Birth Right

by Lewis, D. C.

  "And now, here I am, in the company of one as worthless as you, trying to get information from your useless brain. Tell me where the Phylactery Lycoanian is hidden and I'll make your mother's departure from this world quick, lie to me and her death will take weeks and then I'll start in on you."

  "I don't know what you are talking about!" Kiera cried out as she moved her body in between Larissa and her mother. "I've never heard of that thing, whatever it is."

  "Then I have no more use for you," Larissa said, moving closer to the spot where Kiera was cowering. "And to think you were going to be the next Lakaia, what a joke. Goodbye Kiera," Larissa spat out as the "change" overtook her body. Within heartbeats a massive Lycoan stood where Larissa once was, the cold eyes staring at her with a blood lust that was superhuman. Kiera knew that this was the end, there would be no escaping this time.

  Bending her head down to place her lips to her mother's forehead in one last gesture of affection, Kiera kissed her mother for the final time.

  "I love you, Mama," was the last thing she whispered in her mother's ear as she closed her eyes and waited for it all to be over.

  The claws on Larissa's feet easily penetrated the carpeted floor, making scraping noises on the wood underneath as she came closer to where Kiera was hovering over her mother. Kiera could feel the hulking form looming over her, the heat of Larissa's breath as she stood before her. It was the end and Kiera was ready. Her last thought was of Brandon, she only wished she could have seen him once more. She hoped that, in time, he would forgive her for the way she had treated him over the years, and for her sudden disappearance, since she doubted that Larissa was going to leave any traces of her.

  Kiera felt Larissa's hand come closer to her, in slow motion, as if Larissa were trying to build Kiera's fear to its maximum potential, dragging out her impending doom. The hair on Larissa's five-fingered appendage tickled Kiera's face and she squeezed her eyes even tighter. She refuses to make any noise - no crying, no whimpering, no giving Larissa the satisfaction. Even with her eyes sealed shut, Kiera could see Larissa raise her hand high in the air, ready to deliver the fatal blow that would end Kiera's life.

  BOOM! Kiera's bedroom window imploded, sending shards of glass and splinters in all directions.

  The Watcher had come.

  The implosion totally destroyed the big bay window that had been Kiera's secret escape route for so many years. The glass projectiles became airborne razors, slicing anything and everything they came into contact with, ending their flights embedded in wood or flesh with equal ease.

  Larissa reeled from the shock wave, taking a few steps backwards away from Kiera in order to regain her balance, her torso decorated with the once-solid windowpane. Looking up to the spot where the window once stood, Larissa couldn't believe what she was seeing. Standing in the broken remains of the destruction of Kiera's room was a Lycoan unlike any she had ever seen.

  Kiera was stunned when she opened her eyes, the biggest Lycoan she had ever laid eyes upon was filling up the expansive hole in the side of her room. Larissa just stood in place, unsure what move to make next, unable to figure out if she was staring at friend or foe.

  The Watcher didn't move, it simply rested on its perch staring intently at Larissa. Kiera felt numb, her mind overloaded, experiencing too many emotions all at once to feel anything. The only thing she was aware of is that there was a smell coming from the massive Lycoan that she had smelled before. Whether she was driving around town with her windows down, seeking solace at the park, or walking in the woods, she had smelled that scent before. And like so many times in the past, it was very familiar, like she should know more about it but still couldn't figure out why it tickled her memory.

  With Larissa's full attention on the creature in front of her and Kiera all but forgotten, Kiera took the chance to get out from in between the two creatures facing off, not wanting to become entangled in what was about to transpire.

  Stepping down into Kiera's bedroom, rubble crunched under The Watcher's padded foot as it came to its full height, its ears brushing the ceiling in Kiera's room. There was little open space to accommodate these two large beings. The room darkened as the massive torso of The Watcher blotted out the moonlight attempting to stream through the opening created by its involvement in the evening's drama.

  The air was thick with electricity as Larissa and The Watcher waited for the other to make the first move. Without warning, The Watcher lunged forward with a speed belying its size, a blur of fur as it quickly crossed the distance between it and Larissa. Larissa, having expected such a move, jumps out of the way of the living locomotive and The Watcher crashed into the wall, destroying the sheetrock and leaving a hole only slightly smaller than the one it made of Kiera's window.

  Seeing an opening, Larissa attacked, jumping on The Watcher's back and sinking large fangs into its meaty shoulder. The Watcher howled in pain, the noise escaping its throat so loud and full of intensity that Kiera had to cover her ears lest her eardrums rupture. Reaching behind its neck to grab Larissa's head, The Watcher began to pry her jaws off its shoulder as Larissa fought to sink her teeth back in, her maw now dyed red with The Watcher's blood.

  As Larissa's fangs finally cleared The Watcher's flesh, The Watcher bent forward, its hands still wrapped around Larissa's head, and brought her sailing over its shoulder to crash directly atop Kiera's bed. The bed frame shattered with the impact and for the second time that evening, splinters of wood become airborne in Kiera's room.

  Larissa, dazed from the throw, didn't immediately rise. The Watcher, seeing Larissa vulnerable, moved in to finish her off but was attacked from behind by the two Lycoans downstairs who raced up to Larissa's aid after hearing all the commotion.

  Wasting no time, they attacked The Watcher from both sides at once. The room, already filled to its maximum capacity before the arrival of the two new combatants, greatly limited their movement, which was advantageous to The Watcher, as it easily sidestepped their charge and causing them to go crashing into each other.

