The Lost Lycan King

Chapter 10 - The Run

"Come on, otherwise we will be late" said Lyle, tossing some gloves towards me.
I couldn't help but smile as I laced up my trainers and put the gloves in my pocket. We were going running, it was the third time in the last week that my dad had let us go. I wasn't a natural runner, but I was curvy and so tried to regularly exercise so that I felt comfortable in my own skin. My curves always made me feel self conscious and id overheard several conversations referring to me as "the Alphas fat daughter". Normally, my dad would insist on me using the gym in my apartment building, but running on a treadmill wasn't the same as running outdoors. He had decided to allow me to go running in the park near university, as long as I had a bodyguard running with me and another bodyguard watching from nearby. It all seemed a bit excessive to me, but Lara and Lyle were more than happy to accommodate these requests and I thoroughly enjoyed getting some fresh air. I grinned as we entered the park, Lara was already waiting for us. She had been scouring the park to make sure there wasn't any danger and was pleased to tell us that there was no one else here, so we could go for our run.  My lungs burned as we started jogging, the temperature had dropped considerably in the last few days and the cool air burned the back of my throat. The paths looks sparkly as my feet pounded against the concrete, meaning that it was going to frost overnight. I felt my cheeks turn red as I gasped for air and my legs ached in protest. The first five minutes of a run were always the worst for me, I knew that if I just carried on, my breathing and aching legs would settle down as my body got used to the rhythm of my feet hitting the pavement. Lyle, on the other hand, chattered away as if he was just out for a stroll, barely stopping to catch his breath. I eyed him enviously. I suppose given the amount of cardio training he had to do in order to stay as my bodyguard, a gentle jog around the park was hardly going to make him break a sweat. I hoped that I would get to a stage where a small jog around the park seemed easy. As a wolf, I was faster and stronger than a human, but compared to the other wolves in my pack, I was very weak. Partly, this was due to my dads reluctance to allow me to socialise and spend time outdoors and partly it was due to my own reluctance to exercise. I wasn't naturally athletic, but I wanted to feel better about myself and if I was expected to be wearing a wedding dress in the near future, I wanted to actually feel comfortable in it. I groaned inwardly at the thought. How on earth was I expected to find someone that I felt okay to get naked in front of? I barely felt able to look at my own naked body, let alone let someone else look. I've always felt self conscious, which has probably been made worse by the fact that men openly stare at me due to my position in the pack. Due to this, I've always worn baggy clothes to try and hide the fact that I'm overweight. Nicole says that I need to get over it, as I have great boobs and a bum and men love that. I'm not so sure. I'm pretty sure men want skinny girls, the sort I see on magazine covers.
As we finish our first lap of the park, I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I have the unsettled feeling that someone is watching me. I whip my head round, but there is no one there. I try to shake away the feeling, I'm letting my imagination get away with me. I glance across to Lyle who seems completely unfazed and try to focus on the run, to dispel my thoughts.
The park has a path which runs all the way around the edge in a circle shape, it's just over a kilometre for each lap, tonight we are trying to finish three without stopping. As we near a decorative archway at the halfway point, that unsettled feeling returns and suddenly men are in front of us. It's as though they appear out of thin air and Lyle grabs my arm to get me to turn around and run back the way we came, but there are men there too. As we stand there, more seem to appear about of thin air, until there are around 20 of them. They have us surrounded, meaning that we are trapped underneath the archway. Lyle pushes me behind him so that my back is pressed against the stone wall and he is stood between me and the men. He crouches, ready to shift and a growl erupts from his mouth. They snarl back and I see the unmistakeable outline of their fangs. Vampires. Shit. Lyle notices it at the same time that I do and I feel his body tense. We can't possibly take on this many vampires, especially not with my poor fighting skills. Even if Lara joins us, three werewolves against twenty vampires is a death wish.
Suddenly, one of the vampires lunges forward and Lyle shifts, ripping the figures heard from its body and throwing it at the other vampires. They all start snarling. I am frozen to the spot in fear. More vampires start lunging at Lyle, he snaps back at them, but there are too many. Six sets of arms pin him to the floor and he whimpers in defeat. They hold him there as a man from the back of the group steps forward smirking. He is dressed all in black and has a hood up, obscuring his face. Whilst they don't let go of their hold on Lyle, they all seem to shrink down as he approaches. He must be in charge. He puts a hand on either side of Lyles face and lifts his head up so that they are looking into each others eyes. Lyle let's out a low growl.
"Shut up dog" he says as he swiftly snaps Lyle's neck. I stand their, horror-stricken, the other vampires dropping Lyle so his limp body falls onto the floor. His eyes are vacant, fixed on a spot that no one else can see. I start screaming, I don't think I've ever heard a noise so loud leave my own body. I'm screaming for Lyle, tears running down my face, I'm screaming in terror at what has just happened and at what might happen to me.
"Will someone shut her up?" Snaps the hooded vampire. They start to walk towards me, stepping over Lyle's body as if he isn't even there. I try to press myself further against the wall of the arch, there is no where to go. I can hear my heart hammering wildly in my chest as my brain frantically scrambles for a plan to escape. Do I turn? Will I be able to fight my way through them? Maybe just one or two and then I can slip away? Suddenly a hand slams itself over my mouth and I bite down on it, hard.
"You little bitch" yells a vampire, pulling his hand away and slapping me across the face.
"You ll regret that" another sneers as I'm pinned against the wall by multiple vampires. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a needle and start screaming even louder as it's plunged into my arm. My arm and shoulder immediately feel like they are on fire and I gasp at the agony. Wolfsbane. I couldn't shift now, even if I wanted to. Beads of sweat trickle down my forehead as the burning pain works it's way across my chest. I close my eyes and whimper.
The vampires that were pinning my arms to the walls suddenly let go and start shouting. I slide down the wall until I am slumped on the floor, I'm in too much pain to stand. I open my eyes and see that the vampires now have their backs to me, they are stood in a defensive stance, ready to fight. I wonder if Lara has called for back up. I want to close my eyes and sleep, but my inner wolf is howling at me in turmoil. I don't know if it is the wolfsbane that has upset her. I crane my neck to see what is going on and see flashes of silver fur. Some of the vampires in front of me start disappearing into puffs of black smoke, are they running away? That can only mean that we are winning, how many reinforcements has Lara managed to find?
I can hear the voice of the head vampire shouting now.
"Get back here you cowards! It's just one wolf! We can take him!"
One wolf? What is he talking about?
More and more black puffs of smoke are appearing in the crowd, the vampires are definitely shimmering away. I hear footsteps running towards me and realise the head vampire is coming my way.
"I am not leaving without you!" He screams, he hand reaching for my arm. Suddenly, the biggest wolf I have ever seen, knocks him to the floor, snarling into his face. He must know he is seconds from death, because he suddenly shimmers away too. The remaining vampires follow suit once they realise that their leader had abandoned them. I glance around and see piles of black cloaked figures on the floor. There must be at least 10 and lying amongst them is Lyle. I stifle a sob and cover my hand with my mouth. The silver wolf turns around at the noise and our eyes meet. Mate.