The Wolves of Arnoux Manor- Volume 1

by Kiana

  Lystra

  My life had become such whirlwind of events that my previous life as a human had slipped from me. I had almost forgotten that I had a P.O. Box. The local office called my cell phone and asked me to come and pick it up. Since Anton was busy handling things with O, I just left a message on our refrigerator.

  I looked down at the envelope. It was from my mother. I looked down at it with disdain. My intuition told me it wasn’t good. My heart wanted it to be a heartfelt apology. I was about to be a mother in a couple of weeks, and I could really use the guidance of my mother. I didn’t want to believe she really didn’t want me. I prayed as I tore the flap of the envelope. I couldn’t see anything in it, so I turned it upside down. Dozens of tiny oddly colored pieces of paper landed in my lap.

  I looked down at the scraps in my lap. It seemed to be useless until the destroyed images became clearer. They were pictures of Cara and me as children and pictures of my mother and I, all destroyed. At the bottom of the yellow envelope was a white card.

  May you and your beastly husband rot in hell.

  I was not completely over my mother’s blatant rejection. The felt like she was pushing the knife in my heart and twisting it.

  I drove home in a blur. My sight was slighted through my tears. It felt like I was driving for hours trying to get home. Night had fallen, and the road to the manor was not well lit.

  “Ma’am, were you aware of how fast you were going?”

  “No, sir.” I tried to concentrate on what he was saying, but a horrid smell was getting the best of me. My stomach turned.

  “You were going 80 in a 60.” I surely didn’t feel like it.

  “I’m sorry.” The minute the words left my lips, the contents of my stomach followed after. My steering wheel and lap were covered in vomit.

  “Got damn dogs,” the officer said exasperatedly.

  “What?!”

  He hissed, and his fangs came out. He reached in the car and began to yank at me. I turned the ignition on and gunned it down the road. The wheel was so slippery I tried my best to control it. The vampire cop was behind me. He had to be going 100 miles an hour. I made my way down the road the best I could. The cop car rear-ended me. The car fishtailed, but I got it back in control.

  “Call Anton!” I screamed after pushing the button on my steering wheel. I heard the phone ringing.

  “Hey, baby!” The cop car rear-ended me again. I could hear my bumper scrapping the ground.

  “Help!” I screamed just as the car hit me again.

  The wheel slipped out of my grip, and my car went right in the dark forestry. It slid forward and flipped over hitting a tree. I was dizzy from hitting my head. There was blood in my eye. The last thing I heard was the crunching of footsteps in the woods.

  20

  Anton

  I tried to link to Lystra but saw nothing but blackness. Wherever she was, she was unconscious. My blood boiled. I knew my mate was in trouble, and I had no way of helping her. I ran full speed to O's home.

  “Lystra?” As our Alpha, he had connections to us all. I was glad I didn't have to speak. If I did, I would’ve broken down. I’d seen her note about the post office. That was hours ago.

  “We'll track her scent. Artemis, Evan, and Edric are on the way.”

  “I’m going too,” Cara insisted.

  “No. You haven't shifted before. “

  “But I can smell, and my other senses work. I can help.“

  O took a deep breath. We all know that Cara cares for Lystra like one would a daughter or sister. This just wasn’t the time for her to help. As our queen, she needed to be here on guard of the manor. She was also carrying pups. There were just too many risk factors.

  “It is admirable, the lengths you will go for your dear friend, but Cara you must stay here. You are carrying pups, my pups. We cannot risk anything happening. “

  “I’m only two weeks. I can help!"

  “NO!”

  Cara growled in response and out of her bone straight hair popped two black fuzzy ears.

  “When you first shift your beast will be in absolute control. You're also pregnant. She will be ravenous and starving. Your morals will be thrown aside. You shouldn’t be alone.”

  “In other words, I can't be trusted.”

  “For the sake of your loved ones, your pups ...us, stay here, Cara.”

  “Go find my sister.” Ozni kissed Cara then shifted. I followed suit. We met the others at the gate.

