Beneath The Full Moon (The Moon Series Trilogy#1)

Chapter 9

Just before it could thrust its fangs into my face, something heavy collided against the wolf's side and propelled it off me. 

I sucked in a chunk of air the second I felt its weight lift off me and rose quickly into a sitting position on the ground. I then looked around to see where the werewolf had gone before gasping when I saw John wrestling with the wolf a few meters away from where I was perched.

However, before I could fully take in what was happening, someone grabbed my hand and I looked up to see Miguel bending down to haul me onto my feet. "Come on! We have to go, now!"

Without thinking, I started to follow him, but my ankle throbbed hard, making me stop to endure the pain. I grunted and held on to Miguel's arm for support as I stumbled forward. 

Not wanting to slow him down yet not eager to be left behind either, I limped into Miguel's arms, and without a second thought, he hoisted me up and began to run. 

But that was when I remembered that someone was missing. 

"Wait! John is..." I stopped mid-sentence the moment John suddenly appeared beside Miguel, running as fast as he was.

My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. What the hell? 

When exactly had he finished fighting off the wolf? How did he win? Why wasn't he dead? To say I was shocked was an understatement, but for lack of a better word, I'd go with that.

To make matters more confusing, it bothered me exactly how John had managed to push the wolf off me when I had struggled with all the strength I had just to prevent it from distorting my face. Sure he was bigger, more muscular, and had been in these woods more than I had, but it still didn't add up. 

How he had he managed to do what he did so fluidly when that thing weighed more than a ton?

Maybe, just maybe. it got caught by surprise.

Well, that sounded much more reasonable in my mind, so for the meantime, I just let go of my suspicions. I could feel Miguel's heart beating wildly as he breathed heavily. My head bobbed repeatedly each time with each stride he took and I winced each time my legs bumped against tree trunks and swiped against branches.

Suddenly, I caught sight of the others standing close by as Miguel drew nearer. When we had gotten closer, I could see the fear mixed with irritated looks on their faces. They were standing in the middle of a circle of trees, waiting impatiently for us, I supposed, to get to them. 

I noticed Brittany first.

When she made eye contact with me and realised that I was injured in Miguel's arms, she sent me an apologetic glance, silently expressing her regret.

I gave her a small smile and spoke when I got closer to her. "It's okay," I said in an attempt to let her know that I wasn't mad. I knew she didn't mean to tramp all over me back at the cove when the wolf had shown up, so it wasn't worth getting angry at her for panicking.

Maddison came from behind her and gave me a smile, which anyone could detect was false. But I couldn't blame her either. Not when I could clearly see that she was breaking inside and was more terrified than I’d ever seen her. 

To show that I was also on her side, I tried to reassure her with a small smile of my own, but it didn't seem to do much good. 

With me still in my partner's arms, Miguel jogged closely behind the others as John led us once more through the woods, saying that where we were standing wasn't safe. Howls resonated throughout the forest so loud that I was positive the werewolves weren’t far behind, catching onto our scents.

John, without missing a beat, led us to a huge rock, approximately eight feet tall. The first few feet from the ground stood the rock erect, and the remaining upper part was swallowed in, forming an opening. It very much resembled a cove sitting on a huge square rock.

John stopped in front of the massive structure before turning towards us. "I'll boost all of you up one at a time because the wall's too high. Plus the opening's breadth is a bit narrow so don't be impatient and just wait your turn. I promise I'll be as fast as I can," he said before walking towards Miguel and taking me gently from his arms. 

"Wait, why does she always get to go first?!" someone yelled from behind, but John ignored that person and hoisted me up. Not having the strength to be neither humble nor defend myself, I lifted my arms so I could reach the tip of the opening and raise myself to roll in.

But before I could fully push myself up, the same man who had protested came forward and tore John's supporting hand away from my legs. Due to the sudden loss of aid, I fell and landed hard on my damaged ankle, twisting it further, and making me cry out as the pain immediately became excruciating.

John's nose flared when he witnessed my fall and didn't hesitate to land a hard blow right on the guy's nose, a kick to his stomach, and send him flying backwards.

