Adira was not used to waking up at four in the morning. Much less if she had to train at that ungodly hour. She was counting the days for her punishment to end, but Alexander had decided to be petty when Nora tried to vouch for her cousin. Adira and her cousin had grown up together since both their moms were sisters therefore the two girls were used to spending time together.
Nora was the Luna of the pack, mated to Alexander, so Adira did not mind playing babysitter to her best friend. What she had an issue with was getting up five minutes before four in the morning to learn about Nora's schedule and prepare for the day ahead.
In her attempt to be supportive, Nora tried to help Adira distract herself by taking her out as much as possible, what she did not realize however, was that such outings created more work for Adira and the rest of the escorts. So for the rest of the month, she woke up every day at four in the morning to attend meetings with the other six escorts to review safe routes, and the safe houses in the area as well as the required positions in the team.
Alexander was very cautious, especially when it came to his mate.
This job was not as bad as she first thought. The problem was that it was a slow job, always waiting for danger rather than hunting it down.
They visited the city quite often, Adira taking the place of guardian as Nora wanted to have her closer.
They were in the mall, Nora looking for a present for Alexander's birthday.
"You should get him diapers," Adira suggested when Nora asked her for ideas.
"Why?"
"Because he's acting like a baby. He extended my punishment for another month. He's just being childish taking his frustrations out on me now."
Although she was mad at Alexander, Adira made sure she did her job well. She kept close to Nora and looked around the humans, assessing for trouble. She could smell a few wolves from other packs, she made sure she identified them before moving on to communicating her findings with the rest of the escorts.
"Three rogues coming from the south entrance," She heard Abigail, one of the escorts.
"Two in the food court." Said Matias a few minutes later.
Both sent a mental image of the rogues so everyone could identify them more easily. As they were in human territory, the rogues had every right to be there. That did not mean the pack members enjoyed having them so close to their Luna.
"Should I be offended?" Nora asked.
Smiling, Adira shook her head and placed her arm around her shoulders, guiding her through the many products until they reached the jewelry section. Nora was paying such little attention to her surroundings that she did not catch the scent of the sales lady attending over the counter. When Adira noticed her, she pulled Nora by the arm away from the rouge.
When Nora realized what was happening, she pulled her arm back and looked at her cousin with a raised eyebrow.
"You get mad at Caleb and Alex for not letting the girl in, yet you are behaving like them," She accused Adira.
Yes, maybe she was acting the same way those two would but was not condemning the woman to certain death. Was she still bitter about that? Maybe...
She decided to follow Nora, after all, the rouge was at her place of work. Many rouges did not resort to living alone. Most were accommodated to living within the human society and did not cause them any harm. Rolling her eyes, Adira communicated their change of location to the rest of the group. Soon, she saw Adele and Margaret get near them, pointing at some of the pieces of jewelry, not really paying attention to what they were looking at.
"Hello! Can I please take a look at that watch?" Nora asked the rogue with a smile.
The lady was about thirty years old. She was dressed in a white dress shirt, with a red tie, and black slacks. She was stunned, most likely surprised by having a Luna approach her instead of many of the humans behind the counter.
"Uh... oh yes."
Regaining her composure and giving Nora a real smile, she pulled a set of keys out of her pocket and slid the door open to take the watch Nora had pointed to, placing it in front of them on the counter.
"Thanks."
The lady looked at Adira but quickly avoided her eyes, nervous.
"Relax," she told the lady. "This is humans' territory," Her poor attempt to make her less uncomfortable with her presence failed. The woman simply nodded in her direction giving Nora all her attention instead.
With a soft sign, Nora leaned over the counter, uninterested in whatever Nora was shopping for. She knew Adele and Margaret were keeping an eye on the lady, so she turned her back and looked around the department. She got a strong smell of wood and jasmine coming from her right, when she looked over all she saw was a couple spraying perfume bottles on pieces of paper. She liked the smell, maybe she could get Nora to buy her something.
A moment later, a foul smell came from the same side, and her eyes landed on a rogue, who noticed her as well. Adira recognized the putrid smell of decaying flesh but saw no apparent injuries on the man.
"One in the perfume section." She said and sent a mental image to the other members.
Adira was sure the man recognized her for what she was as he looked at her with the same crazy expression a hunter looked at their prey. Then he shifted his attention to Nora who was distracted paying for the watch she bought. His pupils were blue but there was a hint of yellow around them, he had deep eye bags under his eyes. His light brown hair was long and straight, and, as he smiled, Adira saw his canines growing.
Before she could move, the man winked at her and turned around, leaving the area. Two minutes later, Abigail reported seeing him leave along with a few humans.
"Are you okay?" Nora asked her when they left the counter. Adira nodded, ignoring the alarms going off in her brain.
They left the mall and decided to go back to the pack to have dinner. Adira and Nora sat in the back with Abigail and Matias, Adele and Margaret in the car ahead of them, and Nathaniel and Angel in the car behind them.
She liked her new friends, and they seemed to like her too. When Adira had arrived to their first meeting, late of course, she had not been sure what to expect in her new position. But she was glad they all got along with her almost immediately. They took their roles very seriously and even considered it their best accomplishment; the Alpha trusted them with the safety of his most important individual.
Adira had different views on the matter, but that had not been a necessary topic to discuss.
