The Alpha's Cursed Mate

CHAPTER FOUR: THE FIRST HOWL

ELARA’S POV

A deafening crash shattered the silence between me and Ryker. Glasses burst inward from the kitchen window in a deadly spray. I screamed and Ryker covered me instinctively as the glasses hit him instead. They buried into his skin leaving blood traces but he didn’t flinch, not even for a second.

He let go of me and turned to see what had caused the crash. Something dark and huge launched through the broken window and into the kitchen.

A wolf

But not like any wolf I had ever seen in textbooks or animal documentaries. This wolf was enormous. Its shoulders broader than that of a bear, its limbs elongated. It reminded me of… Ryker's shadow. Before I could form another thought the wolf launched at me.

“Elara! Get down!”. Ryker screamed as he pushed me to his back.

I dove behind the kitchen counter before the creature could pounce on me. Ryker moved towards the wolf with impossible speed, meeting it mid-air in a fatal collision that would send a normal human crashing down. But Ryker wasn’t normal and neither was he human.

The sounds that followed the collision would definitely haunt me forever. Bones breaking and skin tearing. Ryker’s body twisted violently. His shoulder’s broadening, his spine elongating with each bone that cracked. Dark fur sprung up from his skin and his face pushed forward into a muzzle while claws sprouted from his fingertips.

In seconds, Ryker turned into a monstrous black wolf. Even bigger than the one that had attacked us. His gold eyes flaring brighter than I had ever seen. The two wolves slammed into each other violently, one trying to get the upper hand and wound the other.

The other wolf bit into Ryker's body hard and he let out a painful howl before retaliating. Sending the other wolf flying out of the kitchen and across the living room.

They crashed and bit into each other, ruining the furniture and practically turning my house upside down. I began to fear that they would bring my whole house down. Their growls and snarls filled the air, they were so deep that they vibrated in my chest. I scrambled to my feet, heart pounding violently in my chest.

My hand shook as I reached for the rifle that I always kept hidden in my kitchen cabinet in case of coyote attacks, although it felt useless against the wolf.

The wolf lunged for Ryker’s throat. Ryker twisted just in time and bit into the wolf’s shoulder. It howled in pain while I tried to aim the gun at it. My hands shook as they wrestled with each other. I was trying to steady my hands so that I wouldn’t hit Ryker instead. I calmed myself down and took deep breaths. For a second I caught the wolf looking at me with its crimson eyes that promised death. I pulled the trigger immediately.

The shot cracked sharply and the bullet grazed the wolf’s hind leg, making it spurt blood. It wasn’t a killing shot, not even close, but it distracted the wolf and gave Ryker enough time to attack it. Ryker seized the opportunity and his massive jaw clamped down on the wolf's neck, snapping it in half. The wolf struggled a bit and then immediately went limp, its eyes slowly fading.

A deafening silence followed, only the sound of the storm outside and my ragged breathing could be heard.

Ryker stood over the corpse, chest heaving and blood dripping from his muzzle. Then his bones started cracking again. Whatever transformation he went through was being reversed. His bones cracking and returning to their original state, fur receding into his skin, his muzzle becoming shorter till it morphed back into his face. He became human again, naked and covered in sweat and blood. Fresh wounds reopening across his chest and sides.

He turned to me slowly. His gold eyes had dimmed. Blood smeared his mouth and jaws, dripping onto my ruined floor. The dead wolf had also returned to its human form, naked and lying lifeless on the floor.

“Elara” Ryker called out to me, his voice shaky and low. He turned to me with a dead, hollow look in his eye and stood up, taking slow steps towards me, leaving bloody footprints on the ruined floor.

Then he stopped just a few feet away, close enough for me to see him but far enough to keep a good distance. I dropped my rifle on the floor and looked around me. My once calm and cozy apartment was now in ruins, It was completely destroyed. The couch was shredded, the walls splattered with blood, not to mention the dead body laying in the middle of it. The house looked like it could collapse any moment from now.

Then my gaze shifted back to Ryker. His gold eyes held mine.

“You need to run. They’ll come for you soon enough. If the rogue could locate you then they’d have no trouble doing the same thing”. He said in a panic. For someone that looked fearless, he seemed so scared.

“What are you talking about? I’m not leaving”.

What was he on about? Who were “they”?

“You’re in danger! Elara you’re going to die if you stay here. They’re going to kill you!”. He pleaded desperately.

I walked closer to him but with every step I took he took one back, trying to get away from me.

“No. No, don't. You’re not safe near me, you need to get away!”

I ignored his warnings and came closer either way and when I stood inches away from him I pulled him into a hug. Ignoring the sweat and blood that covered him. It just felt right to be near him like this and as our bodies came in close contact with each other I felt this strange energy surge all over my body.

“You shouldn’t have done that, you should’ve run. They’re… they’re coming for you Elara”