Notorious

Chapter 9 - Were Worries

Chapter 9 - Were Worries

Notorious looked over at Jason, wondering what he was thinking.  Was he scared, worried, excited? 

Notorious feared for him, she knew it wasn't easy meeting the pack; it was a scary, whole other world.
The were-wolfs excluded themselves from the rest of society, and just thinking about them made her heart pound. Notorious pursed her lips to stop herself from sighing.
This really isn't how i wanted to spend my day.
She looked up to see Jason staring at the branches that Mathew had just descended into, and then he looked at Notorious.
Notorious saw Jason's eyebrows twitch with worry, and realised she must look troubled herself.
She closed her eyes for a moment and composed herself, and then looked back to Jason. She took his hand and squeezed it to reassure him.
Notorious would never admit it, but at times like this she also needed comforting and reassuring. She was very good at hiding it, but she was fragile. If she got too upset, too angry, too scared or even too happy, the monster inside of her would begin to surface.
Notorious remembered the first time the monster came out. She was 12 and she remembered crying while her skin turned a pale blue and she watched her fingers grow into clawed talons. The pain as her teeth sharpened and grew. She remembered having menacing black eyes for days before she learned to control it.
Notorious also remembered sobbing in Laylans arms for hours while he hummed a made up tune to calm her. Laylan wasn't scared when she changed, like Notorious had expected, he just comforted her, saying nothing, until she became calm enough to reason with.
Notorious wondered if calming was one of Laylans other gifts. Ether way, Notorious was eternally grateful.
Notorious dropped Jason's hand and walked through the veil of vines, branches and leaves, keeping her attention sharp, because were-wolfs were deadly quiet when they wanted to be.

