The Guardian: Full Moon

Chapter 8

Enya and Leon were both frozen in place for a moment before slowly pulling away from each other. “I, uh, I’m sorry.” Leon said, still unable to move. “I just wanted to get a closer look before you closed the chest. I didn’t mean to.” “It’s okay Leon.” Enya said shaking her head and smiling gently. “It was just an accident. No reason to apologize.” Enya averted her eyes, looking down at the crystal in the chest. Then, suddenly, Leon reached up and gently cupped her face, silently asking her to look at him. Enya followed the urging of Leon’s hand and looked back up at him. “Then I hope you can forgive me for this.” Leon said quietly as he closed his eyes and leaned closer. Enya closed her eyes and met Leon’s lips in a tender kiss.

The kiss started out slow, and a bit shy; but as the seconds grew into minutes, Leon’s confidence swelled. Small pecks slowly grew into deeper kisses, and Leon’s hand slid from Enya’s cheek to the back of her neck. They leaned into each other, deepening the kiss even further. Leon barely holding back the possessive and passionate growls clawing at his throat. As their breathes grew more labored, they finally pulled apart. They gazed at each other with glazed eyes, their breathes escaping their parted lips in short bursts. “I’ll, uh, I’ll forgive you for that too.” Enya said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. “Thanks.” Leon whispered into her lips as he gave her one last chaste kiss.

Leon’s P.O.V

Enya turned her face away from me, and placed a hand on the lid of the chest. A shy smile gracing her lips and a beautiful crimson blush in her cheeks. Bathed in the warm light of the crystal, she looked practically ethereal. Her eyes shone with a brilliance that I didn’t know was possible. “I’ll help put the chest back.” I said, placing my hand on top of hers. She flinched slightly and looked back up at me, her blush deepening further as our eyes made contact again. “Thanks.” She said quietly, slowly pulling her hand out from underneath mine. She gently grasped her one hand with the other and held them both close to her chest, once again looking away from me.

That adorably shy smile was back on her face, and I could feel my own face heating up. I wanted nothing more than to pull her in to me and capture her kiss swollen lips again. “Don’t even think about it Leon.” Thorin suddenly spoke up, almost making me jump. “Thorin! What in Hades?!” I yelled at him while I closed the chest, enveloping Enya and I in darkness once again. “I know she looks tempting, but you’ve already pushed her boundaries as is.” Thorin said calmly. “I wasn’t going to do anything.” I said, a hot blush rising up to my ears as I put the chest back into the hole. “I’m just saying Leon. Believe me, I’m having just as much trouble holding back as you are.” I chuckled quietly to myself as I put the rock back over the hole. “Have your eyes adjusted?” I asked Enya as I stood up. “No need.” She replied. I could hear her standing up next to me. “I've been down here so many times I could find my way blind.” She said with a lighthearted chuckle.

Leon and Enya made their way out from under the willow, squinting as their eyes readjusted to the sunlight. Enya chanced a glance at Leon, only to notice that his clothes were still wet from their impromptu swim earlier. “Leon, could you hold still for a moment?” Enya asked stepping closer to Leon. “Um, ok.” Leon said confused. His confusion soon turned to awe as he watched Enya pull the water out of their still damp clothes. “There.” Enya said as she finished. “You never cease to amaze me.” Leon muttered as he pulled at his now dry shirt. Enya blushed at the sudden praise and turned away from Leon shyly.

“Well, we still have daylight.” Leon said gazing up at the willow branches. “Do you still want to go for a run?” He asked hopefully, looking back at Enya. Enya grinned back at him for a moment before wordlessly dashing off. Leon smiled after her before following, relishing in the feeling of a chase. Leon easily kept pace with Enya as they ran, laughing as they passed confused humans, Hunters, and Seers alike. After running for an hour, Leon decided that he was done with just following Enya. So he started running in front of Enya, but backwards. “You’re going to trip running like that.” Enya chastised. “No I won’t.” Leon replied smugly and smiled.

Leon's smug smile was soon morphed into a look of shock and confusion as he tripped and fell backwards into a small creek. Leon looked up to see Enya standing over him, now sporting a smug smile of her own. “Don’t say it.” Leon said glaring and pointing a finger at Enya. “Oh, but now I have to.” Enya said in a mocking tone, and smirking mischievously. “I told you so.” Enya said in a sing-song tone, eliciting a pout from Leon, which in turn elicited a hearty fit of laughter from Enya. In her fit of laughter, Enya didn’t notice the evil smirk that graced Leon’s lips. Leon quickly sat up and pulled Enya down into the creek beside himself. Enya shrieked in shock as she fell into the water. Her shock only lasted a moment before she began bursting out laughing once again. Leon’s own laughter soon joined Enya’s as they basked in the mirth of the moment.

