Give Us A Try

6

The green and gray color of my town flew past me as sweat beaded from my palms and arms. Freaking out I parked just outside our pack entrance with a subtle sign welcoming people to the Selcouth village. "C'mon pick up!" I groaned at my phone as I dialed my dad for the fifth time.

My frustration only grew when a line of cars blocked the street that went to my pack. "What the fuck?" The cars were stopped as if time had paused, and some of the doors were left ajar. Cautiously, I opened my car door and stepped out. My heel hit the concrete, seeming to echo off the buildings and trees. 

With shaking hands, I searched through my phone to who to call. As I walked down the street, goosebumps terrorized my skin with each eerie silence I endured. Other than the occasional breaking of glass as I stepped on some. The glass, most likely from some of the bashed-in windows. Walking over to the Suburu closest to me, I peeked in. Then immediately backed away. 

Blood. 

There was blood all over the front seat, some on the shattered glass.  And... scratch marks?

I went to call Dean when a low rumble sounded from behind me. I whipped my head around and searched for the noise, but nothing was there. My heartbeat became faster as the rumble turned into a very sure growl of a wolf. When it finally hopped out I calmed a bit. The wolf was big, more significant than any regular wolf. Its black fur was slightly matted and its eyes were no doubt human. "You scared me." I huffed, clutching my pants to stop the sweat in my palms. 

I laughed a bit but stopped when the wolf held its ground, looking at me like prey. "What... happened here?" I swallowed the lump in my throat and felt the need to distance myself slightly. It's just a wolf Chloe. 

I couldn't help the flashbacks that came when I was nine. Running through the woods I now stood in, I could smell the scene. Hear the snarls of wolves that were luckily not the ones that found me first. 

When I noticed the scars and the smell that wafted off the lycan I put the two together. Rouges. That's why I came back. Maybe a person thinking properly would've gotten back into the car or done something smart, but I ran. I was a faster runner than most people at school, always trying to keep up with my lycan family. I sprinted down screaming for help. "Rouges!" I shouted. But it was no use when another one from behind a bush flew out, claws raised,  nearly ripping into me. I knew I couldn't get out. Homes wouldn't be close to here, I was still new on the highway. Only a few shops and abandoned brick construction were here.  

"Help!" I tried screaming helplessly one last time. But I knew. I knew when the original moved its paws on the gravel floor and towards me. I could smell the suffocating smell of caked-on blood, raw meat, and fur of a creature that was meant to kill. And by the shivers running down my back, I knew that there were more behind me.

And as if this scene on its own were not enough, my breathing faltered as I felt my throat dry up and the need for my inhaler became more and more vital. Even water would suffice for now but it felt like I couldn't get any air to my lungs. As if a brick blocked all my airways, in a slow painful chokehold. "Please just make it quick," I begged, knowing that this rogue understood me. A full rogue would've toppled me already tearing me to the bone, and grinding its teeth on those as dessert. I closed my eyes as the wolf's face was close to mine. This one was at least human. 

Or maybe that wasn't a blessing. 

Just let it be quick. Hopefully, my death would take long enough so that the people of the pack- my family included- could escape. Get to safety. The thought of fragile Alia, or Dean who could only run so fast. Or goddess forbids tiny and helpless Zayn. Any of them, in the face of this monster. A monster that contradicted every lycan depiction I had seen.