Notorious closed her eyes as she walked through the shrubbery, and then opened her eyes when she no longer felt the scratching of branches on her face and neck. 
She pulled a twig from her hair, and saw a whole colony of people and wolfs.
There were women dressed in poorly, hand-made dresses feeding their children, some of who were wearing stitched together underwear, or not wearing anything at all.
Notorious didn't spot many males, but she knew that the majority of the wolves roaming about the den would be men.
While Notorious was dating Mathew, she had learned a lot about the were-wolves.
The males tended to go out and hunt, while half of the women protected the den. The other half of the women would mother the pups. They didn't care whether the child was theirs or not, they would love them and care for them all the same.
Notorious loved that part about the were-wolfs.
Jason walked through into the opening just seconds after Notorious, and let out a barely audible gasp. His wide eyes scanned their surroundings.
"Holy crap..." He whispered.
At that moment, all of the were-wolves, shifted and in human form, turned to face them.
Notorious recognised some of the mother and protector women, but she never had a chance to meet most of the male were-wolves, so she didn't recognise any of them.
The shifted wolfs lifted their noses into the air, taking in Notorious' and Jason's scent.
Notorious knew they would quickly label Jason as Fae, they all smelled distinctly of apples and pine trees.
Notorious on the other hand, would come up as a blank for them. She had already had some wolfs try to pinpoint what she was by scent, but it didn't work.
Notorious drew in a breath as two of the male wolfs, one a sandy colour and the other grey, growled at her and Jason.
Notorious took a step back and bumped into something behind her.
She whirled around, holding her knife out defensively, and was now face to face with a scarred, grey haired, old, but no less menacing, man, who was at least 6 and a half foot tall.
Notorious recognised him as Mathews grandfather. Although Mathew led the pack, it was his grandfather everyone feared, because Mathew feared him too.
He was the oldest in the pack, so he was referred to as 'Elder'. If Mathew was the king, Elder would be the government.
When Notorious dated Mathew, Elder made it known that he didn't approve of her, he hated all other species, and not knowing what Notorious made him loath her very existence.
"You." He growled.
Notorious stared up at him, unable to speak for fear of whimpering instead.
She wasn't scared of many people, but she had seen what Elder was capable of.
He hit first and didn't even ask questions later. He didn't care for fair fights or justice, the only reason he hadn't attacked Notorious in the past was because she was going to marry his grandson, but nothing was stopping him now...
"We were just leaving..." Notorious said, backing away.
"Yeah, right after we tell Mathew to keep his pack on a shorter leash." Jason said, coming to stand in front of Notorious, knife readied.
Notorious drew in a breath and her stomach twisted.
Elder bared his teeth. In a matter of seconds, Elders eyes turned bright yellow and his hand, which was raised above his head, ready to strike, had grown into a paw with long, deadly sharp claws.
Notorious screamed as Elder swung his hand down at Jason's face. Notorious squeezed her eyes shut, tears running down her cheeks. She heard a cry of pain and her eyes flashed open.
Notorious saw blood splattered across the ground and across the surrounding trees.
And then she saw it. A dismembered hand, lying in the grass. Notorious looked at Jason, her eyes wide with fear.
He was crouched on the floor, poised, with his knife, which was slick with dark blood, in his hand, looking just as sharp as Jason's eyes.
Notorious let out a breath that she didn't realise she was holding, and helped Jason up.
Elder stared at his hand, or lack of hand, and then returned his gaze to Jason and Notorious, fury burning in his eyes.
He let out a scream that sounded more like a howl, and growls and barks came from everyone surrounding them.
Notorious saw the mothers take the pups into the small wooden and clay huts.
Notorious took Jason's hand as the wolves closed in around them. She closed her eyes and let her magic flow. She didn't calm it; Notorious just let it crackle wildly.
Jason obviously got the hint, grabbed Notorious' hand and let his magic flow too.
Their magic connected and Notorious could only liken it to fireworks. She stared at Jason wide eyed.
"Jason..." She whispered, shocked at the strong connection. She opened her mouth to say more, but then the wolfs descended...
Notorious quickly picked her brain for any ideas of what to do, but her head was still a mess, she couldn't think in her panicked state. 
A wolf jumped at them, and Notorious kicked it in the ribs. The crunch of bones as her foot connected with the wolf echoed through the trees.
Another wolf jumped and Jason spun Notorious out of the way, and pulled her gun out of the waistband of her trousers. In the same fluid movement, he shot the wolves hind leg, sending it whimpering and limping away.
That gave Notorious time to think of a plan.
Notorious pulled Jason over to the nearest tree, and without her saying anything, Jason ducked to the floor.
She put her hand on the tree and squeezed her eyes shut, concentrating hard.
A scream escaped her lips as she tried to control two lots of untamed magic.
Just as Notorious was about to give up, the tree exploded into thousands of tiny shards of wood, splintering the wolves around them. 
Notorious felt lots of stinging cuts on her face, neck and arms, but she pushed the pain to the back of her mind, trying to forget about it.
Jason stood up and glanced worriedly at Notorious cut face. She shook her head vigorously, silently telling him not to worry and that it was nothing. 
She looked at the whimpering were-wolfs, most of which were shaking their heads or pawing their faces and eyes, but some of them didn't look hurt at all, and were slowly coming towards them again, growling and snarling, wanting vengeance for their maimed brothers and sisters.
Jason let go of Notorious' hand and crouched on the floor, his head down and palms flat on the ground.
Notorious felt her magic drain from her and into Jason. She started to feel weak, but didn't stop him from taking more. 
There was a rumbling from the ground below, and then a massive cloud of dust burst up from the floor, so thick that it was hard to breath.
Notorious couldn't see anything in front of her; she couldn't clear the air around her, because Jason was still controlling her magic. She was getting weaker by the moment...
The dust started to clear around Notorious' body, and then around Jason's. He took her hand again and started to lead her through the forest.
If her surroundings were getting lighter, Notorious didn't notice. She started to see black spots that got larger and larger, until she could no longer see. Notorious felt consciousness slipping away from her.
"Notorious!" Jason shouted.
Notorious collapsed, but didn't feel the hard floor like she expected, but instead was cradled by Jason's strong arms.
She felt him bush hair from her face.
"Notorious, no, don't do this, stay with me. Notorious!" Jason raised his voice as he said her name, but it was too late.
Darkness.