EPISODE 7:PROTECTOR FROM AFAR
626 Words
Liam POV
I kept to the shadows.
Even after following Grayridge’s orders, I couldn’t bring myself to leave her completely alone. Nyra. The girl who had survived exile, who had survived the coyotes, who had grown stronger than anyone imagined… she deserved more than the world’s cruelty. And I couldn’t stop myself from watching.
I tracked her from the edges of the city, keeping my distance, heart hammering every time she turned, shifted, fought. My wolf roared inside me, demanding action, demanding that I intervene. But I stayed hidden. Rules. Loyalty. Survival. They were stronger than desire.
Then the Collectors arrived.
They moved like shadows, silent, fast, deadly. Nyra didn’t notice immediately—too focused on her own survival, dodging and striking with precision. My chest tightened. My wolf growled low.
I couldn’t wait any longer.
I shifted silently, muscles coiling, senses sharpened. I struck from the shadows, crashing into the first Collector with claws and teeth. He didn’t even have time to react before I threw him aside, landing between Nyra and the others who had surrounded her.
Her eyes met mine, wide, surprised. Fury flared. “Liam?!”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to. Every movement I made was to protect her, to buy her the fraction of a second she needed to survive.
She shifted fully, wolf rising, feral and powerful. Together, we became a storm. My claws raked, her teeth tore, and the Collectors faltered under the force of our combined strength.
“You’re reckless!” I growled as a Collector lunged for her flank.
She twisted, eyes blazing. “Try keeping up!”
I lunged again, intercepting an attack aimed at her back. Her wolf snarled in approval. We fought side by side, instinct guiding us, a rhythm we didn’t need words to speak.
I stole a glance at her mid-fight. She was everything I had feared and admired: unstoppable, terrifying, perfect. My heart ached with the weight of all the times I had hidden, all the times I had chosen rules over her.
“You shouldn’t have left me alone,” she hissed between strikes, claws flashing.
“I didn’t,” I said, teeth bared, striking another attacker down. “I was watching. Waiting. Making sure you could survive long enough for me to step in.”
She growled low, eyes narrowing. “Watching isn’t enough.”
“Not anymore,” I said. My wolf surged, every muscle ready to protect, to fight, to survive.
Together, we tore through the remaining Collectors, our wolves moving as one, instincts perfectly in sync. Every strike she made, every lunge, every growl was mirrored by mine.
Finally, the last of the Collectors fell. Silence blanketed the city streets. The air was heavy with blood, sweat, and the coppery scent of power.
Nyra stood a few feet away, fully human again, chest heaving, eyes blazing. Her gaze locked on me, fierce and unreadable.
“You helped me,” she said softly, a voice edged with disbelief and something sharper I couldn’t name.
“I told you,” I said quietly. “I never left.”
Her lips twitched, almost a smile. Almost forgiveness.
“You should have,” she whispered.
“I know,” I admitted. “But I won’t hide again. Not from you. Not ever.”
Her wolf circled mine, cautious but aware. I felt the bond hum between us—silent, unacknowledged, powerful. Stronger now because of survival, because of blood, because of shared instinct.
We were alone in the aftermath, but together.
I watched her, keeping my distance, knowing I had walked the line between betrayal and salvation. And for the first time, I didn’t care what Grayridge thought.
I would protect her, even if the world demanded otherwise.
- Writer
