The rescue
914 Words
The black SUV tore through the winding mountain roads, its tires screeching against the asphalt as Kaelen pushed the vehicle to its limits. Maya sat in the passenger seat, her knuckles white as she gripped the door handle. Behind them, two more vehicles filled with Blackwood warriors followed in a tight, lethal formation.
"We’re ten minutes out," Kaelen said, his voice a low, vibrating hum of suppressed rage. His hands were clamped so tightly on the steering wheel that the leather groaned. "Elias has already neutralized the scouts near your mother’s shop. We’re going straight to the house."
"Kaelen, you have to let me go in first," Maya pleaded, her voice trembling. "If you show up looking like... like this, you’ll give her a heart attack. She thinks I’m at a research site. She has no idea monsters are real."
Kaelen glanced at her, his golden eyes flickering with a sharp, protective light. "There are Red Moon wolves in those shadows, Maya. I am not letting you out of my sight."
"Then hide your eyes! Control the growling!" she snapped, her desperation giving her a burst of courage. "Please. Just let me get them into the car safely."
Kaelen grit his teeth, but he took a deep breath, visibly pulling the beast back beneath the surface. "Fine. Two minutes. If you aren't back at the door by then, I’m coming in through the wall."
As they pulled onto the quiet, suburban street where Maya had grown up, the contrast was jarring. The lawns were neatly mowed, and children were playing in a sprinkler three houses down. It looked normal. It looked safe. But Maya could feel the prickle on her skin, the same sensation she’d felt in the woods. They were being watched.
The SUV slid to a halt in front of the yellow house. Maya didn't wait. She bolted out of the car and ran up the driveway, her heart in her throat. She didn't use her key; she pounded on the door.
"Mom! Chloe! Open up!"
The door swung open, and her mother stood there, a wooden spoon in her hand and a look of pure confusion on her face. "Maya? What on earth are you doing home? I thought you were stuck in—"
"No time to explain," Maya interrupted, grabbing her mother’s arm. "We have to go. Right now. Chloe! Get down here!"
"Maya, what’s wrong? You’re covered in... is that blood?" Her mother’s voice rose in a frantic pitch.
Chloe appeared at the top of the stairs, her phone in her hand. "Sis? What’s going on? Who are those guys in the giant cars?"
Maya didn't answer. She saw it firsta flash of movement in the bushes across the street. A man with a feral grin and eyes that were far too yellow for a human was stepping onto the sidewalk. Then another appeared behind her mother's garden shed.
"Inside! Get inside now!" Maya screamed, shoving her mother back into the foyer.
But it was too late. The front door of the shed exploded outward as a massive, rust-colored wolf lunged. Maya scrambled back, shielding her mother, her eyes snapping shut as she prepared for the impact.
The impact never came.
A roar that sounded like a tectonic plate shifting ripped through the air. Kaelen had cleared the distance from the SUV in a single, inhuman leap. He met the Red Moon wolf mid-air, his hands catching the beast by its throat.
There was a sickening crack, and the rust-colored wolf was tossed aside like a rag doll.
Kaelen stood in the middle of Maya’s front lawn, his back to her, his shadow stretching across the porch. He wasn't shifted, but he didn't need to be. The raw power radiating from him made the air hum.
"Get in the car," Kaelen commanded, his voice reaching a frequency that made the windows of the house vibrate.
Maya’s mother let out a strangled sob, staring at the dead wolf on her lawn and then at the man who had killed it. "What... what is he?"
"He's the man who's going to save your lives," Maya said, her voice hard with a newfound resolve. She grabbed their go-bags, the ones she’d made them keep for "emergencies" and pushed them toward the driveway.
Elias and the other warriors had moved in, forming a human shield around the family. As they reached the SUV, Kaelen turned. His eyes were molten gold, and he looked every bit the monster Maya had feared. But as he looked at her, he reached out, his bloody hand hovering just inches from her face, afraid to touch her.
"Are you hurt?" he rasped.
Maya shook her head. She reached out and took his hand, pulling his palm against her cheek, ignoring the blood of the enemy. "I’m fine. Just get us home, Kaelen."
The look of relief that crossed his face was almost human. He nodded, ushering them into the armored vehicle. As they sped away from the yellow house, Maya looked back to see the two other Red Moon scouts being intercepted by Elias.
She was no longer just a scientist or a witness. She was a woman in the middle of a war, and the monster holding her hand was the only thing standing between her family and the dark.
- Writer
