Marked by Madness: Born to lose control

Leilani Shawn’s breath hitched. That was the first thing I noticed, the sound breaking in his throat like something inside him had finally realised it was about to die. “Lei…lani” he rasped, lips curling wickedly even as blood spurted from his mouth. “You really think you can…” I didn’t let him finish. My hand was already inside of him, not metaphorically. All of my fingers with the fully transformed claws were plunged inside his flesh and I could feel the pulse of his heartbeat. Without hesitation, I ripped and fresh, slick blood sprayed onto my face and flowed down my hands. His eyes bulged, filling with disbelief, then fear before morphing into pain. He died discontent, eyes wide open like he couldn’t decide which was worse- dying or being killed by a wolf he deemed useless. I swallowed hard, staggering back a step. Watching Shawn’s blood quickly form a puddle beneath him, the weight of what I had done dawned on me. “No…” “No, no, no…” I staggered back a couple more steps, staring at my bloodied hands in dismay. “…Leilani, what are you doing…” I turned slowly. Standing behind me was Eric, the youngest Pack scout, a lad that Shawn cherished. He stood in the dark, between the trees that cast shadows on the ground, illuminated by the moonlight. His gaze switched from me to Shawn’s bloodied body, and then his eyes widened. “What have you done?” My heart dropped, “No, I didn’t…” Another figure emerged behind Eric. It was Gauis, Shawn’s Beta. His eyes flicked over the scene once. “You killed the Alpha!” “No, you don’t understand, he…” Gauis didn’t give me a chance to explain. In a split second, his eyes shone. By the time he lunged forward, a monstrously sized wolf had taken his place. “No, don’t!” The words snarled through me, more animal than human. Soon as Gauis’s sharp fang sank into my shoulder, every control I had was relinquished. My wolf surged to the forefront. I screamed, both from the pain of Gauis ripping through my skin and my wolf fighting her way through, clawing at my mind after many long years of lying dormant. “Hold her down!” A voice barked. A hand grabbed my leg, and I kicked at it as growls layered over each other above me. “She’s unstable,” someone said. The voice sounded like it belonged to Eric. Unstable? No, I wasn’t unstable, I was… My wolf broke through my last barrier of restraint. My bones cracked first, splintering and then my skin followed, stretching as fur erupted over my body. A fury-filled howl exploded out of me and with beastly strength, I threw Gaius off of me, my flesh ripping with his fangs. “You f*****g b***h!” Someone yelled, trying to hold me down but my wolf isn’t f*****g having it. She clamped strong teeth over his arm and ripped it cleanly from his shoulder. A shrill scream rang out but my wolf didn't back down. She stood there, the severed hand still held between her teeth, snarling and daring anyone to get too close. She was furious, pissed that these wolves were trying to restrain her. They had all disappeared when that spiteful mongrel tried to r**e me but now, here they were. The warriors began to shift, more wolves appeared. “Kill her!” One of them growled. That was it. My body moved before my mind did. I ran. Branches whipped at my face as I sped through the woods. Jagged ends of trees bypassed my fur to tear at my skin and my paw sank into thorns but I didn’t stop. My wolf didn’t stop moving, even as growls and yells erupted behind me. “She’s escaping!” “Spread out!” “We can’t let her flee!” I didn’t look back, I couldn’t afford to. Suddenly, a body barreled into mine, slamming my side into the aged trunk of an old oak tree. The pain shot through my body in sharp waves but I was up quickly again. My wolf refused to stay down. She jumped onto the wolf that had rammed into us and ripped his ears off cleanly. The wolf howled, a desperate call for help from the others that were scattered in the bushes. Outrage coursed through my wolf and she growled at him. She would have killed him, I could feel her dangerous thirst for his blood, but the others were already closing in on us. “She’s right ahead!” A loud yell rang out. A primal snarl burst from my wolf, and then she shot forward like an arrow released from a bowstring. I ran until my lungs began to burn. My chest felt like it was splitting open but I couldn’t stop. Cold air hit my face the more I surged forward and then, suddenly, my instinct screamed at me. I skidded, my paws dragging against the rough ground, tearing my skin off as I halted to a stop. The sound of flowing waters down below confirmed what I already knew, I had come before a cliff. My wolf stepped forward, staring down the edge. I fought to regain control, warning her against moving forward. Contrary to what I feared, she turned around but it was too early for me to feel relief. Footsteps thudded behind me as well as triumphant howls. They had closed up on me. “We have her!” Very quickly, I was surrounded by wolves on all sides, trapped with a violent drop behind me. The wolves parted, and Gauis stepped forward, hands clutching his jaw that was smeared with blood. “This is the end of the line, stop running.” Instinctively, I backed up, heels scraping against loose rock. The wolves circled closer, causing me to back up even further until I could feel the wind from the ledge violently crashing against my back. For a split second, my wolf let me through. I tried to plead with Gaius with my eyes, asking him to give me a chance but all he did was wipe the blood from his chin. “You’re coming with us.” My wolf raged at that. She tried to take over, to fight but I knew for a fact that it was a reckless and fruitless decision. They outnumbered us and ultimately, I would be killed, or worse, captured. Either way, certain death awaited me. I didn’t let her take the reins. Turning around, I jumped.