5. CHAPTER 5
“We need to get out of here,” Alyssa whispers, her wide eyes the only proof that she’s afraid of whatever’s coming.
I gently grab her underneath the shoulders and pull her up on her feet. She groans at the effort but seems to be stable. Either way, I can’t risk her collapsing while we’re on the run, so I hoist one of her arms over my shoulder to help her keep her balance.
“Should we try to go after the pack?” I ask, turning us around to get a better view in both directions.
Even with our enhanced strength, it would take too long to dig through the rubble. Besides, I shouldn’t forget that Alyssa is hurt, which means I’d be the only one doing the digging. We’re not even sure that both groups survived the collapse, and the building is too old to trust that another slight change in its foundation won’t make it crash to the ground, burying us in the process.
“We have to go out,” Alyssa says, coming to the same conclusion.
We have no other choice but to face whatever’s out there. If we’re lucky, the danger’s not as close as we believe.
“We have to try,” she tells me, reading my mind.
I nod and tighten my grip on her. As one, we move toward the door. We have to assume that they know where we are because they’ve targeted that specific spot. Maybe we’ve even walked straight into their trap.
She’s too weak to call on the darkness,my wolf observes. You’re going to have to camouflage both of you.
I haven’t fully mastered it yet,I reply, remembering how during one of our training sessions, Blaine managed to find me sooner rather than later despite my best attempts to stay camouflaged.
You have to try, my wolf urges me, and I know he’s right.
“Wait a second,” I say to Alyssa as she reaches for the door. I close my eyes for a moment and invite the thickest parts of the darkness forward. While it helps that the sun’s down, it doesn’t make it much easier, especially considering that I’m camouflaging both of us.
“Good thinking,” she whispers in approval once she realizes what I’m doing.
“I’m not sure how long I’ll last, so we better go fast,” I tell her, already taking a step forward to get us moving.
Alyssa opens the door and I walk us through it. As soon as we’re out, I realize that we haven’t discussed where we’re going. Deciding on the spot, I turn in the direction we came from. Our best chance is to get to the car, and then put some distance between us and the witches.
The last thing I want is to leave the rest of the pack behind, but we’re not even sure they’re alive. Right now, we need to get to safety, so we can call in reinforcements to help them.
Besides, the witches would love nothing more than to get their hands on me. Having the future Grey king in their grasp would be the ultimate triumph for their species. For us, it would be the exact opposite. If they get a chance to look into my head and extract everything I know, the wolves of America are as good as dead. The other continents should consider themselves lucky that I didn’t think them interesting enough to pay much attention during conference calls.
While there’s no sign of anyone around us, something tells me that we’re surrounded. The hair on my arms is up as if sensing an attack, and my back’s aching with discomfort as if holes are being drilled into it.
Alyssa’s doing her best to walk as fast and as quietly as she can, but eventually, her strength begins to wane, forcing her to put more of her weight on me. Not, for the first time, I’m grateful for all the hard training that she and Blaine had me doing, otherwise, we wouldn’t last even ten minutes out here.
Beads of sweat gather on the edges of my hairline as a result of my physical and mental exhaustion. While I haven’t been hurt as badly as Alyssa by the explosion, I’ve been thrown into a wall, which made me crack a rib or two. Since I haven’t mastered Shadow Camouflage yet, it forces me to concentrate more than I’ll have to once it becomes an automatic part of me just like breathing is.
We stay away from the middle of the path and try to walk as close to the buildings as we can. While this tactic might make us a harder target to track, it also makes us easier prey to surround and cut off. We didn’t have much choice and had to make a decision fast. If they find us, we are as good as dead. But, if they don’t know our location, we need to try to keep it that way.
Just a little bit further, my wolf encourages, recognizing the area as the one where we’d left our van. And be careful not to make a sound when the ribs slide back into place.
Readjusting my grip on Alyssa, I pull her closer and offer her even more support when her legs begin to wobble. After the next few steps, I’m having to hold up most of her weight, so it’s a good thing that my ribs are all healed up. Half-dragging her next to me is making too much noise, so I turn toward her and put my other arm under her knees, then hoist her up in my arms. She’s too weak to argue and only leans her head against my chest. Her skin is hot, but if her fever was something natural, her wolf would have healed her by now.
She’s being targeted, my wolf tells me, confirming my suspicions.
They know we’re here, I agree. But why are they taking so long? Tom died on the spot.
Maybe they’ve also split into groups to get to the others, my wolf suggests.
If the coven isn’t as big as it was during their first attack on us, then maybe we stand a chance. I’m running through the possible scenarios in my head, trying to come up with a plan that would keep us alive.
