Chapter 24
Abellon swiftly hopped over the fallen log that was blocking their path and then reached back over to help Rosaline who stumbled slightly. When she was over he kissed the top of her head before they continued their walk. They've been walking for a while now and darkness was trying to break through into the sky. They were trying to soak up as much from the sun as they could before the chilly night came and they had to be back soon for Abellon feared for Rose's safety with it only being them two, even though he could easily protect her from any force that wished her harm, and so he took hold of her hand and they made their way quickly to their destination.
Finally coming onto the meadow Rosaline let go of Abellon's hand and walked into it while running her fingers against the flowers upon the ground. Looking around she smiled at seeing the fireflies that were beginning to make their appearance. One came close to where she was and she lifted her hand out where it landed on the back of her hand and tried to crawl up her arm before she brought her other hand around and scooped it up. The firefly traveled around her left hand before going to the tip of one of her fingers and like the ladybug it flew off to join the others. She smiled as she watched the scenery and then jumped a little as a pair of warm arms wrapped around her from behind before a gentle smile crossed her lips and she snuggled into Abellon's hard chest.
"Beautiful isn't it?" She asked him quietly in fear that if she spoke to loudly then she'd scare the fireflies and the small critters that were scavenging around away.
"Mmhm" he hummed as he buried his nose in her hair inhaling her scent before moving downwards where his lips were close to her ear. "But, not as beautiful as you. Nothing could come close or compare to you. It all dims when you are near for your beauty outshines it all." He whispered before kissing her upon her pulse.
She shivered and turned around in his arms, going onto the tips of her toes she gave him a kiss on the lips.
"You are quite charming you know?"
He grinned and leaned down to capture her lips in a passionate kiss. She moaned as he deepened it and raised her arms to around his neck. After a few minutes Abellon pulled back to look at her glazed eyes and smiled in satisfaction. Rosaline pouted and he kissed it away before pulling back and grabbing her hand once again to drag her to the center of the meadow where he sat down pulling her into his lap. They sat in silence and watched the wonderful view that looked as if it belonged in a painting. Rosaline had her head laid against Abellon's chest as he combed his fingers through her hair.
"What's it like being a werewolf?"
The question has been playing in Rosaline's mind lately. She was curious of exactly what all of the benefits are of being one, not that she ever wanted to turn. Of course she's seen the obvious out of them and she wanted to know what else they could do.
"Well" Abellon started, a little surprised by the question. "our senses are heightened which means we can see better, smell better and hear better than humans which you've probably noticed. We're stronger in both our human and other form. We are not allergic, or however you want to put it, to silver or wolfsbane. It does not weaken us when we are near it or touch it. The only weakness that we have are our mates." He stopped and smiled down at her before continuing. "I've already told you how me and Rhyvos are able to control our change while the others can not. I do not know exactly why this is but I figure it's because we are above the others. We are kings. Well, Rhyvos is king and I once was. I won't say that it's impossible for the others to change though. There are certain...remedies...that can turn them but they would have no control whatsoever over their wolf form and can end up hurting a lot of innocent people. Anyways, we can eat anything. Our stomach can digest pretty much everything short of concrete." He laughed and Rosaline giggled.
"How does it feel to turn?" She asked staring at him curiously.
Abellon furrowed his eyebrows and looked off into the distance. "We feel the transformation in our skin first. It's like a sort of burning sensation that seems to penetrate to our bones. From there, some bones would stretch while some would shrink. It would feel a bit as if the middle of our bones were heating up. There's some pain, I'm not going to lie, but it's there for only a minute before it's all over and you're in your other form. Your instincts would want to take over however with difficulty and much concentration, except for the older ones, you can hold on to your human self."
They sat quietly listening to the crickets begin to chirp before Abellon picked her up and sat her to the side then stood up. Rosaline looked up at him in confusion and he grinned.
"Would you like to see my other form?"
Her eyes widened when he asked and she bit her lip nervously. Her last experience with seeing Rhyvos's other form didn't turn out well and she knew that both father and sons form had to be the same.
"Uhh...I don't know."
A frown came onto Abel's lips before it was replaced with a small smile and he squatted in front of her taking her hand.
"This won't be like last time."
He leaned forward and kissed her lips before pulling her up to her feet. She stood there nervously as he went a little distance away.
He turned back around to her with a grin. "You can watch if you're really curious."
