39|Compulsion

39|Compulsion
~Serena~

Worry crescendos in my chest as the three wolves move in my direction. They had the eyes of a lethal predator, and I was in their direct line of sight.

Steadying my feet on the ground, I thought of the best way to get out of this situation without hurting anyone. If this guy behind me was telling the truth, they were under some kind of compulsion, a compulsion to mark me.

I can take all four of them down, end them even, but what good would that make? Clearly, something was going on here that was beyond my control. And hurting them would go against my vow of never hurting the innocent ones.

Their movements were slow; their senses were on high alert. At some point, they glance at each other, a silent understanding binding the three of them. The guy on the right nodded, then the remaining two answered with a bob of their head.

My eyes thinned, anticipating their next move. When they crouched in an offensive position, I prepared myself for the worst, but what happened next was something I didn’t expect. A huge brown wolf jumped over me, landing with a thud on the lawn in front of me.

It was the guy behind me. He growled, raking his left front paw on the lawn, bidding the three shifters for a standoff.

I wasn’t expecting this turn of events. The three shifters wavered in their advance, growling at each other in some kind of stimulating howl. The brown wolf growled and looked over his shoulder, his eyes conveying apology for what he had done.

Lost for words, I swallowed hard and gaped at him. ‘Why was he doing this? Was it out of compulsion, or is this what his wolf wanted… to protect me?’ 

“Watch out!” I yelled when a flash of gray flickered in the air. One of the three shifters called his wolf forward and sprinted towards the brown wolf.

The brown wolf’s quick reflexes saved him from the gray wolf’s lethal attack. They grappled onto the ground, pouncing at each other in a flurry of fur, teeth and paws. My heart galloped in my chest when I saw the look in their eyes. Murder flashed in their eyes, aiming to kill each other all because of me. 

Bristling, I stepped forward to pull them apart, but stopped in my tracks when two men emerged on each side of me, sauntering towards me from opposite directions.

I stepped back, looking left to right, shaking my head in disappointment. “We don’t have to do this, guys.”

The guy on the left grinned, baring his yellowish teeth as he tilted his head to the side. “We don’t know what’s happening, but our wolves seemed to be drawn to you, little wolf.”

I glowered. ‘Do they really have to call me little wolf? They haven’t even seen my wolf!’

“You guys know each other?” I asked, stalling them.

“The three of us were just hunting nearby when we smelled the sweetest scent. None of us understood what this was until we reached this cabin and saw you,” the guy on the right said, licking his lips as he eyed me from head to toe.

“She doesn’t look bad, man,” his companion murmured. I glared at him, and his nasty grin widened. “We don’t mind sharing a woman.”

His words spiralled in the air, pushing my buttons. I straightened my spine, looking over at the brown wolf. The gray wolf was overpowering him, and he’d be disabled in a few more seconds if I didn’t make a move now.

“Share me, huh,” I murmured. “But only one of you can mark me.”

“Why don’t you let us worry about that?” the man on the right said. “All you have to do is behave like a good little girl and let us have a taste of you.”

My face turned stoic. These savages need to learn their lesson, but now is not the time. The brown wolf had fallen under the gray wolf. His front leg was broken, and his rear right leg had been twisted in an odd way. He attacked me earlier, but he was under a compulsion. He woke up from that trance, but these three were different from him. They were indulging in whatever spell they were under.

“Sure, I’ll let you have a taste of me if you can catch me,” I called my wolf forward. Smoke bellowed from my skin, my bones cracking as I took my wolf form. Like every other wolf that had seen my white one, their mouth hung open, and fear coasted in their eyes.

I threw a last glance at the brown wolf. He managed to escape the gray wolf’s claw when his opponent gaped at my wolf.

I growled, hissing at the two men on each side of me. My eyes conveyed what my mouth couldn’t utter. ‘Catch me if you can.’

They called their wolves forward. Before they could fully shift, I was already running towards the treeline. 

I released a heavy sigh when three sets of paws echoed behind me. Twigs broke, and trees rattled as the four of us pounded our paws on the forest ground.

I was faster than most wolves. In fact, my senses were much sharper than any werewolf I had ever encountered. I don’t call it perks, but a curse of being a white wolf.

Knowing these woods so well, I ran around the forest, conjuring a plan in my head along the way. Alpha would know what was happening to me, but he was too far, and I might attract more wolves if they could scent me. So I headed in the direction of Alpha Seth’s safe house. 

It took me about an hour to get there. Like a thief in the night, I shifted in my human form and gathered whatever clothes I could from the clothesline in the houses on the compound.

I don’t know how far those three wolves are behind me, but I know they were still on my trail. If they could scent me from a mile away, they could follow my scent anywhere.

There was only one man I knew who could possibly help me, and I just hope that he was still in Alpha Seth’s safe house.

I reached the safe house and barged in through the back door. Clint was in the kitchen. He frowned, his eyes glowing silver as soon as he saw me. Hunger coasted in his face as he scanned me from head to toe. The shirt I snatched from the clothesline was too huge for me, its hem brushing the middle of my thighs.

I mentally groaned, walked past him, and headed to the living room, where I found Alpha Seth. His frown told me that he wasn’t immune to whatever this scent was on me, but he had more control over any other wolf.

“Where’s Alpha Oren?” I asked, my agitation growing inside me as fast as a wildfire.

“I’m here,” he answered from the second-floor stair landing, worry quickly blanketed his face.

“Please tell me you know what’s happening to me, Alpha,” I said, sounding like a helpless child.