Lycans Of The Woods

Chapter 6

"Your eyes are so much prettier when they glisten with your tears, little Olivia." 

Cold palms cupped my drenched cheeks, and my eyes drifted shut, my wail of despair slipping away, diminishing under the sound of crackling flames and the snarls from Lycans. 

Anabelle's touch soothed my eight year old body and mind, but only briefly. The scent of burning flesh assaulted my nostrils and I stumbled backwards, away from the female lycan and collapsed to my knees.

My fingers curled around dry grass as my shoulders shook, lips parting as vomit arose, splattering the earth, it's foul scent nothing compared to the smell of the flames eating away at my parents. My vision blurred when I shakingly lifted my head to stare blankly at the roaring flames in a garden. Several lycans standing around the small area howled in joy and victory.

"Stand." The collar of my shirt was gripped and I feebly struggled, lungs burning and vision clearing. I met the cold dark eyes of the lycan, recoiled at the way she lifted a hand to hold my chin, shift my head. Left. Right. Down. Up.

Something akin to disappointment settled momentarily in her piercing eyes, but vanished when she saw that I observed it. This lycan had promised my parents and myself shelter from the lycans currently howling their pleasures at the deaths of my mother and father.

She had seemed so sincere, so desperate to save us from the lycans searching for persons who had been part of a protest which had ended in the death of an Alpha. 

The female had, after stumbling upon us in what we thought to be an abandoned barn, asked us to join her in her home. 

We had initially been wary of her offer, but her seemingly genuinety and sweet words, which were so rare of lycans, had been enough to convince my mother and father. We stayed in her home for two days, accepting her food and sleeping in her beds. 

Only to be hurled out when the Klawmoon Pack warriors came, promptly seperating my parents and myself. 

I had not witnessed their deaths. But once I was forced to leave Anabelle's house, I saw the scattered limbs and flesh in her garden, the broken necklace my father had gifted my mother months ago, the pink dress Anabelle had given my mother, which was now torn and resting amongst limbs and bones jutting from flesh.

The lycans had been quick to pile them all into a heap in the garden, set fire to them. And I was forced, with a tight grip on the back of my neck, to watch all of this, my screams of horror being dismissed. 

The female lycan's grip on the collar of my shirt tightened and I staggered forward, icy horror shooting up my veins as I was directed to a male lycan, clothed in a dark green uniform, his hands dripping with the blood of my parents. He smeared it against my cheek as he examined me with piercing eyes, fangs elongated as my low cries returned. 

"Olivia," The female's hand drifted to hold my hair so that I held eye-contact with the male. "Meet Kanes. Kanes, meet Olivia." She crouched low and my skin itched at the feel of her soft blouse touching my shoulder, her hot breath hitting the shell of my ear as she snarled, "You will be seeing plenty of him from now on." 

**********

My palms ran up and down the material of my pants in a self-soothing manner and after a moment of hesitance and contemplation, I stood. My footsteps barely made any noise against the floor and I paused to survey the hallway. The two lycans, who I assumed to be guards of some sorts straightened at my appearance. 

My fingers curled around the doorframe before I pushed myself off, narrowing eyes focusing on the guards who remained on either side of the hallway. My chest constricted as I neared them, but my expression remained stoic when they both stepped forward, blocking my path.