WITCHES OF WOLF CREEK: TRUTH

Chapter 27: Elinor

My heart is racing, I don’t see how we’re going to be able to get out of this. I glance at Sixine, just to my left. Her haggard look and the multiple cuts and bruises that cover her naked body make me doubt her ability to take them on.

I watch Neeve, too. I don’t know what to think anymore. We didn’t have time to explain ourselves. I hope that, whatever the words we exchanged, she knows that she can always count on me. But her eyes filled with tears, fixed on the Falck cousins… Damn, if she really fell in love with them, I can’t even imagine how devastated she must be.

Suddenly, a wolf appears out of nowhere, bumps into me and rolls me to the ground. Tiny pebbles cut my flesh, and my head bounces off a bare root. My skull is throbbing excruciatingly, and waves of pain are spreading through my head. Reflexively, I wipe away the hot, metallic-smelling blood running down my cheek. Cries of rage and pain ring out all around me. Fear twists my insides, mixed with a feeling that I can hardly define. Regret? I don’t know, I barely understand how and why things got to this point.

When I finally manage to look at something tangible, it’s to see the chaos that reigns around me. A chaos dominated by the tall and massive silhouette of Cooper. He remained in his wolf form. He doesn’t move, and his immobility freezes me. Why doesn’t he intervene? He can’t let us be slaughtered like this! Slowly, he turns his muzzle towards me, his pupils shine with a golden lustre that overwhelms me.

But the looming c*****e reminds me of my priorities. Sixine howls, and I see Jaxson, once again transformed into a wolf, interposing between them and his pack. The fight is bloody. Our unexpected ally doesn’t hesitate to use his fangs and claws to protect my friend. His body, covered with a thick brown coat, moves with agility, strength and precision, jostles its adversaries, lacerates them with a blow of its paw, and tears off ears and tails, in a brutal outburst.

But how long will he last like that, facing a whole pack? We cannot remain inactive if we want to save our skins.

Still tottering, I stand up, ready to divert the attention of the wolves on me, in order to relieve the pressure on Jaxson and Sixine. I scream to tear my vocal cords. And that damn Alpha still isn’t moving...

A first wolf rushes at me, I dodge it, ready to use my powers. After all, it’s no longer a secret. Sorcerers found us, and wolves saw us through. Might as well defend our lives with everything we have.

I reach out, and throw a luminous ball, blindingly white, at my opponent. He wobbles for a tiny second, his form quivers, hesitating between human and wolf, like a kaleidoscope gone mad. Eventually, it stabilizes, and the naked body of a broad-shouldered man collapses at my feet. I only have time to see his eyes wide with terror, another wolf attacking me from behind.

I turn around, and launch a new ball of magic, with the same success. These small victories intoxicate me. What if we could get away with it without killing anyone, anyway? And without dying, maybe...

A cry of despair rang out not far from me. Who? It’s Neeve! She is cornered by the two cousins. It is a completely different dance that is announced for her now. Before my amazed eyes, while I send opalescent balls on everything that moves, she turns into a wolf. Her eyes are blazing and her fangs are dripping with thick drool.

"Neeve!"

With an angry growl, she turns her prick-eared head toward me, giving me a warning look. Don’t get involved… OK, she doesn’t want my help. It’s between her and them. But there is still something I can do for her. I concentrate as hard as I can, drawing all the necessary energy deep inside me. I know very well that I am mortgaging my chances of survival because this spell will drain my last strength.

I concentrate all my magic in my hands, its light blinds me, and for a moment, silence falls on me. Then I spread my arms as far as possible, screaming. A large dome unfolds around Neeve and the cousins. I give her the time she needs to kick the ass of those wild beast.

But I am paying a high price for this initiative. An unknown wolf hits me head-on, and I fall forward. I get up in a jump, ready to sell my skin dearly. I push down on my knees, lower my head, and hit the beast right in the abdomen. But he’s too strong, he scratches me, I scream, and then he gets up too, and goes on the attack. In his pupils, I see a promise of death.

I won’t admit defeat, even if I am out of breath, that my muscles burn and paralyze me. I want to fight again. Expel this rage in me. I can’t die now, not after recovering my lucidity, my strength, my powers. I want to live. And I want my friends to live too.