  Seeing her opportunity, Larissa attempted to resume her previous position on The Watcher's back, but having learned from its last mistake, The Watcher foiled her attempt. As Larissa launched herself through the air at The Watcher's unprotected rear, The Watcher quickly spun around and caught Larissa by the throat with its right hand. Kiera could see the muscles in its arm bulge as Larissa fought to break free of its grip.

  The Watcher's hand, like a Vise-Grip, squeezed around Larissa's throat, lifting her up off the floor. Larissa's head created a hole in the ceiling as her feet dangled, The Watcher's powerful arm not flinching, holding its burden steadily. Then, with a show of power, The Watcher changed direction and brought Larissa back to the floor, this time headfirst. The whole house shook when Larissa's head hits the floor. The beams holding up the second floor, groaned at the monstrous impact, threatening to give way and send everyone and everything crashing to the ground floor. The tremendous blow knocked Larissa unconscious and her body immediately reverted back to human form, the pale naked form of the human Larissa looking like a doll when compared to the enormity of The Watcher.

  Larissa's two cohorts, witnessing the ease with which their leader was so easily dispatched by the more powerful Lycoan, regrouped. Kiera could detect a faint smell in the air and knew that the two Lycoans were passing a message using scent dreams. Kiera wondered why the large Lycoan wasn't noticing this as well. Before she had the chance to complete her thought, the Lycoan to the right side of The Watcher lunged in for another attack, this time sweeping low to assault The Watcher's legs.

  The attack was short-lived as The Watcher caught the aggressive Lycoan by the throat before its teeth could latch on. The Lycoan struggled in The Watcher's grasp, sounds resembling whimpers escaping its mouth. Once again with a show of its massive strength, The Watcher twisted its attacker's neck one-hundred and eighty degrees. There was a sickening sound of bone and cartilage snapping and popping as the spinal column was stres
sed to its breaking point and then beyond.

  The body of the Lycoan fell limp at The Watcher's feet, and it also instantly "changed" back to human form, the torso lying belly down on the floor while the head faced the other direction, dead brown eyes staring endlessly at the ceiling.

  Apparently not satisfied with its dispatch of its foe, The Watcher put one foot on the dead chest and reached down with both massive hands to completely encapsulate the dead Lycoan's human head. With ease, The Watcher pulled the head from its body, sending spurts of blood fanning through the air to cover the walls. Not even a Lycoan would be able to survive such an injury. The Watcher howled in satisfaction, a deep guttural howl that could come only from a massive creature, the sound waves rattling the few pictures and awards that were still hanging on the bedroom walls.

  Turning its attention back to the other attacker and Larissa, The Watcher was surprised to see neither one. The recent attack was obviously an attempt to distract it while the other Lycoan could make off with Larissa's unconscious body. Spinning around, The Watcher turned its focus to Kiera.

  Having seen this all unfold right before her very eyes, Kiera was in awe of and frightened of the large Lycoan standing before her, its breath still coming in large gasps, from its exertion. She was unable to discern whether it was friend or foe but was certain that if it decided to attack, there would be nothing she could do to defend herself. She would be even more helpless than she was with Larissa.

  Deciding that whatever came, she would meet it head on, Kiera lifted her head to look The Watcher in the eyes. There was something so familiar about the blue eyes that looked back at her. She felt as if she had looked into them before. The large creature made no move towards her but having witnessed the speed at which it could attack, Kiera knew that it could be upon her before she had time to react.

  Slowly rising to her feet, Kiera stood tall. The blow she suffered to her side throbbed and she felt lightheaded but still she stared into those blue eyes, trying to remember where she had seen them. They stood there staring at each other for a few moments, neither moving except for the rise and fall of their chests as they breathed.

  Just as Kiera started to panic, wondering how long she was going to have to stand there, The Watcher slowly turned to its left to face the hole it so recently had made its entry. It was then that Kiera saw it for the first time - the white stripe that started above The Watcher's right ear and ran down the entirety of its right side. Looking back over its shoulder, The Watcher gave Kiera a wolfish grin, its tongue hanging out of its mouth. The look seemed to say "surprise" before it jumped out of the window in pursuit of the prey that had escaped it for the second time.

  Thirty-One

  Staring out through the hole in her bedroom, attempting to peer into the dark expanse of the forest where the creature that had saved her life had fled, Kiera momentarily forgot her predicament. Her mind trying to process the events of the night. It was pain that brought her back to reality. The adrenaline had worn off and pain had replaced it. Pain like she had never known. The pain also reminded her of her mother.

  Turning around, Kiera saw her mother’s limp form under a pile of rubble, part window, part bed, part Sheetrock. Shuffling over, Kiera could see that her mother was lying face down, her back riddled with cuts from Lycoan and shards of glass alike. Using the last bit of strength she could muster, Kiera cleared the debris off her mother and flipped her over. Still no heartbeat could be detected as Kiera once again cradled Katrina’s head in her lap.

  Guilt overcame her.

  Feeling as if all this were her fault, Kiera’s eyes streamed with newfound tears. All these years wasted, trying to rebel against her mother, never fully appreciating Katrina and the life that Katrina had provided for her. Years spent angry at her mother. Blaming Katrina for what she was. All that seemed so petty now. So insignificant. Sitting there with her mother, Kiera understood all that Katrina had done for her and she felt ashamed of the way she had acted these many years.

  As the wave of exhaustion hit her, Kiera laid her forehead on her mother’s in silent communion. Closing her eyes she allows the exhaustion to overtake her and falls asleep, unafraid, knowing what she has to do next. She would put an end to this drama, she protect those she loved, she would become the Alpha.

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  THE END

  About the Author

  D.C. Lewis lives on the East Coast and enjoys the outdoors, deep conversations, and the journey which is writing.

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