Sanctuary

Chapter 81

There was another thundering bang and a section of the wall flew towards the wolf, crashing to the ground at his feet and bringing with it a gust of wind that smelled delicious. It was a familiar scent, and he'd enjoyed ripping it apart the last time he'd encountered it. A deep growl of anticipation rumbled through his throat as he eyed the creature the smell was coming from.

It stood In the opening of the wall on its hind legs, holding a stick in one of its front paws, and it felt dangerous. The creature raised its front leg, pointing the stick at him, and a bolt of light shot from the end, hitting the wolf's front leg and making him yelp.

It hurt.

Springing from his crouch, the wolf ran at the creature, sinking his teeth into the leg holding the stick that had caused him pain and a thrill of pleasure shot through him. It felt so good to bite.

The creature made a loud, high-pitched noise which hurt his ears, and Moony let go, moving his attention to the creature's stomach and biting down again. It didn't take long for the noise to stop and the creature to fall silent. He wanted to keep biting until there was nothing left to bite, but another scent filled his nose, brought to him on a gust of wind and he looked back up.

It was Outside.

Everything he remembered from last time was right there. The soft, springy stuff that felt so good against his paws, and the giant plants that were so fun to run through, were tantalisingly close.

With one last longing look at the creature lying at his feet, the wolf made his choice and ran into the Outside. There would be plenty more delicious creatures, but this might be his only chance to escape his prison, and if he didn't take it, he could be trapped forever.

He smelled more of them within seconds and followed the scent into the trees, winding through the plantlife silently for some distance until... there. Just ahead of him were four more of the creatures, each of them holding a stick like the last one had been. He knew how much those sticks could hurt, so he hesitated, but the smell of four of them together was too good to resist for long and he burst from the bushes that covered his presence and pounced at the closest of them.

Before he could get his jaws around any part of it, though, he was hit by something that burned and he yelped, backing away as the four creatures surrounded him in a circle. They were all pointing their sticks at him, taking it in turns to shoot him with burning pain. He tried to dash out of the gaps between them, but they kept herding him back with their pain sticks, making noises at each other that he couldn't understand.

Suddenly, one of them dropped to the floor, then another. A moment later, all four were lying still and silent like the one he'd bitten before and a familiar feeling engulfed him.

It was safety, and warmth, and home. It was The Fighter. His pack must have followed him.

He turned his head to look for them, but all he saw was another one of the creatures, and it was holding a stick that was pointed at him.

Before he could react, the creature lowered the stick and made a noise he recognised. It was the noise his packmates made when they arrived every day, and the wolf stared at the creature in confusion, sniffing the air. The scent coming from the creature was the same delicious smell as the others and the urge to sink his teeth into it was intense, but it didn't feel like the others. It felt safe, not dangerous. Like a friend. Like a packmate. Like the Fighter.

He whined and tucked his tail between his legs. The urge to attack was overwhelming, but every sense he had was telling him this creature was the same being that had eased the unbearable loneliness his life had been before. Biting the other creatures had made them quiet and still, and he didn't want his packmate to be quiet and still.