*“I’ve always wanted a human pet.”* The Red Lycan sneered as it announced its intention toward Harper through his mind.
Alex’s jaws clenched. Fueled with anger and grit to protect Harper by any means necessary, he stiffened his stance. Then, a tingling sensation from his shoulder brought him from his thoughts, and he looked up to find the full moon shining glowingly above them.
*“Over my dead body, wolf,”* he silently responded in his mind.
*“Wolf? Don’t insult me, pup.”*
He tilted his head, and the Red Lycan immediately picked up on his confusion.
*“Wolves are helpless in their human forms without the full moon; subjected to the fucking moon goddess’ will.”* The Red Lycan growled. *“I’m a fucking Lycan.”* He sniffed. *“Just like you.”*
“Alex, is he saying something?” Harper asked, seeing how silent Alex and the Red Lycan were.
“Don’t worry. I got this,” was all Alex replied before pain seized his body and made him hiss. Quickly enough, his fingernails extend into sharp claws; his ears pinched; his sharp canines grew, and his thick fur covered his entire masculine body after his transformation had torn his clothing to pieces.
He growled, which cut through the silence of the forest when he finally phased into his gray wolf form.
And for a moment, everything stood still, and the sound and smell of the marsh wash over them.
Harper made a face as she took a whiff of the air. Another bloody fight was about to happen, she was sure of that, and upon realizing this, she quickly took shelter in the safety of Alex’s back.
Despite him being drastically outnumbered, Alex stood unperturbed. He was not gripped by dread as other wolves or Lycans would have been. Hence, when the first wolf approached him, he stood up on his hind legs, grabbed the wolf by the neck, and smashed him hard into the ground – a move that was fast becoming his signature move.
The Red Lycan watched in displeasure as he saw his fierceness and utter disregard of the threat his pack of rogues wanted to impose.
When another rogue rocketed down on top of Alex, Harper took a few steps back, and he demonstrated another move he had easily mastered – he leaped over the wolf and landed on the ground with its head, smashing the beast flat beneath him. He stood over the wolf's lifeless body, growling fiercely at the pack.
However, despite the ferocity and skill he showed, it was not enough to scare the Red Lycan and his rogues off. Moreover, three of the wolves snarled at him and leaped forward, landing a foot away from him when he backed down.
He then leaped off of them and charged at the Red Lycan, only to have ten of the rogues growl and snarl at him, pushing him back. And then, out of nowhere, one wolf gnawed the crook of his neck where Viessa had sunk her fangs.
“Alex!” Harper shouted a few feet or so from behind.
Alex growled in pain, and then another one bit him in his left hind leg. Suddenly, wolf after wolf began to pull back on him until he was being held right in front of the Red Lycan.
*“What a waste of such a strong bloodline, you are,”* the Red Wolf thought.
*“You don’t know me.”*
*“I may not know who you are, but I certainly know what you are, pup.”* He looked around at the savage wolves surrounding them. *“Finish this outsider, then bring the human to me.”*
Alex snarled as soon as he read the Red Lycan’s mind.
Picking up on this reaction, the Red Wolf pulled back his paw and sent it rocketing into Alex’s jaw. *“Impertinent!”*
The impact from the blow hit Alex, and he hit the ground hard. All the breath knocked from his lungs, leaving him unable to move.
*“Shred this insolent pup to pieces,”* the Red Lycan ordered his rogues through their mind-link as before he turned his back and disappeared behind the large tree where he came from.
The wolves smirked, slowly cantering towards Alex, who just got back on his feet – more determined than ever. Five wolves leaped at him, and he hit the ground hard again. He grunted from the impact. He had fought larger wolves in the past month, but these smaller guys were no weakling. They seemed stronger somehow. The Red Lycan alone was much powerful, and it wasn’t until he was at the receiving end of his strength that he figured out he was up against a very powerful Lycan.
Sensing that Alex needed every space he could have to move around to defend and attack the wolves, Harper looked around. She saw a boulder from a distance and figured it was better for her to stay behind it. So, she hurried toward the rock. It wasn’t long when she heard battle growls seconds later. Her head popped out from behind the boulder, and with the uncanny light from the moon, she caught sight of blood on the reeds and sedges nearby.
Alex swung his clawed hand at the wolf that leaped forward, yanking its trachea from its flesh and kicking its dead body away from him. He turned around in time to get a hard enough blow that sent him forward toward the other wolves. They grabbed him and tried as best they could to pin him down as another wolf came up at him, aiming for a kill. But he arched up and, with his impressive agility, wrapped his powerful legs around the wolf’s neck. They tried to stop him by grabbing at his legs, but he twisted and snapped its neck.
