The Half-Wolf's Choice

Chapter 6: Submit!

The howl struck a chord in me. I recognized it somehow instinctively.

Cayden Veil.

“Come out, Marcus!” His voice boomed all around, carried by some supernatural amplifier, “We have you surrounded, courtesy of the Marlow Police Department.

“Ha!” Marcus Silas threw his head back, “a bit juvenile bringing the police into this, don’t you think, Veil?”

Silas’s voice boomed the same way Cayden’s did.

“Not to mention that this is a bit out of their jurisdiction…as well as yours.”

The Alpha let go of my face and headed out the door, the rest of his pack followed and left me behind. They were out of sight but I could hear them clearly. My new powers returned now that Silas’s focus was no longer on me

“You attacked me in my territory two nights ago, Silas, I’m just retaliating. And I want you to give her back; she doesn’t belong to you.” I heard Cayden say.

“I know you’re young, Veil, but even you know the ancient laws about to whom the Bitten belong.” Silas hissed. “I bit her! She has changed because of me. Her wolf was born because of me! She is part of my pack!”

“I know the law,” came the reply, “I also know that you bit her on my territory. The humans of Marlow live under my protection, just as the humans of Hollowton live under yours. And if they are to be bitten by a foreign wolf, I’m sure you would feel the same as I do.”

“Feelings have little barings on how we do things, little pup!”

“Oh, so it was a higher power that told you to invade my territory to expand your own, not because you felt like it? Does the Moon speak directly to you, Marcus?” Cayden mocked.

“The Moon Mother dictates her will through our instincts and blood, Veil! Or do you mock Her as well as our laws?

This is crazy! This is crazy! I need to get away from these nutjobs. Whether or not I’m delusional I’m clear about one thing: both of them are dangerous and I need to get clear of them immediately.

I strained and struggled against my bindings, my flesh burned like a bad rash each time but I was determined. I had to get away. My survival, my future, my freedom depended on it. Nothing was more important.

“I mock whoever gets in my way and fails repeatedly,” Cayden taunted. “How long has it been since you started this war against my pack? And how many times have you failed to gain even an inch of what belongs to Moonveil?”

A blood curdling roar ripped through the air followed by a dozen more. The scent of wolves thickened and I guessed they had transformed.

I needed to leave. Now!

“Claws,” came a whisper in my head.

I froze. Had I heard that?

“Claws!” it chimed again, with more urgency this time.

The voice was rough, primal, as though spoken from the voice of an animal. The image of the wolf in the mirror popped into my head.

“Claws! Cut! Claws! Cut!”

“Okay!” I hissed back at the voice…the wolf.

Outside I could hear the fighting had started. There were howls, roars and gunshots. I didn’t have time to question anything, I just had to trust the voice and get out of here before either Cayden or Silas came for me.

I focused, picturing the claws that I had seen grow from the other wolves’ fingers.

Snap!

The ropes snapped loose and I rubbed my raw wrists…and paused when I saw that my nails had indeed become claws. Sharp and pristine. Now doubt they could slit someone’s throat with ease. The thought was terrifying and sickened me to my stomach.

Another roar pulled me out of my stupor and my claws shifted back into human nails. I pulled off the binding around my legs and bolted out the back exit into the woods.

It was midday but heavy storm clouds cast a dark shadow over the woods. The smell of rain was in the air.

Good. It would make it hard for them to track me.

I ran as fast as I could, which was so fast that I tripped and tumbled over half a dozen times, my legs unfamiliar with the speed. But I kept going.

I debated whether I should head back to my apartment and get some supplies. But that didn’t seem wise seeing as both Cayden and Silas knew where I lived. I would just have to run as far away from Mercury Valley as possible, stop at an ATM for cash and then keep going.

“Back!” the wolf-voice whined in my head. “Back! Turn back! To him…must go. To him!”

“What! We just got away from him! Why on earth would we go back?”

I was going insane; I was arguing with a disembodied lupine voice in my head. If this thing was part of my subconscious then it was doing a bad job by telling me to turn around.

“No, not…Alpha Sire. Don’t like Alpha Sire. Must turn around. Must be with…Fate. Must…help…Fate.”

It was like talking to a three-year-old. Only I think a toddler would make more sense.

