by J. E. Taylor
I slowed my breathing, straining to hear movement, straining to see anything but shadows, willing my body and mind to embrace the calm surety that I would stop whatever came out of those woods.
With my arrow trained, I blinked at the shadows, daring the vermin to come into the fading light. As if I willed it, a shimmering glow filled the space. Rows of them, like an army formation as opposed to a solid line. My heart thundered, blasting through any sort of calm I had attained.
“Oh, Jesus,” I whispered and pushed the fear clawing at my skin away. I lined up my first shot.
Before the beast stepped onto the grassy knoll, it dropped dead from an arrow between its eyes. I threaded my next arrow and let another missile fly. It hit, like every other silver-plated arrow, until I found no more in my arsenal.
I had a handful of knives, but they wouldn’t hit the mark at this distance, so I strung up a wooden arrow. One after the other, they flew until I had nothing but the silver knives and the sword. A dozen wolves lay howling in pain alongside another dozen dead wolves. As soon as the arrows were gone, I grabbed the knives and stood.
It was as if they knew I was out of ammunition. With a loud snarl, they launched. I waited until I knew they were in range, and then the first four wolves went down with knives embedded between their eyes. I missed one, and the last one nearly took me down, but I parried and buried the knife in his neck.
With one sweeping twirl, I drew the sword and landed blows that normally would have been mortal wounds, but these beasts were fast and I only pissed them off more. They surrounded me, wary of the blade in my hands. None of them tried to bite me, which I thought was strange. If even one got a hold of me with their mouth, they could easily tear a limb off.
A long drawn-out howl came from the jail. My already pounding heart leaped into my throat. I couldn’t take my eyes off my enemy to give Lucas any type of signal.
I swallowed and blew out a stream of air to get my focus. I moved into the ready stance that Remy had taught me, ignoring the snarling coming from the jail across the green. I stared down the rows of wolves surrounding me. I caught movement to my right and spun low to the ground.
The blade whistled through the air, slicing right through the beast’s mouth, removing the top part of his head in one clean cut. The sword vibrated in my hands, but it had sheared right through muscle and bone as easily as cutting through warm butter.
The spray of blood doused my left side, the warmth sliding over me, taking the chill from my bones and replacing it with an icy revulsion.
The pack hesitated, eyes widening at the death of one of their own by my hand and not by an arrow. Their wariness amplified my confidence.
I repositioned myself. I think I may have smiled, because the pack snarled as one unified unit. They circled and I stayed in place at the ready.
“Who’s next?” I said, my voice a low, menacing growl that I hardly recognized.
I could have sworn I saw fear in a couple of the wolves facing me. When their gaze jumped to my right, I shoved the blade backwards, putting my palm on the end to hold it steady when I felt resistance.
Just as quickly, I drew it back. The thump behind me told me I hit the mark. I brought the blade back to the ready. Two down, too many to go. I took a breath, taking a second to open my ears to the battles in the distance. Panicked screams filtered in, but I couldn’t acknowledge them.
Not with another dozen wolves surrounding me. I caught movement in the back near the woods. I chanced a look, and the massive black wolf that appeared filled me with dread. His eyes narrowed at me, and he licked his chops.
I forced myself to pay attention to the beasts surrounding me. Had they moved closer while I was distracted? I swallowed the fear and reset my focus.
“Only two of you have the balls to try to take me down?” I said with a laugh, goading them.
It worked. Four rushed me and I spun, keeping my cool as blood spurted over me. Pain laced my hip as one of the wolves dug their claws into me before my blade took him out. I ducked and raised the blade. In one swipe, I disemboweled the bastard, blood and guts splattering all around me. I stood and shook myself. My hair clung to my cheeks in wet slaps. Then I spun, swinging the sword again. My arms burned from exertion.
A roar filled the air and caught me off guard. I spun toward the jail. The walls crashed down, and the beautiful gray wolf that had saved my grandmother came barreling out of the debris. Lucas wasn’t the calm, docile wolf I’d first met. His bared teeth and horrific growl indicated a predator of such power and wrath that I nearly collapsed from the shock.
