Claimed by the Scarred Alpha

Chapter 2- The Mission

Rowena walked into the main camp. The sun was coming up. Smoke from the cooking fires burn her eyes. Soldiers was sharpening swords on stone wheels. The scraping noise hurt her head.

She walked straight to Commander Kren tent. Kren was a wide man with a thick grey beard. He sat at a wooden table inside. He was looking at a leather map.

"Report," Kren said. He didn't look up.

"We found the Black pack," Rowena said. She stand straight. "Four wolves. East woods."

Kren looked up. His eyes was angry. "Did you kill them?"

"No," Rowena said. "They run away when the horn blowed."

Kren hit the table with his thick hand. A tin cup fall over and spilled water on the map. "You let them run? You are a knight, Rowena. You have to prove you can wear the steel."

Rowena tighten her jaw. She remember the giant black wolf. She remember the weird heat in her chest. "The alpha was there. The one with the scars on his face."

Kren stood up. He grabbed his sword belt from a chair. "Rhydian Black. The beast."

"He didn't bite us," Rowena said. She didn't know why she say it.

Kren stopped. He looked at her hard. The tent was very quiet. "What did you say?"

Rowena squeezed her hands into fists. "Just... they knock Corin down, but the alpha just look at me and run."

"Wolves are monsters," Kren said. He walk close to her. "They don't spare anyone. Tonight, you take ten men. You go back to the gorge. You don't come back until you have the alpha head."

Rowena nodded her head. "Yes, Commander."

She turned around and walk out of the tent. The morning air hit her face. She touch her chest plate. The iron was cold, but her skin underneath burn hot. She have to go back to the woods tonight.

Rowena march through the dark trees. Ten knights walked behind her. They carried heavy crossbows and iron swords. Pine branches hit her steel shoulder plates. The moon was hide behind thick clouds.

They reach the edge of the gorge. The river rushed loud at the bottom of the rocks.

"Put the torches out," Rowena say low.

The men threw their torches on the wet dirt and step on them. The dark covered them.

Brant pointed his crossbow down the rocky path. A grey wolf was walking on a flat stone near the water.

"Shoot," Rowena ordered.

The crossbow string snapped loud. The iron bolt hit the stone next to the wolf foot. Sparks fly up. The grey wolf barked and jumped behind a boulder.

Then, loud howls come from the rocks above them. Four wolves jumped down onto the knights.

A brown wolf hit a knight named Vane. Vane dropped his crossbow. The wolf bite his arm. Vane screamed.

Rowena pulled her sword. She run forward and swing at the brown wolf. The blade cut the wolf back leg. It let go of Vane and snapped at her face.

Rowena step back. Her iron boot hit a loose rock on the edge of the gorge.

The rock break apart. There was no ground under her foot.

She fall backward. The wind hit her ears. She hit a dirt slope and roll down hard. Her armor slammed against roots and stones. Metal grinded against the rocks. She hit a flat ledge halfway down the gorge. Her ribs cracked. The pain was sharp. She couldn't breathe.

She lay on her back in the mud. She try to lift her sword, but her arm didn't move. Her head bleed into her eyes.

A heavy thump land on the dirt next to her.

Rowena forced her eyes open. The giant black wolf stood over her. Rhydian. His yellow eyes look down at her broken armor. He smelled like pine needles and fresh blood.

He open his jaws. Rowena waited for the teeth to bite her neck. But he didn't bite. He put his large nose against her steel chest plate, right where the weird heat was burning again.

Rhydian smell the wet dirt and the copper blood. It come from a cut on her head. The female knight breathe shallow. Her iron chest plate move up and down very slow.

The weird heat in his chest burn hotter than before. His wolf scratch at his mind. Mine, the wolf growled inside his head. Rhydian forced the wolf down. Humans are enemies. Knights are murderers.

Up on the cliff, a man shout. "Rowena! Down there! Bring the ropes!"

Rhydian look up at the dark edge. The men was coming down. He look back at Rowena. She open her eyes a little. She try to reach for her sword belt, but her hand fall back in the mud.

He make a fast choice. He step back from her and shifted. Bone snap and muscle twist. He stand on his bare human feet in the dark. The cold wind hit his skin.

He bend down and put his arms under her steel backplate and her knees. She was very heavy with all the armor. She groan loud when he lift her up.

"Put me down, beast," she whisper. Her voice shake. She cough a little blood onto his bare shoulder.

"Quiet," Rhydian say. His voice sound rough.

He hold her tight to his chest. Her cold iron press against his hot skin. The burning feeling inside him calm down a little when he hold her. It was wrong, but he didn't drop her.

He run along the rocky ledge of the gorge. The river rush loud below them. Oryk, a grey wolf with a missing tail, run out from the bushes. Oryk stop and bare his teeth at the knight in Rhydian arms.

"No," Rhydian order. "We take her to the deep caves. Go tell the others to fall back."

Oryk bark one time and run up the slope into the trees.

Rhydian carry Rowena into a dark c***k in the cliff wall. The men shout far away behind them. The cave was pitch black. Water drip from the rocks above. Rowena head fall against his neck. She passed out. Her cold helmet bump his jaw.

He walk deeper into the dark tunnels. He don't know why he take her. But he know he will kill anyone who try to take her back tonight.