"Get your smelly canines the fuck away from my beautiful face!"
I yanked my hand back, pain searing through the bite. Blood streamed down my fingers as I pressed my other hand to the torn flesh, trying to stem the flow.
The wolf stood still, its teeth gleaming with my blood, dripping onto its furred chin. It watched me-smug, like it had won something.
Rage boiled up in my chest, and before I was aware, I let out a low growl, like a beast I didn't even know I could do.....now great, I'm turning into a Tarzan!
"You'd better not be carrying any serious germs..." I spat, breath ragged.
I swiftly ripped a strip of fabric from my torn dress, clumsily wrapping the wound. Yesterday's microbiology lesson flashed through my mind- blood, infection, sepsis, death. My heartbeat quickened in terror.
A rustle behind me.
I dropped to my stomach just in time to avoid the second wolf's attack. It flew past me, crashing into the one that had already marked me.
Scrambling on all fours, I clawed at the dirt, every muscles screaming to move faster. My survival up to now was a miracle. But if Papa wasn't coming soon, I knew I was simply not gonna make it out of here alive.
Another wolf crept from my left. With a strangled cry, I ripped a jagged rock from the ground and hurled it. The wolf dodged, swift as a shadow, and sprang at my legs. A sharp, unbearable pain exploded through my calf as its teeth clamped down.
"Go to hell!" I screamed, thrashing wildly. My hand found a hairpin in my wild, tangled mess of hair, and I drove it into the wolf's eye. It recoiled, blood spurting down its muzzle as it backed off, howling in agony.
"I'm so... sorry..." My voice cracked, the apology leaving my lips before I even knew why.
I pulled my legs into my chest, blood pooling beneath me. The pain I felt was nothing compared to the guilt- the shock of what I had done.
But no time to grieve.
Another wolf lunged from behind. Its jaws snapped inches from my throat. I twisted, narrowly escaping the killing blow, but its fangs latched onto my hair instead, yanking me across the forest floor. My scalp screamed in agony as roots and stones scraped against my skin.
"Damn it! That lunatic called Aldo already ruined my scalp. I don't need you to do the same again, you piece of shit!" I shrieked, my hand fumbling for a grip on the wolf.
I grabbed fur, yanked hard, and ripped away a chunk of its coat, leaving a bald patch and broken capillaries. The wolf didn't care. It kept on dragging me like a rag doll. I felt the world spinning as my vision started to blur.
At this point, I knew I was gonna die either from hypovolemic shock or some fatal bite from these wolves.
The pack was closing in. I was done.
But just then.....by some sort of miracle... everything stopped.
The wolf dragging me by my hair suddenly let go, dropping me.
I heard something -a thud, a snarl, followed by the sound of bodies hitting the ground.
Summoning the last bit of strength I had, I forced myself to look up.
A shadow loomed over me.
A massive creature, a wolf, but wrong. It stood on two hind legs, towering, its breath heavy and guttural. It glanced down at me for a split second before tearing into the wolves around me.
Flesh and fur flew in every direction, bodies thudding into the earth as this monstrous thing decimated them.
I lay still, barely breathing, as the blood and terror consumed me.
"Am I in hell already..." I whispered, my vision dimming, the beast still standing over me like a nightmare come to life.
"Get up Abigail....stand up on your own two damn feet and run! Their boss is just coming!!!"
The voice thundered through my mind, the sound impossibly familiar.
I was losing it. The beast wasn't just speaking human language-it even sounded like Papa.....
--------
Luther Blackclaw's POV
"This is my territory, and another pack not only dares to set foot here without my permission?! Worse...they also plan a killing?!!!"
SLAM!
The desk beneath my fists splintered, cracks spider-webbing through the wood. I could see the deep imprints left by my knuckles. Another damn desk destroyed. Third one this week.
My eyes burned red as fury clawed up my spine. Barely a week into my leadership, and I'm already dealing with territory invasion.
The pack's beta, standing before me like a coward, gave me that stupid, bewildered look again. Was he really this dense? The entire pack was weak-weak-minded, weak-bodied. Pathetic. They wouldn't last another month under me.
"Nightfang Pack, you said? Send the warriors! Kick those bastards out. Now! "
Fear flickered in the beta's eyes. But he hesitated. He didn't move.
"Speak!" I barked.
He swallowed, his voice trembling. "Forgive me, Alpha. But...our former leader, your father...he often let these things pass. I doubt the Nightfang wolves mean any harm."
My lip curled in disgust. No harm? These idiots couldn't tell an assassination from a friendly visit.
He continued, "And even if they do...they're...formidable. More than we can handle. Nightfang's warriors are known as killers among the packs."
The insult was thinly veiled, but I caught it. He was saying none of my wolves had the spine to fight for me. They didn't fear me.
They would.
"Seems your pack doesn't even know who its real alpha is," Lyx, the dark wolf inside me, sneered. His voice rumbled in the back of my mind like distant thunder.
"Shut up," I snapped inwardly, but Lyx's laughter only grew. He knew how to get under my skin, and I knew how to play him back. "They doubt you as much as they doubt me. That means your power, your name-it's also nothing to them."
That did the trick. Shadows rippled from my skin, swirling in a violent dance as Lyx's energy surged. My eyes flared crimson, my power crackling through the air like a storm ready to break. The beta froze, fear rolling off him in waves as he finally realized who he was standing in front of.
"Bring me there," I ordered, my voice low, dangerous. "If my pack is too weak to follow, I'll deal with Nightfang myself."