Chapter Eleven
Baine is disgusted as he looks down to the bottom of the hill and finds a town full of puny humans.
Dane next to him shivers with repulsion.
“Please tell me we are not going down there to consort with those humans.”
Carl acts as if he is sick to his stomach by the thought of it.
“Knock it off, both of you,” Baine says.
Baine continues to survey the area and sniff the air. He would bet his life that they had passed by here, but with all the mixing of scents, he is not a hundred percent sure that they are down there.
They can hear the noise that is coming from the small town. It was a mixture of laughing and screaming. Maybe there was a torture chamber down there and they were punishing these humans for fun. Baine smiles at the idea.
“Baine, what do you want us to do?” Dane asks.
Baine continues to assess the situation; when he finally looks over to Dane, he sees his brother just waiting for a command, while Carl is playing with his lighter and is entranced by the fire.
Idiot.
Baine rolls his eyes and says, “Shift.”
The guys smile as they shift into their wolf forms. Baine chooses to stay in his human form, just waiting for a clue to fall into place.
***
Gabi is frozen with fear with she hears a howl in the distance.
Crap. They’re close, too close.
Renn pulls Gabi out of her fear and starts directing her to head in a different direction from the forest. They would have to stay closer to the water, keeping the town in between them and the forest. Renn is betting on the fact that Baine would never come into town because that would risk him coming into contact with a human, and more than likely Baine would kill them, drawing more attention to them then they want.
In the distance, they hear the sound of thunder and the crack of lightening. Purple clouds are coming in quicker than normal, but with the weather change, that might be the perfect interference they need to get a head start out of town and away from Baine and his cronies.
***
Baine throws Carl up against the tree and holds him by the neck as Carl whines and tries to scratch and bite Baine to put him down.
“You idiot, you let them know we are here. Now we no longer have the advantage,” Baine spits out at Carl.
He launches Carl across the forest behind him, and a moment later, he hears a crash and a yelp.
“You didn’t have to throw him so hard, brother,” Dane says to him.
Baine looks over to Dane and growls, “Would you like to be next?”
Dane lowers his head into submission and stays quiet.
“That’s what I thought.”
They hear the sound of thunder and crack of lightening. Baine groans in disbelief.
Now it is going to be harder to get their tracks or scents with the rain. He knows that once they heard Carl’s howl, they would stick to staying close to town and not head into the forest unless they had no other choice.
Think Baine. Think.
He hears a whine from behind him as he sees Carl limping back to him.
“Next time, you might not be able to get up,” he threatens Carl.
Carl lowers his head into submission and waits for Baine’s next command.
Another crack of lightning flashes through the sky with a boom of thunder this time, closer and louder. The rain starts to come down in a heavy down pour.
Baine, frustrated with the situation, lets out a blood curdling yell as another boom of thunder hits. As he tries to get a handle of his temper, he knows there is nothing else to do but wait out the storm.
***
As the rain starts to hit harder, Renn and Gabi quickly look for a place to keep them dry and safe for the time being. In the distance, Renn finds what looks to be an abandoned barn for them to be able to seek refuge.
They run to the building and quickly go inside, shutting the large door behind them and locking it. At least they’ll be safe here for the time being.
Gabi finds a spot behind a huge hay pile and starts to strip out of her clothes. She opens her bag and grabs another pair and quickly gets into them as she starts to shiver. When she walks out, she catches Renn in mid undressing with his bare back facing her. She holds her breath as she looks at his muscular back and exhales once he has put on a new shirt. He turns to see her standing there.
“Here, we need to lay these clothes out so they can dry,” Renn says to her as he grabs the clothes from Gabi and sets up a clothesline with some rope and hangs their clothes up.
Gabi is still chilled by the rain and starts to rub her arms to generate some heat.
“Unfortunately, we can’t start a fire, or it might give them a clue to where we are,” Renn says.
Gabi nods and continues to move around to warm up. Renn looks around and finds some thick blankets and goes up to Gabi and wraps one around her.
“There, that should help a little bit.”
“Thank you.”
He smiles and steps back as he wraps the other one around him. He walks over to the hay pile and jumps up on to it. Gabi follows and sits next to him.
“So, that was some event,” Gabi says as she tries to make small talk.
“Yeah, I never knew humans could act that way.”
“I couldn’t believe how nice and welcoming they were. I was so glad to see that they all had gotten to safety after their run in with Baine.”
“So, they were the ones that you got in trouble with Dyrk for.”
Gabi rolls her eyes and continues, “You saw for yourself they are not all evil like we have always been told. Not one of them was mean to us or even tried to kill us.”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not out there. The Lumineers know what we are, and they’ll stop at nothing to kill us all off,” Renn says to her.
“Yes, I’m fully aware of that. But we have been raised to hate all humans. Just like they were raised to hate all werewolves. But we are not all evil.”
Renn sighed. “No we are not all evil. But that doesn’t mean we can change everyone’s point of view in one night. The rules are there for a reason.”
“But what if it could be different? Can you imagine not being isolated within the clan and to be able to go out and see the world and interact with all sorts of different people?”
“Is that how you truly feel, Gabi? That the clan and the village is a prison?” Renn asks.
She looks at him with tears at the brim of her eyes.
“Renn, I can’t transform into a wolf. We might have to face the reality that I might be human and do not belong with the clan.”
Renn gets angry, hops down from the hay pile, and starts to pace. “That is utter nonsense, Gabi, and you know that. Both of your parents are from the wolf lineage. There has to be a reason this is all happening.”
“What?”
“I don’t know. Something magical. A curse! Gabi, maybe you are cursed for your mom leaving the clan when she found out she was pregnant with you. Maybe we will find the clues we need to help you remove the curse, and you will be able to transform into your wolf, and we can go back home, beg for mercy from Dyrk, and hopefully, with a little help from Mori and Oka, we won’t be killed, and we can go back to our normal lives.”
“Renn—”
“No, I will not lose you to some humans!” he yells. “Now, it sounds like the rain is letting up. Grab your things, and let’s move.”
She nods and starts to collect her things.
Renn lets out a sigh as he makes his way to the clothes that are hanging on the clothesline. He didn’t mean to yell at Gabi, but he was not going to lose her and have her walk away from the clan and out of his life forever. He will do what needs to be done to keep her in his life.
He just can’t see life without her in it.