Protector | Sequel to Protected

Coward

That night, I slept well. The sounds of the forest on the edge of Wolfhaven, sounds that would've bothered me and made it impossible to sleep back when I was a human: cicadas, crickets, frogs, and owls, now soothed me to sleep as a wolf.

But around six o'clock, thirty minutes before I was supposed to wake up to feed the kids, Josh and Zay came barging into the house.

"Lucas! Maya! Wake up, wake up, wake up!" Josh yelled while Zay banged his fist into the wall.

"Make them go away," Lucas mumbled sleepily, burying his head in my shoulder.

"What is it?" I whispered to them.

"It's August," Josh said, "He's coming."

As they left to take care of things, I got Lucas up. We got dressed as fast as we could and took the kids outside. People were running around, yelling, organizing things. I never considered that they might have a plan in place in case of an attack.

"How did he find us?" I cried into Lucas's shoulder while he wrapped his arms around me.

A tall girl with curly light brown hair ran up to us from the meeting hall.

"Blake and Evan were on guard duty when they caught his scent a few miles East. He's running, so he'll be here in a few minutes," the girl said.

"Thank you," I replied, and the girl ran away.

"We need to hide the kids," I said frantically, "Where, though?"

"I'll take them!" Riley shouted, running towards us from a cluster of people talking concernedly.

"Good idea," Lucas said.

"Okay, Riles, take the kids, get in Farkle's car, and start driving. Go anywhere but East. Just drive, and get as far away from here as possible," I said. I pushed Isabella and Mason into her arms, and Farkle, who appeared next to Riley, took Scarlet and Connor. Farkle wasn't going with her, we needed him here, but he was going to help Riley get the kids in the car.

"Go!" I shouted, pushing them away. They sprinted towards the car.

"At least the kids will be safe," I muttered to Lucas. He nodded, stone-faced, and pulled me back into his arms.

Suddenly, a loping figure appeared from the trees. 

August.

He snarled at us, and he smacked Farkle's car, which now held Riley and all four of the babies, with his paw. The car swerved and crashed into a tree.

"Go get Riley and the quintuplets, I'll handle him!" Lucas shouted, but I couldn't move.

I was paralyzed with a rage so intense, so all-encompassing, that my ears popped and my arms cramped. He hurt my children. My babies. He smashed them into a tree like they were nothing.

Nothing.

"No, Lucas," I said, barely controlling the venom in my voice, "I'll get him."

Without even thinking of my clothes, I exploded into a wolf in a millisecond and advanced on him, snarling. 

"No, Maya!" Lucas roared.

"Let her go, man. It's her Motherly instincts," Josh said, pulling him back.

I pounced on August while he was distracted and raked my claws down his side. He howled in agony and squirmed away, but I didn't let him get more than a few feet. I snapped at his hide and felt my teeth cut through a muscle like it was butter. He screeched and tried and to run away, but the muscle I severed wouldn't let him get very far.

So, August made the mistake of fighting back. He swiped at me with his claws and I felt them scratch my snout. I yelped as I felt the hot blood run down my nose, but I otherwise ignored the wound. For a few seconds, it was a blur of fang and claw and fur. Finally, i pinned him to the ground. 

I looked to Lucas, wondering what to do. 

The elder, Amos, spoke up, "Finish him."

And I obliged, tearing out his throat in a matter of seconds. I don't imagine he felt a lot of pain as he died. I tensed my paws on his chest and sprung off, jumping into the air and landing on the ground. The force of pushing off of his body sent his body skidding a few feet. Blake, Ethan, and Zay dragged the body into the woods.

And so it was that August the coward died.