My Resolution

Chapter 4

My eyes bulged; except for the war, I had never been present during an attack. We were all trained to defend ourselves; it was a requirement within the pack. All members started training at thirteen, while those who aspired to be warriors advance to combative and militant training at sixteen. Donovan, as future alpha, had been in warrior training for the last year and a half, and I never missed defensive training; frankly, I had advanced quickly in class, but being faced with an actual attack where defense could, and likely would be imperative, I found I would much rather vomit and pass out than have to fight anyone.

I was vaguely aware of Donovan and Mr. Boone quietly arguing in front of me. Donovan was insisting on leading us out to the escape path.

“Listen, boy, neither of you have your wolves yet, and I’ll be damned if either of you gets killed just because I let you get too big for your britches. I may have lost an eye, but I was the lead warrior in this pack for longer than you’ve been alive, you will shut your mouth and do exactly what I say,” Mr. Boone asserted in a way that halted any further argument, “listen and learn young alpha. Now follow me, but stay alert, especially on my right side.” He led us directly toward the middle of the maze, carefully pushing our way through the corn stalk walls.

“Why aren’t we trying to get out of the maze?” Donovan asked in a whisper.

“Most of the boogie men in this maze are warriors; they do it every year. Now shut your trap.” Mr. Boone quietly scolded.

It felt like we had walked forever. In reality, it had been maybe thirty feet when Mr. Boone and Donovan froze; something was on our left. “Val, keep behind us,” Donovan warned as he and Mr. Boone each moved to block me when two full-grown wolves came barreling out of the corn, snarling. The odor that wafted from them gagged me, hot garbage and a full diaper pail. Mr. Boone shifted immediately, attacking the nearest rogue while Donovan shoved me back into the corn stalks. Donovan rushed forward and jumped onto the other wolf’s back, wrapping his arms around its throat; the wolf started shaking and biting toward where he was hanging on.

I backed further into the corn stalks covering my mouth to keep from screaming. I felt my back slip out of the corn, entering the path on the other side. There was a shuffling sound behind me, then arms wrapped around me in a bear hug as one hand found my jaw, holding my head back. I felt a hot breath on my ear and heard a loud, nasally inhale. A guttural voice whispered in my ear, “Damn, you smell f*****g good.” I reacted on instinct, shifting my hip to the left then bringing my right arm down as swiftly as hard as possible, hitting him square in his groin. As he reacted, I brought my arms up and raised my elbows, turning into his hold, and started kicking and kneeing until he finally released me. All my flogging caused him to lose balance and fall backward. I kept kicking and started stomping his throat and head over and over again until he stopped moving. I started jumping on him like a trampoline, I could feel bones cracking in his chest, and blood started coming out of his mouth. I lost my balance and fell on my butt, breathing heavily. I immediately jumped up to my feet once more. I’ve never felt this alert in my life; adrenaline was coursing through me.

I yelled a battle cry at the top of my lungs and ran back through the corn to where I had left the guys, prepared to beat the s**t out of any rogue that stood in my f*****g way. I didn’t care if they were in wolf or human form. I felt un-f*****g stoppable.

Mr. Boone had just finished off a third rogue, and two more warriors had arrived. They all turned toward me, astonishment evident on their faces, but I didn’t stop. “Let’s go!” I ordered, “Stop f*****g standing there!” I took off once more, but someone caught my arm. I spun around and punched him hard in the nose; there was a sickening crack, and blood started to run.

“Oh, s**t!” I cried, covering my mouth with my hands, “Donovan, f**k! Why did you grab me? Are you okay? s**t! Son of a b***h! f**k! Oh, s**t!” He took a few steps backward and bent over, holding his face with both hands.

“What the f**k, Valley,” his voice was nasally and raw.

“s**t! Ah, s**t!” I couldn’t form any other words, I stepped toward him, and he raised an arm and pointed at me to stay back.

“I’m so sorry, Donovan. I don’t know what came over me, you grabbed my arm, and I just reacted. I got attacked by a rogue, and I think I killed him, then I was going, and I couldn’t stop, and I didn’t want to, I was ready to fight them all, and then you grabbed me, and I thought I needed to fight again...” I was rambling and shaking, but I couldn’t stop myself.

“Wait, did you say you think you killed a rogue?” one of the warriors asked, Joseph or John, I can’t remember his name, and I don’t care right now.

