The brewery was a collection of four barn-like structures with high ceilings and few openings. There were no missing bricks in the walls, and all the glass panes in the windows were intact. The trees stood well back and gravel-covered a wide swatch of earth around the buildings, yet there was a sense of abandonment around the distillery.
Unrelenting darkness covered everything; not a single creature stirred. There was no hum of machinery, and the chimneys jutted smokeless into the night sky. Here and there, a brave weed or two reared their crowns through the stones.
Each with an arm around Brent, they walked him to the nearest building, heading for the entrance in the middle.
"Here, lean him against the wall," Eri suggested.
They propped the Afro-Canadian against the wall, but Brent grunted, his knees shaking, and then he was sinking. Ethan grabbed him before he hit the floor. The shivering Lycan only wore a fleece hoodie against the fall chill, but sweat had soaked through the thick material, just like Ethan's sweatshirt.
"I'll hold him. Get the door open," Ethan suggested, leaning Brent against him. The tall boy gripped his shoulders for support, his breathing heavy and harsh against Ethan's ears.
Eri's forehead also glistened in the moonlight. He checked the door; there was no handle and no obvious way to open it with a key.
"Let me find another way in." He jogged off, glancing up at the windows, which now seemed too high.
He disappeared around the corner, and a few moments later, the tinkling sound of glass breaking pierced through the air. Then silence.
Just as Ethan began to worry that the slender Lycan may have knocked himself out, there was a thud from inside and the loud screeching of metal rubbing against metal as the door swung outwards.
Eri grunted as he pushed, but the reinforced door opened less than a foot and then refused to budge. He stepped back and then rammed into the barrier. Once. Twice. Thrice. Each time the heavy barricade groaned under the impact and inched forward until there was just enough space for one person to slip in.
Ethan watched Eri, who stood a foot shorter than him and just as much in width.
I probably wouldn't have been able to crack that door open by myself.
The other Lycan stepped out, and together they heaved Brent onto his feet. But before entering, Ethan swabbed some sweat off his neck and rubbed it on the outside of the door. Eri raised an eyebrow at him, questioning.
"One of my teachers is a tracker. He'll raise hell if he can't find me."
They moved Brent inside and sat him against the wall. He was breathing freely now, but his eyes were still shut.
There was nothing else to do but to wait. If Brent completed his transformation here, Ethan could only pray that between him and Eri, they could hold him long enough till the vanguards came back.
Eri yanked on the door, but it would not close all the way.
"Leave it," Ethan ordered. "We don't want to end up stuck in here anyway."
The werewolf shrugged and went to check on Brent while he took stock of their surroundings. The building was primarily empty, with pipes running up one side and across the ceiling. A small square opening streamed moonlight through onto the broken shards on the floor.
That was how Eri got in.
Ethan walked to the door to stare out into the night. For a while, the world around them was quiet, with nothing but crickets chirping. Then Eri came over to stand by him, sniffing.
"Who's that?"
Ethan glanced at him, then back out. He saw nothing but leaves moving.
"A wolf?" he asked. Then, at Eri's nod, he offered, "Maybe that's Zyga, the teacher I mentioned."
"No ... too loud to be a tracker." Eri's eyes brightened to glowing amber. "And there's more than one."
Ethan squinted, trying to make out movement in the darkness outside.
"Vanguards?"
Eri shook his head. "I don't recognize their smell. Warriors would have picked up our scents by now and called out. These wolves are stalking. I hear three of them."
Ethan's heart froze for a beat.
Three wolves, stalking them, hunting them. Why?
The other possibility he could think of was- "Rogues?"
Three rogue wolves were bad news, regardless of their intent. They were wolves whose atrocities were so horrible that their pack had banished them. No one would take in a rogue: they were almost as bad as vampires. His father had died fighting one.
He was not going to be much use in a fight, and Brent could barely run. He searched around for something to bar the door, but in the dark, nothing came to hand.
Out of ideas, he turned to their best defense. "Any suggestions?"
Eri was already stripping off his shirt.
Obviously, his friend assumed he could also turn at will. Ethan grabbed his arm.
"Hold on. I can't- I haven't ...."
He trailed off as his friend stared at him with furrowed brows. Then his eyes widened as understanding lit a torch behind them.
A blush bloomed in Ethan's face, but he forged on. They did not have enough time for him to be embarrassed. Their lives were at stake.
"Listen, I can't fight them on open ground. Neither can Brent. If we can lead them through this door, only one can come through at a time. That'll give us a fighting chance."