Rosaline raised a brow before her eyes widened as he began to strip off his clothes. She turned her head even though he said she didn't have to and the sound of Abellon grunting reached her ears and without thinking she turned to watch as he transformed into his other form. It was almost horrific to watch as his bones shifted and hair grew out through his body then he began to grow. She took a step back out of shock and didn't know whether to find horror out of what she was seeing or a certain kind of beauty in it. He looked no where near the Abellon she knew and a hint of fear spiked her veins for she didn't know what the creature that now stood in front of her would do. In the place of Abellon stood exactly what you would think a werewolf should look like and it looks just as how Rhyvos's looked. The beast was breathing heavily and it shook out its fur before sniffing at the air. Rosaline took another step back and it's head whipped around to look at her. She stopped and waited in bated breath as the beast came forward on all fours towards her and lifted its nose to her face sniffing before going lower and smelling around her body. She held still letting it do as it pleased before it moved back up to the area where her neck and shoulder met and nuzzled it before licking. She unconsciously shivered and brought her arm up and wiped her sleeve over the area. The beast stood in front of her with what she could only describe as a grin on its dark face.
Hesitantly she reached out and laid her hand upon the fur of its stomach, since it was the only area she could reach up to being that her head only came to his hips, and ran her fingers through it. The werewolf went back to all fours and brought its head to her chest where she brought both of her hands to rub the back of its neck. The fear she felt earlier was gone and she smiled as a sort of strange purr came from him as she rubbed his neck which was so big that she couldn't fit her arms around it even if she tried. The werewolf rubbed its head against her chest then used its neck as if it was trying to put its scent upon her and she laughed when it tried to use its body and she ended up on the ground. The thing huffed and flopped down beside her and laid its head on her stomach. She reached over and pulled its ear and it licked her hand.
'This is way better than the experience with Rhyvos's wolf.' She thought as she looked up to the sky to the several stars that were now showing as she ran her hands through the beasts fur listening to its purr.
All was quiet except for the sound of the critters moving around and a owl off in the distance. It was all relaxing and Rosaline had her eyes closed feeling herself begin to doze off until the sounds stopped. Furrowing her eyebrows she opened her eyes and looked around. There was no animals in sight and it looked as if the fireflies have disappeared as well. Looking down at the beast who's head was still laid upon her she watched as it's ears twitched and he raised his head from her looking around. He sniffed at the air and began to growl. She didn't know what was going on so she only watched as he stood back up to his back feet and looked around with his back hair raised. He moved around growling and turning every which way as if he was expecting something and she stood up and took a step towards him only for him to come back to her and nudge her with his nose. He kept pushing her into the direction they came and she looked at him confused. He growled and pushed her again making her stumble back almost falling.
"What are you doing Abel? What's the matter?"
She tried to ask him but he turned his head back around growling when the sound of something crunching filled the air. Rosaline whipped her head in the direction to see a man slowly come into sight. She would have thought nothing of him, only a hiker who must have gotten lost, if it wasn't for the armor he wore and the gun that hung at his side. More sounds of crunching began to travel to her ears and she looked to see men slowly come from all around and her eyes widened in shock and bewilderment. They came out from behind trees and bushes and made their way towards them with weapons pointed directly at them.
She immediately felt fear.
She should have known something was wrong. Why does something bad happen every time after something good?
Who are these people?
She cringed as they came closer and she took a couple of steps back before looking over to Abellon who was facing them but glanced over at her quickly and growled as if telling her to run before looking back. She didn't know what to do for she was to scared to use her ability and didn't even know if it would work and so she stood there frozen for a minute before having enough sense to finally turn around and run while hoping that Abellon would follow her example. But, as if fate was playing a game against her, she tripped getting a mouthful of dirt and slamming her knee badly in the process. Her heart was pounding against her chest and not wanting to look weak she got back to her feet only to stumble back to the ground and wince in pain. She looked down and noticed that there was a nasty cut on her knee and blood poured from the opening and looking over she saw a sharp rock pointing up from in the ground and she cursed. Looking over her shoulder she froze when she noticed that Abellon didn't even try to follow her instead he stayed where he was baring his teeth and growling at the men who got too close. She was still close enough to barely hear anything said and her ears strained to hear when what looked to be a man who must have been the leader stepped forward with his hands raised.
"We don't want any trouble." He said and Rosaline had to resist the urge to scoff out loud. If they didn't want any trouble then why were they carrying weapons pointed at them? "All we want is the girl."
