Chapter 3
1811 Words
I pulled my mother - or at least I tried to - as we hurriedly made our way down the stairs.
My legs ached, my body burned, my head throbbed, but I couldn't stop, not while I hadn't even reached the landing of the staircase. Mum, however, was moving down the stairs much faster than I was and it hurt to keep up with her. But I had no choice.
We had reached the front door when suddenly a loud, bone-chilling roar broke out from somewhere upstairs.
My heart froze. My mother's hand around mine stiffened and I heard a tiny gasp escape her throat. I hadn't expected him to die because I knew I couldn't kill him - I'd tried that before - but I hadn't anticipated that he'd be on his feet in a matter of seconds.
"Mum hurry," I ordered frantically as I pushed my mother out of the cabin. But before I could make it over the threshold, loud thudding noises echoed across the wooden floorboards, making me aware - with fear gripping my heart - that my father's wolf was chasing after us.
Hurriedly, I stepped across the threshold and flung myself onto the door, momentarily forgetting that my body was in pain. The door creaked loudly at my sudden force but halted abruptly when something on the other side applied a much bigger force to it.
Dad's head penetrated the doorway and I almost screamed as he bared his fangs and snapped his enormous jaws wildly at the hand that was braced close to the edge of the door. My right hand constantly slid towards his giant mouth and at times, his left fang would scrape my skin and coat it with saliva. But my main focus was shutting the door so I barely had time to grimace each time the sharp end of his fang pierced my flesh.
"Mum!" I gritted out amidst the beast's loud barking as the wood that I was supporting cracked under Dad's heavy weight. "Help me!"
It took her a moment longer before she joined me and we both pushed the door with the little strength that we had. That I had. Mum had connected with her wolf so she was much stronger than I, but unfortunately, not in the least bit stronger than my father in his wolf form.
With both our strengths combined, we had almost managed to shut the door and lock him in, but one final shove from the wolf right against the door sent us both flying backwards.
A sharp pain pierced my back and added to my already aching body as my back collided mercilessly with the ground. I grunted, turned on my stomach and squeezed my eyes shut while I tried to subdue the pain. But I didn't keep long because I knew what was at stake. My mother's safety, and perhaps my life.
So with all the energy I could muster, I steadied my palms on the ground in an attempt to rise again. However, just as I was about to lift myself to try and protect my mother, a low growl caught my attention and made me stiffen. I swung my head around and my eyes widened when I saw my mother hovering over me in her wolf form. She was tiny compared to Dad's wolf, but nevertheless didn't back down when he took a threatening step forward.
I sprang to my feet when I saw her shift into a fighting stance but then fell back down the minute my legs suddenly gave way. Damn it! I clenched my teeth in agony and tried to not concentrate on my burning limbs. They hurt like hell.
I tried hard to put my misery aside and help my mum but the least movement made me want to scream again. It hurt!
Protect her. Turn and protect her!
I pathetically laid on the floor, black spots gradually crowded my vision despite my attempts to keep a straight head. However, I couldn't allow myself to remain crippled, so I forcefully got on all fours and struggled to maintain my balance.
Let her free. Damn it, open the cage, Kara!
Although I would do anything to protect the woman who raised me, there was no way I was giving in to that monster within me. And even though I knew that my dad would not lay a finger on my mum, it didn't stop me from being the protective daughter that I'd trained myself to be.
I lifted my head with a grunt, preparing to push Mum aside and use the remainder of my human strength to fight back when a blur stopped me short.
A huge, giant blur.
I gasped and grabbed my mother's short fur before she whimpered and jumped back in fear when the enormous blur pounced on Dad.
It had my father pinned to the ground on his back as it bared its long, pointed fangs and growled menacingly at the wolf below. My eyes widened at the size of that monster. It seemed even ten times bigger than my father and was snapping its jaws down at him.
Dad, however, didn't back down and only attempted to sink his teeth into the bigger wolf's flesh and injure him. But as if anticipating the move, the bigger wolf leaned in and sank his fangs instead into my father's wolf's neck.
