Dark Instincts ✔

Chapter 20: Wolf and Night

Hailey walked out onto the patio where everyone had eventually gathered. Something Hailey noticed about Hunter and his siblings was that they didn't like sitting inside a lot. Wherever they were, they looked for fresh air, nature and trees. They liked to be under the sky (day or night) and bask in the glint of the moon or sun. It was so wolfish of them to sit lounge around in chairs and silently enjoy the nature sounds. And it wasn't a surprise either when Vincent and Ryder tackled one another in their wolf forms. A challenge was always accepted with honour in this pack, even if it was for fun.

Hailey took a seat on the bench next to Hunter. "Why are they attacking each other?"

"They were playing blackjack and Ryder cheated when Vincent explicitly told him not to," said Hunter who seemed quite bored from watching the brawl in front of him.

Hailey chuckled at them.

Azura also came back outside with the last slice of cake. She carefully sauntered around Gabriel, Viola, Lupin and River. Hailey grew aware of how Azura moved around everyone like the most precious thing to her was the cake on her plate. Azura pushed past the card table and took a seat on the empty steps.

"They should be careful," Hailey warned as Vincent and Ryder started to get too close around the patio. Intuition told Hailey that Azura would kill them if anything happened to her cake.

Vincent's and Ryder's wolves didn't pay any attention to their surroundings. Vincent's wolf grabbed Ryder and they toppled over the wooden table which held their card game. Ryder pawed and kicked Vincent off of him. And exactly what Hailey hoped wouldn't happen did. Vincent slammed into the steps where Azura was. The wolf crashed the table and bumped into Azura. Her cake slice flopped onto the ground between the grass and mud.

The entire gang stopped when Azura stood up.

Azura lifted her cold eyes. "I'm going to kill you two."

Hailey gasped when Azura ripped into her beastly form and lunged on top of Vincent. She brutally clawed the two male wolves. Even if Azura was outnumbered, she surely wasn't outmatched.

Viola laughed. "Those two have done it now!"

Azura's wolf put her mouth around Vincent's neck. She grabbed Ryder's wolf with her paw when he tried to help Vincent. They both struggled for air as everyone cheered on Azura to knock them out.

"That looks serious," muttered Hailey as Azura tossed Ryder to the side like he weighed a sack of potatoes. "Shouldn't you step in?"

"They had it coming," sighed Hunter. "Don't worry. They fight like that all the time. It gets their blood boiling and saps all their extra energy out before dinner."

Azura finished them off with a good paw to the face. Luckily none of them drew any blood. But Hailey guessed that they all had some restraint even if they were fighting so viciously.

"I'm starting dinner preparations," announced Klaus from inside the house. "So, you might want to freshen up before I'm done."

Hailey got out of her seat. "Where are you going?" asked Hunter curiously.

"I'm going to go help Klaus," she said. "How is he alone going to cook for all of us?"

"But your injuries," reminded Hunter.

She smiled. "I'm fine," she sauntered inside and found Klaus in the kitchen. "What are we cooking?"

"Lasagna," he said, "it's everyone's favourite."