"Fear doesn't shut you down; it wakes you up" ― Veronica Roth
[Unedited - Not even read over]
The two girls gripped tightly to each other's hands as they tried desperately to escape the fear crazed crowd that tried to tear them apart. Celia's heart hammered in her chest as bodies shoved her left and right. Her animalistic side had taken over, opting for flight her body became flooded with adrenaline. In the background Celia faintly heard the wind carrying her name. The voice was deep and demanding but the sound didn't process in her brain as she pushed herself further away.
Stomachs turned to liquid as the two girls made it to the outer parts of the crowd. Bad souls pounced on anything that moved, their coats matted with dirt and blood and their eyes unfocused, clouded over by a crazed expression. Bodies lay against the ground. Some withered in pain while others lay lifeless, the only movement was their blood slowly seeping into dry, cracked dirt.
Celia tore herself away from their lifeless eyes as the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Instead she focused her eyes on the bad souls weaving through the bush and tearing down the innocent victims that ran from them. Most of the young, mateless crowd had sprinted into the thick bush, hoping their legs would be fast enough to carry them away from the scene to find refuge within the concealing trees. People shifted left and right, knowing four legs were faster than one as they tore through the first line of trees and disappeared.
Celia dragged Aria with her, following everyone's lead she crashed through the thick, knee length grass. Her feet wobbled on the uneven ground as she dragged the small girl behind her. The thick bush grew quieter and quieter as she tore through it, but she paid no attention. Only one thing rang through her mind and that was to run no matter what.
Aria stumbled, her companion's iron grip dragged her through the forest in a pace faster than she could match. "Alpha!" She called desperately, trying to stay on her feet. Celia turned towards the Omega and slowed down. Aria heaved, her lungs gasping for air as they came to a stop. "I'm not fast enough, Alpha Celia," she spluttered as her hands rested on her knees. "You need to shift and get out of here. They will catch you otherwise."
Celia looked down on the young girl. Watching the beads of sweat trickle down her freckle covered face as her chest furiously rose and fell. Omega's were weak wolves. At the bottom of the food chain, they were so weak they couldn't even turn, let alone keep up with someone with Alpha blood. Celia shook her head.
"I'm not just leaving you," she stated fiercely, grabbing Aria's elbow. She pulled away and stood straight, still fighting for breath. "Come on! We have to keep moving," Celia yelled desperately, gripping onto her arm once again.
"I can't!" Aria yelled. "I can't run fast enough or for as long! You have to go without me," Celia ignored her reasoning as she pulled the girl away from the gathering. She saw the logic behind Aria's words, but refused to pay it any attention. She couldn't live with herself if she just left her here to die.
The girls stumbled through the forest in a slow jog, Celia constantly tugged at Aria's arm every time she tried to stop until the blue, cloudless sky began to bleed a faint pink.
"Please! I need to rest," Aria whined for the hundredth time. Giving up Celia released her arm and licked her dry lips as Aria collapsed against a tree. "Thank you," she breathed out between pants.
Celia just nodded in response. "We have been moving for a while. We should be away from them by now," she replied all too soon. As soon as the words left her mouth she felt a heavy weight smash into her side, causing her long limbs to knock against the hard, uneven floor. The force of it caused her body to bounce back up again before her head smashed against the ground in a sickening manner.
"Alpha lookout!" Celia felt every stone, root and stick digging into her soft flesh as she rolled onto her back. Her head throbbed, but the pain quickly passed as she came face to face with two large, crazed eyes and a thick snout.
The wolf growled lowly as its paws dug into the dirt either side of Celia, trapping her underneath him. His black coat was patchy and matted, his form thin and underfed. He looked as if he was on the brink of death – like all bad souls did.
Lifeless eyes bore into her soul as Celia gripped his throat and tried to keep his snapping jaws away from her. One bite was all she needed for it to be over. Sexual intercouse with someone who wasn't their mate wasn't the only way to create bad souls. A simple bite from a wolf already infected would do the trick just as easy.
Aria whimpered as she watched the scene, pressing her body into the tree as far as it would go while Celia thrashed around in a desperate attempt to stay alive. Her Alpha strength was shining through, though it did little to help the thin, untrained girl. The bad soul was slowly wearing her out, his large body had her hopelessly trapped underneath him with no way out. All she could do was keep the large teeth from tearing at her flesh.
His breath was putrid and if she weren't fearing for her life, she would have gagged every time he breathed out. It smelt rotten and wrong, like something had died in there. Something probably had.
She squealed as his mouth came closer. Time seemed to pass slowly and with every minute, Celia could feel her strength diminishing until his cracked, dry nose nearly made contact with her own. Her arms wobbled under the strain – never had they performed such a demanding task. A small part of her felt like giving up, she knew the only way she would survive was if she could overthrow the bad soul that snarled above her. A task she wasn't stupid enough to believe a possibility.