Leon recovered from his laughing fit first, standing up and reaching his hand out to Enya. “C’mon.” He said smiling down at Enya. Enya stifled her laughter and reached up to take Leon’s hand. “Thanks.” She said as Leon helped her up. They stepped out of the creek hand-in-hand, their eyes shining just as brightly as their smiles. As they walked along Enya took a moment to take in their soaked and muddy appearances. “Wait Leon.” She said gently tugging on Leon’s arm. Leon turned to Enya with a questioning look. Without giving an explanation Enya released Leon’s hand, and once again pulled the water from their clothes. The mud falling away along with it. “There, much better.” Enya said smiling up at Leon. “Thanks again.” Leon said with an affectionate smile, and gently knocking their foreheads together as he took hold of her hand once again. They continued walking at a leisurely pace, talking and laughing adamantly, unaware of the danger that peered at them through the trees.

Leon’s P.O.V

“Let’s go through the forest there.” Enya said pointing at a nearly invisible path amongst the trees. “It leads towards the beach and my biological father’s cabin.” She said turning to me. “The sea nereid right?” I asked tentatively. Enya said nothing, but nodded her head in confirmation. “Alright.” I said while playfully nudging her. “Lead the way.” Switching the hand that she had grasped mine with, we entered the forest, with Enya walking in front of me. From my place behind her, I couldn’t help but gaze between our clasped hands, and her derriere. I could feel the grin tugging at the corners of my mouth when Thorin suddenly growled. “What is it Thorin?” I asked, snapping to attention. “I’m not sure. Something just feels… wrong.” He said cautiously, and I tensed, my senses now on alert. Enya must have felt me tense up because she seemed to be on edge as well.

Enya’s P.O.V

“Enya, something’s wrong.” Arima said cautiously. “What is it Arima?” I asked, now on edge. “I don’t know, just be careful.” She said worriedly. Through our still joined hands I felt Leon tense up as well, and felt a bit at ease. “Don’t worry Arima, Leon is here with us. Whatever it is, we aren’t going to face it alone.” I felt Leon step closer and place his unoccupied hand on my shoulder. His grip was strong, not hurtful, but protective. I looked back at him as he gazed around, tentative eyes scanning the trees. “We should get out of here.” He said, his body tensing as he was preparing to run. But before we could take a step, a group of five large wolves dashed out of the trees and surrounded us. Their eyes appeared black because of how wide their pupils were blown, and white froth dripped from their mouths as they snarled at us. I knew what they were even before Leon growled out the word. “Rogues.”

Rogues are werewolves that have rejected their packs and gone off on their own. From what I learned in school, the most common reason was due to loneliness. Werewolves who haven’t found their mates after so long tend to lose their patience and willingness to wait for them, and become consumed with their loneliness. As such, they eventually don’t even feel comfortable within their packs. Incidentally, it’s their pack connection that is keeping their sanity in check. When they leave and become Rogues, the insanity eats away at them and they develop what is essentially rabies. It’s during this time that they tend to attack just about anything that crosses their path, including humans. The humans that survive the attack become what we call Infected, and gain the ability to turn into werewolves themselves. Though not as large or strong as the pure born werewolves. Although it isn’t unheard of for a group of Rogues to band together, it is still unusual. I suppose the wolves' innate need to be part of a pack is stronger than people realize.

Leon growled once again, and his grip on me tightened. “Leon.” I said his name quietly and carefully, not wanting to startle him or the Rogues. “You can’t fight all five alone, let me help.” I felt Leon tense again and I knew he didn’t like the idea, but he knew that I was right. He slowly loosened his hold on me and moved to stand behind me. We now stood back-to-back and moved into fighting stances. “Ready?” I asked “Yeah.” He replied, his slight uncertainty still evident in his voice. It was sweet that he was concerned for me, but I could handle myself. Without warning, I stomped a foot on the ground and caused water to erupt around us, effectively soaking the Rogues and distracting them for a moment. Within seconds Leon and I had both dashed forward, Leon shifting as he jumped and tackled one of the Rogues, and I pulled a switch blade laced with wolfsbane out of my sweater pocket. It wouldn’t be much, but at least I had a weapon.

Anyone who could have seen Thorin and Enya fighting together would have said it was amazing. Enya using the trees to keep out of the Rogues' reach as she used her knife, and Thorin using his teeth and claws. Thorin had successfully killed two of the Rogues himself and assisted Enya in killing a third. Now they stood facing the two largest of the Rogues. Enya, who was mostly unharmed, was exhausted. Sweat ran down her face, and her breathing was labored. Thorin, on the other hand, wasn’t quite as tired, but was sporting some injuries that the Rogues had managed to inflict. “Enya can’t keep going like this Thorin.” Leon said concerned. “We need to end this now.” “Agreed.” Thorin replied as he readied to attack the wolf in front of him. But the Rogues made the first move as they both went after Enya.

