Inamorata

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven: The Color Red

A soul gripping howl ripped through the cold air, sourced back to Erasmus as he thrust himself into the air. Spooked, the red wolf jumped away, along with one of the other wolves, however one unlucky one was caught under the suffocating weight of the powerful alpha. His large jaws locked onto one of the heads of the wolves. With a quick, jagged movement, he twisted and pulled back until there was a deafening crack. The sound reverberated through the chilled air, through the sparsely placed evergreen trees.

My eyes stuck to the wolf's form, limp and lifeless. Then my eyes flicked to Erasmus. He lifted his head, revealing his snarling, blood coated muzzle. One of the wolves, the biggest of the group, barked towards the others left. One wolf, a dark grey with hints of brown around its tail and legs, stepped to the side. I trailed my eyes along, watching as he slowly slunk around.

However, they traveled to the ginger wolf, checking its movements as anxiety gripped my stomach. However, it layed itself down in the snow, its ears weakly dropped and its tail tucked between its leg. its green eyes met Erasmus' for a moment before they dropped quickly. I was surprised by their behavior. It was almost like they had submitted to him.

My attention was drawn back to the sound of Erasmus. He let out a vicious growl at the wolves. I then realized the grey wolf had slunk behind Erasmus and myself, while the larger wolf had readied itself to attack from behind. I was a good 15 feet away from Erasmus, the grey colored wolf was closer to me than he was.

I saw him glance back at me with his red eyes, cool and calculating. We both knew his next move would have to be quick and perfectly planned if he gets to me before the grey wolf. My chest began to heave up and down as I looked to the grey wolf, meeting it's dull brown eyes that glared daggers into my soul. I whimpered, my joints seizing up.

There was a quick moment of silence that hung over us all. However, it was gone in a single moment. Snarls rang out suddenly and all at once, I couldn't pinpoint who had let them out. It's not like I could have thought about it. The wolf that I had held eye contact with moments before had thrown itself at me. I moved my foot to run back to Erasmus, but I wouldn't be fast enough to outrun a powerful beast like it.

A flash of red passed my vision. I blinked. Then, I saw the small frame of the ginger wolf barrelling into the grey one, causing the two of them to tumble through the snow with various yelps and barks. The grey wolf was bigger, able to shove off the smaller wolf and run its claws along its side, simply shredding their side.

I heard a blood-curdling howl. Then there was another blur of brown slamming into the grey wolf. The two flew back several feet away, more crying escaping them. A powerful aura of murder filled the air. I knew it was Erasmus. I focused on the wolf and what had hit them so hard. I gasped and covered my eyes at the sight.

I saw a mangled wolf, the one who had seemingly been the leader of the bunch. They scrambled, their bodies moving in unnatural ways as if several bones were broken throughout their bodies. The larger wolf's body was soaked in blood from a wound on their back, and their tail. It was missing, a white bone was in its place. I trembled, slowly turning around.

Erasmus stood tall and proud. A tail sat between his teeth. He must have had flung the wolf by its tail so hard to have caused such a thing. His eyes filled with bloodlust, narrowing in on the two wolves in the distance that still struggled to untangle their bodies. He spit out the tail and stepped closer to them, but paused. His eyes flicked to me, I nearly jumped as he did. I sucked in a deep breath, fear filling me to the brim.

However, I felt a sort of relief as they softened on me. Quickly, they ran over me, possibly searching for any sign of wounds. He leaned head in close and his large tongue lapped over my cheeks a few times before turning his head back to our attackers. Again, his eyes lit up with such hatred. For a moment his eyes seemed more like a blood-red rather than the russet color they typically were.

In a heartbeat, his paws pounding against the ground like thunder, he grabbed one of the wolves in his teeth, gripping their throat and clamping down. In seconds, the wolf's eyes were blank with death. He tossed the limp body aside and growled at the other one left. It was a grey one. Its legs must have been broken, hanging at an odd angle and keeping him from being able to run. It was all over in another second as Erasmus ended it with a quick bite to their throat.

Or I thought it was over. Erasmus' attention was now on the rusty orange wolf who whimpered in pain, attempting to lick its side. That small wolf had saved me. Yet, Erasmus still looked upon it with the same look he had for the others. He took a step towards it, gaining its attention. They seemed to panic a little, dropping their head down.

Erasmus growled deeply, but before he could take another step, I thrust my body between the two of them, gripping the muzzle of the dark wolf. Red blood coated my shaking hands as I looked into his eyes, matching the color of my hands.

I drew in a trembling breath. "No... They saved me... it's a life for a life, Erasmus. Please, spare them..."

I dropped down on my knees, my hands still gripping his muzzle as I lowered my head. I was begging him. My hands met a cold feeling as he pulled his head from my grip. I looked up again, hearing only silence from him, aside from his deep breathing. He gestured to his back and then knelt slightly. I hurried up off my knees and climbed onto his back again. His attention twisted to the red wolf and he let out a sharp, aggressive bark. Its ears perked up. Erasmus growled softly and then gave a small beckoning motion with his head.

The two of us watched as it staggered to its feet before it began to approach us. Erasmus began took up a quick trot, glancing back to make sure the red wolf was following. It was of course, though limping from pain. A trail of blood stained the white snow as we took off again. As we continued our journey, Erasmus's body kept tense, as if worried the ginger wolf would turn on us at any second. Where ever we were going, I hoped we would get their soon.