immediately took their sap bottles out of their backpacks.

The place that had been pitch-black slowly became slightly brighter. The gazes of all the pack members were no longer limited. They could see who was beside them again.

"Sit in a circle," Cassian ordered.

"Yes, Alpha."

"You know that we are in a secret realm, right?" Cassian asked.

"Yes, Young Alpha," they answered in unison.

"During the daytime, did any of you see the sun?" Cassian asked again.

Everyone shook their heads.

"Correct. There is no sun here. There isn’t even a moon," he added.

"I hope you can use your instincts to read the conditions around us. This glowing sap is only one solution for dealing with the night that I predicted."

Cassian swept his gaze across all the pack members.

"However, there may be other problems that arise tonight and throughout the next six days. Take good care of yourselves."

His gaze hardened.

"Your lives belong to you alone."