A strange sensation took hold of her; this was familiar.
Did something like this happen to me before? With my mom?
It had been so long since the last time they had come here. She had been reaching the early stages of puberty and her mom was pregnant. Like all the times before they had been exploring the forest all around the Crescent Valley. But she had no recollection of seeing wolves, did she? All she could remember was how beautiful and bright this place was: Smelling of wild flowers, moss and trees. Little birds flying, deer in the distance, even butterflies. In Liala’s memory this place had been a fairy kingdom and her mother was able to take her over a secret, invisible barrier her father couldn’t cross.
Liala flinched as he suddenly stuck his nose into her face and started sniffing.
Don’t be afraid, she could hear her mother speaking gently. He won’t hurt you. He just wants to get to know you.
For a silly second she had to stop herself from giggling, and in her ears her voice was way younger; just as young as the last time.
But when was the last time? Or was it just another dream?
The impulse to giggle stopped quickly as the dire wolf’s nose moved lower and lower, first to her chest, then to her stomach and finally to her lap. He brought his head back up just to look at her for a moment, with eyes that were eerily human and… familiar?
Then he moved on to Kiana, who started to whimper lowly while she was trying to evade his exploring nose.
“He just wants to get to know you,” Liala could hear herself repeat her mother’s words and her cousin held still.
When it was Brenna’s turn, Liala somehow cared less if she didn’t listen to what she had just said. She couldn’t help it; she didn’t like her. A part of her felt awful about that but that part shrunk with every passing minute. Brenna was a spoiled brat, used to people doing anything for her, including Kiana. Liala just couldn’t stand seeing her cousin being taken advantage of. She knew that Brenna wouldn’t lift a finger for either of them in such a dire situation like this. If given a chance Kiana’s friend would sacrifice both of them to get away and that was why Liala would easily and happily sacrifice her as well.
While the young woman she despised squirmed and wailed, trying to get away from the exploring wolf nose, Liala dared to look at the three remaining wolves who were watching the scene. She noticed that the black one had his eyes on her the entire time, but didn’t move or react when she tried to catch a glimpse of the other wolf. It was more or less standing in the shadows, and yet she seemed to be able to see that its fur was longer, for whatever reason.
Where is the fourth one? Or did I squint?
Liala had no idea why she was so calm when the girls next to her were freaking out. She knew that it wasn’t the behavior she should show. After all, she had no idea what would happen to them, just a terrifying notion, since why else would they spare the women while killing the men? This situation was what nightmares were made of, and yet, it wasn’t getting to her.
Maybe my mind still hasn’t accepted that this is real. It is too strange to be real.
It was a movement out of the corner of her eye that drew her attention away from her thoughts and towards it. And maybe finally her breath got stuck in her throat again. There were more of them moving in the shadows. It wasn’t only four wolves, like she counted or five, because she remembered that they were attacked by three, but the third one wasn’t there.
Did it die?
At least one of them had been shot; one of them had been run over by her. After all she had taken some bruises for that action, the least that fucker could do was be dead. Thoughtlessly she rubbed over the part of her ribcage that had stopped hurting.
Are they able to survive that?
Liala could feel her heart hammering in her chest and neck and noticed that her breath had turned shallow, but oddly enough, her ribs didn’t hurt anymore. She tried to count the shadows she saw, but she couldn’t keep count. Her sight seemed to blur and her fingertips started tingling. Looking down, she saw her hands clenched into fists. Slowly she tried to pry them open, finger by finger, and every movement hurt.
A squealing noise next to her accompanied with a jerk on her arm made her instinctively look up and witness how the reddish-brown wolf had grabbed Brenna’s arm and pulled her onto her feet.
Then Kiana was pulled up from her side, and just a moment after, she found herself on her feet as well. Slowly she moved her head, feeling numb all of a sudden, and looked to what was holding her arm so tightly.
Of course, it’s him again.
She had no idea if the black wolf was a male, but somehow, she figured he was. She didn’t dare look down between his legs to confirm her assumption. Instead she was fascinated by her own feet that seemed to move, on their own, and then she looked to Kiana, who was dragged along by a dark brown wolf she hadn’t noticed arriving, but which was definitely limping.
They are able to survive that. Either a gunshot at close range; or by being run over by a car.
Liala noticed that seemingly all large fir trees around the fire had been stripped of their lower branches, which meant that these creatures either knew how to use an axe, or really turned into humans.
They walked only a few steps, enough to get them away from the fire, and pushed them down against another tree. It was only a few feet but the difference in the temperature was tangible. Liala and the others started freezing. But the wolves just left them there.
Are you kidding me?
“This is our chance,” she whispered to the others.
“W…what?” Kiana gave back in disbelieve.
“We need to run. Now,” Liala insisted.
“They are going to catch us!” Brenna squealed, and the reddish-brown wolf turned around to look at them.
“Shut the fuck up, Brenna,” Liala growled.
She quickly cast her glance down to the ground and so did the others but the wolf stayed, watching over them.
“Two of us might be able to make it if one of us stays here,” Liala whispered.
“What?” Brenna and Kiana whispered in unison.
