Howling Fury (Book 1) (Being Edited)

Chapter 13

Yale's POV

My face must emit the shock I am feeling. I mean, the girl I believed to be the lycan who saved my life just turned into a werewolf and ran into the woods with another wolf. She may as well have just slapped me then and there! I would have bet my own life that was her. The hair. The eyes. She almost looked as if she was purposefully covering her shoulder, as if she was trying to hide something from me. Wait....the lycan's back and shoulder were pretty badly wounded, so perhaps I was right and she didn't want me to realise that she is, in fact, the lycan. But...is that even possible? I mean, for someone who is a lycan to become a werewolf as well?

Well. Only one way to find out I guess. I pull my trousers up over my hips and begin to make my way into the woods. This was my story. No way am I letting the threat of a dark and dangerous forest stop me from proving everyone wrong. They al believe I am insane because I say there is more out there than just the shifters, and now I know for sure. Those creatures down in those sewers were definitely not shifters. Not to mention the fact that that girl stole my camera! I have to get that back. My camera is my life, my heart, my soul. I could never live without it.

My foot snags on a stray branch and I fall forward, my arm reaching out instinctively. How long had I been walking? Surely it couldn't have been that long, could it? I pull myself up and spot a strange, un-natural light not too far in the distance. Just as I step forward, a thunderous roar echoes throughout the wood. I shiver. That roar sounds powerful and...angry.

(<About to enter a flashback.>)

I hear another sound. One which causes old memories of the war to come back to the surface. A whimpering. My subconscious reaches back until I'm standing in Iraq, hiding in a trench. "Ready. One. Two...Three!" My captain bellows an order for us to storm the enemy camp and we obey without question.

Finally, with all the Iraqis dead or captured, we are able to relax. "Thompson! We have a man down." Instantly, I spring into action. I am only the medic, but I have been given training in how to fight. I follow the man who spoke until we reach a small boy, no older than eight years old, a bullet to the chest. Small whimpers escape between his teeth as he tries to hide the pain. "It's ok. I'm here to help." He doesn't understand English. Pulling out my medical kit, I show him the small green cross. He nods once and I set about helping him anyway I can.

That was the day I left the army. No. He didn't die, before you ask. We took him back to base camp and fed him, allowing some of his strength to return. Once he was strong enough, he broke into our weapons capsule and stole our machine gun, which he used to kill most of the men. When he raised the gun to me, he hesitated and I was forced to take action, to avoid any more casualties. I took out my gun and shot him right between the eyes. Quick. Painless. And yet the haunted look in that child's eyes as he realised he was about to die still gives my nightmares to this day.

(End of flashback>)

Wow. Why did I think about that? I hear whimpering again; only this time there is something else. A low growling. Without thinking, I jump up and rush towards the sound, thoughts of that child still haunting my memory.

<*>

I push through the shrubs and position myself so I can see into the clearing without anything seeing my. I pock my head around a tree and stifle a gasp. A huge mass of seemingly endless wolves fill a small clearing, their eyes glued on the brown wolf I saw before with the girl. This wolf must be their alpha because you can practically feel the concern radiating from the crowd of wolves.

The girls wolf, and beautiful black beast stands protectively over him. I watch as a smaller grey wolf approaches, ears lowered and eyes down, showing he isn't a threat. The girl snarls and lunges forward until the alpha lies behind her.