Mum reacted immediately. She shot out of my grasp - prompting me to fall face-first to the ground at the sudden loss of her body for support - and pounced on the bigger werewolf's back, attempting to rip off the flesh of his body with her sharp teeth but only to be carelessly thrown backwards and harshly against a tree trunk.
Mum! I wanted to scream her name as she howled in pain, but I was too weak to do so. My body finally gave up the fight and lay defeated on the ground. I watched, helplessly, as she scrambled to maintain her bearings just enough to attack the bigger wolf who proceeded to sink his fangs into Dad's neck once again.
The victimized wolf howled and fought back, but it seemed that his frantic claws didn't seem to affect the bigger wolf in any way.
Mum attacked again, and this time, she managed to wrap her teeth around its neck and tugged.
The bigger wolf immediately cut his attention away from Dad and slammed its enormous body into my mother's wolf's tiny frame.
No!
My heart twisted in pain and agony the second I witnessed the bigger wolf throw Mum against the tree again like she were a sack of grain.
Dad took that distraction as an opportunity to attack. Though his fur was now bloody and the flesh at his throat was dangling, he vengefully bent to capture one of the bigger wolf's legs between his teeth. The bigger wolf didn't so much as howl in pain when it turned its head back and used its fangs to grab my father's tail and effortlessly threw him forward.
My mother whimpered at her mate's wounded fall and ran to his aid. Dad rose gently to his limbs, lifted his head and gave the bigger wolf one deep, threatening growl before he accepted defeat and darted into the woods.
Mum was about to follow, but then she hesitated and turned sideways to stare at me.
It was that one gaze, just that one gaze she gave me, that made me realize what a fool I'd been.
Reality hit me hard like lightning. My mother never would've run away with me. She was my father's mate, and mates had a connection that was probably impossible to break unless one partner died.
After all this time, Mum had never held a grudge against Dad. She had never encouraged nor discouraged me when I had spoken to her about leaving and she had never once said anything bad about my father. She never admitted that she had suffered with him more than she ever did before in her life, but then I had decided for her. I had thought that I could make her happy once I got us away from Dad.
I had thought that I knew what was best for her, but who the hell was I kidding?
My breath hitched and tears stung my eyes as I watched my mother gaze at me with regret and a hint of agony before she let out a whimper and rushed into the woods after my father's wolf.
Even though I wanted so badly to put the fault on someone, I certainly didn't blame her for leaving me in my weakened state. I knew that her wolf wouldn't see any other reason apart from her mate being at her side, so I didn't try to call her back. Although it killed me not to, I just laid there, in pain and helplessness, watching while the huge wolf slowly advanced towards me.
I had been expecting it to follow them and finish the kill, but it didn't. Rather, it stalked towards me. Its pure creamish fur glistened against the full moon's light and blood coated less than half of its body. Though I was sure, eighty per cent of the blood wasn't its own.
I wanted to plead for my life. Since I was harmless in my human form, I couldn't and certainly wouldn't be able to do anything to harm the bigger wolf. Maybe it knew that. Maybe that was why it hadn't killed me yet.
I almost laughed at myself when a stray tear ran down from the corner of my right eye and onto the ground. I'm so pathetic.
The enormous wolf growled and barred his fangs dangerously. Yet I still laid there with fear and despair still etched in my chest, too afraid and weak to save myself or even beg for mercy.
Though, now that I thought about it, the last option didn't sound so bad nor harmful. I could plead for my life and it could leave me to suffer or simply take my life to end my suffering.
Logically, it seemed pointless to reason with a rogue werewolf who I'd never seen in my life and it took so much energy to do so in my condition, but it was worth a try.
"Please..." I managed to croak out. My voice sounded scratchy and hoarse, but that was the least of my problems.
"Please, don't kill me," I whispered again when it got closer to my figure with each step it took. Its black eyes levelled me with an intense gaze and emotion that I couldn't decipher. Or rather, didn't have the energy to.
It stopped moving forward the minute I croaked out my last plea, and before I could utter another word out, it began to transform.
- Writer