I don’t know how I dodge my enemy’s new charge. At least, I believe it, because a sharp pain suddenly grips me. He got me. I raise a trembling hand to my side, and bring it back smeared with blood before my eyes. Everything is confused.

Slowly, like a dream – a nightmare – I fall to my knees. My hair slides over my moist neck, offered to the bite. I already feel the warm breath of this wolf on my skin. I can already feel his sharp teeth, my vertebrae cracking, my skin tearing… I couldn’t even be sure that Neeve and Sixine were okay. A bitter bile floods my mouth, and peaks at the corner of my tight lips on a cry of despair.

As I await sentencing for breaking our most sacred laws, a beastly roar rings out, tearing the bubble of my misfortune. I open my eyes, finally. The pain pulses in my stomach. I’m badly hurt.

To whom do I owe this respite, which can only be short-lived? Because I don’t even hope to make it out alive. We have lost.

Cooper stands wild and furious over whoever was about to slit my throat. Spasmodic tremors shook his thick red fur, darker than Neeve’s, and he groaned steadily as if the rage inside him could never end. His sparkling gaze, of pure gold, is trained on me.

It is this vision that I carry into the darkness that overwhelms me.

When I emerge from my unconsciousness, I am back in my room. My chest is bandaged, but already the fine gauze is stained with fresh red blood. Damn, I hurt...

But I am alive.

With a sudden start, I sit up, wince under the onslaught of pain. Where are Neeve and Sixine? It’s not going to start again! Never again will I accept that we are separated against our will!

But I realize that my fears are unfounded. Two other beds have been brought into the huge room, transformed into an infirmary for the occasion, and my friends are lying there.

I observe Sixine. Her grey complexion and her heavily darkened eyes make me guess her exhaustion. Neeve… Difficult to determine her state, so much of her body is covered with large scratches. The Falck cousins did not spare her. My fists clench at the thought of what they did to her.

I don’t have time to think about our situation any further, because there’s a knock on the door. I raise a surprised eyebrow. I didn’t think we could be entitled to so much respect in this damn den...

"Come in."

My voice is hoarse, and my vocal cords hurt. My whole body hurts me. My heart too.

Cooper enters. His expression is indecipherable. I would like to tell him that I am grateful to him for saving me. For saving us. But the words get stuck in my throat, choking me and suffocating me. I feel heavy, burning tears rolling down my cheeks, and their salt awakens the pain of my facial wounds.

"What do you want?" I say.

In silence, he comes to sit beside me.

"You hurt us," he says. "You can’t imagine how much."

I note the "us" in his sentence. Yet, to see him, it looks like he’s angry with me for hurting him.

"You too," I replied, suppressing the emotion that gripped my throat.

"Why did you come here?"

His tone is cold, almost detached, but I can feel the distress inside him. How? Suddenly, it’s like I share his feelings. Anger, frustration, worry… despair.

"We had no choice. It was that or…"

"The sorcerers who attacked Sixine and Jaxson?"

I nod my head. There is no longer any point in lying, in concealing. I am responsible for all this c*****e. Might as well take it.

"Why would sorcerers attack their own?"

"We don’t know yet. An investigation is underway. We have witnessed… a tragic event, and they want to silence us."

"So you figured the Bretton pack was the best place to weather the storm."

It’s not a question, so I don’t answer anything. My hand rests on the white sheet, just inches from Cooper’s large, strong hand. I can’t explain it to myself, but I want him to take me in his arms. I want to tell him that I feel his grief, that I’m there for him, as he was there for me during the battle. Damn, what’s happening to me?

"Cooper, I…"

"I sentenced Jaxson to death."

"What?"

"I have no choice, Elinor. Because of you…because of who he is. He knew about Sixine. He chose to protect her, he broke our laws. It’s not the first time, and I can’t let this pass any longer at the risk of… Even I shouldn’t have protected you. If this is known…"

I remain silent. In me, pain and anger mingle in a maelstrom of emotions. Guilt, too, tears my chest from the inside. But are these really my own feelings? I feel Cooper’s grief emanating from him in tumultuous waves. I could get lost in it, drown in it. Then, moved by an uncontrollable impulse, I brush against her thigh, while silent sobs agitate me.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry…"

The look he gives me tears me apart. I throw myself against him, into his arms, which tighten around me as if never to let go again.

But there is still a question that must be answered.

"What are you going to do with us? Cooper…"