A growl behind me put me back into fight mode and I turned, swinging the blade, decapitating a wolf that had gotten too close. Before I could reset myself, paws hit my back with such force that I flew onto my stomach. The sword knocked from my grip, sliding out of reach.
I expected the sharp teeth in the back of my neck, but the wolf stood over me, growling. I rolled onto my back to face my last wolf and stared up at the underside of Lucas’s head instead. His body blocked me from any of the other surrounding wolves. His growl sent tendrils of fear through me, but his protective stance warmed my heart. A mix of emotions ripped through me, leaving my entire form trembling. I rolled back on my stomach and scanned the ground for my sword.
The black wolf crept forward. His ears were back, and his muzzle wrinkled from his ferocious growl. His eyes held a murderous stare. The blade was closer to the black mass than to Lucas.
The rest of the pack widened their circle, letting the lead wolf into the center. Lucas lowered, the soft fur of his stomach tickling my exposed skin, but the blanket he provided didn’t last. He launched at the black wolf.
“No!” I cried and scrambled for the blade. I climbed to my feet with the sword in my grip. My heart slammed the walls of my chest so hard, I thought it would rip right through my skin.
Lucas and the black wolf rolled away into the shadows, their growls and yelps filling the night. The eight remaining wolves surrounded me with their teeth bared.
I could no longer hear the screams of the other guardsmen. My body numbed at the thought that the wolves in those directions won. The circle attacked as one unit this time. I think I screamed, but all I remember is fur and blood and the whistle of the blade.
An arrow whizzed by my face. I heard the wet sound behind me. In the direction of town, Remy had his last arrow drawn. Another wolf went down, leaving five to contend with while Lucas and the black wolf continued to battle in the darkness.
He dropped his bow, still running at full speed towards the massacre. Drawing his broadsword, he took the same battle form as I had been using. Two of the wolves that had been surrounding me peeled off to attack Remy.
My swings slowed to the point I missed one of the wolves. I glanced down and caught the reflection of a knife. In a twirl meant to maim, I swung the sword and dipped low enough to scrape the knife off the ground.
Remy cried out. My heart lurched. I spun in his direction and froze. Blood spurted from where his arm should have been. The beast who tore it off dropped the appendage and launches at Remy.
The knife sailed from my grip. It embedded in the wolf’s eye before it could finish my grandfather off.
A yelp cut off behind me and I turned, forgetting about the three wolves still surrounding me. When the black wolf stepped out of the shadows with blood dripping from his teeth, I almost fell to my knees.
My ragged breath caught in my throat when the black beast transitioned into a man. He looked over my shoulder at the other wolves.
“Burn it down,” he said with a gravelly voice that scared the living daylights out of me.
I spun, and two of the wolves had changed back into human form. They nodded and turned towards the church. A flash of silver flew through the air and buried to the hilt right through the spine of one of the men. He collapsed, dead before he hit the ground.
Only one person besides me had that kind of accuracy or strength in throwing knives. I turn
ed to Remy. His gaze met mine, and then the only werewolf left in wolf form attacked him, tearing his throat out before I could get to him.
I swung the blade, but the wolf jumped out of the way. I went to swing around again, but a strong hand caught my wrist and bent it back. I cried out. The sword tumbled from my grip. The leader of the werewolf pack wrapped his hand around my throat and carried me to the post, slamming me into it.
Stars filled my vision. The grip on my throat loosened. I blinked my eyes until the blurring stopped and I stared into the cold hard eyes of the alpha wolf. He flipped me around and pressed me into the post so my head was turned towards the town.
“Watch them burn,” he whispered in my ear.
“No!” I screamed and struggled.
His grip on me was too strong for me to do anything but smash my bones against the hard wooden pole. He grabbed a handful of my hair and put his nose to my neck taking a long, slow inhale.
“I have been waiting to take you down ever since you rode away from me on that black stallion.”