Hope was diminishing with the power in her arms when the death-like wolf was torn from her body. Scrambling to her feet, Celia wasted no time in getting out of the way. Her mate, still in human form, straddled the hideous beast, muscular arms bulging from use wrapped around its neck. Celia watched, her eyes frantically drinking everything in as she tried to force her heart rate down. Cassius' movements were swift and quick. His arms jerked up, twisting the large wolf's head with a sickening snap before dropping it altogether and standing up.
His eyes blazed as he stalked towards her with a purposeful stride. Although anger seemed wash off him in furious waves, Celia found she wasn't scared as his calloused hand gripped her waist. He said nothing as his fingers softly danced across her skin, looking out for any sign of pain. Fear of dying slowly drained away as it was replaced with nervousness. His touch set fire to her skin, igniting something in her stomach and warming her all over.
His hands slowly travelled up and into her hair. She flinched as they glided across the left side of her scalp. He jerked back, disentangling his fingers from her frizzy mane. When they finally came into view, she saw the tips stained red. Cassius drew in a deep breath, his muscles rippling under the shirt as his gaze left his fingers and landed on the lifeless wolf off to the side.
"Cassius?" Celia asked when his eyes darkened a few shades. Turning away from her he walked back towards the body that lay in the thick, overgrown grass. His movements were lethally fluid as he calmly approached the wolf. His growl seemed to shake the earth and Celia jumped back in surprise, barely holding in a scream as his foot mercilessly collided with the wolf's back.
"Cassius!" She screamed at him as he knelt down, his anger had completely consumed him as he grunted. His arms bulged as they gripped onto the body in a blind rage and tore it in two. The head came off with a rip that brought bile to Celia's throat. Aria whimpered as she scuttled away and crouched into the undergrowth; his anger too much for her to handle.
He held the head with one hand, clutching it with so much strength Celia was surprised it didn't shatter in his grip as his body drew up into a stance. With an angry grunt, his arm wound back before shooting forward and releasing the head with a mighty throw, sending it spiralling away from them. If it had been anything else, Celia would have admired the sheer power put behind the toss. Instead she felt sick to the stomach as he paced between her and the carcass, trying to calm himself down.
"We have to get to the cars. It's a slaughter house back there," he stated finally, walking into a different direction the girls were heading. "Come!" He ordered when the two girls hadn't moved a muscle. The bush came to life at the order, shuffling and shifting until Celia saw a group of wolves run to catch up to him. Looking back to find Aria slowly creeping forward, Celia encouraged her before racing off to catch up with the small crowd of twelve that must have been following him when he saved her.
Looking around, all the werewolves in both wolf and human form looked to be in their late teens and early twenties – like a vast majority of the people at the gathering. They followed her mate closely, walking behind him in a tight bundle. It made sense, Celia thought. It was an Alpha's instinct to protect the weaker ones, especially next generation wolves so it was understandable that Cassius would have a bunch of scared teens begging for protection at his heels. It just surprised Celia that she hadn't noticed nor smelt them until they emerged like magic from the trees.
Darkness quickly flanked them, turning this nightmare into something even more scary. Every sound had Celia jumping in fear. Her visions range had decreased considerably, leaving her feeling vulnerable and blind. Cassius trudged on like nothing scared him which helped to calm her nerves. It felt as if they had been walking forever, she was surprised Cassius even knew where he was going.
"Sshhh!" Silence fell upon them like a suffocating blanket as Cassius held his fingers to his lips. No one moved a muscle as they stayed frozen in place. In the far distance the soft rustling of bushes could be heard. The noise too constant for it to be wind and too loud for it to be a small night creature. Celia felt her muscles turn to stone and they waited in anticipation. The noise stopped with a suddenness that sped up her heart.
She didn't know how long they stood there frozen in silence, but it felt like an eternity before the soft wind blew another werewolf's scent towards her. The soft smell filled her nostrils as Alpha Cassius relaxed and moved forward. "Alpha Lennon," he called into the darkness. Silent cracked like glass as another, smaller group came into view. With Alpha Lennon stood eight other young wolves whose eyes scanned the darkness nervously, taking in the new company.
"Celia," Alpha Lennon said in surprise as he took in the large group. "Where's Eve?"
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Okay I am off to Hawaii in, like 3 hours so here is a VERY early (and small sorry!) update because I will be honest and say the chances of me updating within the next two weeks a extremely small. So consider this an early christmas present lol (I will update before christmas it's okay).
Anyway.... cya later guys! I'd really really like this story to hit 1M and I'm not sure when that's going to happen but I'm super excited for it to happen. :)
PLEASE COMMENT AND VOTE :) Have a nice two weeks I love you all xxx