Chapter Seventeen
1174 Words
I left the ruined town behind, following the worn dirt road winding through the valley. The smoke and devastation still clung to me as the village faded behind me. The forest grew along the valley walls, cloaking me in, and I traveled alongside the river.
“Why are the rogues doing this? Why now. Where did this rebellion come from? And who was behind it, if not my father?”
The sun was setting by the time I had cleared the valley, the long rolling hills giving way to standing solid mountains, rocky peaks topped with distant snow, and pine trees towering above me. My wolf was restless; she needed a run. I needed to eat and rest. But she couldn’t be trusted. If somehowcommunicating. Losing my wolf was painful, but where Hunter was concerned, we were doomed to disagree.
In the distance, I could see a mountain town. Fear stuck. Fear when I thought about Alloa and what I had seen there. But I could see the lights flickering and see the smoke rising from many homes. Here, I could find a bed and a meal for the night. The streets were busier than expected; people wandered home after a day’s work, and food scents filled my senses. Tall street lanterns cast a warming glow on the cobblestones, and flowerboxes decorated the windows of the two-story cottages that made up the area. I could stop for a while; this place felt safe, and my stomach rumbled in agreement. A couple walked towards me, holding hands and laughing at one another. My heart ached to see when they noticed me; they smiled and nodded. I stopped by the couple.
“Is there an inn nearby?”
Talking to people was a risk, but after walking so far and not eating since the morning of my wedding, I couldn’t miss another meal.
“The rumbling giant’s just down the street to the left of the square. You shouldn’t miss it.”
The warm smiles should have comforted me, but instead, it filled me with dread.
Will this village be next?
The rumbling giant was a hive of activity. Patrons were drinking and playing cards, and people were and the exposed wood and comfy patched booth were chatting by the bar as the barmaid whisked around the tables faster than my groggy mind could keep up. I sat in one of the corner booths, the exposed wood and comfy patched booth comforting me.
“What can I get you, honey?”
I hadn’t noticed the barmaid’s approach, but with her curly ginger hair and her apron, she seemed as lovely as her inn.
“Bread and a strong drink, please.”
She looked down at me with pity, her kind eyes taking me in.
Gods, I must look like s**t.
“I’ll fetch you some stew, butter bread, and plenty of fresh tea. One of my girls will put you up a room and a bath for the night.”
I immediately started to protest, saying that it would be too long in one place. But a warm bath to soothe my aching bones and a comfy bed would feel like heaven.
“Thank you for your kindness, but I can not stay.”
She shushed me, turning away.
“Stop, hunny, I won’t say I didn’t help a wayward sole; the soot on your clothes tells me you’ve seen enough today. You pack light and are exhausted; I know a girl on the run when I see one. You will be safe here; we are beyond pack laws.”
My eyes shot to hers.
How did she…
Her expression softened.
“You are not the first wolf to cross my door. I don’t judge a person. But’d give you a little heads up if you’d take it?” I nodded my head for her to continue, “Don’t show these folks your nature; a lot of good folks died in Alloa, and they’re looking for someone to blame.”
I listened in the inn far longer than considered polite, hoping to find some clue about the rogues or why they were doing this. But all I heard was hate, very powerful hate. People were mad, hurt, and destroyed by the events of the next village. Some had called it cursed now. One voice repeatedly boomed above the others, an older, burly man. Build like a brick wall, and a balding head shows some scars.
“I say it's time to skin the wolves. Hunt them at their own game. They butchered those farmers; who will they decide to turn on next?”
A circle of murmurs and dull agreement.
“Your room is ready, miss.”
The barmaid’s daughter – or it must be with her shining Firey hair like her mother’s me out of the booth and up the stairs at the back of the room.
“Maw said it wasn’t safe for you there any longer, and we ought to take you up. Only she knows how to spot wolves, but if Jack gets wind of you, he strings you up. Maw wouldn’t have that.”
My heart softened for these lovely people and their forgiving nature. I don’t think I would have been as welcoming if the circumstances had been different.
I was in bliss after an hour of soaking in the lavender bath and a further half an hour brushing half the forest from my hair. The bed was stuffed with goose down, and the warm fire crackling in the hearth had me falling asleep quickly despite everything I thought would keep me from sleep.
The screams ripped through the night—endless screaming, suffering, the flames consuming everything in its path. I couldn’t help them as the wolves tore them apart, ripping them to shreds and leaving nothing in their wake. I couldn’t even move, only watching as they fell individually. People ran only to be chased down. Children screamed for their mothers; couples were torn from each other.
They’ll all die. That voice. NO.
“They’ll all die, Serina; everyone the rouges will come for them all. You cannot save them. You cannot run from me; there is nowhere to hide.”
Hunter
He was before me, the fires gone and the screaming stopped, his hand around my throat and those golden eyes bearing into mine. “You cannot fight this, Serina.” His lips crushed against mine, and my traitorous body responded to him, the fight instantly gone from me. His hands moved to my waist, and mine tangled in his hair.
Stop fighting Serina.
I awoke in a mess. The fire had died in the night, and the first rays of dawn were lighting up my little room.
No Hunter, No rouges. Everything is okay. It was only another nightmare.
But the large claw marks scoring the door had me pausing. My wolf would not make those marks, and she seemed as weary as I was. Someone had been in here in the night as I slept.
- Writer
