His Little Maid

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Licht stared at Lark in absolute fright as his bones began to snap and his body starts to reshape. Furs grew from his skin and his face elongated to form the muzzle of a wolf. It happened in a blink of an eye but to her it felt like watching everything in slow motion. When the transition finished, she gazed at the obsidian eyes of the wolf that was staring at her.

Memories from her childhood assaulted her mind and the familiar paralysis caused by fear snaked along her limbs. But it did not stop her from letting out a scream that woke the whole area.

She trembled where she sat, not even registering that she had fallen. Her knees must have gave out without her knowing, and she just laid there helpless. The wolf growled lowly, but whimpered soon after when she remained in her horror-stricken state.

She stared at it her mouth agape but the constricting invisible force was starting to coil around her neck cutting off her air supply. The gigantic wolf put one foot forward in advance but a strangled cry from her stopped any movements.

Licht wanted to run, or do anything but she can't feel her limbs and the lack of air in her body was making her dizzy. Her eyes were in tears and blurred as dark spots lined her vision. The large animal sensed her distress but every time it moved the more stiff she become until it was all too much and she fainted just as noises entered her buzzing ears.

--

Clara was awoken by a piercing scream and she was jolted out of dreamland. Seating up from her slumber she noted the lack of her friend on her bed. Remembering the fear stained scream that woke her up, her heart thudded violently inside her ribs as terrible imagery flashed in her head. She had always been a scaredy cat.

Shaking the horrible thoughts from her mind, she stood up from the bed outside to inspect where the scream came from. It sounded like it was from the west and she remembered the greenhouse. Licht might have been there. But why so late and what's with the loud scream?

With staggering breath, she clutched her thin dress to herself as the cold air seeped through her skin causing goosebumps to appear. The evening was so silent that every step she took thudded loudly and the sounds ricocheted off the walls giving a sinister feeling.

When she was finally outside, she spotted the said greenhouse, and in that distance she could make out two figures. Squinting her eyes to see better, a loud gasp escaped her lips and she immediately trembled from where she stood.

There, standing in front of a visibly frightened Licht was a bear sized wolf, easily dwarfing and filling the small greenhouse with its presence and cornering the poor girl inside.

At the sight of Licht staggering and slowly falling down the ground unconscious, Clara woke up from her stupor and with a shot of adrenaline from what she witnessed, her feet crossed the distance, unaware of the sounds coming from the house behind her.

Instead, the cowardly Clara saw the urgency and the threat that the monster pose for her vulnerable friend. Looking around she saw a bunch of sticks and stones, she gathered some, using her dress to carry them. When she looked up, and to her horror, she saw the beast moving forward Licht and without thinking, she started hurtling the stones she picked up at it.

"Get away from her you monster!"

She shouted, her feeble hands continuing to throw items held in her clothes. Some of them reached the beast but seemed like it didn't even fazed him. It was still steadily advancing towards the unconscious girl.

Seeing this, Clara took one of the largest sticks in her possession and run towards the beast and attacked its back. It did the trick, seemingly irritated at her disturbance. It turned around snarling at her making her jump back in fright and letting out a scream.

After that the beast then turned back to look at Licht, a slight whimper coming from its mouth. Getting over her fear, she attacked again, this time not stopping even when he tried to bite her, narrowly dodging the enormous teeth. She can clearly see the anger in its eyes but she stood her ground and continued to wave the stick to its face.

"Get away!" She said, "Go away!" She repeated.

Reaching its limit, the angry wolf howled and locked onto her as it charged. The usually slow Clara anticipated it and barely get out of the way by side stepping out of its way, landing on her side and grazing her left shoulder.

The momentum carried the wolf far away from the entrance of the greenhouse and it gave her the opportunity to get to the girl. Clara huffed as she stood up from the ground, the effects of adrenaline slowly leaving her system but she held on.

She made it to the prone form of Licht, a relieved sigh escaping her lips as she heard the soft breathing of her friend. She made a move to carry the much larger girl but to her haste she didn't notice that the large wolf was in front of them.