Rosaline sat there, not believing her ears for a moment until Abellon gave off a deadly roar towards the men and she knew that she had to have heard right.
They are here for her.
She scooted across the ground to a tree and leaned against it before using it to help herself up. She whimpered when she put pressure on her leg only to feel a piercing pain. Grunting she looked around the tree to see Abellon pacing by the beginning of the path not letting any of the men through not that it would make a difference since they can go straight into the trees. Limping away from the tree she tried to get as far as possible but her escape was cut off by a hard grip onto her arm and she yelled out only to have a hand close around her mouth.
"We are here to help you, girl. Try to cooperate and not make a damn scene." Came a whisper into her ear. All that came from her was a muffled sound as she tried to get out of the mans grip. His arms tightened around her and she shook her head back and forth. Opening her mouth wide she managed to sink her teeth into him and he gave a sharp cry before pulling her hair to keep her from running.
"Why you-" He didn't get to finish his sentence for he was slammed in the side onto the ground by Abellon who began to maul him. The sound of gunshots rang through the air and Rosaline tried to wimp away only to be stopped once again only this time by Abellon's beast which nudged her to get on it's back and she did without even thinking and took a firm grip on his fur as he took off running on all fours towards the castle as gunshots went off behind them. She buried her face into his back to hide from the stinging wind and she tried to calm herself.
'I almost got kidnapped again' she thought and had an insane urge to laugh. 'Is this the third or fourth time now? I lost track. Who knew I was kidnapable?'
Rosaline's thoughts were cut off when she felt herself land on the ground roughly. She moaned and looked up when she felt nudging against her side and a whine. Abellon stood above her looking between her and the way they ran from. Looking around she seen how they've made it to the bridge and she grunted when the beast used his nose to turn her over. She closed her eyes and tried to think of something else except for the pain coursing through her leg. The sound of another grunt caught her attention and she opened her eyes only to see Abellon now standing over her naked as the day he was born. She gasped as she looked him over before finding it in her to cast her eyes away only for them to go back to...that area...and she could feel herself blush. Abellon reached down and carefully brought her into his arms making sure not to move her around so much before he began to sprint to the castle.
"I'm sorry." He said as he glanced down at her. "Is it just your leg?"
She could only nod. She was a little speechless with Abellon who was in his birthday suit running with her in his arms like a white knight towards the castle. The sight that the two probably made could have been hilarious.
Rosaline tucked her head into his shoulder when Abellon charged forward and busted through the castle doors using his shoulder and quickly ran in. He went straight for the stairs and ran up them so fast that Rosaline felt as if she should be scared that they'd slip and fall down them where she'd most likely die or get life threatening injuries.
"Rhyvos!"
He yelled out as he sprinted down the hall to Rhyvos's office with her still clutched to his chest. He kicked open the kings door and looked around only to growl when Rhyvos was nowhere in sight. He looked down at her before going down the hallway once again. Rosaline didn't get a chance to really look around when they entered the building being that Abellon was running so fast but now that he slowed down slightly she noticed how they passed guards who rushed passed them with determined looks and servants who passed them with nervous ones. Did they already know about the men with guns? Before she knew it they were entering the library where men in suits stood around speaking amongst themselves with some arguing. She looked at them confused on what exactly they were doing and then noticed that they were the men from the meetings she used to go to. What were they doing here?
"Rhyvos!"
Rosaline jumped a little at Abellon's booming voice near her ear and reached up to rub it while he gave her an apologetic look. Looking around she noticed that Rhyvos was right in the middle of the men talking with them as if he was trying to calm them down. Abellon made his way towards him and Rhyvos looked up giving his father a nod and then his eyes landed on her and they narrowed.
"What happened?"
"We were ambushed. I think it's the hunters."
"The hunters?" Rosaline asked him confused. He looked down at her and sighed.
"Yes, the hunters. Do you remember when I was telling you about Rhyvos's mother and how she knew about us?" Rosaline looked over at Rhyvos who was now glaring at his father before looking back and nodding. "Her father was a hunter. A a hunter is simply what we call the people who hunt down our kind. I'm not going to go into specifics on how for now but let's say they have the mind goal to annihilate the whole of our people."
Rhyvos nodded and then sighed. "And it had to be today for them to attack my palace when there is a misunderstanding."