With Alyssa in her current weakened state, facing them head-on would be suicide. Well, even if she was ready to fight, it would still be the two of us against an unknown number of witches. Either way, I turn it, those odds aren’t in our favor.
We can keep going the way we are, but my muscles are getting weary, and my focus is slipping. If the witches can’t see us yet, they will in a matter of minutes. We can’t carry on like this.
We have no other choice, my wolf tells me, following my train of thought. I don’t know about you, but I want to live.
I crack a smile at his ability to still manage to sound light and seemingly unbothered by the predicament we’re in. He doesn’t need me to reply because I confirm his idea when I gently put Alyssa on the ground.
“What are you doing?” she whispers through her feverish haze. “We have to go.”
“We will,” I assure her just as quietly, my lips barely moving, but her wolf catches every word.
Let’s do this, I say to my wolf, beckoning him forward. He’s been waiting for my call and eagerly accepts the invitation.
The only way we can survive this is if we get out of here as fast as possible. Since I can’t carry her in my arms much longer, I’m going to have to put her on my back, hold her up with the tentacles of darkness just like Blaine showed me, and run like hell.
The transformation starts with my hands as my nails turn into claws, then my arms are covered with fur. My head is the last to change, the long muzzle springing forward with the sharp fangs already in. I’m on all fours, my mind focusing on the slippery tendrils of darkness to pull Alyssa onto my back.
The fur on my back sticks up as something unexplainable crashes a wave of discomfort and unease at me. I strain my ears to hear any sound, but there’s absolutely nothing. The eerie silence makes it that much worse because it’s a clear sign that they’re here.
What should we do? my wolf asks, sounding surprisingly calm considering the threat that we’re facing. Should we run?
We can’t leave her, I reply sharply, even though he didn’t exactly say that.
Alyssa suddenly grabs a handful of my fur and pulls me toward her. Our eyes meet and while hers are wide and red, there’s a kind of clarity and understanding in them.
“Kill me,” she whispers, giving me a pleading look.
Unable to speak with her in my wolf form, I shake my head. Even though I’m her superior, she’s still my Alpha, and I won’t be the one to put her down.
“They can’t get to me!” she snaps, using all her strength to talk. “I know too much. You need to kill me.”
She doesn’t know half of the things that we know, my wolf muses, trying to lighten the mood, but to no avail. The impenetrable darkness that fell on us isn’t of our own making, nor can it be manipulated by our species.
What would Saint Gavin do?I ask myself, subconsciously channeling the same question to my wolf. Though we hate his guts, we have to admit that he’s our generation’s strongest wielder of darkness and a remarkable leader. I’d kill to have him by my side right now, not that I’d ever say that to him.
With no time left, I’ve come to a decision. My wolf not only agrees with me, but even sends strength and encouragement my way through the bond that we’ve been neglecting for far too long. I want to tell him how sorry I am, I want to say so many things to him, but I don’t need to. He already knows it. We are one, after all.
To hold her one last time, I turn back into my human form, half-wishing that I would’ve taken off my clothes before I took on my wolf’s form. It’s not that I’m embarrassed in any way of my significant attributes, but now’s not the time, nor the place, for them to be out in the open.
“Do it,” Alyssa says, giving me the final order. Though her voice is weak, her eyes are shining with unwavering determination. Her body fits perfectly into my arms, her fever burning through both of us.
I give her a small nod, then try to suppress any guilt that I might feel, reminding myself that I’m not only honoring her wishes but also protecting the future of our species. Not wanting to waste even more time because I still have to be next, I lift my hands and put them around Alyssa’s neck. It’s futile to try to buy us time, but I can’t bring myself to slice her throat open as a wolf. I can’t bring myself to kill her at all. Maybe if I wait another second, someone will show up to save us from the witches. Before I can tighten my grip and try to convince myself to squeeze the life out of her, my body jerks backward, and I levitate a couple of feet in the air.
They’re here! my wolf exclaims, the panic seeping in. Fight, Garren. Fight!
I try to move my arms and legs, but they don’t budge. Even my head and mouth don’t obey me. My eyes seem to be the only part of my body that I still have control over.
I’m paralyzed, I tell him, unable to keep the tone of horror out of my realization.
A woman’s voice comes from behind me. “Well, well, well. What do we have here?”
“It looks like we’ve caught ourselves a pair of wolves,” another woman’s voice replies.
When they come into my view, I count four of them. The coven must’ve split up the same as we did. It would make sense why their attack wasn’t as strong as before. Poor Tom really took the whole brunt of their power, dying in painful agony.
