Blood & Bone [Book Three of The City of Eternity Series] [✔]

3.6: Beast

The crowd seemed to dissipate slightly as the tensions wavered; the Six Valley residents seemed to disappear amongst the snow covered trees along with a few of the more optimistic members of the crowd; those who were eager to check other machines for 'double drops'. Only those that lived near The Grove seemed to stay where they were, staring at the empty husk of the machine in front of us.

"What are we going to do, Matty?" A tall, dark-haired woman had whimpered, her face having dropped into an anxious grimace and her hand having come up to rest on his chest.

"We'll manage," The man had replied, placing his own hand over hers and offering her a somewhat weak smile, the stubble on his face making it seem more genuine.

"Well I won't!" A deeper, far more aggressive sounding man had said, over hearing them just as I had. Despite that he had spoken calmly, grounded in reality, "I'm going to Central right this second. If they didn't bring the meat here then I'll go to them and get it," I cast a hesitant gaze at the man and only vaguely recognised him as one of the 'loners' that occupied a large home a few miles from my own. The building had several solos and outcasts that hadn't paired or grouped properly, which Central rectified by forcing them into homes together.

"We should all go! Central is our best bet," Another man had agreed, a redhead who lived right off the border of The Grove. He wasted no time dashing off towards the wall, waiting for no further signs of agreement. It seemed like a reasonable plan, especially when every single werewolf had shared an anticipatory look before following along behind him at a steadier pace.

I swallowed hard, realising this could only spell trouble. Though, despite that, I still took a tight grip on Dhana and followed suit.

I'd followed behind at my own pace. I didn't want to miss out on any meat that may be provided at Central by sitting around the machine, waiting. I reverted back to listening to the sounds Dhana was making in her dream state; calm breaths and blurted murmurs filling the air. It did little to distract me from the shouts from the crowd; frantic panic consuming many of us; husbands and wives bickering with each other, friends picking faults and usually friendly groups voices crying out into the tree line.

With a group trekking through the path towards Central gate, the ground had eased under their boots, making carrying Dhana far easier. I could only be thankful the snow had eased up and all I needed to focus on was the grip I had on my wife, and ignoring the seething pain burning into my skin with every movement. I needed at least twenty minutes to sit and rest to regain my composure, and a supplement of food to heal my wounds; neither of which I had at the moment.

I allowed myself to think I was close to saving Dhana's health when the group had made its way to the gate; each person scanning in their ID card and rushing through the other side with a scream in their throat.

Dhana and I were the last through the gate, and I'd passed our ID Cards through to the guard who was staring with a suspicious glare; a human with little knowledge of anything other than this little room. He'd allowed us through with a roll of the eyes, not seeming to make any effort to understand why so many of us had come through at the same time. In fact, it didn't seem as though he understood anything, other than how furious the entirety of Western Zone had become.