Howling Fury (Book 1) (Being Edited)

Chapter 18

I follow Lucas's scent until I am outside the building. What I see forces my blood to boil. Marius, the vampire who was with Demetri, stands pinning Lucan against the wall by the neck. Lucas wasn't struggling as he should be. He must have been bitten by Marius. Vampire venom has a strange effect on shifters. It causes us to become tired and calm, allowing the vampire to attack without much risk to themselves. Just another reason I hate them. They don't play fair.

Yale lays just a few metres away, lying in a massive pool of blood. Pale and unmoving, but I know he is alive. The faint but steady beat of his heart reassures me that he is. My temper flares as I look at him. How dare he hurt a member of my family! Filthy blood sucker. I may not know Yale very well, but a friend...a member of my family loves him, so I will protect them both.

I growl at Marius, but he barley even acknowledges my presence. Snarling, I step forward, forcing him to take notice of me. He slowly turns to glare at me. "Stay back, mongrel. I am doing what must be done. I only have too deal with this human and this traitor, so if you value your life, leave now."

Clearly this idiot thinks I am just a random wolf. I growl again, and before he can react, I sprint forwards. He releases Lucas, who falls to the ground with a thump, and turns to face me, baring his teeth and hissing. Leaping into the air, I shift into my lycan before my body collides with his.

A strange noise escapes between his lips, a noise of fear or surprise, as we fall too the ground. Hearing Lucas groan, I look up to make sure he is ok. Pain flares in my chest and I roar, bringing my massive paws around to hold his throat. I lower my face, teeth bared, full intent on ripping his damn face off.

Only when my jaws close, they do so around thin air. What the hell? Where did he go? Searing pain in back alerts me to the fact that he is now behind my. Snarling, I bring my paw around, claws fully extended to slice his throat open. And what did the irksome little leach do? He disappeared again.

I growl, eyeing the surrounding area for anything out of place. There. A strange distortion in the air, moving and yet staying still. It has a strange effect on my eyes and I suddenly have the strangest urge to puke. Weird. I notice that the strange blur seems to move towards me in slow motion, as if it where moving in syrup.

Gradually, it speeds up and I wait until the last moment to react. Just as it is upon me, I swivel out of the way, bringing my claws up too meet the distortion. I feel it collide and see Marius fly through the air a moment later. He land with a dull thud and slowly rises to his feet, holding his stomach.

Blood pours from an invisible wound and he coughs, bringing up a little blood. He slowly straightens up and I notice most of the blood flow has stopped. He snarls at me, and is just about to lunge forward when Demetri's voice rings out. "Marius! Enough!"

Marius pauses to glare at him, baring his bloodstained teeth. "No, Demetri. I will kill this human and these little mutts if I must. Just because you are too weak to take action against a threat for fear of offending your friend, or irritating some half breed who "all powerful". Well, I'm sorry, but I hold the protection of our clan as a great priority, far superior to any other."

Demetri hisses at the accusation that he doesn't care and steps forward. I only send a growl his way, and Mark stops him before he moves any further. Marius looks at the pair, then me and smiles. "What? Are you afraid of this over grown dog? I could kill her with my arms tied behind my back," he sneers.

Demetri only shakes his head. He knows Marius is no match for me, especially in my current state. I can feel my control slipping even further and my body begins to shake from the effort of keeping in control. Mark taps Demetri's shoulder and nods his head in my direction. He knows I will do my best not to kill the vampire. That could start an all out war. Well, unless I get permission to kill him that is.