Chapter 37 Protect

Erica had never ran that fast in her entire life. Her brain couldn't even think much, her entire thoughts were blinded by rage. Though she couldn't bare to see any of her subjects die, nor could she think she could bare the loss of Loki under any circumstance. She didn't think she would ever recover from such loss. It meant everything she'd ever made memory with when she was a kid, would vanished without a trace. All these thoughts though were not the source of her rage. In fact they were the reason she hadn't gone berserk completely.

Her rage came from feeling so helpless. It took her back to the time when she was bedridden, immobile. It was probably post traumatic stress but it unlocked something in her. She hated the cunningness, the disturbing confidence that dialer held. Whoever they were, she was going to rip them to pieces.

At this point, she'd already gone past her partial wolf form and if she turned a little more, she would have to rip off her clothes and go full wolf. In this form, she was covered entirely in grey furs and her body had reshaped a little bit, she was taller than normal and her back was a little bit more arched. Her face was pointed filled with fangs and the glow had increased.

She pushed forward and at last she could pick up the scents. Normally she'd rush in without any logical plan. The moment she reached their scent range, she paused. She knew none of them would be able to sense her now. She was in synch with her wolf form than any of them and she knew she couldn't just barge in, this was no game, any mistakes and she would die along with all those she wanted to protect.

She strained her ears and she could detect seven different heartbeats. Some of them were closer than the others. Those were probably the ones that were supposed to scout her. One of the ones standing had a laboured breathing, she figured out it was Beatrice.

She switched back to her human form and started to stalk silently, tipping her toes. She found the first of their wolf, standing in front of a tree and peering. She knew the moment she got close he'd detect her scent.

"Hello," she called. Her hands raised.

The wolf turned around, he had a cigarette in his mouth, a convenience that made her smile. She walked towards him slowly as he accessed her from head to toe.

"They were right, you are indeed gorgeous, princess," he said with a snickered smile

"You flatter me," she said.

He walked towards her nonchalantly without guard, "I would have you all for myself if the boss wasn't planning to make a lesson out of you."

"You still can, you know. No one has to know," he was in her range now and she'd brought her hand down a bit, her side was turned to him.

"You think I am stupid?" he asked.

"That is exactly what I think," she replied, grabbing him and shoving her knees between his legs, knocking out both his batteries. He wheezed, doubling down, then she sank her fangs into his neck. He wanted to yell, but her hand was covering his mouth. She shoved his head into a nearby tree once, twice and thrice before dropping him in a thud.

She took his jacket and wore it, putting his cigar in her mouth. She wanted to cloud the other wolves’ senses. It was difficult to actually see each other if you weren't close, so she covered herself in his scent so she won't give herself away.

She walked towards the small barn house in front of her, carefully avoiding the other two guards. They didn't detect anything. She knew they looked in her direction but none of them thought she would be confident enough to walk through, neither did they think she would smell like them.

She reached the barn house and through the window she could see Loki being restrained to a wall by three wolves, while one of them pointed a gun at Beatrice. Loki wasn't resisting much and she knew he could do more than that, but he couldn't because of Beatrice.

"When is your princess coming?" The one pointing the gun at Beatrice, said.

Loki replied with a grunt.

"Or did she flee, leaving both of you? I mean, no one would blame her. The odds against her were high."

Beatrice whimpered, trying to drag herself up.

"Oh, councilwoman. We wouldn't want you getting up," the man said, nearing her and pushing her to the ground with his feet. "What a pity," he made the hysterical laughter again.

Loki grunted in annoyance.

"Don't fret, Demon wolf. You will die immediately after her. The princess on the other hand, needs a lesson in humility."

Erica knew she had to act fast, she couldn't stand rooted to a position for far too long. So she decided on a better plan. She took her phone and called Loki, and as expected, the wolf with the gun picked it.

She didn't think twice. The moment he placed the phone on his ear, she roared as loud as she could into the speaker. Her phone's screen cracked in response.

The wolf got disoriented; he dropped the gun instinctively and held his head. Erica dove in and knocked him to the ground by colliding with him.

"You came?" Loki said as he turned the three wolves holding him into ping pong balls, using them to knock each other.

"Was I supposed to not come?" she yelled as she pinned the wolf to the ground.

"Yes. You protect yourself first."

She got so mad at that statement and it disoriented her. The wolf pushed her off of him and then scrambled for the gun. She chased after him as both of them reached the gun at the same time. They wrestled with it for a while and one of them pulled the trigger. A loud gunshot ran across the barn, blood splashed out and a wolf yelped.

And then there was silence.