Forbidden

|35|

Laurent

After a good six hours walk, I finally made it to a nearby bustling village with exhausted stamina when daylight was beginning to break out and was intrigued by the fact that so many of the villagers were awake at the current early hour. Stumbling into the center of the town where a huge stone water fountain in the shape of a bald eagle, I observed how all the humans suddenly went tense, as though they felt someone of a different nature. I ambled past the curious gazes with the odd feeling of being stalked like prey which forced my exhaustion to disappear. My eyes instantly took notice of the various weapons the humans had holstered to their bodies and the way they were dressed in short animal pelts then I realized why I had the feeling of being prey, this was a hunters village. I rolled my eyes in disgust at the pitiful humans whom were slowly circling me like sharks to bucketful of chum.

"You don't want to do this." I warned with a shake of my head but of course, they didn't listen.

"Don't see much of your kind in this place boy." A older man with a red zigzag scar across his right eye stepped up from the circle, his demeanor heavy with authority.

"Oh yeah? And whys that old timer?" A slow curving of my lips revealed the top two fangs, a few of the humans stepped back carefully, their eyes wary.

"Simple, they all die." The old man brandished a small silver dagger and inched towards me. A woman of smooth brown skin and honey nut hair grabbed the mans arm and tugged back.

"Samuel, I don't think this is a good idea. He is alone yet he isn't frightened, there's something wrong with this picture!" She whispered to him but my hearing picked up on it and my smile must've irked her nerves. Her thin lips slid down to a frown as her gaze lingered on me.

"Why aren't you scared? There's a whole town of us and one of you." She reasoned and I dug my hands into my jean pockets and kept them there, shrugging my shoulders nonchalantly.

"All I came in here for was to replenish my supply pack, not cause any trouble. But I'm not scared sweetheart because I don't care if there was a thousand of you, you'll still die by my teeth. After all, I am just a beast." I felt the inside of my mouth begin the phase and I dropped to my knees, the wolf inside me already hungry for the promised violence. The hunters watched in fearful awe so I was guessing they never actually watched a shifter turn.

The phase was over quicker than it ever was before and I felt and smelt the humans everywhere, like my senses were just drinking in their scents of cowardly fear and stupid courage. They were kind of like us really, hunt in packs but unlike my wolves, these humans wouldn't survive the day. A woman off to the side rushed in first with reckless abandon, brandishing her weapon like it was a lifeline and I dodged her blade and grabbed on to her leg with my jaws, the resounding snap evidence of the bone breaking. Her howl of pain sent a strange pleasure through me and started a bloodlust that throbbed within my body , pushing me to lurch forward on to the the young woman from earlier who held the scar man back and dig my canines into her neck, her blood splattering as my teeth sliced through her jugular. 

One by one, the hunters came at me with blades, maces, one even had a great sword made of steel that just barely missed my neck and yet, none of them came close enough to cause enough damage, their screams and shouts of death melodious to my ears as I ripped them apart single handily with relative ease. An hour went by and I stood on all fours in the midst of mangled and eviscerated bodies with lifeless eyes and the stench of copper was heavy in the air, causing a fog of red that I barely saw through and was easily lost inside.

My tongue ran across my muzzle, it felt dry, like sandpaper scratching against a dusty chalkboard despite the thick red liquid running down my mouth and matting my fur against my body. A sudden movement rushed past the peripheral of my right eye and I dashed forward, catching the survivor by the leg and dragged him down. My teeth grazed the bone of his calf and the man cried out.

"Let me go! Please!" My eyes snapped up and I saw the zigzag scar, which was now joined by many more of the ugly red welts. I decided to show pity and released him from my jaws, leaving the festering wound open, susceptible to infection. I turned around to leave only for Samuel to call me back.

"You can't leave me here you damn black unnatural mutt!", he hissed and a snarl pushed my muzzle.

"I can and I will, you decrepit old fool." His eyes opened wide as he tried to scramble away from me.

"I-I-I heard you!" Terror reigned supreme in his features and I didn't respond, not because I didn't want to but because I had no idea why he could hear me either. My nose lifted into the air and I smelt another shifter, my eyes immediately searching for the new intruder and I saw a wolf with black and white fur and eyes nearly pitch black watching me with mild interest. It was female, the pheromones were numerous in the air and wafted across my nostrils. I cocked my head to the side as the wolf inside me whispered a word to me that sent my fur to rise up in confusion since I already heard the whisper once before with Eden. It whispered mate.

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Mason

I didn't know how but I felt her, like her soul was screaming at mine and the call was getting increasingly louder and much more frequent the closer we trekked to where the witch held her. Her voice echoed around in my head and whispered words to me, a place.

"You think she's okay?", Waydi questioned but I didn't reply, I was too focused on listening to the whispering in my head. Go right! I made a curt turn and Waydi growled out as he lost his footing at the sudden change in direction.

"Do you even know where we are going?", Larry asked this time and I felt the small thread of patience I had left slowly crumbled and snip.

"Will you both shut the hell up and let me focus damnit!" I yelled through the link and Larry, bristling at being commanded about, quickened his sprint and once again, skidded to a stop in front of me. I just barely was able to avoid a collision with him and instead, my paws dug into sticky mud, a small pang of disgust at the dirt being caked on to my legs shot through me but this was no time to be worried about cleanliness.

"You will not speak down to me damnit!" Larry snarled and if I could in this form, I would roll my eyes.

"Larry, I don't have time right now for your inferior complex that makes you have to buck up in indignation every time someone says something that makes you feel less alright? Eden is my concern and if you get in my way one more time, I will scatter your body pieces all across the continent of Pangea, got it?!" My need to help Eden and be near her was becoming greater and all I saw was red and if Larry didn't stop, I was really going to kill the wayward Alpha. He backed down and laid his head down in submission, to which I just ignored and began running again.

I could feel that we were close and all I needed was to get there, she was waiting for me and I would destroy anyone who laid a finger on her. Little did I know that inside of me, the spell Seranas cast strengthened and tightened the links between Eden and I to nearly unbreakable and soon, everything would hit the fan.