The Lycan Within

c. fourty one

The two of us reached the top of the ladder and pushed the panel upwards, a gust of wind hit us both like a hurricane and I felt every muscle in his shoulders tense beneath my hands. The air was thick with the smell of destruction. With a new found fervor, Sebastian pulled us from the hole in the ground and the distant sounds of anguish became overwhelming in a matter of seconds. His hands gripped my thighs tightly, and I could feel his claws against my skin. With a speed I'd never seen him reach, he ran and within seconds we were back at the pack house which was now being ravaged by flames and the blood of innocents. 

My eyes stung with unshed tears as my heart dropped to my stomach. I dismounted Sebastian's back with a struggle and fell to the floor as I took in the scenes. I watched as Niklaus fought, phasing in and out of his wolf form as and when needed, although any eyes could see his movements were slowed by the effects of fatigue. Benjamin ran back and forth, carrying as many children as would allow, accompanied by few women as he pushed them hurriedly towards the forest, through a dimly lit path. His golden blonde hair was dirted by ash and matted together with blood. Catori's wolf was covered in blood and her whimpers echoed through the air as the hooded assailants moved with an unreal precision, clearly attacking to kill. Sebastian knelt beside me, and pulling me into his arms. His voice was rough and I could tell just below the surface lurked the powerful lycan he was.

"I have to help them Celeste, I have to, but I can't if I know I have to worry about you," he uttered, as he rubbed my arm gently, and I didn't fail to notice the fur that was sprouting on his skin. He nodded towards Benjamin.

"Go with the women and children. And I swear it to you I'll come and get you," he asked me, gently guiding my tear-stricken face to look towards him. "Please," he begged, his ocean coloured eyes searching my own. I couldn't trust my own voice to speak, so I simply nodded.

"Please be careful," I croaked, and he cast a sad smile my way, before jumping forwards into battle, shifting into his dark wolf. It took me a few moments to collect myself before I set off running towards Benjamin, who now had began to run himself towards the forest, as a few children clung to him like he was pure gold. I called to him, and as he noticed me fast approaching, he nodded towards the treeline, and I got the message. I ran towards it, and as I reached it, so did Benjamin and he placed the children down, pushing them towards the dark trail.

"It was after you left, the house was suddenly on fire and everything was burning," he said, his voice frantic and uncontrolled.

"Those things back there, they aren't people, they're conjured" and the look of confusion that came across my face caused him to sigh in frustration and grab my shoulders.

"The witch this guy is working with is here, those things don't exist without dark magic," he said frustratedly and my eyes widened.

"But we have to go, I promised these people they'd be safe," he said quickly, before grabbing my hand and pulling me to catch up with the mass of people. The further away we got, the duller the sound of war got. But then, there was suddenly complete silence. 

I realized no one else had noticed and I grabbed Benjamin's arm as I strained my ears, desperately listening for something, but I heard nothing.

He seemed to have come to the realization too, and we shared a look. Moments passed before a dark humanoid mass rushed from the treeline and grabbed a woman by her throat, flinging her into the trees as though she were nothing. It's dark soulless eyes locked onto me and it was then a click resonated through the air, and the figure simply dissolved into nothing.

The sound of heels against the cobblestone path filled the air, and it was when I saw those glowing purple eyes growing larger and larger in the darkness that I felt the air knocked from my lungs.

"Oh Celeste, darling, it's been a while," she taunted as she finally stepped into the light. This time, my gaze wasn't restricted to her eyes alone. Her wild blonde tresses flowed down her back in loose curls, framing her well structured face that was currently tilted at an awkward angle as we studied one another. Within a split second, she'd reached beneath her heavy dark cloak and unleashed a shroud of unknown powder into the air. Within moments, bodies had began to slump to the floor, and I turned to Benjamin to see his eyes fluttering closed. My heart began to thump in my chest as I remained standing. 

"Interesting, you should be in a lot of pain right around now," she muttered more to herself than to me. 

"Oh well, I'm fine doing it the hard way," she said, as a manic laugh escaped her lips and her purple eyes glowed as she muttered a string of incomprehensible words. A steady stream of blood came from her nose, though she angrily wiped it away. I had no intention of staying to find out what the hard way was. So with everything in me, I ran the opposite direction. I'd made it a good distance away when one of her beats of dark matter materialized in front of me. I made to turn around, but I felt a firm grip on my arm as I came to realize, they were all around me. They walked towards me, slowly , eyes dead set on me like a predator watching prey. Soon enough, I was engulfed my darkness, and I lost any kind of connection to anything real as I was forced into a place of nothingness.

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I KNOW. It's been a long ass while! How are you all doing? As you can tell, the lycan within is slowly coming to a close :( but how are you liking this so far? A lot has happened for me since we last spoke! I got a boyfriend and honestly, every single day makes me wonder why i ever dated or spoke to anyone that wasn't him he's so magnificent. I have my summer holidays, for 6 weeks so im really hoping to get this book done, then i plan to work on The Alpha King Killmonger for a little while as I pull together the details of the sequel, if I chose to write one, for this book! As always, please do let me know how you feel and don't forget to vote. I am also deciding to enter my baby into the Watty's! So I'd really appreciate your support! Thank you darlings!

ciao mi amores

-chantelle x