Delta [Epsilon #2]

Chapter Fifteen

Azure

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I'd known something was off the moment she left the dining hall. 

It was small at first, nothing more than a little tug at the back of my mind. But as time wore on, it became more persistent, more urgent. I'd told myself I was being paranoid. Yes, I didn't entirely trust her with her own safety, but it was the light of day. Surely nothing could go wrong, right? 

Even so, that feeling didn't leave. I tried everything to distract myself, even going so far as to explore the west wings. However, nothing worked, and it wasn't long before I was searching the castle for her. 

I kept telling myself I was being paranoid, that I was being obsessive, but something just felt so... wrong. When my searches turned up empty, I only became more frantic. Eventually, I'd found myself outside. 

By that point, I was torn between my rationality and my instinct. Why the hell was I doing this? Why would Raina even be outside? But my instincts were overwhelming, my heart forcing me forward when my mind begged me to stop. I was distinctly aware of the groups training in the distance, and part of me wondered if I should check there. Knowing Raina, she might have tried to sneak herself in. However, a flash of movement to my left stopped me. 

I turned. A cobbled building -- no bigger than my bedroom -- sat in the grounds, no different from any of the other buildings and tents. My eyes wandered, but no one was there. My mind told me to leave it be, but my feet were already moving. 

And when I moved into a position to see far enough around the building, my heart dropped. 

There she was, lying on the grass, almost ethereal in her white dress. My mind took in the other details slowly, like a slow-spreading fire; the boys standing around her, the blood seeping from the wound in her shoulder, the wolf pinning her down, his teeth hovering just inches above her neck, poised to strike at any moment. 

With horror, I realised I was about to watch her die. Raina was going to die while I stood a hopeless two hundred yards away, watching. The urge to kill battled with my hopelessness, and I was frozen. That familiar feeling of failure smothered me; the knowing that someone would die under my watch. 

But as I began to cry, I saw something miraculous. Raina's hand lunged for the wolf's throat, wrapping around his neck before throwing him to the side. She wasted no time, using the shock to her advantage. She punched the boy holding her on the left, before rolling over and running away. I couldn't believe it. Raina was... 

Fighting.

It was only when I saw the boys pursue her did I start moving. I shifted so fast my muscles twanged, an ache I knew would last for days after, but I didn't care. I couldn't waste this. Raina, by god Raina, was fighting. She wasn't going down with a struggle. She'd given me precious time to save her.

Save her. The words charged me onwards, a renewed vigour to battle the horrific hopelessness of before. I couldn't let her down. I had to fight, too. 

Urgency pushed against my skin as two of the boys caught Raina, and I feared the worst again. But Raina did not give up. She thrashed, managing to swipe her claws across a boy's face. He collapsed with a shriek, clutching his eye as blood pooled at his fingers. A quick movement of her arm and the other boy dropped her. She looked like a ray of sunlight as she darted in her wolf form, golden fur billowing in the winds. The other boys quickly shifted into their wolves, but my eyes weren't on them. They were on her.