She fell back in shock, Licht's body toppling over her, knocking the wind out of her lungs and trapping her down in the ground. She looked through her chest, to a livid beast. His eyes turned into a golden hue, froth forming in his mouth and its sharp pointed teeth was showcased with its lips pulled back in a snarl.

Clara audibly gulped as the fear finally made its way down her whole being, adrenaline completely leaving her system. The time felt so slow as she watched it move its leg in preparation for a pounce. When it moved all she could do was close her eyes and scream, thinking to herself that she should have had confessed to John before dying so pitifully like this.

But when a few seconds trickled by and there was still no stinging pain from being mauled by an overly large wolf, she opened her eyes in apprehension, her arms trembling while putting it away from the defensive stance it took.

When she could finally make out what's happening, she was rendered mute from shock. As John, Jake and Andrea wrestled the beast into submission. But they were clearly having a hard time containing it as it snarled and bit into them, thrashing wildly. Worry filled her head as she watched the spectacle but before she could voice out her thoughts, a commanding voice filtered the air.

"Stop it, Lark!"

Clara watched as the older woman came nearer and placed one of her hands on the back of the wolf's neck. Putting extreme pressure on it, though one could see the thin layer of sweat forming on her brows when the animal refused to listen.

Clara continued to stare until something clicked in her head. 'Lark?'

Maris pushed down more as her arm transformed a bit to latch on to the neck properly exerting some of her force into it. "I said calm down! Can't you see your mate is unconscious and you're scaring poor Clara too! Do you want them to leave?!" the older woman shouted, and as if her words reached something inside the wolf, it suddenly stopped thrashing around making the three holding it down to give a sigh of relief.

Clara watched transfixed as the huge wolf started to shake and a loud sickening sound of bones breaking filled the air. Each bones sticking out in a weird angle caused a shiver and disgust to crawl upon her spine. And when the transition finished to reveal a very nude Lark, Clara can't help but let out a choked response.

The noise alerted the other people in the room, especially John who quickly blocked her view of the naked man. "Get him some clothes!" she heard him barked out in an angry voice. When he looked at her, his eyes were a deep black that scared the living daylights out of her.

And coupled with the overwhelming things that happened that night, she can't hold on to it any longer and she finally succumbed to the call of the darkness, but not until she could faintly make out the fearful gaze of John. And then she joined Licht in the land of dreams.

--

Licht groaned as the black haze of her mind starts to fade and the faint sounds of arguing filtered through her ears, though it was incomprehensible to her due to the slight buzzing in her head. She had a hard time opening her lead-heavy lids and she groaned, feeling the soreness of her body.

Her movements caused the conversation to die down around her as they waited with bated breath for her to wake up. When she finally opened her eyes, she was greeted by a very familiar ceiling of her and Clara's shared room. A dancing light of orange and red bathed the room from the warm glow of the fire place. The only source of light for the dark room.

Through the silence, she could hear the crackling of burnt wood as they succumbed to the flames. Still feeling a bit disoriented, she tried to remember what happened, and the last thing she knows was that she was speaking with Lark inside the greenhouse. Threatening to leave him.

A sound of shuffling clothes alerted her of the other people in the room. Mainly Maris who was with Lark beside the fireplace and John who was knelt down beside a sleeping Clara, whose hand was cradled preciously by the former.

She shot out of the bed to sit when memories assaulted her, only to fall back down again due to a sudden rush of lightheadedness. The action caused the man to rush down to her, cradling her head. And she winced at the accidental contact of his hand to the forming bump on the back of her head.

Lark adjusted his hold while saying "I'm sorry." Repeatedly with a sorrowful and guilty expression. After the pain subsided, Licht remembered the events leading up to this and she struggled within his hold. At first, Lark reacted by tightening his hold on her but after a few more minutes of struggling, he surmised that he was the cause of her distress.

Licht eyes turned to the once proud man, currently looking at her pitifully. Something tugged at her heart when she saw that but utterly dismissed it. She should not feel for someone like him. A monster in human skin.

