The Scared and The Scarred

Chapter 26

"Whats going on?" Asked Leah with a shaky voice. 

"I don't know.." I whispered, my eyes glued in the direction of the screams. But I did, I knew what was happening. We should have expected this.

The crowd of people, once seated and talking quietly, was now chaos. Tables were being knocked over as people ran, screaming. 

I began to catch sight of rogues running through the crowd. They weren't attacking yet though, they seemed to just be scoping everything out. 

And probably looking for me. 

We all jumped from our seats ready to fight. 

"You can't fight in that Celia, go. We've got this." Said Alice as she shifted, running off into the crowd. 

"Celia, go!" Luca yelled as he too shifted and took off, followed by the rest of our table including Leah.  

I began to mind-link the entire pack as I ran. 

We are under attack! We are under attack! If you are trained and able, we ask that you fight, but you do not have to. I need at least five trained fighters to escort the women and children to safety. We need to move quick! 

I reached my room, looking for the outfit I'd had especially made for today. 

It was black suit, that had been made with a type of material that was armored. I knew my Gift would help more than my wolf, but that meant staying in human form. I had to protect my human form, so I'd gotten ahold of the man who makes the protective gear for the guards, he did a great job on it. 

I'd tried it on a couple of times, just because I felt really cool in it. Like Katniss from the Hunger Games.

I pushed the thought from my mind, thinking seriously. What could I do. I looked out my window at all the trees circling the yard and smiled. 

They hadn't thought this out as well as I'd first thought. 

I ran back to the yard, gasping when I saw the number of bodies on the ground. There were wolves fighting everywhere, and those who weren't, were lying dead on the ground. 

I needed to work quick. 

I focused all my energy on the trees surrounding the yard. Their branches and vines began to tangle together, creating a wall. 

A few of the rogues stopped fighting to see what was happening, quickly learning they'd made a mistake. They were now unable to retreat, or bring any new fighters in. It would either be all of them, or all of us, and I wasn't going to allow it to be the latter. 

Rogues began to run towards me, surrounding me, but not attacking. I realized they didn't want me dead, I served no purpose dead. Calvin wanted me to take over other packs, they were just buying him time to get to me. 

Without hesitation I reached for the first rogue. The moment my hand touched him, he fell to the ground motionless. I felt his life replace the energy I'd lost working on the trees. I repeated it on the other rogues around me, and eventually the last few caught on, making a run for it. 

I stopped mid run, when I saw him. 

He wasn't hard to spot, mostly because his wolf looked just like Luca's, who happened to be circling him. I watched, wide eyed, as Luca took on his father, who didn't look the least bit phased by his threatening growls. 

I was so distracted by what was happening before me, I forgot to watch my back. 

I was suddenly knocked to the ground by a large red colored wolf. He bit into my arm, shaking it viciously. He must not know who I am, or he just doesn't care. He wasn't trying to capture me, this one wanted me dead. 

I tried hitting and kicking, but my human form was no match for a wolf. My Gift on the other hand, was. I thought through all the ways I could use my Gift to defend myself, trying to decide quickly. 

The moment my mind was made, the earth I had been lying on, dropped out from underneath us. The rogue let go of me, shocked that we were now falling. I reached my hand up as we fell, and it was met by a vine.

 It wound itself down my arm, lifting me back up out of the hole. Once out, I quickly closed the hole, and began looking for Luca again. I'd felt something horrible as I was falling, but I continuously reassured myself the rogue had just ripped through my stomach. It felt strange, that being a better outcome than what I feared may have happened. 

My heart nearly stopped when I spotted him lying on the ground. 

He wasn't moving, and I didn't see Calvin anywhere near him. 

I started to run towards him when a voice stopped me. 

"Oh don't bother." It said. "He's gone." 

I turned towards the voice, coming face to face with Calvin. 

"I don't believe you." I spoke confidently. 

"Really?" He asked. "You don't feel it? The feeling as if your stomach has been ripped to shreds? The feeling of losing your other half?" 

Tears filled my eyes, but I kept my voice from shaking. "What would you know about that?" I replied. "You killed your mate." 

"Ah, Annabelle. Yes, and I quickly learned that was a mistake. Not because I missed her, but because my wolf drove me crazy. Constantly whining, causing me pain. It was fun, but wasn't really worth it." He shrugged. 

"You're a monster." I told him. 

"You're exactly right my dear." He answered as he began to walk towards me. 

I stood my ground, ready to end this. 

Rain was now pouring out of the dark sky, a result of my Gift bring affected by my emotions in the moment. Lighting flashed, and thunder shook the ground. The sounds of the fighting around me disappeared until all I could hear was my own heart beating in my chest. 

I knew the fighting was still happening, but my focus was on the fight about to happen. The fight that would decide the fate for me and my pack. 

For Luca, I thought as I ran at Calvin. 

As I started to attack, using vines, trees, earth, anything I could towards him, I felt a blade slice through my arm, and everything stopped. 

The branches and vines that had nearly reached him fell, and the earth that he had started to sink into stopped moving. I held my arm, looking at him in shock. What had he done? 

"Do you know why this pack is called Silver Claw?" He asked. "I'll tell you. I tried taking you once before I killed your mother, you know. It didn't go so well. She killed most of my men defending you, but one of my men, a real mean one, had replaced one of his claws with silver. He liked to cause a lot of pain to who ever I sent him after, really enjoyed it." He explained. 

"He got her, just a scratch, but it was enough to hold her Gift back for a minute. He used that minute to escape, sharing this information with me. I killed him of course, for not getting the job done. But his information was very helpful." He said, holding up his hand to display five silver claws.

 "If only your mother hadn't hid you so well that day." He told me shaking his head.

 "Anyway, if a cut held your mother's Gift back for a few minutes, that gash on your arm should hold your Gift back for a full hour. This should be fun." He smiled as he walked closer to me. 

When he was finally standing directly in front of me, knife in hand, I reacted. 

The vines that had been lying motionless shot up from each side, wrapping around his arms, completely immobilizing him. 

"Thats not possbile!" He yelled as I slowly stepped closer. "It worked on your mother!" 

I put my face close to his ear and my hand over his heart. 

"My mother wasn't a Luna." I whispered, right before stopping his heart.