Under a Dark Moon [Oneus AU]

Break of Dawn

There was no time to run.

In an instant, that wolfish man had pounced on her, planting his palms against her shoulders and forcing her to fall backwards with the weight of his own body.

Luella cried out desperately as she was suddenly taken to the ground by such a heavy force. She turned her face away from the hot breath of the creature that pinned her to the wet grass beneath them, and her eyes squeezed shut.

It bared its teeth and snarled down at her like an animal, but she could feel the knees of a man crushing her shins underneath them. His jaws parted like he planned to bite down on her, to kill her perhaps, but then he pulled back.

Her eyes opened somewhat, just enough to see his nose twitching. His gaze dropped to where his knee pinned her leg to the grass. Then, he smirked down at her.

"What a shame," the man tsked, reaching down with one hand to touch the place where her knee was bandaged. "Wounded animals are less fun to hunt."

Suddenly, Luella felt his clawed thumb push into the deep bruise she gave herself when she slammed her knee against the tub. She screamed, unable to bite back the sounds of pain that tore from deep within her. The place where that collision broke the skin reopened under the pressure, and blood began to seep through the bandages again.

"I wonder if Anisa noona will want to meet you," the man mused to himself.

He leapt to to his feet again, which relieved Luella's knee of at least some of the pain he was causing it. Her relief was short-lived, however, as he bent down to grab a handful of her thick brunette waves soon after.

For the first time, Luella began to struggle. She kicked her legs and scratched at his arm desperately as the beast of a man used his grip on her hair to begin dragging her across the lawn, towards the forest where her father's wailing could still be heard.

Luella was beginning to lose all hope as they neared the edge of the forest. Just before he could drag her through the foliage, another shadowy figure leapt out of the trees, tackling the man and freeing Luella from his grip.

The two creatures collided with a sickening thud, then went tumbling across the grass with the wasted momentum, sliding to a halt several feet away from where they crashed together.

She was instantly relieved when she realized it was Youngjo that came to her rescue. He was pinning down the other man, using his claws to make him stay in place.

"Luella," another soothing voice reached her ears. She turned just in time for Hwanwoong to drop to his knees beside her. His hands came up to cup her face between them "Gwaenchanha?"

"Help Youngjo," she whined up at him. "Don't mind me, help Youngjo."

His eyes raked over her quickly, frantically searching for any life-threatening injuries. It didn't take him long to notice her bandaged knee was oozing blood through the cloth. He furrowed his brow and put a hand over it, applying pressure.

"It's okay," he sighed softly. "It's okay." Hwanwoong slid his arms underneath her, then hoisted her out of the grass like a brand new bride.

"But Youngjo!"

"He is okay, too," Hwanwoong assured her with a deep breath as he darted towards the manor with her in his arms.

Luella tried to look around his shoulder at Youngjo, who was still fighting off the other man, one wolf locked into a fierce battle with another, both snarling and growling. They really seemed possessed in that moment, and it registered with her, for the first time, what exactly Youngjo and the others really were. They weren't human, not exactly.