The Midnight Foxxx

Chapter 12

VIXEN



It hurts. The throbbing pain is relentless and agonizing. My arm won't stop bleeding, and I'm pretty sure it's broken, but I keep moving. I need to get back before I bleed out, or worse, get caught again. Whatever that Alpha has in store for me, I'm sure it will be much worse than bleeding out.

Blood loss and magic exertion are starting to go to my head, and I'm no longer sure I'm going in the correct direction. Using cloak and concealment at the same time drained my reserves quickly. I'm barely able to keep concealment active, and I won't be able to cloak again if someone finds me. My surroundings start to look familiar and should be coming up on the highway that will take me back to the city. When the sound of racing cars reaches my ears, I sigh in relief and pick up the pace.

Despite it being late at night, the highway is still pretty busy. I stay just inside the tree line and follow the road towards home. As I put more distance between myself and the pack, I start to slow down, my legs weak and barely able to keep me upright. A headache is starting to set in and my vision is going blurry. I've used almost all of my magic and decide to dispel the concealment charm to conserve what little power reserve is left. Hopefully I'm far enough away they won't catch my scent, though with how heavily I'm bleeding I won't hold my breath.

Only a handful of minutes go by when there's a howl in the distance. It's probably a mile away but a shifted wolf can clear that in less than five minutes. Panic sets in and scramble to think of a plan. I can't run. I can't climb. I might have enough energy for a single teleport, but it's risky. Heavy footfalls can soon be heard and are approaching fast. Multiple wolves are moving in at a full sprint directly towards me.

Fuck, f**k, f**k.

Fear spreads through my veins and feel myself start to hyperventilate. There's another howl, but this time much, much closer. I stare wide-eyed into the trees and feel tears run down my cheeks when a familiar blonde wolf comes into view. Sharp fangs are bared in a snarl when our eyes meet. Four others come running up behind him, right on his heels. Terror keeps me frozen in place, heart pounding in my chest.

Shrill car horns from the highway jolt me out of my panic and snap my head towards the busy road. All four lanes have vehicles speeding by, leaving no chance to make it across on foot. The wolves are closing in, less than a hundred feet away now. I make the risky decision to teleport to the other side.

My skull throbs like it’s being split open. The multidimensional travel is jagged and rough, not the usual quick and smooth transference of spiritual energy. It feels like I’m being ripped apart, one atom at a time, in slow motion. It’s the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life and stretches the seconds out to seem like hours. A warm wetness starts running from my eyes and nose. When cold blades of grass can be felt scratching against my palms again, I open my eyes. Droplets of red splatter on the ground beneath me and I wipe at my nose. Blood is smeared across the back of my hand and bring fingers to my cheek, where I feel what I can only assume is more blood leaking from my tear ducts.

Loud growling and snarling can be heard over the roaring traffic and snap my head in that direction. The group of wolves is on the other side of the highway, snapping and barking at each other in frustration. They don’t know where I am. I stay low to the ground and watch them sniff around frantically through the speeding cars. The large blonde one has his snout pointed into the air, nose twitching. When his head comes down, his gaze is turned towards my side of the highway, though not looking directly at me. I hunker down as low as I can in the tall grass, biting back a painful groan when my arm protests the added weight on it. The wolves split into two groups and move in opposite directions, following the highway. Once they’re far enough away to feel reasonably safe, I creep back into the tree line and follow the road back towards the city.

The pack of wolves don’t make another appearance the entire way back. Every so often I’d catch a slight scent of them, likely still searching for me, but never close enough to cause alarm. I breathe a sigh of relief when the city limits come into view and use my remaining energy to jog the rest of the way home. It’s now early morning, almost dawn, and the streets are quiet and empty. The lights to the club are dark, having closed hours ago. When I turn the corner to the alley leading behind the building, I’m quickly flooded with a storm of emotions to see it isn’t Brax guarding the door. It's instead one of the other vampires that work here.

“Vixen? That you?” They call out to me, but I don’t answer, and instead lean against rough brick, sliding down the wall until my knees painfully hit concrete. I’m too tired to stand anymore.

“s**t, Vix, are you okay?” The vampire approaches and kneels next to me.

“Don’t f*****g touch me!” I screech, snapping sharp canines at the hand reaching towards me. Something catches in my throat as I speak and start hacking, blood splattering into my hands when I cough.

“f*****g s**t…” is the last thing I hear before closing my eyes.

“Vix!” I’m awakened by a deep voice calling my name. A cold hand caresses my cheek while another has a firm grip on my shoulder. Not certain who is touching me, a warning growl vibrates weakly in my chest.

“Shh, Vix, it’s me,” Brax coos softly, trying to soothe me. The rumbling stops and I finally open my eyes. I’m met with amber orbs full of worry and concern.

“There you are,” his thumb brushes away a stray tear, “I’m going to pick you up now, okay?” I nod my head weakly only to cry out in pain as I’m lifted off the hard ground.

“Shh, shh, I’m sorry little one. I know it hurts,” he soothes.

“Keep watch, don’t breathe a word of this to anyone. No one can know she’s here until I know what’s going on,” Brax’s voice is deep and commanding as he speaks to his subordinate, “I will kill you myself if I find out you said anything.”

The back door is closed quietly behind us. It’s dark inside, and thankfully everyone seems to be asleep. Brax moves quickly and quietly, the near-silent movements surprising with how large he is. It’s not long before I hear a door close, and I’m being placed on something soft. Though the material is plush, the pressure on my cuts and bruises is still enough to hurt. Brax hushes me when I start to make a fuss.

“I know it hurts, but you need to be quiet and let me patch you up.” I nod as tears continue to streak down my cheeks. There’s rummaging somewhere in the room, and then the bed dips beside me.

“I’m going to strip you out of your clothes. This is going to hurt but I need you to bear with me,” I grit my teeth and nod as he undoes the zipper to my jacket. Sharp pain shoots up my arms as the sleeve is peeled off, exposing the bite wound underneath.

“s**t,” Brax curses under his breath, “What happened?” I shake my head, in too much pain to speak. Something is poured over the wound and bite my bottom lip to hold back a cry of pain from the burning and stinging. Brax starts dabbing at the wound, cleaning away the blood and revealing the extent of the damage.

“Dammit… Alright, Vix?” I keep my eyes closed until I feel a hand on my cheek. “Your arm in broken sweetheart. I need to set it before I stitch you up. This is going to hurt. Do you understand what I’m telling you?” I nod my understanding and open my mouth when a piece of leather is offered to me, biting down on it as hard as I can.

“Three, two… one,” the pain is blinding, and I scream through the tanned hide clenched between my teeth. Sobs wrack my body and tears spill down my cheeks, soaking the blankets under me. “Shh, you did so good baby, so good.”

While I'm trying to breathe through the agony, I don't notice Brax getting sutures ready until the needle pierces my skin. The leather starts to give as I bite harder into it. I feel myself finally break from the pain, the mental and physical exhaustion, the weight of it all finally pulling me down into the darkness. I close my eyes and give in to sleep.