Chapter 36 The dialer

Before the sound of the gun would reach her ears, for whatever reason, she'd already sensed the incoming danger. It was the first time in her life she would feel that way. Everything seemed to slow down, she could hear her own heartbeat thumping in her chest.

By the time she'd hear the gunshot, she'd already stopped dead in her tracks and she could feel the bullet wave coming towards her, like a ripple in a water tank. The bullet permeated through the air, whistling silently as it swished towards her at an incalculable speed. She arched her back, bending backwards as she watched the bullet miss her by an hair's breadth, burying itself into the tree beside her.

She paused, unable to catch her breath as another shot rang from the darkness and she dove sideways, scrambling behind a tree to take cover. She gasped, catching her breath silently. The spur of the moment and the yearning to survive, was the only thing keeping her from crying. This was her first time ever being the target of a gunshot. She didn't know what to do. She tried to gather her thoughts and think, but another shot rattled the air beside her.

The way she'd perceived that bullet earlier was nothing short of superb and thinking about it gave her a little morale. She just needed to know where the shot was coming from. Another shot rang through the air and immediately it did, she charged her cover, diving for the next tree bark while glancing at the far distance with her glowing eyes. She detected the man's signature immediately.

They were crouching beneath the base of a mahogany tree with a very long gun. She hid immediately behind the second tree as another shot fired. There was no way she was going to condemn herself to death here.

Lena? she called.

“Little One”, the wolf answered.

“What should I do?”

“You are the Luna of Dunham pack, sure you can disarm a gunman”. Lena replied.

“Very helpful. “

She exhaled and decided to brute it through. Normally, as a wolf, if the bullet was not tainted by wolfsbane, it would take more than two dozens of shot to kill her and that would probably be due to blood loss. If tainted by wolfsbane, a well placed shot and she is down.

She took off her black leather top, then threw it in a different direction, and the shooter took the bait, firing at the empty clothing as she ran towards the other direction, heading for the shooter. Her wolf speed, currently blinding. She knew even in herself that this was the fastest she'd ever run in her entire life. The will to live shattered her limits.

Gunshots made their way towards her twice, but both missed, probably due to her speed. She found herself face to face with the shooter who abandoned his gun immediately, flicking out claws readying to take her on.

Erica was blinded by more than will now, she was also furious. She lunged at him, the latter couldn't even dodge. As her speed was just unnerving, she slashed at his chest with her claws. He screeched in pain. She didn't let the screech leave his mouth when she delivered a jaw breaking blow to his mouth with her fist. He dropped to the ground, silent.

She held her hand to a tree gathering her breaths. This was probably the scariest she had been in a while. She looked at his gun, but she knew she couldn't use it, so she just left it alone. She staggered into the darkness trying to make her way towards Loki.

She hadn't walked more than a few minutes, when her phone rang. She picked the dialer hurriedly and placed the phone her ear.

"Hello," she said.

"Hello, princess," an alien voice said. "I see you managed to take down Illias."

"Who is this?" she asked, her head almost flying off.

"The man who just killed the Demon Wolf," he said. "I am also about to kill a member of your council. Though, I doubt she will last long anyways. She was shot in the thigh and she is losing so much blood." The dialer ranted.

"Let them go!" she commanded, even though she knew it would have no effect.

"Oh…" he chuckled for a while. "Because I called you princess, you think you cam throw orders around?" he laughed. The sound of his laughter was like an eerie cross between an hyena and a crow.

"I don't care, just let them go."

"No… no.. no, my liege. This is a game we have to play with caution and precision," he answered. "I have your friends in the palm of my hands and I could just kill them off at any time."

Erica exhaled, confirming that Loki was still alive. Though she never believed him, even when he said it. She just knew she could feel him breathing. She would have known if he'd died, she was sure of that. "Then why are you calling me? Do you need permission?" she replied, rage overcoming her fear.

He clicked his tongue, "Princess, how feisty. My sources described you as timid. But it seems they were mistaken." he said, then continued. "This is what is going to happen, princess. I am gonna give you ten minutes to locate us. Or else one of your friends dies."

"So you didn't kill the Demon wolf like you suggested," she said.

"Come on, if I kill him, who is going to roar for you to come. Your other friend is as good as dead," he made an eerie laughter again.

Erica didn't reply, she gritted her teeth.

"Once you are here, princess," he said with extreme seriousness. "We will take you all down, in one fell swoop and leave your body to rot in the wild."

The dialer dropped and almost immediately, Loki's roar followed.

She glanced up. She didn't even stop to think before running headfirst in that direction. From the roar, she knew Loki wasn't hurt, but it seemed Beatrice was already close to death's door. She wasn't going to lose her friend when she was this close to saving her. She let out a roar of her own to let them know she was coming.