  “Follow her scent once we get to the post office. She’s carrying pups. This is a rescue first and battle second. Understood?”

  We took off towards the post office in a blur of furs. We were able to trace Lystra’s scent, but she’d driven miles away from the compound her scent began to thin out.

  “Wait!” I yelled.

  I trotted off towards the woods. I could smell Lystra, but I could smell something else mixed with it. It was a foul offputting smell. The pack followed along with me. Her scent became heavier. O stayed back and began to look at the ground rapidly.

  “These are tire marks.”

  We followed the marks and the dents in the ground until we came upon her upside-down car. The metal had been clawed apart, and the steering wheel was covered in vomit. An involuntary whine escaped my throat. I didn’t want to think the worse had happened to my mate. I sniffed. The car door where the metal had been slashed into. The smell was unmistakable. It was icy. It was putrid. It was death.

  “Vampires.” Vampires had taken my mate. I turned to O. He was remorseful even amongst his undeniable anger.

  “The war has begun,” O stated before howling into the night sky. It was a call to our brothers. This would not be as simple as our territory. An example would be made of the bloodsuckers so that we would never have this problem again.

  We spent the whole night checking the woods, but Lystra’s scent went cold after a few miles. Even the putrid smell of the vampire was gone.

  I returned home miserable. My wife’s scent was all throughout our home, just as it should be. Not knowing where she was or if she was ok was killing me, literally. Lystra was my other half, and without her, I’d slowly diminish. As wolves, our bond is an exchange of power. I wouldn’t be able to shift, and then I’d die. I’d waited so long to find her, and it feels like I lost her twice as fast.

  21

  Cara

  Seven days. Lystra has been missing for seven days. Anton is becoming weaker, O is in full Alpha mode, and I am locked away. I feel helpless. In the beginning, I knew nothing. I couldn’t help at all. Now, I am fully educated on all things wolf, but my mate won’t let me help.

  I sincerely hope that he didn’t expect me to be his trophy mate and that I would just smile like a beauty queen at our pack while he does all the important things. I wanted to add to the pack as well. I did not want to sit idle.

  I paced the floor of the family room trying to concoct some kind of plan. O watched empathically from the couch.

  “I have an idea. I don’t like it, but it may be all that we can do.”

  “Does it involve me leaving?” He shook his head.

  “Cara,” I am going to shift, then you are going to touch me. Maybe then we can get some clue to where she is. He must have been at his wits end because O never asks for my visions. He’s accepted them but does not prod as to why I have them anymore.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Do you have any better ideas?” I shrugged and watched him shift into his giant black wolf. Now that I'm part wolf, I’m not as afraid when I see it. He shook his fur and sat on his haunches. I could sense he was still uncomfortable. Still, this was for Lystra. She meant everything to our pack.

  I touched his fur and could stop myself from nuzzling into him. He licked my cheek then bent down nuzzled my stomach. I gasped as my sight changed before me.

  I saw Lystra. She was so thin, and her stomach was painfully full. I reached out and helped her up. We stumbled through a dark place. I felt like I could
n’t breathe. We made it outside, and pain shot over my body. It was so strong that I fell to the ground both in vision and reality.

  “Cara? CARA!” I hear O in my head, but I couldn't respond. My chest felt constricted. Then everything went black.

  When I finally came to, I was tucked bed. It was almost sundown. I got out of bed and made my way around the house. I was all alone. The more I moved, the weaker I felt. That vision had really messed me up. I made my way to the kitchen and grabbed some water.

  “O?” I called out on our link.

  “I sincerely hope you are in bed,” he warned.

  I am in the kitchen. Where are you?”

  “It’s best that I don’t say specifically. We have a lead on Lystra.”

  “Wonderful.”

  “Cara?” This was a different voice.

  “Who is this?” I questioned the other voice in my head.

  “Cara, who are you talking to?” O asked. I tried to concentrate on the voice.

  “Cara, help me!” I knew that voice.

  “Lystra?”

