You Have Always Been Mine

Chapter 20 - Destiny calling part 2

“Why are you really here, Ginny?” He asks quietly.

She blinks in surprise. “I… I thought it would be nice to visit a friend. I'm sorry if I---”

“I’m fine. Is that all?”

“Well, I…” she sighs. “I missed you too, I guess.”

“You… guess?”

Her cheeks are burning bright now as she looks away. “I… Mom thought it would be a good idea to see if you’re doing better. If you’re calm enough to resume your duties so we can all move on from this… incident.” She gives him a quizzical look. “Are you?”

Luna Grace could have come to check on him herself if that were truly the case, but instead she sent Ginny. Because she knows what Max wants above all else and she is dangling the … carrot in front of the starving horse.

No, maybe he’s just being paranoid. Luna Grace wouldn’t do that. She would never risk her daughter’s safety, even if it were for the sake of her family’s legacy. And she knows Max would never do anything to hurt Ginny…

He frowns. Does that mean she approves of them being together? Is this her way of telling him so?

“Max? Are you going to be all right? Can you handle going back to—”

He blinks several times, focusing on her face. “Yes. I’ll be fine. I can handle it. Them.”

All of a sudden, it feels like somebody smacked him on the back he gasps, unsettled by the unexpected wave of unfamiliar calling. He stands up, suddenly feeling a strong urge to run outside and go somewhere else. There’s a feeling of urgency and it's hard to ignore.

“Sorry, Ginny. It's getting late... You should go home now. It’s getting really late and you’ve got school early tomorrow. We both do...”

Startled, she rises too. “Oh, but I—Lettie said she’s making drinks—”

“Okay… stay then, and wait for that drink. I, uh… I need to go out for a bit. I’ll see you tomorrow—”

He nods and without waiting for her response, he grabs a jacket and sprints out of the door in no time, heading straight towards the dense and dark forest bordering their closest neighbor, a very rich and private individual who rarely comes to stay in the mansion, but still maintains the very expensive property in excellent condition. As children, they used to hear horror stories about that place. The grown-ups would tell scary campfire tales to frighten the pups from exploring anywhere near that property.

Some said the owner of the house is actually a vampire---

What the hell!? What is going on? The hair at the back of his neck is standing up and now suddenly, his wolf is growling menacingly inside his head.

‘Welcome back—’

‘Shut it!' Ardghal snarls, but Max can tell he is anxious about something. 'There’s something that called out to us here…’

Max frowns. He has been walking for a while now and he can sense a disturbance in the air but he can’t really—

He freezes at the sound of someone moving over dry leaves and brittle twigs on the forest floor. His nostrils flare as he catches a whiff of something disgusting at the edge of the trees lining the public road that cuts through the forest. The wind carries the scent of something that smells of sickness and mangy flesh.

“Rogues!” He spits out, narrowing his eyes to see farther ahead how many of the cursed beasts are there.

‘Just one,’ his wolf spits out. ‘One that is either very brave or very dumb!’

If it’s just one, maybe he can take it. There’s no time to run up to the packhouse to warn the others, the damn creature could reach their cottage in no time and—oh hell no! Ginny and his mother are there!

‘Are you sure it’s just one?’ He asks his wolf as he tries to locate the monster.

‘Yes. The air is not that filthy so I can tell.’

‘Can we shift now? We need to protect Mom and Ginny!’

Ardghal growls in frustration. ‘I would if I could! We need the full moon for our first shift!’

Max grits his teeth in frustration, looking around desperately for anything he can use to kill the damn thing. He remembers an axe he uses to cut wood somewhere nearby and he hurries to get it, praying that the rogue is too out of its mind to move fast or run in a straight line.

As fortune would have it, the rogue doesn’t appear to have moved much when he returns. In fact, it doesn’t seem to have moved at all. Still, Max approaches carefully, holding the axe tightly, and trying his best not to make any noise.

He can hear the creature’s labored breathing. The smell isn’t as bad as he previously thought, but it’s still terribly nasty especially to his nose which has gotten so sensitive since his wolf has ‘moved in’.

He hopes it can be done quickly. While there have been rogue attacks in their territory, Max has never actually faced the cursed creatures or even seen one up close. He knows of them through school lessons and warrior training but given that he’s still a minor, he was never really allowed in the front line during attacks. No, that is the warriors’ job and luckily, their pack has really strong and reliable ones. They have never lost a pack member to a rogue attack in a very long time.

Rogue carcasses are taken away and burned quickly, leaving only a trail of dirty blood and a pile of ashes.

Which is why, when he finally finds the creature that smells of illness and decay, he finds himself not quite certain if it were, indeed, a rogue.