She glared at him, her mouth forming a scowl. He received her stare straight off, trying to show how remorseful he was without saying anything. She sneered then her eyes turned to the old woman she had looked up to as a second mother during her stay in this house, the look in her eyes showing how betrayed she felt.

She didn't need to see, she already understood that these people are all the same.

Then she looked at John, "Get your hands away from her you monster!" She shouted, causing him to snap and snarl at her. She was taken aback from the guttural sound and the murderous look in his eyes.

"Don't tell me what to do, bitch." He replied, his eyes darkening. Then in a sudden flurry, John was being pinned to the wall by Lark, surprising Licht and shocking her to silence.

"How dare you, talk to my mate like that." Lark said venomously, his hands a vice around John's neck and the other man fought him off by swinging his elbow on Lark's face, connecting with his face and giving John the chance to slip away from his death grip.

Snarling, Lark replied with a punch to John's stomach, then he pushed his head to his knees. A painful crack can be heard throughout the small room. Then chaos begins as the two starts to brawl with each other. Punching and kicking with their strength.

Licht could only watch in horror as two fought it out, shocked that Lark stood up for her as well as confused from hearing the familiar word, remembering the weird guy asking her about it. Her musing was cut short when her ears picked up the telltale sign of Clara waking up. Ignoring the mess of the two fighting men, she hurried to the other girl's side to protect her from the raging guys.

The confused, barely awake Clara could only look at the bloodied mess, though it was clear that Lark was overpowering John, who was limping a bit on his left foot.

"Stop this nonsense right now!" Maris shouted at the two men who stopped mid swing. They panted as they staggered to stand straight. Maris pinched both their ears, which was pretty impressive considering her much smaller stature compared to Lark and John. Both women looked at her in amazement.

"Now did you get all those anger out of your system?" She asked them, and they both nodded their head. She hummed in approval before fixing her eyes on the two frightened ladies huddled together.

"Good. Now you can stop scaring your mates before they really leave you." She finished before freeing them and stepping away for them to confront the elephant in the room. They gulped audibly, tongue-tied not knowing how to start.

Licht's ears perked up at the word again, feeling that it was something important and can explain their abnormal reactions.

Maris sighed. She did not picture telling them like this. She turned to look at the men, then back to the women. "If you have any questions, they are going to answer all of it honestly." She started, staring intently at the two girls eyeing them with distrust.

"I know this is hard to swallow, but trust us when we say that we are not here to harm you." She pacified their fears but that only seemed to fan the flames on.

"Not harm us? Bullshit, that guy just transformed into a big animal in front of me. How is that not harmful?" Licht said without a stop, her breath labored after the emotion filled statement. Clara nodded beside her, having witnessed the transformation as well.

It was straight out of a horror movie but they both knew it was real. "Why did you hire humans? Are you going to kill us?" Clara asked fearfully remembering all of the horror films she was forced before to watch by the other kids in the orphanage because they knew how a coward she can be.

Maris sighed again, stopping herself from rolling her eyes at that cheap bit. "I just said we won't harm you right? And you've been here for months and we never did." She said exasperated. It was silly, but she had to tell herself that humans were always silly. Refusing to comprehend that other beings existed with them and anything that's more powerful is always a bad guy and a threat.

"Don't lump us with monsters on a horror film. We have morals young lady and we proved it to you during your stay here." Maris continued, "And will you just explain to them and not stand there like some cat got your tongue." She reprimanded the two man, both hands on her hips.

Lark cleared his throat, he sighed deeply and closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were calm and blank betraying nothing of what's he's thinking or feeling. He let some of his Alpha aura to envelope the two human not to intimidate them but to assure them.

"It may be hard to believe but we are definitely not going to harm you." He clarified once again, relieved when the two girls visibly relaxed when they came in contact with his power's presence. It was something unique to all Alphas, because natural born leaders should not only be gifted in power but also in proving their members safety and warmth.

Maybe it was cheating but at least he is ensured that Litch's ruffled feathers are smoothed down. It will help in making them understand easier. He continued when he saw them nod their heads, there were still apprehension in their eyes but they were more perceptive and less wary of them.