Finally, I stopped and looked up, “Yeah, Donovan pushed me back into the cornrow when the first two rouges attacked, and I back into another in human form. He attacked me, so I just reacted...” While I was explaining what happened, the other warrior had gone back the way I had come from, “Yep, he’s here. She did a number on him too.” he called through the stomped down passageway.

“What about that attack?” I wasn’t about to get caught unaware again.

“It's over.” Mr. Boone explained gently; he was like a second father to me, “There were a few injuries, but it doesn't look like any pack members died.”

It was over? I was stunned. “But...but it happened so fast.”

“That’s how fighting feels, Val, a lot is happening all at once, and then it isn’t. Wars can go on for years, but battles are usually shorter than you expect, and they always feel like they pass much faster than they do. You don’t have time to think about anything; you just react. When would you stop to check the time?”

I didn’t know what to say. It was over, and the way I feel right now is normal. My heart was still pounding in my chest, I kept looking around, waiting for a rogue to come rushing toward us, but it didn’t come. I had read about people passing out after adrenaline dumps, so I was glad that didn’t happen. I was also relieved it was over but still couldn’t bring myself back down.

“Let me see that face, young alpha.” Mr. Boone was instructing Donovan while I stood there bewildered. “I’m going to reset it. You’ll be healed by tomorrow evening; I'd wager. Those alpha genes work to your benefit, even if you don’t have your wolf yet.” He had Donovan sit on the ground and hold his knees to his chest. Mr. Boone put his left arm around Donovan’s neck, like a headlock, and got his nose in the other. He tweaked his nose hard. Donovan yelped deeply and was released. “That’ll do. I would put some ice on that.” Mr. Boone suggested before going over to check on the two warriors.

“Donovan, I really am sorry I did that to you.”

He looked up at me from where he was still sitting; he smirked, “I know, and I guess I don’t need to worry about you taking care of yourself. That was one hell of a right hook.”

I grinned as he stood up and pulled me into a hug. I nuzzled my face into his chest, feeling exhausted. I yawned into his chest as he rubbed my back comfortingly. I looked up at his face and smiled, “Hey, guess what?”

He pulled his head back and looked down at me, still holding me, “What?”

“I can totally kick your ass, big alpha man.”

“Nah,” he scoffed, “only when you catch me off guard.”

“I wouldn’t bet too hard on that, Donovan,” we heard a voice behind us, “Come look at this.”

“Alright, Mike.”

Mike? I was way off; I thought as we trampled through the path.

There the rogue was completely naked, covered in blood that was still running out of his mouth and open wounds all over his torso that I hadn’t noticed before with rib bones protruding through his flesh. I stepped away quickly with heavy steps and started vomiting. I can’t believe I did that to someone, even if it was self-defense. I felt a hand on my back while my dinner came back up until, finally, I coughed and spat several times. I had nothing left in my stomach, thankfully.

“You did good,” Mike was saying, “You ever think of being a pack warrior?”

Before I could say anything, Mr. Boone answered for me, “No,” he said flatly.

Honestly, I was a little offended he had answered for me, but he was right; I could not do this regularly. “I really don’t want to kill anyone else, sir,” I answered.

“Fair enough, but don’t let it get to you too much; if you hadn’t killed him, he would have killed you, and, from the looks of it, he would have r***d you first.”

I nodded, knowing he was right. If he had just wanted to kill me, he wouldn’t have shifted back to his human form, he could have easily killed me as a wolf, and I would have never seen it coming.

Donovan interrupted my thoughts, “maybe you can kick my ass,” he smiled while putting an arm around my shoulders. I wrapped my arms around myself and smirked. I was uncomfortable with the praise from everyone, and I really did not ever want to kill anyone, but I was proud that I was, in fact, able to take care of myself.

“We’ll get this cleaned up here. Y’all can head back up to the barn.”

Donovan directed me toward the outside of the maze and back toward the front, where we found everyone else. More pack warriors had arrived and were burning the bodies. There was a mobile medical unit treating the wounded. Tobi’s ankle was getting wrapped. She twisted it while running. Nolan has a deep bite on his calf, but the paramedic said it would heal completely in a few days. There were other wounded in a similar fashion. No deaths, on our side, at least. We couldn’t leave until a medical team member checked us out. I was fine and was finally able to rinse my mouth out with water; I could brush my teeth more thoroughly at home. Donovan’s face got more than a few comments since he had dried blood down his mouth and chin, and around his eyes and cheeks were black.

