Chapter 49

From when my paws hit the rain-sodden forest ground, it was not long until a group of four rogues burst through the trees. And without pausing, they went straight into attacking us. In a flash, Reid was fighting two of the shaggy mongrels, and both me and Dane had one each of the two that remained.

I blocked out what was happening around me, choosing to solely focus on the filthy, feral wolf in front of me. The ugly fucker had some of its teeth missing, and patches of scabs littered its mangey body. It was evident that this wolf did not take care of himself and got into a lot of scraps. His wolf was slightly smaller than Beaux, which was a huge advantage for me.

We began to circle; him looking for a way to lunge at a vulnerable spot of mine, whilst I watched for which paw he favoured, how nimble he seemed and everything else that runs through your mind at a million miles an hour in a situation like this.

The dull brown wolf suddenly dove at me, trying to catch my hind quarters, but at the very last second, I stepped out of the way so that he fell right past me. It went on like this for a few more times, all so that I could tire him out physically and get him angry; an angry wolf makes mistakes.

Beaux was itching to get things over and done with, to tear this motherfucker apart, but strategy was more important. I did not know how many wolves were hiding on the territory that we were going to come across and I needed to make it through this fight with the least amount of trauma as possible.

Once the male was huffing and puffing, and struggling to keep his emotions in check, I went for it. I leapt at him with all my strength and speed, aiming straight for his neck. I managed to lock my jaw around a large section on the side of it and flawlessly pulled him down with me as I rolled, using the motion to help maximize the damage.

The death roll was one of my favourite moves to use when in Beaux’s true form, just like a crocodile would do with its prey.

As he was pulled over the top of me, I heard his flesh begin to tear away. And by the time I stood back on all four paws with a large piece of him still held in Beaux’s mouth, he had finally come to a stop, motionless on his side with blood pouring from the gaping wound that I had left.

The coppery taste in my mouth sent me into a frenzy; I was itching to find more wolves to fight, and the adrenaline rush was giving me the energy to do so. I dropped the lump from my mouth and my tongue darted out, licking at the sticky blood in the fur around my muzzle.

I turned to face Reid and Dane, both of which had already killed their wolves and were purely focused on me. My lips quivered as I bared my teeth and snarled at them, the remainder of the blood dripping from my mouth, most likely making me look as savage as the mindless rogues that lay dead at our paws amongst the squelching mud and fallen leaves.

Gunner padded over to me, his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth as if he was trying to prove that he was an ally and no threat to me. He rubbed himself along my side, trying to soothe my wolf and it worked; she was almost purring at the contact from her mate.

I managed to gather my wits and throw my weight to the side to push him away, not wanting Reid’s comfort during his bit of temporary insanity when he decides to play nice with me. Instead of seeking reassurance and comfort in some conflicted pillock, I started to trot away towards the boundary that Beaux could sense.

As I weaved through the thickness of the woods, I could hear the two large wolves padding closely behind. All of three of us moved quietly with our ears pricked; we were on high alert and were ready to protect ourselves from anyone else that was lurking nearby.

My fur was soaked within minutes of changing, and every now and then I stopped to shake out my coat, making water drops fly from me and my fur to stand on end in spikes. And not to dis myself, but thanks to the rain, the smell of wet dog invaded my nose like it was the nicest and strongest smell on the fucking planet, which it very much is not.

It was like the woods had come alive tonight; there were noises from the scarpering animals that had sensed the incoming new threat. Owls hooted from the trees above, their wings pushing air all around them as they took flight and whistled as they soared. Dead leaves rustled and twigs snapped for miles around us.

The scents in the woods had changed; the rain had soaked everything which had made it smell deeply of musty, damp earth. It all seemed so fresh, reminding me of all the times that I had run through the woods back home in Moonlight territory, even the solitary running memories surfaced and had me smile.

As I listened intensely for other wolves, I could hear each and every rain drop that landed on the leaves in the trees, then fell and landed on the ground, gently tapping each time but a thousand times over every second.

Suddenly I felt homesick; the smile was quickly wiped from my face, and my stomach tumbled around as a deep need to run back home swept through me and rattled my nerves raw, but I kept heading for the invisible border with the intention of helping instead. Beaux wanted to howl to the moon for her friends and family to find her, but I managed to convince her otherwise, that it was not safe for any of us if she did.

We carried on ducking low-hanging branches and swerving around foliage that was too thick to pass through, tiptoeing as we went to prevent making as much noise as possible. Within ten minutes we were approaching the sound of battling wolves, and the tension around Reid and Dane increased.

At the sounds of growling and fighting, a buzzing feeling beneath my pelt started, and the need to kill was magnified. Both Beaux and I were dying to charge the rest of the way and assist, but anyone could have been lurking, so we carried on at the pace we had already been going.

When we finally reached the treeline and were able to see the carnage, the fighting was well and truly underway and from the looks of things, we had arrived not a moment too soon. The wolves from Bloodmoon that had been on patrol were severely lacking in training and badly losing; many dead bodies littered the grounds.

Reid and Dane dove straight into things, but I stayed back watching for a few seconds. I noticed that some of the wolves that were not from Bloodmoon were not scraggy, fugly feral bastards; they belonged to a pack somewhere. I tried to scent them from here to see if I would recognise the pack scent, but the rain had amplified the smell of wet dog and not much else was discernible from here.

Unexpectedly, a wolf appeared in front of me. I had time to notice that it was not one of the rogues before it pounced on top of me, instantly going for the kill by trying to get at my throat. It managed to get a feeble grip, not enough to cause anything apart from superficial wounds so I dropped to my side, bringing it with me. I landed on top of it, pulling its teeth from my fur and we went into a series of tumbles and rolls together through the soggy mud, each of us trying to win over the other by snapping our jaws and clawing as much as we could.

We only came to a stop with the other wolf on the floor and my jaw secure around its throat, slowly clenching tighter to end its life.

Without warning, I received a mindlink, something that I have not had since I was pulled away from The Moonlight Pack territory, ‘Olivia? Beaux? It's me, Alex from patrol back home. We're here to rescue you and the others.’ Alex’s human voice wheezed as he fought to breathe, his wolf doing the exact same.

The shock of it being a wolf that I know had me release him and step back.‘Alex, is it really you?’ I was too shocked to think of anything else to say to him. I knew that the injury that he had received from me was too much for him to heal and ever come back from and I felt sick at what I had done.

‘It is. I don’t blame you, you know. Just leave me, that way it isn’t really your fault.’ His breathing kept faltering, getting worse as each second passed by.

‘But it is. I’m the one that did this to you.’ I could barely speak to him; the guilt was tearing me apart.

‘I didn’t give either of us a chance to figure out who the other was, I just attacked. So, if anyone is to blame, it’s me.’

I watched as the light in his eyes was going out, and the movements of his chest became smaller and less frequent, until eventually, he just stopped.

‘I’m so sorry.’ I sent him one last mindlink at the very last second, hoping that he heard it before he passed on to the garden of the Moon Goddess’s children.