The savage wolf dropped to the ground as Alex slammed his head back up against the other one. He dropped to the ground, then swung his claws around, cutting one of the wolves’ knees off in the process, sending a loud screaming cry of pain.
From the boulder, Harper gasped as she watched the wolf’s upper body slid off his knees. She thought her chest vibrated when the beast roared at Alex in anger. It was at this point when she saw Alex was grabbed by another wolf that was larger than him and attempted to bite him as the rest had tried. But Alex quickly elbowed the wolf, saving his neck in time.
Harper let out a sigh of relief. Looking at the wolves, she couldn't count how many Alex had killed, nor could she count how many he had wounded. But there were still just so many of them. She looked over and, thankfully, didn't see any sign of the Red Lycan reappearing from behind the tree.
Alex grunted as another wolf came up and tried to bite at him. He grabbed its jaw and, in his anger, ripped it open. There was no telling whether he would be able to kill them all, but there was just no way for him to give up and let them take Harper away to be the Red Lycan’s human pet.
*His human pet.*
The thought angered him even more, and he killed another wolf with his sharp claws, but then another one came after him. He barely moved away in time for it not to grab his neck, but its claws still grazed his arm. He quickly turned around and grabbed it by its neck with one hand and clawed at its belly with his other hand. Blood and gore spilled out as his claw had gone through the center of the wolf’s stomach and right up through his throat.
More angry wolves attacked him with their claws and sharp teeth. They roared and came after him. He heard the howl that the larger wolf roused in his voice. He knew right then that he was pulling every wolf he could reach. As the remaining wolves took their stance in unison, for the first time, it made him panic for a moment.
There were still more of them, and his deep wounds were starting to slow him down. He needed at least a full day to regain half of the strength he lost.
Seeing how the remaining wolves, most of them injured and wounded, held off, Alex had sensed more formidable wolves a mile away. He contemplated if this was the right time for him and Harper to take off as fast as they could. Considering his current state and the number of enemies he had to kill, running was suddenly the most logical thing for him and Harper to do.
And so, with the amount of strength he had left, he leaped over the wolves and swiftly took off.
Harper suddenly heard a growl in the distance. Her head shot up, and when she turned around, she saw a familiar gray wolf running toward her. Her mind quickly understood, and she scrambled to her feet.
She reached out her hand to him, and Alex swung her around and lifted her onto his back without wasting a second. Alex ran away as fast as he could with the rogues chasing after them. They reached an entirely unfamiliar forest, hopping over logs and darting around, bounding ahead on his feet.
Harper looked back over her shoulders and couldn’t believe her eyes when the wolves were still hounding them. Although the forest was thick enough to make it a tiny bit harder for the rogues to catch up on them, there was still stopping them, and the distance between them wasn’t safe enough for Alex to pause to catch his breath.
With all his strength, he didn’t show any sign of slowing down. He wouldn't get caught. He couldn't afford to get caught. So he continued to run fast until, suddenly and unexpectedly, the air and the scenery changed, and something thrust them into an invisible barrier. But instead of stopping to examine what had changed, Alex continued to run.
Unluckily, so were the rogues that were closing in on them.
Then, from out of nowhere, a clapping sound resonated throughout the forest, pulling Alex’s attention to the location of its source. He followed the sound, and it soon brought him and Harper to a gigantic waterfall that looked too mystical under the bright moon.
With walls of stones to their left, the path back to the rogues to their right, the savage beasts eventually cornered them at the edge of a waterfall.
“Alex…” Harper whispered as she stared at the glowing red eyes in front of them.
Alex took a step back, but not a single wolf made any attempt to take action forward. Somehow, they were more concerned about the water below them than Alex and Harper getting away again.
As he noticed this, Alex let out a loud growl and jumped off in a moment of desperation.
Harper yelled a series of curse words as she fell from a hundred feet waterfall while the rogues stood on the edge of the waterfall for a moment. When she and Alex disappeared into the mist of the rushing water, one by one, the wolves left.
Down below, Harper hit the water and instantly went from warm to freezing cold. She tried her best to push herself to the surface, but for someone who could only dog paddle, it was almost an impossible task, significantly when pain surged through her right leg.
“Alex!” she called out. The current was strong, and it was carrying her away. She was shivering in an instant, and her teeth were chattering while she tried to keep her head above water.
She needed to keep her arms and legs moving so she wouldn't sink, but the pain in her leg was becoming so much for her to bear. She knew then that she must have hurt her leg upon impact. She could barely see anything with clarity, but she could feel the water hitting her like shards of ice crystals, taking her breath away.
Using all her will, Harper began to move toward anything to help her stay afloat. But everything hurt, and she was so tired. She was fighting hard, but the current was becoming too strong and her body too numb.
"Alex," she called again softly as she sank below the surface.