Dark Shadow (Book 1 in the Original DARKNESS Duology) ✔

Forty-Three: When She Awakens...

.დ.❧.

Fear. It had shown in everyone's eyes; the alpha's... his family... his pack. All of them. And how I relished it. It made my blood pump through my veins.

Fear was also in this woman's eyes. They were wide with panic.

I squeezed her throat enough that the tips of my nails cut into her skin and had me grinning. To my ears, her choking gasps were a sweet song. It was beautiful.

"What's the matter, she-wolf...?" I teased with my head tilted to the side. "Things not turning out the way you planned?"

The blonde squeezed her eyes shut, managing to let out a cry when I dug my nails further. Her pain filled my adrenaline and I wanted more of it.

"Quail Wolf!"

My focus on the struggling she-wolf broke.

Lifting my gaze above her head, my eyes narrowed before slowly turning my head to the pair of she-wolves a ways behind me. They stood at the front of the pack. Both scowled, growling low. The two females looked similar to the one I had in my grasp.

One of the she-wolves narrowed her eyes and raised her voice that was directed to me.

"You are better than this! You don't want to harm these people!" She gestured to those behind her. "You were meant to protect them!"

I carefully eyed the woman; sneering at her as my fingers carelessly dropped the gasping she-wolf from me. I paid no mind to her as I sensed her scrambling to back away. Instead, I straightened and faced the pair.

I gathered a sense of awareness from this particular she-wolf. Her gray eyes held purpose and that's when my chin tipped up a little. I realized who these two females were now.

"Ahhh, yes. How could I forget about the Caretakers?"

I scrunched my nose, leaning forward a bit to mock, "My babysitters."

The two she-wolves stood their ground; the younger in a fighting stance with her feet apart and her chin lowered. Her eyes glancing at her elder companion while the other stood tall, those gray eyes hard now.

"We have a responsibility to you, Gigi," the older said.

I growled at her for addressing me so informally but this only seemed to encourage the woman.

She stepped forward, nodding, "That's right... That's your name. Gigi Gomez. The girl with a pure heart. The girl who has gone through the worst pain imaginable for a Werewolf to experience and yet she refused to fall the Dark!"

Growling I snapped at her to stop. That she would not refer to me by such a meek name. But she didn't listen.

The Caretaker's eyes narrowed, teeth her gritting and ordered, "Fight it, Gigi! You prove nothing if you give in to being the monster they made you out to be!"

My eyes shut tight, my growl intensifying as I clamped my hands over my ears.

"Stop it!"

My breathing escalated, teeth bared but I couldn't block her out. I screamed, hunching forward while the woman's voice grew louder to convince me of who I actually am.

"You know nothing!" I shouted hoarsely, panting out as I tried to keep myself in control. My narrowed gaze looking at the woman who frowned at me. She was still challenging me. "I am invincible! That is why you fear me! Why you try to cage me in!"