The Protector of Wolves

Chapter 5: The Escape

Lacy’s POV

My heart is pounding in my chest. They found me...already. Stopping at the house was a mistake. I only wish that I would have realized sooner that these weren’t normal hunters. I can’t evade the dark hunters as easily. Thankfully witches do not have as strong of senses as werewolves, otherwise my erratic heartbeat would lead them right to me.

“Her scent leads here, but it’s fading,” a woman on the floor above me says, barely a whisper. “She’s in the house somewhere, but she’s hiding.” I hear the back door of the house crash open and then multiple sets of footsteps erupt throughout the entire first floor. I glance at the hidden door to the basement, thankful that I closed it behind me.

“I can’t scent them,” Cecelia whines

“They cannot scent us either,” I tell her.

“So, the ring worked!” she says, relieved.

“Don’t get too excited yet. They still know we’re in the house...”

The footsteps stop directly above me. I hold my breath, not daring to make a sound.

“We still can’t find her,” says a male voice. It has a hint of familiarity, though I cannot place it. “We’ve searched the entire house.”

I wait for a reply for what feels like an eternity, praying to the Moon Goddess that they just leave though I know they won’t. They know I am here. They know I am trapped.

“Burn it down,” says the woman. All the air releases from my lungs and my chest tightens. “She will come out, or she will die.” I hear a rush of footsteps heading outside, and then silence.

“s**t!” I shout to my wolf. “We won’t be able to escape unnoticed. There’s too many hunters out there waiting for us.”

I take deep breaths, trying to calm myself. I am the protector and yet I can’t even protect myself. I feel like I am failing everyone. The Moon Goddess must have made a mistake in making me a protector.

“She did not make a mistake, Alessia.” My wolf tries to console me. “We just...weren’t prepared for this. We will get out of this, and then we can train even harder. We can learn to use our gifts better.”

Yes, that’s what I need. Someone to help me learn to use my magic. And then we will be on the same playing field as these dark hunters, and we can stop them, once and for all.

The panic in my chest is gone, and I feel a surge of energy and focus flow through my body. “We can get out of here; we can protect ourselves,” I take a deep breath and slowly release it.

While I walk around the room, I quickly trying to take in the scene around me.

A tiny room in the basement - messy. Half opened boxes - contents strewn all over. I decide to dig through the boxes but find nothing of use; just some old clothes and a few dolls with creepy black eyes. I make sure to put them back in the box face down. My eyes walk up the old, wooden stairs and then land on the hidden door to the basement, resting there momentarily.

And then it clicks.

“I wonder if there are any other secret doors?” I say to Cecelia.

I walk all around the basement looking for any signs of another hidden door, my hand trailing the wall and tapping intermittently, desperately hoping to hear a hollow sound, but I find none. An acrid smell hits my nose, and I hear the faintest sounds of popping and crackling above me.

“We’re running out of time!” I cry to my wolf as I begin to pace back and forth. The ring helped, but only so much. I wish that I would have been able to learn more about using my magical gift the Moon Goddess gave me. We just need to find a way out of this, and I can find someone to teach me. I will be prepared next time I face these hunters. That is, if there even is a next time.

“Alessia! Wait, go back!” Cecelia shouts at me.

“What?”

“Four steps to your left! It sounded hollow! GO BACK!” Cecelia barks at me impatiently.

I quickly walk back to my left, and ever so slightly I can hear the noise from the floor go from dense to hollow. I run to the corner of the giant area rug and pull it back, revealing the hard wood floor beneath. I study the area of the floor that sounded hollow, and ever so subtly I see a hidden door, similar to the one that led me to the basement.

“Good catch, Cecelia!” I praise my wolf while I run over to the door in the floorboard. Just barely I am able to get my fingers in the tiny notch where the door meets the rest of the floor. I lift the square piece of wood, revealing another set of hidden stairs. This house is just full of surprises. Inside is very dark, but I can just make out the outlines of a tunnel.

“Let’s go!” Cecelia squeals.

I waste no time and run down the stairs. The tunnel is pitch black, but with my candle and my wolf vision I can see well enough to find my way through. Above me, I can hear fighting and I have no doubt that it is my brother and the warriors here to help me.

I try to go through the tunnel as quickly as I can, hoping to be able to evade the hunters and alert my brother of my whereabouts. I knew he would try to come after me, but I didn’t think he would find me so soon. I want to be up there fighting with my pack. I try to link him but can’t make a connection.

The farther I walk through the tunnel, the quieter the fighting becomes. I run for several minutes until ever so faintly, I can hear my brother’s wolf howling above ground.

“His wolf sounds heartbroken,” Cecelia says solemnly. My heart aches out the sound and I start to panic, worrying that something terrible happened.

“He probably thinks you’re dead,” Cecelia reminds me.

I once again try to link Elijah, but I still can’t make a connection.

“You cloaked me with the ring, “ Cecelia pouts. “I can’t make any connections.”

“Let’s get out of this mess, and then I can take the ring off,” I reassure her. “I want to get out of this tunnel as quickly as possible.” I try to shift, but nothing happens.

“The ring...” My wolf mumbles.

I let out a frustrated growl. In my human form, I run through the tunnel as fast as I can. Finally, after what feels like hours - but probably only like 20 minutes - I see a set of stairs in the distance leading to a door with sunlight bleeding in. Slowly and carefully, I approach the stairs. The ring doesn’t seem to be affecting my hearing, so I listen for any movement outside before opening the door. When the sun hits my eyes, I am momentarily blinded.

I take in the scene around me, trying to get my bearings straight. This is where I just was not too long ago, running from the hunters. The house is far away now. I glance over at the tunnel entrance, where I just emerged, shocked at how well hidden it was from me when I first passed by it. I close the door, making sure it’s well-hidden once again, and then I start the trek back to fighting at the house. The pained howl of my brother’s wolf echoes in my head, and my heart sinks. I want to get to him as quick ad my human legs will carry me, taking care not to tip off the hunters that I escaped the house fire.

“I don’t hear any more fighting,” Cecelia notices.

“They all must think I’m dead. There’s no reason for either side to fight a losing battle. Someone must have retreated.” I conclude. “Let’s go find my brother and the others. I want to go home.”

Between running from the hunters and running through the tunnels, my legs are on fire. I’m not used to running so much in human form, but I don’t want to risk taking the ring off quite yet. I start jogging as quickly as I can back towards the house.

Even though my lungs are now on fire too, I refuse to stop - until something catches my eye. I notice a shimmer emitting from the ground ahead of me. I slow down as I approach it and I quickly recognize it as a wolfsbane-laced dagger that the hunters were using in their attack. One of the hunters must have dropped it. Not wanting to risk injuring myself with it, I decide to leave it where it lay. I start to jog away towards the house, but I hear an ethereal voice in my head whispering for me to take the dagger.

“Cecelia?”

“That’s not me, Alessia.”

“Then who?”

“I think...I think that was the Moon Goddess.” She says, unsure of her words.

I furrow my brow.

“The Moon Goddess is telling me to go pick up a dagger that could kill me?” I ask, unconvinced. I jog back to the dagger until I’m standing directly over it. I stare down at the dagger intently, unsure of what to do. Was it really the Moon Goddess? Or could it be a trick of the dark hunters?

“Hello, Alessia,” a voice startles me from my thoughts. I start to panic as I remember that same familiar male voice from the house. I turn around slowly. My eyes widen at the man standing in front of me.

“Travis...” I gasp.