They were near the border when Abigail stopped the car abruptly.
Adira extended her arm to protect Nora, making sure she didn't hit her head on the seat in front of her.
"Get in the middle," Adira told Nora, who did as she was told. She quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and placed herself away from the window, ducking her head low. Adira also took her seatbelt off and turned her head looking for danger.
In front of them, Adele was outside looking at something in front of their car. Adira saw Angel passing by her door, getting closer to Adele, investigating what caused the sudden stop. Soon, she could smell rogues in the vicinity, unsure of how close they were.
"What is going on?" Nora asked using the pack link. Adira turned to look at her cousin, her eyes were full of worry. She was not used to this, although she had been trained as a warrior, the years she had spent behind a computer had gotten her comfortable with having others to protect her. Adira doubted she had ever landed a real punch. Before she could say something to calm her down, there was a sudden crash on Adira's window.
"Drive!" she yelled at Abigail who maneuvered out of the road passing finding Angel on the floor. Adira realized then that the crash earlier had been his body with the window. the car in front of them. The large figures in front of them blocked the main road. Adira looked around
He was not moving.
Adira felt a headache starting to form. It was as if she was underwater, all sounds were somewhat muffled, but the thoughts of those around her were as loud as ever.
"Follow the car."
"What is going on?"
"Alpha..."
"Nora!"
"... care of that one."
"He isn't..."
She could barely make out what was being said through the link and what was not.
The last time she had been able to hear other people's thoughts had been before the mandatory training. Now was not the time to get distracted by her surroundings, she needed to think.
"... Adira! Are you listening?" she could hear Abigail screaming at her from the front seat, driving at a high speed. "We need to shake them. We could go faster running."
They made a plan then. Nora was to run directly to the pack who had been alerted already, Alexander making his way over. Adira, as the guardian, was to stick with her. And the rest of the escorts were to run in the back, making sure nobody got near Nora.
As they tried to communicate with Angel, they noticed a small sign of consciousness. They would try to go back for him, but Nora's safety was their priority.
"Keep her safe, please. Keep them safe... You better stay with her," she heard Alexander's voice. It felt different, not like a direct link, but more like she was listening to a private conversation.
Behind them, the sounds of growls grew closer. Adira looked through the back window and saw a group of eleven rogues running after the car. Like most adult werewolves, they were about the same size as a horse. Adira saw them gain terrain and try to surround the car. One of the rogues ran closer to her side and used his body to slam against the car, making Abigail lose control for a second.
She floored the accelerator and made the car go faster, leaving the rogues behind, but they soon started to gain speed again. Adira tried to open her window, but as it had been smashed earlier, it was stuck. Using her fist and inhuman strength she punched the window until it broke.
"When Abigail takes the next turn, we have to jump out of the car," she explained to Nora who was taking off her heels, ready to do as she was told.
Abigail made that left turn and Adira pushed Nora through the hole she had made and followed after her, entering the forest. They ran as fast as they could, Adira stayed close to Nora, urging her to run faster but the Luna lacked the stamina of a trained Warrior.
"Alex told me to keep going on runs," She halfhearted joked.
"Should've listened to him."
The two women ran, Adira already recognizing the area close to the border. She could hear the other escorts behind them, slowing down the group of rogues.
They finally made it over the border, but they did not stop. Alexander was still closer to the packhouse than to them.
"We've made it over." She told the rest.
"Keep going, they are more than we thought." Matias urged her.
In the distance, she was able to see a large group of wolves running toward them, Alexander's blonde wolf was at the front, and Caleb was right behind him as well as Rose.
The group of rogues caught up to them, Adira looked back and saw Abigail, Adele, Matias, Margaret, and Nathaniel fighting the group of about twenty rogues.
"Keep running until you reach the house!" she told Nora. "Be careful."
Nora looked behind them, Adira could feel what her cousin could not say. She knew Adira was a great warrior, one of the best before she got demoted to escort. But Adira's duty was to protect the Luna at all costs, even if that meant leaving her friends behind.
Soon enough, there was a group of over twenty rogues, all fighting four to one.
She had to fight.
Nora kept running as Adira stopped suddenly. She did not have to wait to join the fight as the first rogue launched himself at her.
Adira welcomed her attacker with her canines, piercing the shoulder and biting hard. The rogue whimpered in pain and tried to push her away using his back legs. She felt his claws opening wounds over her abdomen, but she forced the rogue to her side and used her front paws to claw at his eyes. The rogue succeeded in pushing her away, but she took a bite of his skin with her, making him bleed profusely.
The animal fell dead on the ground. Her next combatant already trying to injure her side.
Alexander and the rest of the Warriors arrived just as Adira started to fight against a black, balding wolf. She noticed the wolf was more out of control, with saliva coming out of his mouth, and his eyes yellow. The wolf was not normal at all, it was on the verge of transforming into a scavenger.
The black wolf was not even trying to protect himself; he just tried to bite her and rip off part of her skin. Adira tried to push him away, but he managed to get on top of her. The wolf placed its front paws on her neck, cutting her oxygen supply. Her vision started to get filled with white spots, slowly losing consciousness.
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Previously, I had this chapter, and the previous one combined, so I decided to split them into 2 different ones. I like it better this way.
I'll be back soon with Caleb's POV for the next chapter.
Please help me out and vote, comment... or both.
Thank you!