Heroes and Wolves [book 1]

Chapter sixty-five

Layla

Anger rises within me. I cannot believe this. They knew about werewolves! They've known all the time I've been here. I knew it was weird that they studied the monster for three years and were unknown to that bastard being a werewolf but they knew already. They knew everything I told them!

The Guardians and Baymin have been acting around me, bending the truth and blocking what they know.

How dare they.

It's not just their knowledge of werewolves but the legend too. Baymin said it was just a story. He palmed it off as a silly concept that involved a jewel and evil being but it's real. The legend must exist.

What is really irritating, no, infuriating is that if I was told about the monster then I wouldn't have got turned into one. It's that simple and they failed. The Guardians failed to protect me, Baymin failed to protect me and what has happened to me is all their fault!

Scrunching my hands into tight fists, the deep feeling of my wolf quickly resurfaces but I don't put any obstruction up against it. I let it grow freely as I walk out from the trees and face Baymin.

     "You knew!" I glare at him as he looks surprised to see me. His eyes widen and his mouth drops slightly from catching sight of my ripped clothes but I don't care about that. "You knew about werewolves?"

The deep feeling easily flows down my arms and reaches my fingertips which makes them throb but I don't care about that. My fingernails have started to be replaced by claws which dig into my palms and draw blood but I just. Don't. Care.

All I care about and focus on is Baymin – the one who lied to my face.

     "You knew everything!" I wobble on my feet as a wave of dizziness comes over me but I recover. "You said that the legend was just a story!"

     "Layla, you need to breathe" Baymin slowly makes his way down the steps. His eyes are locked on me.

     "Everything said to me have been lies, deceptions and utter crap." Fury clouds my mind as a small twinge springs in my head.

     "It was to protect you. Now calm down" Baymin demands.

     "You can sod right off with that." I am outraged and the pain in my head converts to a piercing sensation that cuts across my forehead.

     "We couldn't tell you"

     "Why not? Because you thought I couldn't take the truth?" my heart rate is thundering.

I'm so angry.

     "No, it wasn't that" Baymin blocks an explanation.

     "Then why!" My vision blurs for a second as the deep feeling stifles my every nerve.

The pressure within starts to build. He lied to me. The Guardians lied to me.

It's all their fault!

My mouth begins to ache as my breathing races and exacerbates, each breath is harsh, rampant and dense.

     "Calm down" Baymin warns.

     "No!" you lied to me!

     "Layla, you don't know what you're doing" he firms.

     "There it is. Doubting me. Again" I seethe, a growl encompasses my words. "Screw you Baymin"

Every sound around me heightens to an extra degree. I can hear birds nesting in the trees of the Folklore woods, crickets chirping and the flutter of butterfly wings but the steady thump of Baymin's heartbeat eliminates all other sounds. That's what I focus on.

He is the cause of all this.

The constant low pace of his heart suddenly spikes when another growl releases from my mouth. It's a thunderous curl of power and strength that rumbles the back of my throat.

     "You. Told me. NOTHING" I'm breathless between each word as my own heart rate rises to a beat that triples Baymin's.

The wild pressuring sensations have reached its peak. Raspy breaths, blurred vision and a rampant heartbeat encompass me - fuelled by the pain all around me and the extraordinarily high tension that needs to snap. It's too late to put up any defence against this.

I'm losing control.

I back away from Baymin but he comes toward me.

     "Get away from me!" My voice is mixed with growls and necessity as I turn and head into the dark of the forest to consume me and what I'm about to go through.

     "You need to get your breathing under control" Baymin urges but I ignore him to focus on my path ahead.

Although, I only reach the edge of the woods because my legs give out and I fall to the floor. At that moment, the wind picks up and blasts pass me in strong intermittent gusts but I'm too distracted by the pain and violent sensations flooding my body to find the source of it.

I crawl myself to a tree, the pain acutes to my spine and I have to shift my body to accommodate the movement it begins. Each vertebrae contorts and twists in wild and unimaginable ways. It's agonising. I am screaming, wailing out from this pain that continues to get higher as this force drives through me.

Everything around me is blurred. I'm surrounded by the unknown and facing this supernatural challenge by myself when I could have had the knowledge prior. I am alone in this. I am back to being first. A shot of anger rises from that thought which adds sparks to the already fiery blaze within.

I can't stop.

Placing my palm up on the tree bark for support, I drop my shoulder as it dislocates. The sound of it popping out of place scares me and I wince but then my other shoulder cracks and a savage feral sound emits from me; a heavy snarl. My knees are the next to move, then my hips and any other joint that hasn't been tainted by this force. I can feel my fingers bulging and shortening with each bone shifting into an entirely new position. This is so intense. I'm drifting from this extreme and torturous reality.

     "Punch the tree!" An echo of a voice demands of me.

Through all the pain and suffering, I manage to clamber upward and bring my fist to slam it into the bark. Shards fly off the trunk, showing the bare light brown underneath. At the patter of the landing bark shrapnel, the deep feelings mellow until they are no more. My bones slowly move back to their original place, my hands have fingernails instead of claws and the ache within my mouth subsides. The fire inside has been extinguished. I'm calming down.

There's silence in my body, mind and my surroundings. Peace.

     "Layla?" Maylock's voice splices the quiet.