A Pride of Werecats

Chapter 22

Nyarai's POV

Tagz' body lay lifeless and broken at the foot of a tree. Nyarai couldn't help but but reminded of Pan and when he destroyed those people. Looking back on it now they must have not been people, just monsters in a human form. But back then she had felt that pure horror. The very same horror struck her body again. She felt like she couldn't move. Tagz had been so kind to them. 

Now his blood was seeping into the dirt.

And a proud wolf stood in the centre of Nyarai's vision. It's gray fur gleamed in the moonlight. It growled low and deep at the rhino demon. It was defencive and a fierce light shone in its eyes. 

The rhino got up and shook itself off. It looked at the wolf, it wasn't done.

Nyarai watched helpless from the low branch of the tree she had scrambled up. Tagz had said that they were werecreatures, meaning they could shift into an animal. Now would be a good time to shift Nyarai thought first, but she reconsidered. What if the her animal was a fox or something small. She had heard of werefoxes before. A fox would be just as helpless against a rhino as her own body was. 

She looked around at the others. She hoped that they had come to the same conclusion as she had. They mostly were in completely shock.

The wolf and the rhino were in a standoff. The wolf baring its large fangs, the rhino waving it's head around showing off it's many horns. 

The rhino reared up on it's back legs. It slammed down on the ground causing the trees to shake. The power of its body terrified Nyarai, the wolf was brave taking it on. 

Brave the wolf was because it charged at the rhino swerving to dodge the horns and it's teeth went right to its neck. Biting strong and deep. The wolf knew was it was doing, it was as if it had practise in doing this very thing. The rhino flailed around, throwing its head back and forth trying to find purchase with its horns in the wolf's flank. But the wolf was nimble and skillful. It ducked it's body out of the way every time while still keeping it's grip on the rhino's neck. Blood poured and created rivers in the dirt, sweeping away Tagz's blood with ease. Strong currents stood filled the forest floor and the rhino could not escape the wolf's death grip. 

The group watched the life drain out of the rhino and none of them could take their eyes off it or even move. Their hearts were racing but they sat firmly in their places. 

Finally the rhino was limp and dead. The wolf threw it to the side. It licked the blood of it's lips and looked directly at Cale. Cale was still frozen but his eyes widened. 

Then something mesmerizing but horrifying happened, the wolf's body started to change. It's muscles shifted, snapped and reform. It was oddly beautiful, like a Patricia Piccinini sculpture that Nyarai had seen in one of Zodwa's art books. It saddened her a little watching this wolf transform which was not the emotion she should have been feeling.

The wolf transformed into a human girl, wild black hair tumbled down her back. EVen more strangely she was fully clothed, well almost. She was barefoot with dirty feet like she had been running through the forest. She looked up at Cale "Gods Cale where have you been?

The group looked at Cale. 

"You know a werewolf?" Naoko exclaimed.

"I was not aware..." Cale whispered with eyes wide.

"Are you a werewolf?" Nyarai asked, she slid off her branch to approach the girl. Nyarai figured if the girl had fought so hard to protect them she must be harmless. 

The girl's earthen brown eyes slid over to Nyarai's face studying it. She looked slightly confused "yes I am a werewolf. And I'm Cale's mate."

"His mate?" Nyarai thought to herself "what like romantic or friendship."

"I'm a werewolf, do you really think that we'd use the term mate for friendship?"

"I guess it would be a little confusing," Nyarai muttered to herself. Her head was spinning from the events of the last 24 hours she could feel intense pressure but now with this added knowledge, her heart hurt too.  

The other slid down from the trees. The girl ran over to Cale and have him a big hug. Cale looked awkward and still dazed. 

"It took me forever to find you, you just dropped off the map for a week. Not fair!" The girl scolded. 

Alkira stepped in "Wait a week?"

The girl let go of Cale to look at Alkira "Yes what have you been doing with him girls? There wasn't even a trail. I missed the bloody train to Flinders and when I got there a few minutes later you were all gone."

The four all looked at each other.

"So we've been missing for an entire week?" Nyarai asked.

"Yep, you've been all over the mortal news. Only today your scent appeared again," she said so matter of factly, like it was something normal.

"What happened to us?" 

"Excuse me, that's what I'd like to know," she looked back at Cale "well he looks good so you mustn't have been too horrible."

Nyarai looked at Naoko "So Pan kept us away for a whole week?

Naoko looked at the food contain that was laying on the ground "But my food didn't go off..." 

The girl stepped over to them "Pan, is that why you all smell like weres. He gave you powers. that's strange."

Nyarai looked at her hopeful "Do you know what kind?"

The girl shrugged "No," Nyarai's heart sank "but my alpha might! I can take you to him."

The four all looked at each other. What had they to lose?

Nyarai wanted to go back home but before that she wanted to know if she would be a danger to her family. Looking at Tagz and seeing what Pan had done not even in a dangerous forest told her clearly that she had stepped into a world of danger. 

Alkira pulled out her blanket and wrapped Tagz's body up. 

"I don't even know where to take this," Alkira's voice was withheld though she had her face turned away from the others. 

"Once we get to the pack we can find that out," the girl explained. 

They all nodded and started to follow her. 

A new guide, Nyarai thought and hoped she wouldn't end up like the last one. She cried silence tears for him as the continued the single file walk through the forest, and she wasn't the only one.

Meow Myths,

I know this is complete un story related but it's headed for summer here in Australia and I went to the beach recently. Got quite sunburnt on my shoulders but also on my finger tips??? My fingertips are peeling right now and it just makes everything feel dirty. It's like the most uncomfortable thing ever because I can't stand dirty hands. So yeah it was interesting to write like this.

Anyway, hope you liked the chapter. It was a little shorter but hey it had a fight scene so that's fun. 

First published 22/11/2018

Meow for now