A thunderous roar woke me with a start. It shook the walls and the windows, causing the glass to rattle in the frames. Shivers crept down my spine when I felt it vibrate through me.
My first instinct was to go investigate although I knew it was a terrible idea. A family of werewolves live under this roof, they can grow fur and fangs which I'm certain they put to good use when they're pissed off. What would stop one from chomping down on me if they were having a bad night and I just happened to stumble upon them in wolf form?
There was no time to decide whether I should listen to my head or my ever-growing curiosity as another blood-freezing roar tore through the castle, causing its very foundation to tremble.
In a beat, I jumped out of bed, grabbed my robe, and stumbled out of the room to search for the origins of the ruckus.
It's almost as if the castle had a mind of its own, altering its once fantastical atmosphere to match the apprehension of the moment. The mounted candles along the walls were dim, some doused by an unexpected cold breeze that escaped through an open window. I tugged the robe tight around my frame to trap in the little heat my body radiated.
If there was ever a time to feel like the character in a horror movie who deliberately goes to investigate the creepy sound she heard in the basement, that time would be now. I should be knocking some sense into myself for running toward danger, but my feet couldn't seem to stop as they sent me further down the corridor.
I didn't even know where that sound came from, how was I supposed to –
The next moment, I collided with a solid object. The force was enough to send me staggering backward, however, the object itself hardly budged.
I looked up to see what I ran into...and feel my heart jolting in my ribcage.
Before me stood a silhouette, looming and dreadful with tendrils of red smoke slithering around its legs. The temperature dropped in an instant, leaving me shivering in both cold and terror.
When it inched toward me, I uttered a panicked sound before turning on my heel and fleeing down the stairs. Thumping sounds followed at my back as whatever that thing was, set after me.
I begged my feet to move faster, to just descend the stairs two at a time. A breath of warm air fanned into my neck, causing every hair on my body to stand on end.
My heart nearly burst out of my chest when I felt a ghostly hand grabbing at my robe and, in a final attempt to escape its sinister clutches, I jumped down the remaining steps and made a bolt down the corridor leading to the study.
That thing was still behind me; I could tell as I noticed the candles flickering in their chilling presence. Just as I felt it grazing my back again, I burst through the door of the study and...it was gone. It disappeared into thin air and left me wondering if I was even being chased to begin with.
But the scene I witnessed before me brought me to a sudden halt, and I was filled with a newfound horror.
A wolf was going feral in the middle of the room, snapping its jaws at anyone who dared to go near it. My breath hitched when I saw how big it was - as if Clemmy wasn't the largest wolf I've ever seen, this one was thrice as big, and its head could easily be level with mine.
"Alex, the window!" Emric called at his son, who instantly moved to block the windows to prevent the wolf from escaping through them.
The Balfours all closed in on the animal, but it wouldn't let anyone near it. Seren tried sneaking up on it from behind but realized her plan was futile when it snarled at her over its shoulder. She cowered back and nearly bumped into me. If I wasn't mistaking, they seemed all too submissive to the wolf's barks and growls.
"What are you doing here?" She asked in a panic, her eyes darting between the wolf and me, "You can't be here, he'll tear you apart!"
I wanted to ask who that was but already had this sickening feeling I knew the answer.
But as if my presence gave off a certain sense, I saw the wolf twitch its ears before turning to face me. Blood drained from my face when I saw its eyes - Rheon's eyes - staring at me, burning into my soul. My feet were rooted in one place when he took a threatening step forward...
"Rheon." His head jerked towards the voice, snarling at Emric when the older man placed himself between me and him, "You have to calm down, son. Control it."
I was holding my breath the whole time. What caused him to wolf out like this? There wasn't a full moon until the end of the week, and last time I checked, Rheon had perfect control over his shifts when he first showed it to me the other day.
Emric reached back with his hand to shove me towards the door and that's where he made the mistake. He barely touched me when all hell broke loose. Rheon completely lost his mind and lurched forward, snapping his jaws at his father, and missed Emric's arm by mere inches. Seren took her chance and rammed into him from the side, throwing him off balance for no longer than a second to get him away from me.
"Ash, run!" Reyna called from the far end of the room, however, in vain. Rheon had already gained his footing. But instead of directing his attention to me, he bolted for the windows. Even if Alexander had superpowers, he wouldn't have been able to stop his brother from breaking through the glass and disappearing into the night.
The Balfours all exchanged looks before one by one, they shifted. My eyes were the size of UFOs when I found myself in a room full of bear-sized wolves, each of them somehow representing their human form in some way.
Craig, however, was the last to shift, but not before pointing at me with the words, "Stay 'ere, lass. We'll be back in a wink."