“They want us alive,” Liala explained. “I stayed back so that Benjy, dad and Rick could flee with the Jeep.”
“What about dad?” Kiana grabbed her by her arm again, squeezing tight.
Liala instantly regretted that she said anything, and even more that she stayed silent. But as she realized that it was already, too late. Chances were high that these wolves would catch them anyway. She had seen with her own eyes how fast they were. Before she knew it, she let out a sigh and Kiana instantly started crying: “No!” she lamented. “Please no, they’re not dead.”
Liala pressed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose.
Fuck. There goes our chance for an escape. Why can’t they just pull themselves together? There’s enough time for this crap after we’re back home… What the hell is wrong with me?
Leaning her head back against the tree trunk she looked up through its branches, seeing the moon in a strange red glow watching over them all. It had to be her ten years of being the responsible female in her little family and what her mother had taught her, about not letting her emotions get the better of her. It had served her well. Stressful situations were usually not a problem for her, unless her emotions had a mind of their own. But this exactly was the reason why she didn’t have many friends.
Much to her surprise, as she turned her head towards Kiana, she saw Brenna comforting her. Maybe she was not completely right about her, but it didn’t change the fact that the only way she could see herself escape was leaving the weakest one behind, and she refused to give her cousin that part of her plan.
We can’t just wait for help to arrive. I just know that they will not be here in time before… Before what exactly? Maybe I’m wrong? Maybe they don’t want to… what if they want to hunt us?
Liala’s heart dropped into her stomach. This was also a possibility. She felt how her face was
paling and instantly she moved her head to look back at the reddish-brown wolf, who was watching her.
I must have a head injury.
There was two of them. Identical. Almost identical. One of them had a partly healed wound that looked very suspiciously just like a gunshot wound.
Twins?
But there was even more important information that just dawned on Liala.
They can survive that, too? Fuck!
She knew she was staring, but she couldn’t stop herself, although both of them were staring back at her. It still was a challenge.
I would be pissed, too, about being run over by a car, and flying over a roof.
Liala shuddered. Maybe she was really wrong about why they had taken them captive. Maybe her sacrifice was higher than she had anticipated. Was there a fate worse than being torn to shreds by a werewolf?
Kiana continued crying silently and Liala fought with herself, trying to make her stop staring at the twin wolves. She wanted to lie to her cousin, tell her that her father and brother might still be alive, that she wasn’t sure that both of them were dead. She was a terrible liar and Kiana knew it. But her cousin needed to stop crying, and soon.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered almost inaudibly, knowing she wouldn’t be able to comfort or console her cousin, let alone take away her pain.
“Shut up!” Brenna – much to Liala’s initial surprise and later irritation – hissed at her. “Couldn’t you just lie?”
“That’s your forte, not mine.”
Did I say that out aloud?
“You bitch!” Benna yelled and opened her eyes widely as she realized her volume.
Liala knew that there was movement without having to turn around to look. Brenna’s facial expression said it all, as did Kiana’s who instantly stopped crying.
“You did that on purpose!” Brenna spat out.
“No, I’m not like you,” Liala shot back at her, gritting her teeth, trying to suppress her anger and the impulse it enlivened in her to grab her and toss her towards them.
Where does that come from? This isn’t like me.
Liala didn’t want any more people to get hurt no matter how much she disliked them. This sudden rage she felt was off and new to her and it brought a fire to life deep inside of her. Like a hunger, but almost painful. Both of the reddish-brown twin wolves stepped up to them and the one that was limping a little reached for Brenna, who squeaked and clung to Kiana.
“Let go of her!” Liala shouted at her. “Or do you want them to take her instead of you?”
Her cousin then looked at her dumbfounded.
“No! Don’t take me!” Brenna wailed.
Kiana was paralyzed, not lifting a finger to get out of her best friend’s iron grasp who was about to wrap her legs around one of hers. Liala didn’t think, she just hit Brenna straight in the face, forcing her to let go in shock.
As the woman was lifted onto her feet, she was still holding her nose and it looked like she was bleeding.
That serves you right: Just not what is about to come.
It was her unemotional part that was the one that made her continue to watch what was happening. Liala had to know what was expected of all three of them, even though another part of her didn’t w-ant to know. Instinctively, she reached out for Kiana and pulled her into a tight embrace, placing her head against her shoulder, so she would face the other direction, should she open her eyes.
Liala knew what was going to happen would be as serious as a deadly car crash and she couldn’t allow herself to look away. She despised people who were gawking at other people’s tragedy, and now she had put herself into a position where she had to be one of them, because she had to prepare herself, and prepare her cousin. She needed to know if they were here to die, or for something else.
All she wanted was to just look up at the red moon, and try to evoke another strange and long-lost memory. But there was no fleeing reality. Not when Brenna started to shout out panicky. They had positioned her against another tree and pressed her against it.
First, they were just looking her over, not touching her apart from the one pushing her back against the tree by her throat. And after a moment the one who held her simply lifted her up, forcing the young woman onto her tiptoes.
Liala didn't want to watch or even listen to it but the latter wasn't her choice. She turned her head away as she saw the two werewolves feeling Brenna up, invading her personal space. Although she couldn’t see it, she could hear fabric tearing.