The man got up afterwards cursing and grunting as he sauntered towards John, who was ready to give him another blow. Miguel, realising that time was running out, quickly came to my side and picked me up, carefully pushing me higher towards the opening. 

I gritted my teeth against the shooting pain and held the tip firmly before lifting myself inside. The level of the ground inside was approximately a foot low so I let out a surprised yelp when I dropped down, not expecting that unlevelled height at all.

After hurriedly making myself as comfortable as I could get, I turned around and looked over the edge to see the man clutching his stomach whilst he faced the rest of the group, saying, "We will never make it out alive if we don't fend for ourselves!"

He pointed an accusing finger at John and Miguel. "They left us alone all by ourselves where something could've killed us with the promise to return just to save that woman." His finger then raised to point up at me. "What makes you think they won't do it again just to make sure she's safe? We need someone who cares for all of us!"

John stepped forward but Miguel put out his arm to stop him.

The man sneered at him before turning back to the sullen group. "We can't guarantee that we're safe with them when the first thought that comes to their mind is her safety. We have to take care of ourselves because it is clear that they don't give a s**t about us."

Murmurs rang out as others tended to agree with him. 

"But that's not-!" I started to protest, suddenly peeved at them for all agreeing with him after all the struggle I went through just to get them safe together. But Miguel whipped his head to face me and harboured a look on his face that silently told me to keep my mouth shut.

I glared at him but chose not to speak.

The man, proud to see that the others were with him, gestured for them to follow him away to find another safe place to hide. I wasn't really shocked to find all of them, including Brittany, moving quickly behind him. I looked to see Miguel's expression, but he appeared blank and only watched as they headed away. Not even stopping to reason if their new leader knew a thing about the woods and how to help them survive in it.

My stomach knotted dreadfully when I saw Maddison take a step forward but hesitate to give me one last sad, apologetic look before running behind them. My chest constricted painfully as I watched her go. The girl I had come to care for and wanted so badly to protect didn't even trust me enough to stay. Which didn't make sense to me at all.

Nevertheless, I moved away from the entrance and huddled against the wall. Miguel came in after a few minutes and I helped to pull John up before moving for him to sit by me. Miguel, noticing my distress, placed his arm across my shoulder, allowing me to position my head in the crook of his neck.

"It's okay, nena. We should have expected this sooner, it's okay." He tried to calm me down, but it only made the pain in my chest and the sheer disbelief of the situation worsen. I couldn't believe that they couldn't see the sacrifices that I - we - had made for them. 

But what hurt me most was when Maddison didn't even give a second thought about what I had done for her.

Miguel let me remain at his side even after we heard the others begin to scream, accompanied by a loud howl. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried my hardest to drown the noise, but it did little to help.

It had caught them.

And even though I should’ve felt grateful at being safe in that instant, I couldn't help but feel dreadful about them and Maddison, even though they had turned their backs on me.

Out of the blue, we heard shuffling in the bushes below preceded by the sound of a girl screaming for help.

It was Maddison.

"Please! Please help me up!" she cried. Despite her betrayal, I instinctively pulled away from Miguel and shifted towards the edge to look down and quickly offer my hand to her. 

But then he brought me back to him abruptly and clasped his hand over my mouth to prevent me from yelling.

"Please miss, please. I'm sorry!" Maddison pleaded before crying out once more, "Help me!" 

Her echoing sobs broke me further, making me struggle harder against Miguel's grip. When I had finally managed to pry his hand off, another hand was brought back to my mouth as John came to Miguel's aid.

Then, we heard another wolf's howl, too close this time, and listened as Maddison's cries came to an abrupt halt and only the wolf's menacing growl lingered in the air. 

I fought hard against their grip as I screamed her name over and over, but the sound only came out muffled. 

Finally, when exhaustion overcame me, I slumped against the wall and didn’t stop the tears that fell for Maddison, right before sleep claimed me.

It was logical that I should've been angry at her. I knew that I should've been glad that she was dead for that cause, but I just couldn't bring myself to hate her.

And that was enough to make it hurt all the more.