It was all Enya could do to keep out of reach as Thorin jumped on the back of the Rogue closest to her, latching onto the back of their neck with his teeth. Then, suddenly, the second Rogue switched from going after Enya to attacking Thorin. It all happened in an instant. The Rogue that Thorin had jumped on had maneuvered themselves so that both their back and Thorin’s were open to attack, and within seconds the second Rogue had raked their claws down Thorin’s back. Thorin let go of the Rogue and fell to the ground with a loud yowl. “Leon!” Enya screamed, running towards him and the Rogues. “Arima! Lend me some of your strength!” Enya called out to Arima. She wasn’t asking, she was demanding. Arima said nothing in reply, but Enya could feel the anger radiating from Arima. She was just as mad as Enya and gladly shared her strength in order to end this fight once and for all.

What happened next was a blur to Enya. She felt a surge of power as Arima shared her strength with her, and dashed at the Rogues, catching them off guard. She slid under the one that Thorin had jumped on and thrust her knife into it’s belly, gutting it as she went. The Rogue she had gutted fell over onto it’s side as the last Rogue jumped over it in an attempt to catch Enya. Instead, Enya jumped up and thrust her knife into it’s heart before it ever touched the ground. It landed in a heap, Enya’s knife protruding from it’s chest. To be sure that they were dead, Enya retrieved her knife and proceeded to slit the throats of both of them before turning her attention back to Leon.

Leon had shifted back into his human form, and now laid on his back naked on the forest floor. Enya retrieved his bag from where he had dropped it and ran back to him as fast as she could. Under normal circumstances, seeing Leon in all his naked glory would have had Enya blushing like a little school girl. But the blood that still seeped from his wounds was enough of a deterrent to keep her focused on the task at hand. She slipped a pair of his shorts on him, averting her gaze as much as she could, and gently rolled Leon onto his stomach so she could address his wounds. The blood had slowed, but he wasn’t healing nearly as fast as he should have been. She used some water to carefully clean his back, and then rolled him onto his side. “I’m sorry Leon, but this is going to hurt a bit.” She said as she maneuvered and lifted Leon onto her back. “Let’s get you home.” She said and started walking the long trek back to the FireHeart territory.

Enya would have liked to take Leon to the White Rain territory since it was closer, but she didn’t want to embarrass Leon. It was at least an hour and a half before sundown, and would be dark by the time she got to the FireHeart territory, but the sooner she got Leon home, the better. It had taken Enya nearly four hours to walk to the FireHeart territory while carrying Leon on her back. The werewolves patrolling the perimeter were less than friendly towards her, until they realized she was carrying Leon on her back. “Please!” She called out to them. “Leon was hurt by Rogues!” None of them seemed to acknowledge her as they took Leon from her and carried him towards the Pack House. The only indication came from the rough hand that held her arm and dragged her along.

Enya was dragged into the Pack House and forced into a small room with a table and two chairs. “Sit.” The werewolf commanded as he slammed the door behind him. Enya sat down in a chair and waited. It wasn’t long until Alpha Sterling, stormed into the room. “What happened to my son?!” He yelled while slamming his hands on the table, making Enya flinch. Enya took a deep steadying breath before speaking. “Leon and I had gone to the eastern forest. We were following a path down to the beach when we were attacked by a group of five Rogues. Leon got hurt protecting me.” Enya finished and looked Alpha Sterling in the eye. Alpha Sterling was physically shaking as he clenched his fists. “I want you out of my territory, and I never want to see you near my son again.” He spoke sternly, but had unshed tears in his eyes. “Yes sir.” Enya said standing up from the table. “All due respect, I’ll see myself out.” And with that, Enya exited the room, closed the door behind her, and walked out of the Pack House.

She walked until she passed the boarder of the territory, and then, she ran. She ran the whole way home, but she didn’t go inside through the front door. Instead she walked around to the side of the house, where she proceeded to climb up the tree and in through her window that she had left open earlier. She grabbed two duffle bags and started packing up what was left of her shoes, clothes, and other important items. Then she sat down and wrote two notes, one was for the Drago family, and the other was specifically for Kai. She folded the note for Kai and placed it with a wrapped parcel that she had hidden in her closet. She snuck down to the dining room to place the note for the family on the table, and then back upstairs to place Kai’s note and the parcel on his desk in his room. She petted Kai’s hair affectionately before heading back to her room. She dropped the duffel bags out of the window, climbed out, and down the tree. She walked over to where she dropped her bags, picked one up in each hand, and started walking towards the forest where her wolf friends were waiting for her. She stopped at the edge of the trees and turned to look back at the Drago house. “I’m sorry.” She said sullenly before disappearing into the trees.