The wind howled and whipped at my hair as the sun made the dew on the green grass sparkle. If there wasn’t a feud going on, I would’ve mistaken this as a perfect day for the beach.
Tightening his grip on my hand, Christopher mumbled. “Are you sure he’s going to come?”
I nodded. “I’m positive.”
“How?”
I looked at my mate and gave a tight smile. “Because he claims that he loves me.”
I could see an uneasiness settle on Christopher. “Did you ever love him?”
I cracked a smile and shook my head. “Of course not. I saw him as a friend I guess, but-“
“Diana, I thought we had something special.”
A shiver ran down my spine as our heads snapped to a well dressed Paul wearing a smirk while a girl my age wore casual clothes stood by him. She kept her eyes locked on me and a snarl was threatening to take the place of her scowl.
And that’s when it snapped into place. That girl was his mate.
“Paul, I want you to stop the attacks.” I stated confidently.
Paul wasn’t looking at me, but at Christopher. They were both exchanging looks of anger and hate.
“Why should I?” He questioned. “I told you what would happen if you stayed with this pack!”
“I left but you still attacked! You lied to me!”
His eyes snapped to me, looking taken aback. “Diana, I know what I promised, but I-“
“I told them to attack.” The girl said nonchalantly. “Might as well get them out of the way.”
“Diana, that girl is crazy. Look at her eyes.” Christopher whispered, and he was right. Her eyes held the look of a deranged woman who had lost everything. She was a pure rouge.
I swallowed hard. “You were kicked out of our pack, right?”
She nodded. “Yes, so I had my mate here kill them.”
“Sophie.” Paul warned.
“Why were you kicked out?” I asked. I had to know the reason why she had my family killed.
She smirked. “Because I proved the elders wrong. They didn’t like the truth. They’d rather live in ignorance. So they had me kicked out.”
“So you had to-“
Her form began to shift and her bones began to pop. She was shifting. And when she was done, a large gray wolf took her place.
Paul looked at her and nodded before facing us again. “I’m sorry Diana, but I must kill you now. Sophie told me to.”
My eyes widened in fear as he began to shift. I wanted to run and hide. I couldn’t do this. What had taken over me to decide that I would take care of him?
But I had to protect my pack.
Christopher’s wolf stepped in front of me. I hadn’t even realized he had shifted. ‘Diana, you need to shift. Don’t be afraid, I’ll protect you.’
I nodded and began the process. I ignored the pain shooting throughout my body though. I could only focus on Sophie and Paul staring at me with hungry eyes.
When the shift ended I stepped beside my mate.
‘We will beat them, right?’
Christopher nodded. ‘Of course, I’d never-‘
Christopher was cut short by Paul lunging at him with his claws extended. He dodged him but still got a small cut, so he charged Paul. They immediately began to fight.
‘Christopher!’
A growl from behind me grabbed my attention. I quickly spun around to be tackled by Sophie.
She pinned me down while snarling. I could see the evil glint in her eyes. She wanted to kill me.
I used my paws to slash her chest, which was a huge mistake. She instantly bit onto my shoulder, causing me to howl in pain. But instead of finishing me, she jumped off.
Something wasn’t right. She would’ve killed me. She would’ve-
Another howl escaped my lips as pain surged through me. It was so devastating. It felt as if my body was burning from the inside.
A moment later Sophie penetrated my mind and began to speak.
‘Do you see what’s going on? You can’t win. At least, not against me. See, my army of rouges taught me a trick to win against any wolf opponent. Right before you fight another wolf, outline your teeth with silver before you leave the house.’
I could feel her snicker in my head as my blood began to run cold.
‘Oh come on, why do you look so…dead? I didn’t bite you hard enough to inject you with enough silver to kill you. At least I didn’t do it yet.’
I had to focus. I had to fight back to protect my mate and pack.
I slowly stood, wobbling as I did so. It was as if I had just shifted for the first time.
‘Wow, you really want to die fast. Well okay.’
She tackled me again but this time we rolled. And when the rolling stopped, she began to swipe at my chest with her claws.
Reacting, I bit onto her paw just as it was coming down, resulting her to howl. But that was all about I could do in my state of pain. And then, it happened. She used her paws to pin down my own, and I knew it was the end for me. My life would come to a stop and I would lose to Paul and his mate.
My head fell to the side as I got ready for Sophie’s snarling jaw to clamp onto my neck and end me. From my position I could see Christopher winning against Paul as he had him pinned down while he bit onto him.
I had to say bye. I didn’t want him to find out that I died while he continued to fight.
‘Goodbye Christopher. I love you.’
Christopher’s form froze and he turned to me. When he saw my position, he quickly jumped off Paul and charged for Sophie. But he wasn’t going to make it in time.
I closed my eyes, preparing for death and thinking things over. I wouldn’t have pups with Christopher, and we wouldn’t grow old and wrinkly together.
I wouldn’t be here.
Sophie’s snarling was close to my ear until it vanished as well as her weight. My eyes snapped to see a wolf tackling her and tearing her to shreds. But the strange thing was, Sophie’s face was contorted with so much fear it was as if she saw a ghost.
Someone nudged me, and I turned to see my mate. My eyes widened as my head snapped back to the wolf who was attacking Sophie.
Paul?
He kept pounding and snarling and swiping at his own mate. She kept whimpering, begging him to stop. But he didn’t.
Soon her body fell limp and a crimson red surrounded her.
Blood.
Paul breathed heavily and turned to me. I could see fear and sorrow in his eyes.
He slowly stepped towards us, but Christopher stepped over my body in a defensive position while releasing growls. Paul just froze and gave me an apologetic expression before running off into the forest.
Paul. I actually felt sorry for him.