And then a movement caught her attention that came from an unexpected direction. The grey and silver haired werewolf showed up, also walking on his hind legs. And he bellowed, loud and clear. Instantly, even before the order had completely left the alfa’s throat the twins dropped and let go of Brenna and she fell to the ground landing on her butt, hard.
He has to be the alfa.
The grey one continued growling at the twins and they instantly lowered their heads, showing submission, and slowly retreating to the left, away from her and away from Brenna and their alfa, who marched towards her. Kiana’s friend didn’t move an inch and her body shook as if the earth beneath her was quaking.
She’s the easy prey. Liala thought, as she was reminded of her mother’s words by what she saw. She’s freezing up.
Her thoughts were confirmed by what happened next. The alfa crouched down before her and even though Liala couldn’t see his expression, she could imagine by the way Brenna’s eyes widened in a way she had never seen before. And then, the alfa snarled. The sound struck Liala right in the bone and Kiana started whimpering and silently crying again. But Brenna didn’t run. All she did was tense up like a string that had been clamped too tight. The alfa huffed in frustration and Liala could see him shake his head slightly.
They want her to run.
The realization turned her blood into liquid ice.
Again, the alfa roared at her but this time, this time it was different, Liala swore that she could hear something.
“Rrrrrrunnnnnn!”
And Brenna heard it, too. As if an invisible bond had been cut, the young woman started running and headed for the opposite direction the twin wolves had went, right into the bushes where she got instantly stuck.
Are you kidding me?
Again, shaking his head, the alfa werewolf turned his back on her and faced the twins, obviously talking to them, and they nodded in return. While Brenna was trying to free herself in panic the twin wolves relaxed, seemingly ignoring her, while her wailing sobs disturbed the quietness of the mighty forest.
Liala couldn’t quite believe what she saw.
Have they lost interest in her? Isn’t she a prey worth hunting? Or are they giving her a head start?
To her utter discomfort more werewolves, walking on their hind legs, stepped forward from behind the fire. She could count six more and among them was the big black one, who instantly looked at her. Liala felt electrocuted as their glares met and she quickly looked away.
Nine wolves. Nine werewolves. She reminded herself.
Liala blinked and counted again, confirming the number. The chances of a successful escape for Kiana and her had just dropped dramatically.
Why the hell am I so calm? I didn’t take my meds.
Realization struck her. Liala hadn’t taken her meds the entire day; she was pulling through without them. But then again anxiety usually hit her when she was interacting with too many people, who were stressing her out. Often, her rationality had helped her enough, so that she didn’t have to take the pills, but then usually the anxiety attacked when she went to bed, making her tense, and hurt, and shiver as if she had a flu, and made her feel hot as if she had a fever.
I must be still in shock. Does this make any sense?
Her attention was pulled from herself towards Brenna, who finally had freed herself from the bushes and realized that the wolves weren’t attacking her. She looked at her best friend Kiana, frustrated that she didn’t look at her. And Liala could
read from her face that she wanted Kiana to come with her.
Is she stupid or something?
Liala was sure that the wolves wouldn’t allow Kiana to walk out of here with her.
Or did she remember what I told her about sacrificing one in order to save the others? Does she think I’m going to be the sacrifice for her? Hell, no!
And just like a self-fulfilling prophecy Liala could feel the familiar pain cramping her muscles and her heart started to gallop. But she wasn’t stressed, she was angry.
Quickly, she returned her attention to Brenna, filling her lungs with air in order to shout at her to fucking run. Suddenly, snarling and huffing noises caught the women’s attention and their heads turned to face the origin of that noise. Two wolves – and one of them was the limping twin – were snapping and snarling at each other. When looking at Brenna’s expression, Liala could see that she just realized that there were more werewolves than before. And that’s when Kiana’s friend showed the face Liala already had seen. She hauled ass.
That brat thinks they are distracted and will just settle for Kiana and me, when they realize she’s gone.
Liala gritted her teeth, clenching her jaw and fists. She could feel how the heat slowly took over her body.
She’s wrong, they will go after her.
A part of her, the one that had grown louder inside of her was slightly regretting that she wouldn’t be able to see what would happen to Brenna, when they caught her. It was the shock about her very own, dark feelings that made her cool off like she had taken a cold shower.
I shouldn’t think things like this. God, I hate her so much. But why? Just because of the way she treats basically everyone?
Liala cautiously glanced over to the werewolves. She had missed what had happened but apparently the brawl had been stopped before it had begun.
What she saw now send goosebumps down her spine like crawling spiders. Every single one of them had turned their heads towards the direction in which Brenna had left. And, they waited, not snapping at each other, not jostling each other, not fighting. Their focus was on Brenna and they were probably listening to her stumbling through the underbrush, huffing, falling onto her knees. Liala blinked, and a strange sensation shot through her veins like a vaccine injection. All werewolves but one. The big black werewolf was staring straight at her and her body was strangely excited about that fact. It wasn’t anxiety that she felt, it was way, way worse. What the fuck?
HOWL and HUNT the HEIR: HOWL 1-3 (Dark World) Page 6