Abellon raised an eyebrow and looked around at the men surrounding them. "I'm guessing that there was a miscommunication somehow and the members of the board thought that they were scheduled to meet here today?"
Rhyvos nodded with a huff. Rosaline looked between the two men noticing how they weren't responding how a normal person should respond when about to be attacked by gun carrying werewolf hunters intent on killing them. Abellon didn't even show fear earlier when they were getting away. He simply protected her then grabbed her and here they were.
"Soo...what are we going to do?" She asked hesitantly. They looked down at her with raised eyebrows and looked to each other with a look she couldn't determine. She looked between them in confusion. "Are we just going to stand here or..."
They looked back down at her.
"What?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You can't do this!"
Rosaline yelled at Abellon and Rhyvos's retreating backs from her bedroom door. She moved to chase them down only to have one of the two guards standing on each side of her put his arm out stopping her. She stomped her foot with a growl. "You guys need me! Don't you remember what I did last time? I can help." They ignored her and turned the corner out of her sight. She looked to the two men and begged them to let her go but they only looked forward and stood there like statues. She had the urge to attack them but she stomped down her temper and slammed her door shut before hitting it repeatedly. It's much better than to try and fight a werewolf. Turning around she began to pace in front of her bed. Well, if you can call slow walking as you limp back and forth trying to keep weight off your bad leg pacing. Her hands were at her hair pulling at it and in a sudden rage she grabbed hold of one of her pillows and lifted it above her head to throw against the wall but stopped at what she saw.
Hanging halfway through her window, clad in all black, is a man who no doubt was a hunter. He didn't notice that she noticed him at first but when he did he paused. They stared at each other for a moment and he slowly made his way through the window and stood there waiting for her to react. It took a minute for Rosaline to realize that she was holding her breath and she breathed in and out gradually as to not start to panic. Slowly she lowered her pillow that was still held in the air so that it would look as if she wasn't going to use it and she gave a nervous laugh scratching her head with her other hand while he looked on with a raised eyebrow before she quickly threw the pillow at his head and made a run for the door. She momentarily forgot about her hurt leg and almost fell over but she managed to keep upright and limp her way. Her hand was outstretched for the door handle when she was tackled to the ground leading to her knee bashing against the floor and before the man had time to cover her lips she let out a yelp.
That was all it took for her two guards to come bursting in and growls ripped from their chests when they caught sight of the man on top of her. The man in question gave a deep sigh before standing up and going into a battle stance. Rosaline didn't stay to watch as she used the door to help herself up and limped out of the room. She thanked god that Abellon wrapped up her leg with heavy bandage otherwise when her knee went into the ground it could have made her wound much worse.
She didn't know where she was going at first and the thought to go check on her father crossed her mind but she knew he could take care of himself and decided if she wanted to help than she should be near the castle entrance since its probably where the hunters will try to break through. But, remembering the man in her room she knew that they had another way.
She stopped for a minute to catch her breath from all the hopping she was doing and then continued on to find the staircase. Seeing the railing connected to it she gave out a breath of relief. Going onto her butt she raised her bad leg and started scooting down. It took her forever, and several halls she had to pass, but she finally made her way to the first set of stairs leading to the entrance and she strangely didn't see anyone on her way. Unconcerned at the moment she sat on the beginning step breathing in and out heavily.
'Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all' she thought 'I can't use my damn ability if I can't breathe right.'
Deciding to hop down the rest she stood up and was on the second step when she heard a creaking sound. Her head snapped up to see one of the castle doors slowly opening inch by inch. Quickly she went back up the step to the railings and crouched behind them, even though they didn't give much cover because of the long bars with space between them, and she watched as the door opened enough for a body to fit through and she held her breath as a body wearing a huge black hoodie with black jogging pants and shoes slipped through looking around before slowly closing the door. The figures hood was pulled up and covering the persons head so completely it made it nearly impossible to see their face. Rosaline narrowed her eyes in an attempt to pierce the figure hidden deep within the recesses of the hood, but to no use.
She tried to squash the fear that was residing within her gradually raising with each moment that passed. The hooded figure looked around before reaching for its hood. Once again she found herself holding her breath. She knew that she should have been trying to find her voice and concentrate but she couldn't take her eyes away.
The black hood was slowly pushed away until it left the face of the one person that Rosaline thought she'd never see again. Without realizing it she stood from her spot showing the intruder exactly where she was but she had no care for the person standing below her was no stranger.
"Mum?"
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