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to say but we need to get as far away from here as possible. We can’t -”

Suddenly something knocked me in my chest and I went flying, flipped over and landed on my back. I heaved as the wind was knocked out of me, gasping for breath that refused to re-enter my lungs.

“Going somewhere, half-breed?” asked a venomous female voice.

Wheezing, I got to my knees and got a look at my assailant:

She was tall and athletic, dressed in black leggings and hoodie. She had dark curly hair and deep brown eyes. She could have passed for an ordinary jogger but her scent told me otherwise.

She was a wolf. And a powerful one. I don’t know how but I just knew. I could smell it. Hear it. Feel it

“Away from you people,” I hissed as I got to my feet. “I want nothing to do with this and I’m not even important to whatever it is that werewolves do.. So just let me go.”

The woman sighed in frustration. “I wish I could let you run away, but unfortunately my Alpha gave me strict orders to bring you back to him at all costs.”

My blood boiled. The way these people spoke about me like I was some…object! I wanted to rip them all apart. Against all my opposition towards violence all I wanted was to see blood.

“No. don’t fight!” howled the wolf in my head, “Don’t fight! Don’t fight! Don’t fight!”

I pushed the voice somewhere deep down where she sounded muffled and far away. This was danger, clear danger, and the so-called instinctual creature that lived inside somehow thought it wasn’t. No, I had to trust myself and not some mystical spirit animal.

“No! Listen!” it called out from far away. But I ignored her.

“You’ll have to take me in pieces because there is no way I am rolling over for anyone!” I growled

The woman gave a small chuckle. The way her eyes crinkled reminded me of Cayden. But I shook the thought from my head. I had to focus.

“You have some backbone, I’ll give you that but you’re still-”

I didn’t give her a chance to finish her sentence; I went straight for her nose, intending to break it and blind her for just a moment. It was the first rule I learned in self-defense class when wanting to escape someone.

However my fist connected with the tree behind her.

I gasped. My eyes widened in shock. I hadn’t even seen her move; one moment she was there and the next she was gone.

Before I could even look for her I doubled over in pain, kicked in the stomach. I flailed around and hoped to hit her but my wrist was caught and twisted. I screamed in pain, looking up at the snarling woman.

“I’d rather not bring you back to my Alpha bruised and bloodied. So stop resisting and come quietly.”

“No. I am no one’s object!”

I tried to strike her again but she caught my other wrist and twisted it as well. She then threw me to the ground.

“Yes you are!” she snarled. “You are a thrall and that scar on your leg proves it. Your instinct is to submit and obey. No matter how much you fight, you will eventually become a subservient little dog.”

“Shut up!”

I lost it, lost all control and was only seeing red. I was not myself. Or maybe I was more myself that I’d ever been; all anger and rage spilling out through one tiny exit.

I hit her as hard as I could with every ounce of my strength. My fist connected with her cheek in a satisfying crunch.

The women staggered backward. But only slightly. She was not hurt at all…only more enraged.

“I am pure-bred!” she hissed at me. “I have been in hundreds of battles. I have fought hundreds of wolves much stronger than me when I was just a teenager. A half-breed like you has no chance. Give up and save yourself from further humiliation.”

No. I could never give up. I had given up so much in order to restart my life. I left the city I was born in, left everyone I ever knew just so that I could rebuild my life with my own two hands.

I was not going to let some clearly prejudiced b***h stop me lying down.

“Never” I spat at her feet. “Girls like you tried to bully me in high-school. I didn’t take to it too well.”

The woman snarled and put me in a headlock. “The human world is nothing like ours; the sooner you realize that, the more likely you’ll survive. If I was anyone else you would already be dead.”

“Then just f*****g kill me! The sound of your voice already is!”

“Listen here, you runt; either you come with me now back to Cayden’s place, back to Marlow…or I could leave you here tied up nicely for Marcus Silas. The choice is yours who you’d rather be at the mercy of.”

I froze and stopped struggling.

“You’re with Cayden?” The rapid heartbeat my body associated with just hearing his name returned.

“I am. So if you want to get away from your Sire safely and swiftly then I’m your only option.”

She let go of me and pushed me away. I stumbled and fell to my knees, my body worn and tired. Even if I wanted to run, I couldn’t outrun her.

My choice was to either go with her, or waste time until Silas’s men found me. And between him and Cayden… I really didn’t know who was the better option.