Chapter 42

The feeling along Lola’s spine suddenly got much worse and without knowing exactly what she was doing, she abruptly dove to the right. As soon as she did, something came hurtling past her. She had no idea what it was, and in her haste to get out of the way, she didn’t get a chance to look at it. All she knew was that it was big. Very big. And fast. Wind tugged at her overly large cloak as it went past. She fell off the stone bench and rolled across the ground. She heard the thing, whatever it was, splash into the pond. Ripples radiated outward and disrupted the calming reflection of the moon and stars she’d been staring at for the last few minutes.

Fortunately, she wasn’t badly hurt or anything. She busted her right elbow on the stone bench on her way down but the pain was already starting to fade.

She got up from the ground and tried to locate the monster. It didn’t take her long. It was standing in the pond with the water coming midway up its four legs. A massive wolf's head glared at her through amber-colored eyes. A snarl rumbled out from its throat and its lips were pulled up to show off rows of wicked-looking fangs.

It was a werewolf.

She didn’t recognize the creature but the look in its eyes definitely suggested it wasn’t friendly. She moved around to put the stone bench between her and the werewolf. As she did, the wolf’s growling got louder and it continued to track her with its eyes.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Lola asked.

As if in answer, the wolf slowly started coming toward her. Lola wasn’t sure what to do now. She was alone. There were no guards. And in her quest to find a quiet place to think, she had unwittingly offered herself up to this monster on a silver platter. Her mind went through numerous scenarios inside her head, each one furiously trying to give her a way to escape. She thought of everything from screaming her head off to turning around and trying to run. It didn’t matter though, because she knew the inevitable conclusion to each of those scenarios.

Her death.

And she envisioned each one as more painful and grotesque than the last.

The werewolf came close to the pond’s edge, putting it less than four or five feet away from Lola. She kept her eyes on it the whole time, not even daring to breathe.

“Leave now,” Lola tried, hoping to talk some sense into the thing. “Leave now and you can stay alive. I am warning you, if you hurt me or kill me, Russel will never stop hunting you.”

She hated having to rely on a threat like that, especially since she wasn’t 100% sure it was true. There was a good chance it was, considering everything they’d been through together over the past several weeks. He’d fought a lot tougher monsters to protect her but those had all been in the heat of the moment. How would he react after the fact, when she was already dead and gone? Would he actually be so enraged he would track down this wolf like she just threatened? She thought he would but then again, despite the fact that she loved him, she couldn’t help but feel a tiny nugget of doubt sticking in the back of her mind.

The werewolf didn’t think much of her threat anyway. It burst out of the water in an explosion of spray that pelted into Lola, making her flinch. The next thing she knew, she felt a massive impact to the left side of her body and then she was rolling across the ground. She didn’t even have time to react, even with all her training.

Fast. Way too fast, she thought to herself, as she struggled to get back up and suck in breaths of air. The force of the hit had knocked the wind right out of her.

She put a hand on one knee and was bent over, still feeling like there was nothing in her lungs. Not only that, but her left arm hung down like a limp noodle. It was clearly broken but the shock of the attack made the pain a distant, far off experience.

The sensation along her spine happened again and she jerked upright. That caused her broken arm to move slightly and this time, she actually felt sharp pain blast through her shock. She cried out but started moving at the same time. The werewolf was barreling down on her, ready to jump and land straight on her back, claws itching to bury themselves deep into her flesh. She didn’t need the sensation along her spine this time. She could almost feel the weight of the wolf’s presence on her mind. It was a dark, looming presence and felt similar to when people get the weird feeling someone is watching them, only much worse and a lot more terrifying.

She forced her tired brain to remember her training. The words Russel spoke and the moves he taught her, however, came through disjointed in her panic. If she could just get away for a few seconds, she could pull herself together. Maybe get a moment to think and figure out a way to escape this werewolf.

Another flare of sensation along her spine made her suddenly dart to the side and not a moment too soon. The werewolf went flying past her but part of it still connected with her. The force of the blow, even though it mostly missed, was still enough to send her careening across the lawn until her body slammed into the trunk of one of the little park’s trees. She let out another cry of pain. The werewolf heard it and immediately swung its head back toward her, its eyes locking on again. Once more, she struggled back to her feet but now her ribs were screaming in pain along with her busted arm.

No matter how much training Russel gave her, it wouldn’t be enough. She started understanding that now. Still, she was up and wasn’t dead yet so there was still a little bit of hope.

“All right,” Lola gasped, a thin trickle of blood coming out of the corner of her mouth. She tasted the coppery flavor of blood on her tongue. She spit it out and then glared at the werewolf. She raised her good arm and beckoned the thing. “I’m right here. You want to kill me then let’s go!”

She laughed, somewhat deliriously. Her head was ringing and her arm and ribs were killing her but even so, she wasn’t about to give the wolf the satisfaction of seeing her cry or collapse in fear. She’d been through too much and fought too hard for that.

“You want to kill me, then fucking do it!” she screamed out, the words flying out of her mouth in a roar of anger.

The wolf stared at her and then its body started to twist, warp, and distort as it changed back into its human form. The fur all along its body fell off and its fangs were pushed out and dropped to the ground. Long, flowing brown hair seemed to erupt out of its head and the canine features to its face sucked back in and disappeared. In less than a minute, a naked, bare-breasted woman of feral beauty stood there, watching her with an amused look in her eyes.

Feral, recognizable beauty.

Lola knew the woman. There was nothing in this world that would ever make her forget her face. She was one of Drake’s minions. One of the werewolves he brought with him to slaughter everyone in her village and burn it down.

“You,” Lola snarled, her hands clenching into fists.

The woman strutted forward, hips swaying. There was a cruel, vicious smile on her face. Her hands were still tipped with claws and she pointed them at her.

“It looks like the gods are favoring me tonight,” the woman said, her voice low and weirdly sexual. “I make it into Oclan without too much trouble, get past all the guards and soldiers this pathetic kingdom has, and then what do I find? The very person I am here to kill just sitting right out in the open.”

She took another few steps forward, her eyes brilliant and golden-yellow.

“Drake wanted to be here himself but unfortunately, these Oclan cunts have a hardon for him so he sent me instead. Not that it matters but I am Nora. It’ll be a pleasure killing you today, Lola Tarnvol.” The woman took a bow.

Lola didn’t care anymore. She didn’t care that yet another werewolf was trying to kill her. Didn’t even care that she would most likely be successful. In those moments, the only thing she felt was a white-hot, inferno of rage swelling up inside her. It pushed away her pain. It shoved her fear away. It even forced all rational thought out of her head.

The only thing left was a massive desire to rip Nora’s head off.