“Look at this one, sisters,” one of them says, walking up to me. While she’s blatantly checking me out, I can’t return the favor because her face is hooded. All of their faces are hidden from view, carefully concealed behind the hoods of their black cloaks.
“Oh, dear,” the witch that was the first one to speak says. “He really is a delicious catch, isn’t he? Too bad that there’s only one game that we can play with him.”
“In that case, it’s up to us to make sure it’s a memorable one,” the one who’s checking me out replies.
“She’s still alive but weak,” the fourth one says, speaking up for the first time.
“Finish her off,” the witch replies, trailing a long nail down my abdomen. “Nobody cares for a main meal when there’s a dessert on the table.”
“Enough!” the fourth one snaps, establishing herself as the clear leader out of the four of them. “We need to move while they’re down. We don’t know how many of them are around, and we’re vulnerable out in the open while the rest of the coven’s out hunting.”
“I’ll get the car,” one of the witches says as she departs, leaving Alyssa and I with the other three.
If the circumstances were different, this would definitely be the funniest shit we’ve ever done, my wolf says, referencing to the fact that our naked ass is still suspended two feet up in the air with my entire body stiff and paralyzed.
We must do something, I urge him as I desperately need my wolf to come up with a plan, but he’s drawing blanks just like I am.
“I hope Belinda returns with the car before the spell on him wears off,” the one that can’t stop eyeing me says.
“He’s under control,” the leader replies. “Come here and help Delinda put a sleeping spell on her.”
Delinda? Belinda?my wolf muses. And here I thought that we were tacky by starting our names with the same letter as our family names. At least we don’t sound like idiotic Barbies.
I bet they’re blonde, too, I reply, figuring that these mental insults are the only thing I can do right now.
The beam of light announces the approaching car before the sound of its engine. The leader moves away from Delinda and the other witch as they’re putting a spell on Alyssa and moves past me to wave at the car. I’m still uselessly suspended in the air, but maybe I’ll get a chance to do something in the short moment before they move us to the car.
Belinda brings the car to a stop as close as she can, then joins her sisters by Alyssa’s unmoving body. They stand around her in a circle, holding hands, and chanting in Latin.
What are they doing to her?mywolf asks, then growls in anger as Alyssa’s body levitates up into the air.
Still holding hands and joined in a circle, the witches begin moving toward the car with Alyssa’s body in the middle. While it’d be much easier and probably faster for them to drag her there, they must have some weird reasons for doing the transportation their own way.
Unable to make the smallest of sounds, I growl inwardly as loud as I can when they put her in the trunk of the car. My wolf joins me, promising them hell if they ever let us go. Just one mistake on their side, and I’ll tear them apart with my fangs and claws.
When Alyssa’s in the car, they return to me. Even though their faces are hidden behind their dark hoods, I can almost feel the shameless one smiling. If I get a chance, I’ll rip her throat out.
“We should put him to sleep before we move him,” the leader says. “We don’t want him to get control over himself when we put him down.”
“Let’s do it quick,” Belinda says as she looks over her shoulder. “I don’t like it here. Hekate promised us that we won’t meet any wolves here.”
“If she had told us the truth, would you have come?” the leader challenges with a disapproving voice.
Is Hekate the young witch in charge that everyone was mentioning?My wolf wonders, giving words to the same thoughts I had.
“I suppose not,” Belinda admits. “I still don’t like it here. Their pack is somewhere around, while our coven is—”
“That’s enough,” the leader hisses, then points out at me. “He’s awake and clinging on our every word. If their pack is here, they’re listening too. We need to go.”
“You’re right,” Belinda says and bows her head. “I’m sorry, Yalinda. It won’t happen again.”
“Let’s put the sleeping spell on him, so we can move him to the car and get somewhere safe,” the leader, Yalinda, says, then lifts her hands and joins them with her sisters who could either be related to her through blood or simply being members of the same coven.
They start the same chant that they used on Alyssa. While their words seem muffled and far away, they soon grow in volume and clarity. It’s not that they’ve started speaking louder, but they’ve managed to break through my mental defenses and get into my head.
I’m not sure how much time passes, but their screamingly loud chanting inside my mind is deafening and exhausting. It’s not something that would gently lull me to sleep, but it’s more like a hard punch over the head with a blunt object that immediately renders its victim unconscious.
While normally, I’d welcome the darkness that’s coming to claim me with open arms, this one feels strange and wrong. I fight tooth and nail to stay away from it, but nothing works, and everything turns black.