Chapter Fourteen
Lucas
We returned to my home, deciding to spend the night there and rest. We needed it more than we knew it. But I had barely finished locking the door behind us when I heard it.
It was an unmistakable sound. Claws scraping against stone.
It was faint at first.
“Wolves?” Annika asked. She had heard it, too.
I wanted to nod, but something prevented me from doing so. It was progressively growing louder. My senses sharpened immediately. I was on edge, every muscle tense, prepared.
She understood my reply without me saying a single thing. Most people, even rebels like us, would be on edge, ready to spring into action at the first sign of danger. But Annika, she didn’t look worried. She looked... calm. Too calm.
I moved toward the door, keeping my movements deliberate and slow. The wolves were still out there, scratching, testing the lock. The sound of claws scraping against wood was almost maddening, a rhythm that was starting to drill into my brain. I could feel the weight of their hunger, their impatience, even from behind the door. They were getting closer.
“Annika,” I said again, more firmly this time. “I need you to stay here. I’ll handle this. Just—stay back.”
I turned my back on her and walked to the window, peeking through the small crack between the wooden shutters. I could make out movement just beyond the tree line. The shadows were too thick for me to get a clear picture, but I knew what was out there. I could feel the pack closing in. It was too quiet, too still.
She didn’t say anything, but I could feel her eyes on me, watching. Even though she didn’t show it, I knew she had picked up on the danger too. She was always perceptive, even when she tried to hide it.
I went to the door, listening closely to the sounds outside. Another growl, this time louder, closer. I knew they were preparing to break through. They always did. Usually, they couldn’t. I had no idea what was different this time.
I turned back to Annika, my mind racing.
“We need to be ready,” I told her, my voice low, though I could feel my heart speeding up. There was something more to this, something beyond just the wolves. Something in the air. “I don’t—don’t think they’re just going to leave us alone this time.”
Her gaze softened, like she understood what I meant, even if she didn’t say it out loud. There was something there, hidden in her expression. Something fierce, and it unnerved me. I wasn’t sure if I liked the idea of her being involved in this fight, but I knew better than to question her now. She was stronger than she looked, and there was no going back from here.
The wolves started howling, a sharp, eerie sound that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. That was the signal. They were getting ready.
I looked over at her again, and this time, I saw it clearly in her eyes. She wasn’t scared. But then again, she wasn’t na?ve. She knew the stakes. She wasn’t going to let me handle this alone.
“Stay close,” I told her, my voice low and urgent, but my gaze softening. “Follow my lead.”
She nodded. But there was no fear in her eyes, only determination. And maybe, just a little bit of something else. Something I couldn’t quite place. Something that made me completely mad about her. Losing her was not an option.
The door rattled, and I heard the claws scraping against the wood again. They were getting impatient, testing our defenses. I didn’t need to look out the window to know that they were already circling, waiting for the right moment to strike. They wanted us to think they were just ordinary wolves, but I knew better.
I turned my back to her, moving swiftly toward the door. I checked the lock again, even though I knew it wouldn’t hold for long. It wasn’t meant to. This wasn’t about stopping them; it was about buying time. I wanted to give her a chance to get out of here, even if I didn’t want to admit it.
I glanced over my shoulder. “Stay low, Annika. Don’t let them see you.”
But she didn’t even flinch. She just nodded, her gaze never leaving mine, as if she were trying to read me, trying to figure out what I was going to do next. The wolves were getting louder, their scratching now punctuated by growls. They were ready.
I gritted my teeth, my hand tightening around the hilt of my knife. It wasn’t enough. They wouldn’t back off for something as simple as a blade. I needed to be faster, smarter. I needed to use every advantage I had.
Suddenly, the door splintered, the force of the wolves’ attack sending shards of wood flying into the room. The first one came through. I could see this massive, hulking figure, all teeth and fur, his eyes glowing in the dim light. He lunged, and I was already moving, my body reacting before my mind even had a chance to catch up.
I ducked low, letting the wolf’s claws swipe above my head, then countered with a vicious thrust of my knife, aiming for the heart. The wolf howled in pain as the blade sank deep, but it wasn’t enough. They never went down that easy.
I barely had time to react before another one lunged at me, claws slashing. I twisted, feeling the air rush past my face as the second wolf missed by inches. But now there were three of them, and I couldn’t fight them all off by myself. Not without help.
“Annika!” I shouted, even though I didn’t want to pull her into this. “Get to the back door! Get out of here!”
