Among The Wolves

The Next Best Thing

The worst part of this situation was that the wolf was already looking at me. The grizzly bear sized dog was sitting down with its neck tilted. I wanted to get my gun ready, but my hands shook so hard. My eyes darted between the wolf and the kid. There was probably a good sixty feet between them but if the books were right about the wolf’s speed then in three seconds, the kid could die. I needed to distract the wolf so the kid could get out. If only he knew the danger that he was in.

“It’s not good that you are so close to the fence opening, Kajyta,” I turned to see Commander Tevit walking toward me, a handful of the group was behind him. His expression and usage of my first name weakened my knees, “The Wos’Theians might mistake you for trespassing. Come, get away.”

I just turned to the kid. But the kid… he said… oh no. He lied to me. No wonder it was too good to be true and now he’s gonna die.  My throat became a sponge, absorbing all the words that wanted to come out. “I-I-”

Commander Tevit groaned, “You and your stuttering.” He looked like he was going to cuss me out, but when he saw my face, I knew that he got the message. I was so thankful for that. He spun around and looked into the woods. His face taunt with a firm, controlled, anger. He saw the wolf right away. I could tell that the wolf’s demeanor had changed since Commander Tevit got into the picture. Massive, hackles raised, canine teeth bared, emitting growls. His growls seemed to vibrate the earth.

I found myself holding my breath. I could see now the aggression that my parents used to tell me about. The killer part of the wolf that caused the Imbrue Battle and ended so many unsuspecting lives.

My heart tugged painfully at the memory of those bloody days. As if on cue, the scar on my shoulder began to ache, tempting me to rub some ease into it. I began to lift my arm up, but Commander Tevit grabbed my extremity and pulled it toward him. “Step back slowly and behind the fence. We need to let it know that we are on rightful ground.”

I did not budge, I could not budge. What about the kid?  He is in danger!

“Vae,” the Commander hissed at me with gritted teeth. “Move.”

I turned my head to look at the middle-aged man. “He went in.” My voice was barely a whisper, I hardly heard it myself. Still, the buff Commander heard it.

His head snapped, his expression was so distorted you’d probably die from looking at it too long. “That fool, I should’ve known then he’d come back to do this.”

The kid got up slowly. My heart squeezed when he started to retrieve his gun. Commander Tevit stiffened, and I knew that he had the kid in sight. Commander Tevit mumbled, “Don’t do this, Bratir. (Ah, now I know your name kid) you don’t want this. Not war.”

War? The word snapped me into action. Bratir is doing this because he wants war? I can’t have war! She’d die without me! I started running full speed “Stop! Bratir, stop it! No!”

“Vae!”

I was only going 0.1 miles an hour, and I was already breathless. All the equipment that weighed me down was more than ten times my skinny meat sac. Huffing, I pushed myself.

The wolf sprung to its feet, its eyes set dead on me.  Call me loco for choosing sides, but this was not right; not fair. I tossed my gun aside and found it easier to sprint. “Werewolf! Look out! He’s gonna shoot you!”

Yes, I wanted all the werewolves dead. The ugly creatures deserved to die for what they did during the Imbrue Battle almost eight years ago. The amount of blood they shed and innocent lives they took was unforgivable. Killing my parents was unforgivable. My current predicament was their fault. Still, war was out of the question.