DML: Chapter Fourteen: To Battle The Undying

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The drive passes in silence. I am too wrapped in my own fight to not let melancholy taint Bethany’s passing, and Ben is too furious at the death of the Lycan speak.

“We’re being hunted,” Afzal says matter of fact and cracks his knuckles.

I look out the window, my keen eyesight laser sharp in the dark. True enough shadows race beside us, weaving in and out of the tress.

Wolves.

“Lycans,” Ben murmurs. “ It took two hundred years to broker peace after the last war Daniel declared.” He sighs heavily and clasps my fingers. “I count three to the north east.”

“Two my side,” Afzal adds. “Easy.”

Easy? To kill them? No. What would that achieve?

‘It is necessary,’ Ben thinks to me. ‘They will not listen to reason. One of us has killed one of them. That is all they care about. We must keep you safe.’

‘We can try,’ I plead. ‘They may still listen if we explain.’

‘It is too dangerous.’

“Stop the car,” I demand out loud. ‘Now,’ I add in my mind and all three flinch, hunching their shoulders.

Surprisingly, Iain hits the breaks. We jolt forward and slam back into the leather seats. I use the shock of the whiplash to jump out of the car a second before Ben makes a grab for me. “Lee!” he roars.

Wolves double the size of Alsatians lunge from the woods onto the road; powerful bodies thickly muscled and long-legged. Crouching, gathering themselves, they spring forward to streak towards me, teeth bared, snarling. The pack is shaggy and colored in hues of dark brown and black. Their teeth glow in the darkness. Narrowed oval eyes ranging from deep green to vivid amber blaze hatred. Calmly, I cast my gaze over them again and do not see the silky chestnut coat, and mysterious blue gaze I was hoping for.

“Harmony!” I screech. “If any of you can hear me, understand me, I demand to speak to Harmony.”

The wolves scramble to a stop, claws clattering as they back peddle at the familiar name. My fists clench at my sides, nails scraping my palm and my stomach summersaults. Thank goodness for that. Their sleek heads swing from side to side, uncertain, and after less than a beat, one rumbles sullenly lifting his head to the sky. He howls piercingly, long, and deep. It echoes through the trees, steals away through the night carrying power that is unknown to my kind. I focus on this one. His fur is more hirsute than the others, and a smoky gray clumped around the jowls. He looks familiar…. The rest follow him, growling, hot breath rushing from elongated maw’s in clouds of dense vapor. The agitated pacing makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

Afzal places a hand on my shoulder and pulls me back until I stand behind him, Ben, and Iain, who plant themselves firmly in front of me. Ben is closest, his hand held out slightly to the side in front of me protectively.

“This had better work,” he grits through his teeth.

“It’ll work,” I reply with more confidence than I actually feel. Please, please let this work. “In the car you said this would be easy?”

“Och, already I forget you’re new.” Iain turns his head toward me but his eyes stay on the Lycans. “Five wolves against three of us is not worth blinking an eye at,” he explains casually looking the most relaxed of the three. “Five wolves against one of us is easy. Afzal was going to take care of it.”

I look at the wolves and know my distress must show on my face. “They were ready to face you and die?”

“They’re Lycans, lass,” Iain scoffs. “Stubborn and stupid to the end.”

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