Hunted

Chapter 28

Chapter 28-Amias' POV

“Define ‘under attack’,” she said nervously, breaking away from my gaze to glance around at the forest. Everything suddenly seemed darker, the night full of shadows.

“I would think it pretty obvious,” I muttered, scanning our surroundings. She fell silent rather than answer, doing the same.

                We didn’t hear them coming. It was strange in itself, considering how everyone in camp had advanced senses, but it was true. They were that good. Roark must have sent some of his best men.

                And they were good. We didn’t even know they were upon us until someone gasped. All eyes turned to Kade, a skinny little thing who couldn’t have been more than twenty. We watched in astonishment as he fell limply to the floor, a gurgling resonating in his throat. When he slumped forward, we saw the deep gash along the length of his back that still oozed blood. It stunned me that it wasn’t healing, and it took me a moment to smell the aconitum. With that poison running through his veins, the kid would die a long, painful death.

Someone let out a choked cry, rushing to his side. It took me a moment to recognise them as Adam. The were was usually so calm and collected, but his typical persona was nowhere to be found now.

                “Kade!” he sobbed, tears streaming down his pale cheeks. Kade’s eyes fluttered half open.

                “Adam, it’s okay,” he muttered.

He’d barely gotten the words out before he was coughing up blood, the wolfsbane already making its way through his system. It would slowly weaken him from the inside out, making all his vital organs shut down before death would eventually claim him.

                We were all so focused on Kade and Adam that it made it easy for them to strike again. Before we knew it, Luk was toppling to the ground, clutching at his stomach. Blood seeped through the cracks in his fingers. His hands trembled when he spotted the crimson liquid. He groaned in agony.

                Now everybody was on high alert, apart from Adam, who was still weeping over his dying friend. The smell of death made me cringe, the urge to protect Azula burning within me. I edged a little closer to her, not at all put off when she threw me a threatening look.

                “I can take care of myself,” she muttered, eyes glinting. Her hands were fisted by her sides and I could hear her heart pounding in her chest.

                I smiled down at her. “I know.”

                I guess they thought that they could swoop in again while we were all distracted. There were two grunts from around me from my elite team and a blur of movement that even I found difficult to track. But White Falls had picked the wrong people to attack this time.

I sensed our attackers surprise as my team held their own. They had stopped moving so fast now, and I realised that there was only two of them, both of whom were being taken care of by my pack.

Daniel, Malkolm and Koray were all ganging up on one and Gareth and Kol were battling the other. It was eerily quiet, apart from the occasional cry of pain or grunt from the fights going on. I glanced around to see the rest of the pack watching in what could only be described as a numbed state of shock. They’d moved towards the bodies of Luk and Kade, crowding around them as if to protect them from further damage. Dobry was in full Shaman mode now, tending to Kade while instructing others on how to care for Luk.

My attention was drawn back to the fight as a random rock was dropped near my feet. It was shaped strangely, the bottom half smooth but there was a sharp tip that had blood coating it. I moved to pick it up, eyes flickering warily to the fights to make sure that I wouldn’t catch a stray limb. When my skin came in contact with the bloodied end, I recoiled in shock when my hand was immediately burned. It was covered in aconitum.