I screamed my frustration, despite the pain my thrashing caused. The anger ignited in the center of my being and spun outward until my entire body felt like it had been dropped in a kiln.
He kept a grip on my hair and forced me into the road facing the church. The other wolf had slid a piece of wood between the door handles.
I twisted in the alpha’s grip.
His hand snaked around my throat again, and he slammed me against his hard chest. I kicked at his shins. His hardness pressed into the small of my back and he just chuckled.
The chuckle nearly seized my muscles, sending a different fear through me. I wasn’t afraid of dying, but that laugh chilled me into tremors.
He inhaled and sighed. “I love the smell of fear on the air.”
The other wolf tossed a lit torch onto the front steps of the church where it rolled against the large wooden doors. Doors that were locked from the inside, but also barricaded from the outside.
“No! Please, please don’t do this!” I struggled again, raking my nails down the length of his arms.
A sharp claw drew from the collar of my shirt down my shoulder, splitting both the fabric and the skin underneath. I screamed. Everyone I loved was lost to these beasts, and I was next.
The other two werewolves stepped in front of me, tearing my clothing while the leader’s hand slid under the fabric of my ripped shirt, squeezing my breast, digging his fingers into my skin. I slammed my elbow into his stomach and kicked out at the other men, still fighting to get loose. To survive.
The alpha laughed in my ear.
“Your people will burn while they watch their red-headed savior become my bitch.”
I shivered in his grip, aware that most of my clothing lay in tatters around us. His mouth covered my shoulder. It took a second for the pain to register as his teeth tore into my skin.
My scream tore at my throat, nearly bursting my vocal cords. The poison churned, working its way into my bloodstream. My scream wasn’t the only one filling the air. I swore I would kill this beast if it was the last thing I did.
His hand moved from my breast down my body as I writhed from both his intent as well as the poison searing my veins. His other hand released my throat to explore. I slammed the back of my head into his face.
He stumbled back a step, just enough for me to twist from his grip. I turned in time to see a bloody blur launch at him. Teeth nearly tore the alpha’s head clean off. I pivoted back to the other two werewolves, the men who killed Remy and set the church on fire.
Behind me, Lucas’s visceral growls and the snap of bone echoed in my ears. The other two were staring with open mouths at the carnage behind me.
A high-pitched whistle caught my attention, and a silver-coated ax pierced the side of the closest wolf-man. The other one snapped out of whatever trance he was in and snarled at me as he transformed.
I spun towards where the blacksmith’s sword lay in the dirt and sprinted. The wolf landed on me and I fell, scrunching my shoulders so he couldn’t get a grip on my throat. That didn’t stop him from raking my back with his claws.
Lucas attacked and they rolled off me. I sat up and turned towards the owner of the ax, relieved to see Travis pulling the weapon out of the dead man’s head. I pointed towards the church and he nodded, holding up the ax as he ran towards the rising flames.
Travis slammed the ax against the wooden plank, shattering through it in one swing. He stumbled back and raised his plastered arm before using the blade to push the doors open. He had seconds to jump out of the way of the frantic townspeople as they flooded the street. It wasn’t until they were far enough from the flames before the massacre around them registered.
“Wolf!” someone screamed.
I turned in time to see Lucas’s wobbly step as he made his way to me, collapsing next to me. His massive tongue swept over the bite on my shoulder several times while his pained gaze met mine.
“It’s Lucas,” I said with a hoarse voice and put my arm around him to protect him from the frantic mob.
Travis maneuvered around in front of us, separating us from the townspeople. “Go home and lock your doors,” he said, still holding the ax on his shoulder. His back remained facing us until the townspeople dispersed.
The adrenaline faded, and shakes gripped me. My teeth chattered, and my skin felt like I was on fire. My insides twisted, and I curled into a ball, unable to voice my pain. Bright lights bloomed in front of my eyes. My lungs seized. Lucas’s whine sounded so far away.
Blinding agony gripped me, ripping through every muscle in my frame. I welcomed the blackness when it claimed me.