“Boone reset it in the field,” he was explaining to the paramedic when his father approached.

“Looks like they got you pretty good, but I understand you fought valiantly yourself,” he remarked proudly.

Donovan looked at me, and I busied myself looking at the ground. “You should see the other guy,” Donovan jested, finally looking at his dad.

“A rogue didn’t do that, Alpha,” Mike was saying as he walked toward us, “this young lady here did that,” he continued, pointing toward me.

“Valerie did that?” Alpha Frederick questioned.

“It was an accident, Alpha Frederick, I had just escaped being attacked, and he startled me. I just reacted out of instinct,” I answered, trying to explain why I had broken the nose of not only my best friend but his son and the future alpha of our pack.

“Well, I guess that’ll teach him to think before startling someone in a fight,” he said calmly. I smiled at the alpha, thankful he wasn’t scolding me. He looked at Donovan and laughed, “Other guy? She looks fine to me, but you got roughed up pretty good.”

“I mean the other guy that attacked her before this happened,” Donovan retorted with a smirk, gesturing to his nose.

“Can we not do this? Please,” I insisted.

Alpha Frederick looked at me with curiosity as Mike led him toward the piled-up rogue bodies. “You couldn’t just let it go? You had to tell your dad?” I ranted.

“So, what? He would have found out anyway; the warriors give a full report after any attacks. It's one of the ways we seal gaps in security and find weaknesses in our training program.”

“I hate being the center of attention, and this is going to keep coming up. First, out there, now the alpha. Mr. Boone is sure to tell Mrs. Boone, and he’ll use it as a means of encouragement to the younger girls who complain about having to train at all,” I snapped.

“It’s a good thing. You just proved that the defensive program is successful. It’ll be good for them to see firsthand that everything they learn is important and useful.”

I rubbed my face. He’s right; I know that, but I would rather just stay out of the spotlight, and now that wasn’t going to happen. “Maybe some good will come of this limelight, but I'm still going to be annoyed the entire time," I mumbled.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less than annoyance and, somehow, respect,” he poked me in the ribs.

“Stop it!” I whined, “Can we go home now?” I asked the paramedic who had examined Donovan’s face. He approved, so we headed home. I fell asleep in the car on the way back to the house. Mrs. Boone yelling woke me up, and I could see her careening toward the vehicle before it had fully stopped. She ripped the door open and pulled me out of the seat in a bone-crushing hug.

“Thank the Goddess, you’re okay!” she continued to shout. She pulled back from me, holding my arms firmly. “Let me look at you, are you hurt? Ed said you were attacked. Are you okay? Oh, my goddess! Donovan, what happened to your nose?”

“Take a breath, Mrs. Boone,” Donovan said gently, trying to calm her down, “We are both fine. My face will heal.”

She looked at me, and I nodded and smiled. “I promise, I’m great.”

“So, what happened?” She asked.

“Well, we were going through the maze,” Donovan started and began filling her in on the events of the night, and I filled in the parts where he couldn’t. By the time we had finished, she was looking at us wide-eyed and shaking her head.

“Wow, well...” she mumbled, looking at me, then smiled. “I’m so glad you’re both okay.” She pulled us into another big hug and held us there for several minutes.

“I need to take a shower tonight, Mrs. Boone, and I’m sure Donovan needs to get home to his mother,” I remarked softly. She agreed and, after a few more seconds, finally released us and headed back into the house.

Donovan hugged me once more before getting into his car. He drove away as I made a beeline for my room so I could collect my shower caddy.

I let the water run over me, rinsing dried blood from my body. I turned the water up as hot as I could stand it and let it run, hoping it could wash the disgusting feeling within me off. I scrubbed and scrubbed my hair, face, and body over and over again until my skin was tomato red. I still felt grimy, but not as deeply as before, at least. I wasn’t sure I would ever feel clean again.

Back in my room, I put my things away and flopped down onto my stomach in the middle of my bed, the events of the night running through my mind. I could hear that voice again saying that I smelled good. I didn’t realize it at the time, but now the memories were flooding me, and I could feel his naked body pressed against my back, his junk pressed firmly against my ass, poking me every time he shifted. He was going to hurt me badly before he killed me. How could anyone be that despicable? It all happened so fast that I didn’t process it at the time, but now, lying in my bed alone reliving the whole ordeal, I sobbed; I sobbed until I finally fell asleep.