A Changed World - Book I | The Howling Winds

Chapter 7: One of Us

"Quick! Get something to block the door!" John exclaimed to Luna while still keeping the door closed with all of his strength, hearing the hundreds of vicious rabid snarls on the other side, desperate to make it through and tear both of them apart.

Luna was sat on the ground, clutching her paw with pain due to it definitely being broken from the fall, but she was very surprised to see that John was somehow managing to keep the door closed against hundreds of rabids.

"Uh, there's nothing in here." Luna pointed out with slight panic in her voice, looking down the dark, empty corridor with the help of her flashlight.

Luna quickly stood up on one paw, keeping her injured one hovered above the ground to avoid injuring it more as she looked in her backpack, searching for anything she could use.

"Uggh! Come on, there's gotta be something!" John said with a raised, clearly strained voice as he kept the door closed.

Luna continued to desperately look through her backpack before noticing the large sword sheathed on John's hip. She limped over to him, pulling the blade out then wedging it inbetween the frame and the handle.

"There, that'll hold it!" Luna said confidently, backing up from him.

Noticing what Luna did, John slowly moved away from the door and sighed with relief when he saw that the sword was strong and sturdy enough to keep the door closed.

"Nice thinking... bummed that I didn't get to try it out though..." He said, catching his breath from the exertion.

Luna rolled her eyes, crossing her arms while standing on one paw. "It was either that or die... we have plenty of swords anyway." She replied uncaringly before turning around and limping down the dark corridor while the rabid's banging on the door could still be heard.

"Hey.. wait up, I can help you walk y'know." He said sympathetically, noticing Luna's limp.

"I'm going to get back to my people, human. You and I have reached the end of our alliance, you aren't one of us. Find your own way out." Luna said with a hateful voice, not even turning to look at John.

Surprised, John followed after her anyway. "Look, I don't expect you to trust me... but I was given the chance by your people to prove myself, so that's what I'm gonna do." He stated.

With a scowl, Luna quickly turned around and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, slamming him against the wall while holding a very sharp claw to his neck.

"You may have them fooled, John. But not me, I know you're playing some sort of game here." Luna spat, staring into John's blue eyes with her own dark red irises.

John barely reacted and simply looked back into Luna's eyes. "I'm not playing a game. I'm just trying to do right by your people. You can choose not to believe me, but that's the truth." He explained calmly, showing no fear or deception.

Luna continued to look into the man's eyes, almost as if judging his very soul with only her gaze. But eventually... she let go of him, her gaze never faltering. "That better be true human, for your sake. I won't be so easily fooled like the others, remember that." She warned, scratching John's cheek a little with her claw as she moved her hand away, causing it to bleed... it wasn't clear if it was intentional or not.

The scratch on his cheek almost went unnoticed by John, the only reason he detected it was due to the small amount of blood running down his face. He simply nodded his head in response to Luna, knowing that his words would simply not be believed by the wolf.

After a few more seconds of Luna's sour gaze, she turned around and began limping down the dark corridor again, her large bushy tail swishing behind her as she limped.