Give Her A Second Chance

Chapter 2

      After some struggle climbing the stairs, I finally got him to our room. Rowena and Seraphina were there waiting with First Aid supplies. Together we treated Percival, while we waited for Selina's return.

     Percival had fallen unconscious halfway through his treatment. It's not the first time we've had to treat his wounds, and sadly it probably won't be the last time. But an hour goes by, then two hours, and there was still no sign of our big sister. Twenty more minutes go by before we finally heard movement downstairs. I snuck close to the door to try to make out what was said. 

  "Stupid. . .fool out of. . .think twice. . .teach that bitch. . ." I could only make out a few words, but I knew that Selina was in trouble.

    I looked at my younger sisters and unconscious brother. I didn't want to leave them unguarded, but i needed to find Selina. If Father's words were anything to go by, what little i could make out, she was seriously hurt.

    I quickly reassured Rowena and Seraphina that would be right back with Selina. After I reminded them to keep quiet, I snuck downstairs and out the door.

   I followed Selina's warm sweet scent that was tainted heavily with blood. I may not have a wolf yet, but I still have a strong sense of smell. I followed the scent to the edge of the forest.

   At first i didn't see anything, then movement caught my eyes to the left of me. Standing 30 feet away from me was a large silver grey, black rooted wolf. Like Alpha large. It's piercing silver eyes were staring straight at me. A shiver of fear ran down my spine, because i didn't recognize this wolf.

  But something seemed off about the wolf. It didn't smell like a Feral, which was like a sick, rotting smell. Nor did it seem really aware of me. Like, it was looking at me but not really. I wanted to run, but something kept me from moving.

    Suddenly, I saw the awareness creep back into its eyes. And when its eyes locked with mine, I swear I thought I was going to die. But it just whimpered, and limped towards me. It was then I noticed the red stain on its belly, and the warm sweet scent of my sister hit my nose.

     "It can't be," I whispered. "Lina?"

     The wolf whimpered again and nodded. I couldn't believe it. What did Father do to her for her to force the shift? She moved slowly to my side. You can tell that she was in a lot of pain. I cautiously reached out to pet her. Just as I was about to touch her, she stiffened causing me to freeze.

    I was about to ask her what was wrong, like she would have been able to answer me, when a siren suddenly blared in the distance.

    Ferals!

     Suddenly, the sound of growls erupted from the dark forest. Selina turned and stood protectively in front of me as two Ferals emerged from the trees. Fear rushed through my veins at the sight of two Ferals growling at me and my sister. The two wolves were dirty looking. Their fur looked like it hadn't been cleaned for months. It was matted with grime and dirt. As they got closer, their rotting smell hit my nose making me immediately gag. Their eyes vacant of any human intelligence. They were just filled with raw malice and hunger.

   Selina let out a warning growl. She backed up. Her butt pushing me back as well. I knew she wanted me to run, but I just couldn't seem to make my feet work. I was just staring at what seemed to be our death walking toward us. Neither one of us could mind-link, so I knew that no one was going to come rescue us. Not that they would if they knew. No one in this pack likes us.

    The two Ferals growled back. It happened so fast that I didn't have time to process it. The next thing I knew I was on the ground. I looked up to find Selina engaged in a fight to the death with the two Ferals. I guess one launched itself at us and Selina had knocked me to the ground. I was on the ground watching in horror as the three wolves bite, claw, and mauled each other.

   Selina managed to toss one of the wolves away, while the other latched on to one of her back legs. Selina let out a pained growl. She turned and snapped her jaw at the neck of the wolf biting her leg. I watched as her fangs ripped into the back of its neck. The wolf let go with a pained howl, but my sister just clamped down harder refusing to let go. She shook her head vigorously, shaking the wolf like a rag doll. She continued to shake until we both heard a snap. The wolf in her mouth went limp. 

   Selina spat out the wolf with disgust. She was panting heavily. Her body was riddled with claw and bit marks. Blood was pouring from the wounds. I saw that she was slightly swaying on her feet, but still she stood between me and the last Feral.

   The Feral took a look at I guess you can it its friend and just turned tail and ran. Only when we knew that it was gone did my sister finally relax. Her body just collapsed in front of me. I panicked because I didn't know what to do. She was too big in wolf form to carry back. Not only that no one would recognize her wolf and she would be killed on the spot.

    As if reading my mind, sounds of bones cracking emanated from my sister. Ten minutes later, she was fully shifted and naked on the ground. She had cuts from the fight that healed into faint scars. But the most prominent wound was on her midsection. They were claw marks that started from just under her right breast across to just above her left hip. 

     I quickly went over to check on her. She was unconscious, but otherwise she was fine. I breathed a sigh of relief. I left her briefly to find her something to put on. Because werewolves are constantly shredding their clothes through shifting, I knew I would find some clothing in one of the many hallowed out trees. As I was putting a shirt on her over her head, I noticed a mark behind her right ear. 

     It was in the shape of a crescent moon with a single blossoming Moonflower wrapped around it. It looked very familiar. Where have I seen that before, I wondered. I gasped when it came to me. It was the symbol of a Marked Wolf. 

   "Is Lina, ok?" A soft voice came from my side.

    I snapped out of my trip down memory lane. I looked down at my younger sister, Rowena. She was staring at me with wide chocolate eyes that were filled with worry. Her full lips were pulled down in a frown. I pulled her up into a hug. I could tell she really needed one. We don't get a lot of hugs.

   "She's fine," I reassured her. "You know how strong our big sister is."

  Tears started to well up in her eyes. "It's my fault Lina was hurt again. I tried to stop him, but I couldn't do it."

    "You did nothing wrong. And I'll be damned if I allow you to think that way."

   We both looked up to see Selina storming out of the bathroom, looking gorgeous warrior. Her dark curls wild and untamed. Her chocolate eyes burned with fury. She looked ready to fight. This was our sister. 

    Our protector.