I watched him grow ears and a tail before salt and pepper fur grew all over his figure. In less than three seconds, the strangely optimistic Scot who drove me to the castle and who turned out to also be a duke changed into a wolf. In the utmost grace, he leapt out of the window, and followed his family over the castle grounds to track down his nephew.
A series of howls followed shortly after the pack left. My body remained still as a statue as I listened to the echoes in the distance. I've seen some weird shit in my life; I watched a tape of my mother giving birth to me via C-section, I've seen my aunt Izzy get arrested for punching a delivery guy for forgetting her chicken nuggets, and I once saw a woman put sliced pickles in her ice cream and ate it.
But none of those had anything on what I just experienced.
Once my body got over most of the shock, I rushed to the window and gazed into the darkness. It has started raining a few minutes ago and an icy draft of wind and rain swept into the study. Gooseflesh erupted across my arms and legs, causing my teeth to clatter as my eyes searched the dark for any moving shapes. There was this nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that wondered what would happen if the pack failed to bring Rheon back. What if he hurts them or worse, they hurt him?
'Listen to Craig,' the tiny voice in my head said, 'There's nothing you can do anyway, you don't know anything about werewolves and their issues. You'll only end up getting hurt or worse.'
But I couldn't just stand here and do nothing, that's not the type of person I want to be.
Besides, I'd rather be out there in the rain, searching for a werewolf that might maim or kill me, than stay here with that shadow figure looming somewhere in the shadows.
With newfound determination, I climbed through the window, careful to avoid the shards of glass, and sprinted head-first down the lawn towards the lake. The cold and wind caused my eyes to tear up as the rain lashed down on me, drenching my hair and clothes.
Only when I reached the pebbly shore of the lake did I realize I should've brought a flashlight with me. Not even the light of the moon could penetrate the dark clouds to provide any assistance in Operation Finding Rheon. I blindly wandered down the shore, squinting against the rain to navigate my feet in the right direction.
There was no way I could find Rheon like this and with his sense of smell gone, he couldn't find me either. It was a long shot, but all I could do was hope his sense of hearing was sharp enough to pick up my voice through the storm. I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled, "Rheon!"
This was absurd.
Absolute madness.
"Rheon!" My voice broke in the cold. Any longer and I might catch hypothermia in this weather. After nothing happened, I had enough. At least I could say I tried and woke up with the flu to prove it.
However, as I turned around my breath caught in my throat.
I stood face to face with a wolf. Its fur glistened in the rain, giving it an oil-like appearance as it glowered at me with those striking blue eyes.
Swallowing dryly, I willed my voice to work, "Take a deep breath, Rheon. You have to calm down."
His deep and throaty growl rumbled through the ground and up to my feet as I lifted my hand, sending shiver after shiver through my body. Perhaps it would've been wiser to stay at the castle.
Call me brave or incredibly stupid, I reached out to him, holding my breath the closer my palm neared his face – might I add, his head was bigger than those gym balls they use in aerobics!
Please don't bite me, I thought as his eyes locked on my hand. Scratch that, please don't eat me, I'd taste horrible anyway. Not even mosquitoes seemed to like my blood.
I was starting to feel lightheaded for holding my breath so long and was beginning to think, one way or another, I'm going to die that night. But as I was on the verge of fainting, Rheon flinched back and started to shrink. I was frozen in place as I watched the tail and ears and fur disappear until all that was left was his naked form crouched on the pebbled shore.
Remembering it was still raining cats and dogs, I stripped off the robe I wore over my pajamas and covered his shaking form. At least he's a bit more decent now.
"Come on," I whispered and helped him to his feet, "Let's get you out of the rain." He didn't utter a word as we travelled up shore back to the comforts of the castle.
It didn't take the others long to return and find us in the kitchen. Rheon's hands were wrapped around a steaming mug of coffee while mine was already empty. Don't ask me how, but I managed to get him to his room so he could get dressed - as satisfying it was to see him shirtless and all, I felt cold on his behalf. We might yet survive without catching hypothermia.
Rieka rushed to her son with concern written all over her face, engulfing him in a hug. "You had me worried sick."
"Second that," Victor muttered as he rummaged through the fridge for a snack.
"What happened tonight?" Emric asked in his soothing tone, placing a comforting hand on his son's back, "Rheon?"
I wanted to tell him Rheon hasn't spoken a word since he shifted back, didn't even respond when I asked him whether he wanted tea or coffee. Which explained why I was surprised when I heard him replying to his father.
"I saw her," his voice was nothing above a whisper. However, nobody was prepared for what he said next. "I saw Lucine. She's back."