Chapter 16
Something heavy draped across my waist. My pillow felt more like pebbles and dirt than the soft down I was used to. My brain remained foggy even as I cracked an eye. An old wool blanket covered me.
My eyes flew wide. I jerked into a sitting position on the town green. The shirt that had been draped over me slid and I gasped, pulling the shirt and blanket up to cover my bare chest. A deep ache in my shoulder and back registered and I groaned.
My gaze fell to the man who had saved my life. Lucas looked up at me from the ground. His gaze fell to my shoulder, and he covered his face with his hands, rolling onto his back.
“I wasn’t fast enough,” he muttered.
I looked beyond Lucas at the green, and my hand flew to my mouth at the devastation. Dead wolves lay scattered, and the church was in blackened ruins.
“Tell me they got out,” I said to Lucas.
He nodded and my chest squeezed. Tears sprouted and I cried. I didn’t know why I was crying, but it seemed like the relief was too much to hold inside. I slid the shirt on and glanced at the cut short sleeve and the long sleeve.
“Travis?”
“Yes. He thought you might appreciate something to cover you up besides my bloody fur. He brought the blanket, too.” Lucas stretched and winced.
His torso was patched with black and blue, and I reached out, running my fingers over the bruises.
“I’ll heal,” he said and stood.
Lucas didn’t have a stitch of clothing on, and I blinked at his finely chiseled body. The thoughts parading through my head were totally inappropriate in a death field, so I turned away and situated the oversized shirt before handing him the blanket.
I climbed to my feet and took an unsteady step. Everything hurt. I winced and attempted to pass it off as just sleep-induced stiffness by waving him off when he went to give me a hand. But when I took a step and my knees buckled, I couldn’t pretend I was okay.
Lucas caught me, and his groan clued me in as to his equally injured condition. The town started to stir, and I glanced at Lucas, at his bare skin.
“You need clothes.”
He took the blanket and searched the ground until he found a knife. He sliced a hole in the center of the blanket and stuck his head through. As odd as he looked, it was better than walking around naked so anyone
could see his fine form.
My gaze turned to the dead. My heart squeezed as I stumbled towards Remy. I dropped to my knees by his head, unfazed by the puddle of tacky blood surrounding him. I fluttered my hand to what was left of his face. One lone eye stared at the sky. The sorrow squeezing my chest let loose.
A howl came from deep in my throat. It was haunting and full of anguish, and I let it fully form as I sang my goodbye to my grandfather. I shivered when the sound died. Tears blurred my eyes, and I covered my face.
I had become what I abhorred.
“Come on, I think we need to get out of here while we can,” Lucas said and helped me to my feet.
We limped away from the core of Dakota and into the woods leading to my grandmother’s house.
Lucas pumped water into the bathroom basin and set it on the warmer.
“Get in,” he said and pointed at the tub.
I blinked at him and then looked down at my bare arm. I was covered in dried blood. My hand shook as I reached for the edge of the tub. I stepped into the cast iron and looked up at him. I wasn’t the only one streaked with blood and gore.
“I can’t clean you while you are wearing a shirt,” he said.
Normally, a request like that would have gotten the man decked in the jaw with all the fury my fist could carry, but this was not a normal situation. I stared at him as he lit the fire under the warming pot, debating on whether I should follow his request or not. I glanced down at my bare legs and shivered.
“I think we’re going to need a lot more than just a pot or two.” My voice shook.
Lucas smiled, but it looked more like a grimace. That was when I noticed his hands weren’t steady. At all.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
A high-pitched laugh escaped from him as he stood with his back to me. “I wasn’t fast enough,” he whispered. His voice sounded haunted with his perceived failure.
“Lucas?”
He turned, his jaw tight and his lips pressed together. His eyes sparkled with unshed tears. I pushed myself to a standing position, but he shook his head. I wasn’t sure if it was to rid himself of the tears or if it was to tell me to sit back down. When he didn’t speak, I reached my hand out.