  “She’s speaking with you?” This was making my head hurt. It was like an accidental three-way call.

  “I need you.” Lystra cried.

  “I’m coming. Where are you?” It wasn’t up for debate.

  “The hell you will.” I blocked O out the best I could.

  “The vampires thought I was dead. I’m hiding.”

  “Hiding where?”

  “It’s cave. I don’t know where! Can you just track me?” How could I possibly track her? Oh, my nose! I thought to myself.

  “I’ll find you. Just stay put.”

  “Cara!” I heard O again.

  “Where did she say she was?”

  “A cave but she doesn’t know where!” I said, holding my head. It was beginning to throb.

  “We’ll find her. Stay put!”

  “No! I’m going to get my sister.”

  “Cara, I said-”

  “NO!” I’m not sure how I did it, but I couldn’t hear Ozni anymore. I dressed in yoga leggings and some hiking boots. I grabbed a bag and put water and a first aid kit inside. I grabbed flashlights as well.

  Since I hadn’t fully shifted yet, my abilities needed a bit of a jump start.

  “Ok Cara, you got this! Just think wolf. Think like a wolf!” I tried hyping myself up. It didn’t seem to be working. I thought hard on our friendship. How badly Lystra couldn’t sing. I remembered how she would cry on my shoulder whenever she and her mother got into it.

  I could sense her. She smelled like her lemon cookies and lavender. I walked out of the door following her scent. I made my way through the forestry occasionally tripping over raised roots. I was miles from the compound, cloaked in darkness, with the exception of my flashlight that is. It did not help that the ground was wet. Every few feet my shoes would sink and make me slip forward.

  “Cara!” I heard Lystra yell in my head.

  I sniffed the air. I was really close. I moved forward without looking. I just followed my nose, which meant I didn’t see the deep puddle and it caused me to fall forward on to my face. I pushed up from the muddy ground. I felt pain in my leg. I fell right back down. My ankle was killing me. I growled and tried to breathe through the pain.

  It was my vision. I injured myself looking for Lystra. I breathed deep, but the pain wouldn’t subside. I should’ve listened to O. What if something attacked me? I put myself and my baby in harm's way. The more I thought about my unborn child, the more frustrated I became. I couldn’t just stay here. I had to keep moving. I pushed from the ground and found my foot still hurt, but I could keep moving. Just ahead of me was a cave. I called out to Lystra mentally.

  “Lystra, speak to me.”

  “Cara, I feel weak.”

  In the small cave, I found Lystra she could barely move.

  “They thought I was dead, so he left. They were going to chop me into pieces and send them to Anton weekly. I just want to go home,” she cried. I took a look around the cave. It was covered in unrecognizable markings. Behind her was along dark space. Possibly a hall.

  “Cara?” she questioned. I untied her.

  “We have to get out of here.” I had to help her walk out of the cave. We limped out into the cold forest air glad for the light of the moon. THE MOON!! She fell back against the cave’s opening.

  I could only shake my head as we both stood under its full pearlescent beams. I was going to shift for the first time while attempting to rescue my best friend.

  I heard a malicious laugh from behind me. The wind blew, and horrible sent assaulted my nose. I wasn’t looking at Lystra. This woman with stringy black hair and long fangs stared at me ready to eat me alive.

  “You should’ve listened to your master. Now we will kill you and send your mate your head.”

  I giggled. She had no clue of her own fate. My blood ran hot. I rolled my neck and felt my vertebrae crack and reform. It was only painful for a moment, but it was consistent. Pain on, Pain off. I hadn’t shifted all the way, but damn I was close. O did not lie. I could eat a whole cow right now. I watched my fingernails grow long and silver, almost like talons. I screamed, and it turned into a howl.

  Damn, I’m hungry. The vampire hissed at me, but I wasn’t scared. In fact, I wanted nothing more than to tear this vampire demon apart. I knelt to the ground growled, ready to attack.

  “Bring it, bitch!”

  Oh, why thank you I am- oh you mean.