I didn’t know if she heard me, or if she was already making her move. But I couldn’t worry about that now. There was a wolf barreling toward me, teeth bared, its growl shaking the air around us.
I sidestepped just in time, the wolf’s claws missing by a hair. I shoved it back, pushing it into the others as they tried to swarm me. My body was already moving on instinct, faster than I had expected, but I could feel my energy waning. I couldn’t keep this up forever. They were too many, too strong.
I managed to slam the door shut again, the wolves on the other side snarling and clawing, but the door wouldn’t hold. It was only a matter of time before they broke through again.
I had one chance.
“Annika!” I yelled again, turning toward the other side of the room where she had been standing. But she wasn’t there. Panic flared in my chest.
I spun, my heart pounding in my ears. Had she gone to the back door? Or—?
A growl sounded behind me, and I whirled, but it wasn’t a wolf. It was Annika. She was standing in the doorway, holding a long piece of wood, a makeshift weapon, her eyes burning with determination.
She didn’t wait for me to stop her. She charged into the fray, swinging the wood with everything she had. A wolf lunged at her, and I was there in an instant, pulling her out of the way just as its jaws snapped shut where her neck had been.
“What the hell are you doing?!” I shouted, more angry than I should have been, but the fear in my chest was getting the best of me. “I told you to stay back!”
But she didn’t seem to hear me. She was already moving, swinging the piece of wood again, knocking a wolf back, giving me a split second to drive my knife into another’s side.
We were fighting together. And it was working. But only just.
“We need to get out of here!” I shouted. “We can’t take them all on!”
But she just met my eyes, and I saw something in her that I hadn’t seen before. It wasn’t fear. It wasn’t hesitation. It was pure resolve. We were in this together, and she wasn’t going to back down. She was proving herself worthy of my admiration every single time we were in deep shit.
Then, it happened.
A wolf was on her.
I saw it happen in slow motion. The beast’s jaws snapping, its claws extended as it lunged at Annika. She wasn’t quick enough this time, her eyes wide as she froze. The beast’s massive form was closing in on her. I could feel my heart stop beating.
“No!” I roared, rushing toward her.
I was faster than the wolf, but not by much. My body felt like lead, every muscle straining, every inch of my being screaming at me to get there in time. Her breath caught in her throat, and I could see the fear in her eyes. She didn’t expect this. I didn’t expect this.
The wolf was inches from her throat, its teeth bared. I reached out, my hand grabbing her arm. I yanked her back with a force that could’ve torn her shoulder from its socket. Her body slammed into mine, and I barely managed to keep my feet under me as I fell back with her. The wolf’s jaws snapped just inches from her, the hot breath of the animal curling against the side of her face.
I didn’t think. I didn’t need to.
I had only one instinct—protect her.
With a roar, I whipped my knife out and lunged. The blade sank deep into the wolf’s neck. It howled in a sound so high-pitched and filled with fury that it sent a shiver down my spine. I yanked the blade out, again and again, until it finally dropped to the floor, limp and still.
My chest heaved as I watched the wolf's body crumple to the ground. But I couldn’t afford to feel relief—not yet.
I turned to Annika, my hand grabbing her face, tilting it so I could see her eyes. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”
She was shaking, her chest rising and falling in quick, shallow breaths. Her skin was pale, her lips trembling, and I could see how close she’d come to being torn apart. The panic in her eyes mirrored the terror I felt just moments before.
“I—I'm fine,” she gasped, her voice barely a whisper, though I knew she wasn’t fine. She wasn’t fine at all.
I helped her to her feet, keeping one arm around her waist, feeling her body still trembling against mine. “You should’ve stayed back,” I muttered under my breath, the words coming out more harshly than I intended.
She looked up at me, her eyes intense. “You told me to trust you,” she said softly, the words cutting straight through me. “And I do.”
The world felt like it was closing in, the weight of her words pressing down on me. It made the wolves’ growls and the adrenaline still rushing through my veins feel distant. I was angry, terrified, and something else too—something that I couldn’t shake, no matter how hard I tried. She had risked her life, and somehow, in that moment, I realized just how much that terrified me. Just how much I couldn’t let anything happen to her.
But there was no time for that now. At least, that was what I thought.
Then, I realized that the scratching had gone. All I could hear was silence and our heavy breathing. The shifters were… gone.
I looked at Annika. She also knew there was no time to explain.
“Let’s head back to the headquarters,” I urged.
She nodded, grabbing a few things, and a minute later, we were heading toward the headquarters, cloaked in the safety of shadows.