Eri nodded and moved towards the heavy metal. Meanwhile, Ethan bolted for the small window and returned with a jagged piece of glass.
"Brent, on your feet! Don't fight your wolf anymore. Attaboy," he encouraged when the Afro-Canadian got on all fours, groaning.
"Here they come," Eri whispered. He had shed all of his clothes and stood on one side of the door.
A muted crack. A bone popped. Eri huffed and bent over, sinking to the floor. His fair skin grew dark, and his crouching silhouette shifted in the night. When he rose again, a tawny wolf with a dark stripe down its back stood in his place.
It shook its fur and edged closer to the door, growling.
Behind him, Brent's muffled grunts and the series of snaps told him the larger wolf was having a more challenging time at shifting forms. But Ethan could not go to him now. He could hear the scuffle of paws outside, and he moved to the other side of the exit, away from view, holding the jagged edge up.
His hand shook, and he tightened the fist around the glass. His heart was beating so fast he was sure the wolves outside heard it.
He did not have to wait long.
A gray shadow slipped through the gap, its snarls echoing through the hollow building. It sent a shiver down his back. Eri was on him in a flash, growling his own challenge. The two wolves tore at each other.
The attacker was bigger, but Eri was sleeker, faster, and much more wily. The enemy could not pin him down long enough to inflict a mortal wound.
In the ferocity of the battle, Ethan almost missed the second assailant. It snuck in, eyes so intent on Eri that by the time it noted Ethan's presence, it was too late to avoid his downward slash.
His shard bit deep into its hind leg and broke off.
Ethan stepped away as the wolf yelped pitifully, twisting to lick its wound. He dropped the bloody half of glass that had sliced his palm almost as deeply as his victim.
A snarl behind him had him spinning to face a third wolf approaching.
Oh shit!
The newcomer leaped up, and Ethan only had enough time to bring up his arm to protect his neck.
Though Ethan was not a lightweight, the momentum of the heavy wolf bowled him over. The wolf snapped onto Ethan's arm, sinking its teeth deep, and he cried out in pain. Then, it let go and snapped at his face, its hot musty breath fanning his face. Ethan kept his battered arm up. It was the only thing between him and those deathly jaws.
His other hand grabbed the thick undercoat fur and pushed the snarling beast off him. He scrambled to his feet and was facing the recovering wolf when another bit into his right thigh.
"Aah!"
On instinct, he kicked out, satisfied when it connected and he heard a corresponding yelp.
A loose tile availed itself under his fingers, and he hurled it at the previous enemy. The wolf swerved to avoid the brick, and Ethan shuffled away, putting the wall behind his back.
In the corner of his eye, he saw Eri fighting the first assailant to enter the building.
Where the hell was Brent?
He glanced at the side and found two other canines, ripping each other up as they fought for dominance. One of them must be Brent.
Shit! Eri had missed one wolf in his initial count.
Looking down at the two circling him, he tried to control his ragged breathing and not give in to panic. Ethan looked down at the two wolves caging him in.
True to pack rules of hunting, these two were caging him in, going for the weakest link.
Ethan's mind sped. He had to stall for time until Brent or Eri came to his aid.
A loud series of yelps interrupted his train of thought. One of the wolves in Brent's corner collapsed with the jaws of the other firmly clamped around his neck. Then the victor, midnight black with a white snout, turned and trotted towards him.
Hope filled Ethan's heart. He straightened up, shifting his weight.
We're even now. I'll take on the one near me, and Brent can handle the other.
As the other wolf approached, it began growling but not at the other two. Instead, it faced him with hostile amber eyes.
Brent had not survived the fight.
"Oh my god," Ethan muttered.
Ice-cold fear climbed up his spine to stab his heart as the three wolves fanned out in front of him, snarling. His blood had soaked his jeans and was dripping from his sleeves. Ethan's injured leg wobbled under his weight. That was the sign of weakness the wolves were waiting for.
A/N
Hi lovelies, thanks for reading.If you loved it don't forget to vote, comment and add to your library.
Halfway through the chapter whiles editing, I went like, "Doesn't Brent seem a bit like the hulk here?"
Any guesses on who the new wolves are?
I would love to here your feedback on the story in general and this chapter in particular.
What did you like?
And what didn't you like?
What did you think about the characters: Ethan,Brent and Eri?
Next chapter is already being edited. I will post it in a couple of days.
Ciao!