With a signal nod from Maris, Lark started to explain to them. "I think it's already clear to you that we aren't humans. We're werewolves." Lark paused to see if they have any reaction, but besides Clara trembling beside Licht, the latter was simply staring straight at him. A pang of longing and desire shot up his heart as he faced those eyes.

He can see uncertainty in them but they were wavering, the same look of longing was being desperately trying to suppress. And despite not being fully mated, he can still feel some of her feelings that are more apparent. It is something that gave him hope that his mate will accept what he really is.

"We have been peacefully living besides human for a long time now. And if we're going to be more accurate, your kind usually are the one who persecutes us. That's why we've been acclimating ourselves with you." He continued. "So it truly isn't in our mind to harm any of you. You were simply hired by Maris to be of help in this house. Nor did I planned to tell you what I am that way." He confessed with guilt, then he waited for them to say anything.

Licht and Clara were silent for a few while. Licht was still weighing their words, but against their actions she knew, they were telling the truth. However, it did not change that were not humans. Something has been bugging her mind now for a while though and she decided to voice out her question.

"What does any of this have to do with you not wanting me to leave." She looked at him dead on, wanting to know why he cared enough to make her stay. Even at the expense of exposing their secret to them. Then suddenly the familiar word rang loud in her ears. The same question asked by that man.

"Does this have to do with being mates?" She asked and when she saw him stiffen, she knew she was right. But what does that even mean?

A tense silence enveloped the room, Licht watched the three share knowing glances and she turned her head to a very confused Clara, squeezing her hand to ease the other girl's anxiousness. The sound of deep breath snapped her vision back to the three figures in front of them. She waited with bated breath for their answers.

"Yes it does." Lark affirmed her question, a small smile tugging at his lips. "And you probably don't know what it means." He paused to take a step near them before kneeling in front of her, with John doing the same for Clara.

The two girls were befuddled with the strange action and the mischievous glint in their eyes. They huddled together as if to shield each other, their heartbeat increasing as both men revealed what they meant to them.

"It means you're my soul mate." They said at the same time, surprising them. Licht blinked her eyes, doubting what she just heard. "Soul... soul mate? As in?" She asked dumbfounded before a pink hue decorated her cheeks. Of course she knows what that means, but maybe it meant another thing on werewolf language? She hoped.

When he nodded, Lark can't help chuckling at the flustered look on her face. A sudden burst of courage and ego enveloped him and he teased her by going nearer and she responded by letting go of Clara and shuffling backward before the headboard stopped her.

She felt caged, but instead of fear there was something akin to excitement flooding her system. Still she tried to look for a way out, she roved her eyes around only to find Clara was also in the same state at her.

"Okay, calm down Licht, it's probably not true. They're tricking you!" She told herself. Something like soul mates don't happen in real life. Do they? "Tha- That's not true. Why should I believe you? What's your proof?" She stammered in nervousness.

Lark c****d his head to the side as if to think. And then he reached out to cup her face gingerly, the sparks quickly flying off inside her body. Igniting a flame inside of her. She stiffened as the feeling made its way on her every nerve endings.

"Is that proof enough?" He asked in a whisper, his voice deeper than usual ans she can see how his eyes turns darker and darker. She gulped, feeling her throat parched and she was having a hard time breathing due to the shock.

"Relax, breath in and out." She could hear him say and she obeyed, feeling the numbness go away. He was rubbing her back and making small circles at the back of her hand. Making her breathless again.

"Worse." She bit out. "You're making it worse." She had a hard time saying it, his presence was making her system overload. The feeling of loss was immediate when he moved a bit to make room for her to breath.

When she calmed down enough to make coherent thoughts she seek her friend who was in the verge of passing out. Since John was all over her and Clara definitely can't handle her emotion right now. So with conviction she said, "Please give us some time to think about this."

She looked at him again, willing for him to understand. "Alone." She added and Lark nodded his head before motioning for Maris and a hesitant John to follow after him.

But before the door closes he turned back to tell them one last thing. "Werewolves are very possessive creatures. Don't do something reckless." He warned them and then they were left alone to themselves.