The Beasts Curse

Fourteen

Fourteen

I ripped open the door. The scream still echoing inside my mind. It had not just been a scream of fear, but one of pain, and female.

My mind slowed as it processed that bit of information. Knight hadn't gotten hurt. It was a girl. My heart clenched as I rushed onto the wraparound porch. What if it was Alex?

Despite only having just met the girl, I felt closer to her than I had with no one else. I already consider us close friends, and the thought of possibly losing the only person, besides Knight, that I felt the most comfortable talking to, was unimaginable.

As I made my way to the stairs I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Something was wrong. And it wasn't just the silence left behind from the bloodcurdling scream.

That's when I heard it. It was distant, almost indiscernible, but there. My breathing came faster as the sound of fighting made its way to my ears. I looked into the darkness, trying to find where it could be coming from. I ran off of the porch not sure where to go. I started to make my way towards the driveway, but a loud crash and the ground shaking made me turn to the woods.

I could see shadows moving between trees. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I shouldn't be able to see anything in the impenetrable darkness. There was nothing to give off light. Nothing that could help me see into the woods to see the shadows.

And yet I could.

Before I could begin to think of keeping myself safe, I started running towards the shadows within the trees. There was no thought of myself, only that of Knight and making sure he was safe. And Alex.

For though I had not seen who had screamed, I had a dark feeling that it was her who had been hurt. It was her who was lying somewhere in a pool of blood. Helpless. Open to an even worse attack than the one that had made her scream.

As I came closer to the trees, I could hear the vicious growling of multiple wolves. I backed myself behind a tree, hiding myself from any straying eyes. I knew this was reckless, that I could get myself hurt, or worse. But, the blood pumping through my veins, and the effects of adrenaline making its way through my body urged me to fight. To protect what was mine.

As carefully as I could I bent and looked around the tree. Searching the ground for fallen bodies, I spotted several human shapes. I didn't know where to start. From what I could see, none of them looked female. And there were no animals shapes lying on the ground.

If I didn't start now, I wouldn't start at all. And I had to find Alex, and Knight.

*****

How did they find out.

That was the biggest question. How did they know she was even here. That she was on this continent. That she was even alive.

For the moment there was a lax in the fighting. The Nightwalker's had attacked less than an hour and a half ago. There had been seventeen of them. I looked around to see how many had been killed.

Twelve. There were only twelve either dead, or dying on the ground.

Quickly I scanned the area. Spotting the several wolves still battling. I only saw four Nightwalker's. Where the fifth one was, I had no idea. And that bothered me, and my wolf. If he got past our defenses, Renee would be in danger.

A mournful howl echoed through the trees. And then it hit me.

It was like a train, crushing me. The pain was unbearable. Someone was hurt. I quickly delved into the pain that was coursing through the mind link with my pack. It wasn't Renee, that much was clear. If it had been the pain would have also been partly my own.