Power of the Wolf

Chapter 8

I woke up with a huge headache. Looking around, it seemed that I was in some sort of clearing. My hands were tied behind my back.

    Beside me I could just make out the shape of Sahar, still unconscious.

    In the middle of the clearing a fire glowed. I could make out three voices, though I couldn't hear what they were saying.

    Then the conversation paused. I could see one of the people standing up and walking over to where Sahar and I were tied up.

    "You're awake," the man noted.

    I glared up at him, though I probably didn't look very threatening in my current situation. "Who are you?" I demanded. "What do you want from us?"

    "I'm afraid I can't tell you who we are," the man replied. "All you need to know is that we know a few people who will pay very well for the capture of a couple moon-born like you."

    "What do you mean by 'moon-born'?" I asked.

    The man laughed. "Still haven't figured it out, have you? You're not human like the rest of us. Your kind are very few and dangerous, created only when a human's born during a lunar event. Though why you two aren't dead yet, I don't know."

    Behind him, one of the people by the fire laughed at something that the other said.

The man glanced at his companions, then turned his attention back to me. "Better rest if you can. We leave first thing in the morning."

He left to rejoin the others by the fire, leaving me to think over what he'd told me. I was honestly more confused, even though I now had an answer to my question. Well, part of an answer.

Why haven't I heard the term "moon-born" before? Why haven't I heard of any of this before?

Beside me, Sahar shifted. A few moments later her eyes opened. "Where are we?" she whispered, taking in our surroundings.

"We're being held hostage by a couple of rouges," I replied at the same volume. "The one guy mentioned that people would pay quite a bit for our capture."

"Why do people seem to want us dead?" Sahar asked.

"The guy confirmed that we aren't human. He used the term 'moon-born.'"

Her eyes widened. "I thought those were a myth! This explains a lot."

"Like what?"

"I'll tell you when we're away from these people."

I glanced at our captors. "Do you have a plan?" I whispered, leaning in as much as my binds allowed.

She nodded. "It's not much, but once they're asleep, I'll start trying to untie you," she said, lowering her voice so much that I had to strain to hear her. "Once you're free, you can grab a knife and cut me loose. The quicker, the better. From there let's focus on getting as far away from here as possible."

"Got it."

After that, we fell silent, waiting for the men to stop talking and go to sleep.