My very own wolf family

Chapter 42.

I NARROWLY AVOIDED bumping my nose into a tree. Spinning to face the attacker, my half-formed scowl froze before darkening into something more sinister. I hissed at her smug smirk as she dragged me behind the bushes.

Before I could snarl a biting remark, she whipped a dainty hand over my mouth before frantically looking around, her alert eyes lingering towards the burning village. "Shhhhh. They have laser-sharp hearing. Even the humans."

I rolled my eyes and impulsively licked her salty hand. She quickly wiped my saliva on her cargo pants and cringed. "What in the supernatural are you jabbering about?" I didn't feel the least bit remorseful for my snappy tone. I wanted answers.

We both looked towards the main street just in time to catch a shadowy glimpse of a man patrolling. Decked in dark colours, the anonymous man carried a rifle across his shoulder that moved with every heavy step he took. The sharp pieces of metal, professionally carved to inflict maximum pain, strapped to his belt reflected the dark night with patches of bright orange fire that danced and warped over the shape of the blades.

"You see him? He and a few other patrollers are waiting for stragglers and those who hid in the forest to emerge. They're betting that some will retrace their steps back to collect their left-behind belongings, and I'm sure they will make quick work of those materialistic shifters." Lily's voice could barely be heard over the crackle of the fire. "In case you didn't know, the patrollers arrived shortly after the majority of the village had escaped. I watched the entire fiasco from the roof of one of the shops along the main strip instead of fleeing like a coward."

She must've had a deathwish, choosing not to escape from the fire while she still could.

"There was no need to irrationally panic and fear the fire," Lily addressed my thoughts. "The people who ran were rash. In the face of an immediate threat, they forgot an important feature of the strip: buildings had been built with enough space between them that fires couldn't quickly jump and spread to other buildings. The perpetrator knew this too. They purposely targeted the larger buildings on the main strip such that the fire appeared to engulf more buildings than it actually did. 

"What I am worried about, however, is the patrollers' hearing abilities. It's as good as wolf-shifters, surprising because they're only human. As I was climbing off the roof, my foot gently bumped into some metal piping. They all heard it and turned towards me. If I froze and hoped they ignorantly dismissed the sound of activity and continued their duties, I would've been caught and slaughtered. You must be careful. Don't underestimate them. They're not shifters, but they're not humans either."

I raised my nose to the air and sniffed. "You're right. They don't smell like animal, but human hearing is incomparable compared to ours. What witch gave them their hearing abilities?"

"No clue. But we must be careful and get out of here before they sense our presence. Perhaps their smelling abilities are equally incredible. I'd rather not find out."

At some point during our quiet conversation, she must've dropped my wrist without me noticing. Now, I felt a warm hand wrap around my arm again. 

My defenses rose from the unexpected action and I twisted away, subtly trying to unfasten her hold. "What makes you think you're accompanying me?" Although Lily's information was helpful, her overall aura remained fishy. The discomfort and suspicion from our first interaction lingered, and it wasn't her business to know about Fynn and Blaze's disappearance. Furthermore, her method of introducing her presence earlier was unkind and insensitive.

What type of shifter would find pleasure scaring another in such dreadful situations?

"A sneaky one. It reveals a lot about her true personality and her possible agendas." Riana was quiet for a while. "Don't let her come with you. Don't let your guard down. You're too trusting, and despite my love for fish, this fish is a weird fish. Possibly a bad fish."

"I can keep an eye on the patrollers while you search for whatever you're trying to find. You should acknowledge your limitations when it comes to multitasking." 

I winced at her jibe. My assumptions about her less-than-stellar personality was correct. I had to watch out around her.

She continued to insist staying with her would be the safest. The longer I stayed silent, the louder and more demanding she became. "You have to let me come. It's in your best interest to have someone watching your back."

I agree someone should watch my back. Just not her.

Lily gasped as her nails dug into my skin, eyes fiery with rage. I realised I had voiced my thoughts. "How dare you!" She was no longer simply referring to the current situation, but what could it be?

Before I could further ponder, the clunking of heavy combat boots caught my attention. My struggle to detach her claws from my wrist intensified and I began to panic as the patrollers came closer to discovering our hiding place. To add to the grave situation and sudden migraine that knocked into me with the force of a jetliner, Lily began screeching.

While she was busy piercing eardrums and alerting the nearby patrollers, I brought my free hand to cover an ear. I never wished for bigger hands that'd allow me to cover both ears at once more than I did in this moment. The sound was like the angry screech of fingernails dragging down a painted wall, and I wanted nothing more than to get away from it.

Just as I thought my brain would implode from Lily's shrill voice, her grip finally loosened enough for me to wiggle out of her tough grasp. I chose not to dwell on her astonishing strength, instead focusing on my next moves.

"Her voice, too, is a force to be reckoned with. She could shatter glass. I bet she'd make an excellent robber"

If being a shifter doesn't work for her, she can definitely specialise in quick break-ins. There wouldn't even be any evidence aside from neighbours hearing loud screams and a broken window.

Riana's unexpected comment about Lily's future and my planning occupied all my attention, and I didn't react to the tightening of her hold in time.

Before I could overthink what was sure to be a painful move, I hastily leaned my weight backwards and tugged my arm with all my might. I felt my arm elongate, but my abused wrist finally escaped her clutch. However, my imbalanced weight also meant my legs escaped from under me and I fell back into the dirt.

Scrambling backwards on my hands and feet, reverse table top style, the flames in Lily's eyes flickered higher. Her legs tensed in preparation to lunge and I clambered onto my feet and ran into the forest.

I would think about my mismatched arms later.

***

A/N:

Hey all!

Raise your hand if you agree Lily is a bit of a lunatic!

I'm incredibly sorry for the lack of updates these past few months. I will do my best to reset my writing-laziness and try to a set time every week solely dedicated to writing.

Answer to Chapter 41's joke: don't overdue it! (what is wrong with me 😭)

-Hilda

P.S. I will not set release dates until I have earned the agency to do so (i.e. until I actually follow writing deadlines and not disappoint MVOWF fans).