Edrick
I ran for a long time to try to find Moana.
Because of the fierce wind and the rain, her scent got a bit jumbled and my own wolf's tracking abilities were slightly dulled. Not only that, but because of the rain there were multiple small mudslides in the forest, and more than once I found myself slipping and sliding and getting turned around on my path.
I could sense that something was wrong, though. I sensed someone else... And it wasn't Kat or any of the other bodyguards.
Moana seemed to be in distress, beyond what was reasonable for someone who got lost in the rain. And after what Ella told me about my father, I could imagine what was happening.
I just hoped that I would get to her in time.
Finally, her scent became stronger. Before, it was faint and I was even beginning to think that I was going to lose it entirely and that I would never find her. It became a lot stronger all of a sudden, in fact. My senses were suddenly overcome by her scent, and I felt myself being drawn straight to her.
Feeling myself filled with a new sense of hope, I shot forward through the forest in the direction that Moana's scent was emanating from.
"I'm coming," I thought, pushing myself to run faster than I ever had. "I'm coming, Moana."
Suddenly, I burst out from the treeline into a thick mist that had settled on the cliffside. I could hardly see in front of me, so I slowed down and stalked forward, keeping my head low as I sniffed the ground.
Up ahead, something finally came into view: a bright golden light. I felt my heart pump faster as I picked up my pace again and followed it.
When the mist separated enough so that I could see up ahead, I saw her. It was Moana; she was safe.
At least, it seemed like it. I had little explanation for what else was happening.
A bright, golden light was emanating out from her body. She was levitating seven or eight feet into the air, with her head tilted back and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Her palms were outstretched at her sides, and she just floated there, emanating this blinding light.
But she wasn't alone; my father was with her.
He was standing in front of her, holding up his arm to shield his eyes from the blinding light, and he had the Golden Knife in his other hand as he tried to push forward to get closer to her.
I knew what was happening now: she was about to shift, which would mean that the Golden Knife would be useless once it finally happened. All I needed to do was hold my father off until
she did shift.
I was still in my wolf form, but I used my mindlink with my father to call out to him.
"What are you doing?" I asked, stalking a little closer.
My father froze. He was crouching slightly as he struggled against the invisible force that surrounded Moana, but he stood when he heard my voice. I froze, too, and watched as his head slowly turned to look at me over his shoulder.
There was a dark, twisted grin on his face.
Behind him, a bolt of lightning flashed and lit up the dark sky and half of his face. That sudden flash only made him look even more evil.
"Stay out of this, son," he replied, using our mindlink to speak without moving his lips. "You can't get in the way of this now."
I felt a low growl start to rumble in the back of my throat. "I won't let you kill her."
"Oh, look at you," my father said, speaking out loud now. "Now, you choose to play the part of the hero? What happened to the Edrick that I knew all that time ago, who agreed that the Golden Wolf should be killed so that we can keep making our money? Hm?"
I took another step closer. "I've changed. I don't want that now... Screw the money."
My father laughed. "Young people are so fickle. I was like that once, too, you know. I thought that the world could be a better place. But as it turns out, it's impossible. Humans are evil, stupid, vile little creatures... I know that now. I don't care if they suffer, so long as we get to keep living our life the way it is, unchanged."
I couldn't help but scoff as I stared at my dad. Moana still floated above us, out of reach. She seemed to be in some sort of trance; maybe she was having more visions. I hoped that she would stay up there until she shifted fully, and it would be hilarious to watch my dad have to deal with the fact that she shifted right in front of him, just out of his reach.
"Oh yeah?" I asked. "And what changed your mind about that, hm? It wasn't a human woman who you knocked up, was it?"
My dad's eyes widened. Of course I knew the truth behind what happened with Ethan's mother; I'd known for years.
I knew that Ethan's mother was a human. Ethan was a half–blood, although he was lucky enough to have a wolf and pass as a werewolf. But when his mother tried to take Ethan away from my father, he killed her and passed it off as a suicide.
Why my dad was so interested in keeping that kid for himself, I didn't know. Maybe it was because my mother wouldn't touch him again after he cheated on her, and he wanted another
heir in case I didn't work out.
"Perhaps it was because of that," my dad said with a smirk. "But it doesn't matter. Oh, look... The Golden Wolf is coming back down to earth after all."
I looked up then to see that Moana was beginning to float back down. Her eyes opened, and it was then that I noticed that there were tears streaming down her cheeks. Her eyes were filled with a sense of melancholy, but when they locked on mine, they filled with hope.
I just needed to keep my dad busy until she shifted... It was bound to happen any moment now.
Another growl rumbled in my throat, and I pushed forward. My father stood unwaveringly in front of me. He was a fool if he thought that I loved our money so much that I would let him kill Moana right before my very own eyes.
"Look away, Edrick," my dad said, chuckling in a monstrous manner with that same sick grin on his face as he twirled the Golden Knife in his hand. Just looking at him made me sick to my stomach and filled me with a rage that I had never felt before, not even for Ethan on the night that he tried to kill Moana and Ella in the warehouse. "This won't be pretty... But I promise that it will be quick for her, if that makes you feel any better. Just one stab, and then she'll fall from this mountain and the Golden Wolf's bloodline will be over."
The growl that was rumbling in my throat grew.
"It won't be so quick for you," I said.