Lex's thoughts were in disarray, one minute, he was on his way to his home and the other, he's here in the woods running for his life.
"Don't stop!" The stranger's voice repeated itself in his head as his legs carried him off swiftly.
His body moved with a speed and agility that defied explanation. Lex was a great runner but he couldn't deny the fact that he was running faster than his normal self and that he wasn't getting tired like a normal person would. Maybe it was because of the adrenaline coursing through his body.
Suddenly , a blur of motion swept him off the ground. Strong arms wrapped around him, and he felt himself lifted into the air. A figure, impossibly fast, carried him along with ease. Lex's stomach lurched as the trees blurred together, their branches a green and brown smear.
Lex needed no one to tell him it was the same person who had collided into him earlier and told him to keep on running. But who was this stranger?
Meanwhile….
Alicia and Lucien stood amidst the dense underbrush, their eyes scanning the horizon for any sign of Lex's whereabouts. The warm sunlight filtering through the canopy above cast dappled shadows on the forest floor, but offered little comfort to the pair's growing unease. Lucien's gaze darted between the compass-like instrument in his palm and the surrounding landscape, his brow furrowed in concentration.
"Come on, Lucien, don't stress yourself over that thing," Alicia said, her voice laced with a mix of frustration and concern. "They're definitely out of range by now." She slung her bow over her shoulder, the quiver of arrows rattling softly against her back.
Lucien's eyes flicked up to meet hers, a hint of amusement dancing in their depths. "They?" he repeated, his tone light. "You're still insisting there were two of them?"
Elena's jaw set in determination. "I know what I saw, Lucien. One of them was... different. A novice, maybe. Someone who'd recently been turned." Her voice took on a stubborn edge, as if daring Lucien to contradict her.
Lucien's smile grew, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Yeah, sure, Elena. You couldn't even hit your mark from a distance, and now you're telling me you know what you saw?" He teased, his words laced with a playful jab.
Elena's eyes narrowed, her face filled with irritation. She knew Lucien was goading her, but that didn't mean she had to take it lying down. "Hey, my aim was true," she protested, her voice rising. "The wind just... caught the arrow wrong."
Lucien chuckled, the sound low and husky. "Sure it did, Elena. Sure it did." His gaze lingered on hers, the warmth in his eyes betraying a deeper emotion – one he'd kept hidden for far too long.
Unbeknownst to Elena, Lucien's teasing masked a long-held secret: his love for her. A secret that Thane, with his own reasons for disliking Lucien, had unwittingly stumbled upon.
Elena's eyes flashed with frustration as she stood before Lucien, her voice firm but laced with a hint of exasperation. "I'm serious, Lucien, I know what I'm talking about," she emphasised, her hands on her hips. She had never been one to back down from a challenge, but trying to prove a point to someone who refused to listen was a different story altogether.
Lucien, seemingly unphased by her intensity, finally lowered the compass-like instrument he had been fiddling with, a look of resignation washing over his face. "I believe you, Elena," he said, his voice measured, "but if there were truly two of them, then we should inform the patriarch. This is beyond our scope."
Elena's chuckle was low and husky, a hint of amusement dancing in her eyes. "I've always known you were just an ordinary weakling, Lucien," she teased, her voice dripping with pride. "Two werewolves are nothing I can't handle alone. I've taken down fiercer beasts without breaking a sweat."
Lucien's expression remained neutral, but a flicker of doubt danced in his eyes. He knew better than to underestimate Alicia's skills. He knew she was a battery hunter than him. "Well Alicia, You're not invincible."
Elena's smile grew wider, her eyes glinting with a fierce inner light. "I'm not invincible, Lucien," she said with a low voice, "but I'm close enough."
*****
As the unknown being dropped Lex to the ground, the young man's heart still racing from their earlier sprint, he couldn't help but feel a sense of trepidation. The stranger leaned against a nearby tree, their chest heaving with slow, deliberate breaths, their face hidden behind a hood that seemed to swallow all light.
Lex's instincts screamed at him to be cautious, and he slowly backed away, his eyes fixed on the stranger's shrouded form. The silence between them was oppressive, punctuated only by the soft rustling of leaves in the gentle breeze.
"Khaos?" Lex whispered mentally, trying to rouse the dormant werewolf within him. But there was only silence. A shiver ran down Lex's spine as he wondered if he had been hallucinating all along. Had Khaos ever truly been there, or was it just a product of his own fevered imagination?
But the memory of their earlier run lingered, a testament to the impossible speed and strength that had coursed through his veins. No, Khaos was real, and Lex knew it.
Lex's eyes darted back and forth, trying to take in every detail of the stranger's appearance, but the darkness of the hood obscured their face. He took another step back, his mind racing with questions. "W-who are you?" he stuttered, trying to keep his voice steady.
The stranger slowly pushed back its hood, revealing a messy mop of brown hair and a familiar pair of bright blue eyes. Lex's confusion deepened as he took in the stranger's features, and suddenly, his eyes widened in shock.
"B-Bryan?!"