  I rolled my eyes as she launched at me. Her claws were sharp, but I healed seconds after she scratched me. Oh, that pissed me off. I grabbed her arm with my sharp teeth and yanked her to the ground. I pawed her face. I meant to punch her, but I haven’t quite figured out the balance of my new body. She tossed me off of her like a rag doll. I charged at her again, and we tussled until I got a clear shot at her neck. I went for her jugular and didn’t stop until I pulled a piece of it away from her. I spit out the remains. It tasted like olive oiled coated ashes.

  I could sense O behind me. I knew he’d track me the minute I left the house.

  “You just couldn’t wait on me, you fetching little minx you!”

  He was mildly irritated but extremely turned on. He circled my recent victim. I tried to used my paws to get the chunks of ice from my fur covered face. Nuzzling my face, he licked my fur to help. See, that’s the thing about being mated. We share thoughts. We both knew that the first person Lystra would call for help would be Anton, not me. If the vampires knew that O and I were coming, they would abandon their plan. They would not resist a chance to trap an Alpha’s mate.

  “Did you get a good look at the cave?”

  “There’s a tunnel inside that leads to their compound. Then again it could be a trap. She could’ve enchanted the cave just like she did her face.”

  “Exactly what I was thinking.”

  “Does this mean we’re back to square one?”

  “Not even close. We know that Lystra does serve some use to them, so they will keep her alive. While you were handling this, I had Anton and a few others play surveillance. We saw exactly where she came in from. We are preparing for a morning attack.”

  “Then I should get some type of rest now. I want to be ready to rip some head off.” I pounce around excitedly.

  “You’re not going.”

  “Are you for real this time?”

  “Yes, Cara.”

  “No!”

  “Yes.”

  “No!”

  “Woman!”

  “Don’t you mean bitch?”

  “That’s my damn point. You will not fight while carrying pups.” I growled, and he growled back, only louder.

  “She’s my friend!”

  “And you are my mate! Stand down, Cara.”

  “I am going to save my sister!” I hit the ground with my paw, and it shook. I didn’t realize I was sneering.

  “STAND DOWN!” I attacked him. He seemed shocked at first. Then really angry. He growled to the point wher
e he was foaming at the mouth. Three rolls in the cold forest dirt and he had me pinned. His teeth sunk into my ear and it hurt like hell.

  “Stand down.” He let go and backed away from me. I sat on my haunches, feeling the blood drip into my fur. I bent down in submission. I could smell salt in the air from my tears.

  “Cara?” I felt really cold.

  I looked down at my naked human form embarrassed. Somewhere along the lines, I shifted back. I took off into the woods back towards home. It took much longer than it did on four feet. I entered through the backdoor tracking blood into the house. My feet were covered in cuts. It didn’t hurt much, and I knew I'd heal up soon. I went into my old bedroom and locked the door behind me.

  I felt disrespected and betrayed. I couldn’t help but wonder if I thought this through.

  In the mirror, I could see the lump now. I looked to be three months along in my pregnancy. I was in this for good. There was no turning back. There was a soft knock on the door. I knew who it was, so I didn’t budge.

  “Just leave me alone.”

  “Cara, I know you’re upset. Just let me in so we can talk.”

  “Ozni, just go get Lystra. I will be here when you come back.”

  “I cannot fight knowing my mate is not ok. It will be all that I can think of.”

  “Oh, so you just want to butter me up so that you can fight?”

  “No, I am genuinely concerned about you.” I unlocked the door. I could see the hurt etched in his face. He looked in my eyes momentarily before traveling down to my stomach, then my feet.

  “What happened?”

  “I walked back here.” He made his way into the bathroom. He made me sit down on the vanity’s bench while he looked over my feet.

  “Why didn’t you shift back?” He asked pulling things out of the cuts that didn’t instantly heal.

  “I was too emotional to do so. O, I really don’t want to talk. I will be fine. I’ll just take a bath and relax,” I said hoping that he would just believe me. I wasn’t ok at all. I wanted to be alone. He just stared at me.