Choleric

Chapter XVIII

"Alpha lookout!" Celia felt every stone, root and stick digging into her soft flesh as she rolled onto her back. Her head throbbed, but the pain quickly passed as she came face to face with two large, crazed eyes and a thick snout.

The wolf growled lowly as its paws dug into the dirt either side of Celia, trapping her underneath him. His black coat was patchy and matted, his form thin and underfed. He looked as if he was on the brink of death – like all bad souls did.

Lifeless eyes bore into her soul as Celia gripped his throat and tried to keep his snapping jaws away from her. One bite was all she needed for it to be over. Sexual intercouse with someone who wasn't their mate wasn't the only way to create bad souls. A simple bite from a wolf already infected would do the trick just as easy.

Aria whimpered as she watched the scene, pressing her body into the tree as far as it would go while Celia thrashed around in a desperate attempt to stay alive. Her Alpha strength was shining through, though it did little to help the thin, untrained girl. The bad soul was slowly wearing her out, his large body had her hopelessly trapped underneath him with no way out. All she could do was keep the large teeth from tearing at her flesh.

His breath was putrid and if she weren't fearing for her life, she would have gagged every time he breathed out. It smelt rotten and wrong, like something had died in there. Something probably had.

She squealed as his mouth came closer. Time seemed to pass slowly and with every minute, Celia could feel her strength diminishing until his cracked, dry nose nearly made contact with her own. Her arms wobbled under the strain – never had they performed such a demanding task. A small part of her felt like giving up, she knew the only way she would survive was if she could overthrow the bad soul that snarled above her. A task she wasn't stupid enough to believe a possibility.

Hope was diminishing with the power in her arms when the death-like wolf was torn from her body. Scrambling to her feet, Celia wasted no time in getting out of the way. Her mate, still in human form, straddled the hideous beast, muscular arms bulging from use wrapped around its neck. Celia watched, her eyes frantically drinking everything in as she tried to force her heart rate down. Cassius' movements were swift and quick. His arms jerked up, twisting the large wolf's head with a sickening snap before dropping it altogether and standing up.

His eyes blazed as he stalked towards her with a purposeful stride. Although anger seemed wash off him in furious waves, Celia found she wasn't scared as his calloused hand gripped her waist. He said nothing as his fingers softly danced across her skin, looking out for any sign of pain. Fear of dying slowly drained away as it was replaced with nervousness. His touch set fire to her skin, igniting something in her stomach and warming her all over.

His hands slowly travelled up and into her hair. She flinched as they glided across the left side of her scalp. He jerked back, disentangling his fingers from her frizzy mane. When they finally came into view, she saw the tips stained red. Cassius drew in a deep breath, his muscles rippling under the shirt as his gaze left his fingers and landed on the lifeless wolf off to the side.

"Cassius?" Celia asked when his eyes darkened a few shades. Turning away from her he walked back towards the body that lay in the thick, overgrown grass. His movements were lethally fluid as he calmly approached the wolf. His growl seemed to shake the earth and Celia jumped back in surprise, barely holding in a scream as his foot mercilessly collided with the wolf's back.

"Cassius!" She screamed at him as he knelt down, his anger had completely consumed him as he grunted. His arms bulged as they gripped onto the body in a blind rage and tore it in two. The head came off with a rip that brought bile to Celia's throat. Aria whimpered as she scuttled away and crouched into the undergrowth; his anger too much for her to handle.

He held the head with one hand, clutching it with so much strength Celia was surprised it didn't shatter in his grip as his body drew up into a stance. With an angry grunt, his arm wound back before shooting forward and releasing the head with a mighty throw, sending it spiralling away from them. If it had been anything else, Celia would have admired the sheer power put behind the toss. Instead she felt sick to the stomach as he paced between her and the carcass, trying to calm himself down.

"We have to get to the cars. It's a slaughter house back there," he stated finally, walking into a different direction the girls were heading. "Come!" He ordered when the two girls hadn't moved a muscle. The bush came to life at the order, shuffling and shifting until Celia saw a group of wolves run to catch up to him. Looking back to find Aria slowly creeping forward, Celia encouraged her before racing off to catch up with the small crowd of twelve that must have been following him when he saved her.

Looking around, all the werewolves in both wolf and human form looked to be in their late teens and early twenties – like a vast majority of the people at the gathering. They followed her mate closely, walking behind him in a tight bundle. It made sense, Celia thought. It was an Alpha's instinct to protect the weaker ones, especially next generation wolves so it was understandable that Cassius would have a bunch of scared teens begging for protection at his heels. It just surprised Celia that she hadn't noticed nor smelt them until they emerged like magic from the trees.

Darkness quickly flanked them, turning this nightmare into something even more scary. Every sound had Celia jumping in fear. Her visions range had decreased considerably, leaving her feeling vulnerable and blind. Cassius trudged on like nothing scared him which helped to calm her nerves. It felt as if they had been walking forever, she was surprised Cassius even knew where he was going.

"Sshhh!" Silence fell upon them like a suffocating blanket as Cassius held his fingers to his lips. No one moved a muscle as they stayed frozen in place. In the far distance the soft rustling of bushes could be heard. The noise too constant for it to be wind and too loud for it to be a small night creature. Celia felt her muscles turn to stone and they waited in anticipation. The noise stopped with a suddenness that sped up her heart.

She didn't know how long they stood there frozen in silence, but it felt like an eternity before the soft wind blew another werewolf's scent towards her. The soft smell filled her nostrils as Alpha Cassius relaxed and moved forward. "Alpha Lennon," he called into the darkness. Silent cracked like glass as another, smaller group came into view. With Alpha Lennon stood eight other young wolves whose eyes scanned the darkness nervously, taking in the new company.

"Celia," Alpha Lennon said in surprise as he took in the large group. "Where's Eve?"

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Okay I am off to Hawaii in, like 3 hours so here is a VERY early (and small sorry!) update because I will be honest and say the chances of me updating within the next two weeks a extremely small. So consider this an early christmas present lol (I will update before christmas it's okay).

Anyway.... cya later guys! I'd really really like this story to hit 1M and I'm not sure when that's going to happen but I'm super excited for it to happen. :)

PLEASE COMMENT AND VOTE :) Have a nice two weeks I love you all xxx