Outcast

Chapter 5

"What the fuck was that?" Serenity snapped, voice laced with fear, her boot cemented to the accelerate pedal. The rusty truck barrelled down the empty road, the strange thing a distant speck in their rear view mirror.

The blonde threw a glance out the back window before rapidly scrolling through her phone contacts, "I don't- I've never seen anything like it," her voice was fearful, Ostanda whimpered within in her, even the usually aggressive creature was scared.

Morgan was fully awake now, darkened eyes shifting like storm clouds, "Tal, did you catch a glimpse of it?"

Tal's eyes flickered over her screen, "It was like a wolf, but wrong. Twisted somehow, it's scent was sour like something long dead."

"A barghest maybe?"

She shook her head, "Mom's kind almost never branches out of Europe, Barghest usually smell like storms, like rain and electricity mixed together. Never like death."

Ser nodded, "Even Unseelie Fae smell more living than dead. That- that thing wasn't natural."

There was an unholy sound in the distance, a cross between a scream and something ancient.

Taliyah felt the hairs on her neck stand up.

"Look, we just need to make it closer to the centre of the territory. The betas can sort this shit out," she muttered, pressing the dreaded number on her phone, "This is out of our league.

"Tal-"

The blonde hushed her, putting the phone to her ear, the muffled sounds of ringing filling the car.

"Why the fuck are you calling this number?" Taliyah had never been more relieved to hear Richards in her life, she had saved his father's number for emergencies. Standard pack procedure was to keep contact with all officials, regardless of status.

"Look, Richards, we got an emergency," her voice was raspy as she spoke, fear evident, "there's a creature on the Southern border. I don't- Uh- it's not human but it's not one of us."

"Shit- uh," she heard in fumble on the other line, the familiar crackle of the phone connecting to bluetooth was heard, "You're on speaker. Tell my dad what you saw."

She pushed the hair from her face, trying to gather her emotions. She hadn't actually spoken to the Alpha since her father's death.

"Alpha Richards, it's Taliyah, I wouldn't have called if this wasn't important," Mor gestured at her to hurry up, "There's some kind of creature on the Southern border. I don't know what the fuck it is. It reeks of death and sounds like something from the Old Lands."

There was quiet on the end of the line, so quiet that Taliyah could hear her own heartbeat. It felt like hours before he spoke.

"Did you actually see it? Or was this just something you 'felt'?" He said felt like a tainted word, and the teen felt her self cringe. There was a reason she hadn't spoken to the older man in so long.

"I didn't feel it," she snapped, Ostanda's anger leaking into her voice, "The thing fucking jumped our car. Fully cracked our windshield. It followed us for about half a mile before we managed to lose it."

There was an inhuman growl from the other end, "Watch your tongue, Omega."

The half-breed's face turned bright red, her eyes turned to steel, her wolf was snapping at her now, all teeth and nail, ready to tear this man a new one.

Her voice was low when she spoke, emotionless and cold, "Listen here, old man," her two friends threw uneasy glances at each other, "You either send some of your stupid fucking betas to sort this shit out or this thing is going follow us straight into town. You wanna try explaining why some undead monster is tearing up humans, huh? I'm sure the town officials would love to hear why a bunch of teenagers shifting into fucking wolves to protect themselves from that thing."

"Enough, Nguyen," she heard the younger boy grumble.

"Enough? Enough?" Her eyes flickered with rage, "I'm sick of all of you not talking me seriously because of my status. I alerted you because the pack is in danger and you're going to dismiss me over my status?!" Taliyah's voice continued to rise in volume, her voice laced with some much older and powerful.

"Tal, calm down," Morgan interjected from her seat, reaching back to pat her friend's hand, "You're okay? No need to get mad." A blue light  glimmered in her eyes, causing the teen to take a deep breath.

"Whatever the fuck your problem with me is, put it aside for five seconds and sort this shit out." The teen slammed her thumb on the red call button, throwing her phone to other side of the car.

"I fucking hate them," she hissed, biting back tears.

"Hey, it's okay," the dark skinned girl smiled at her, "You did well considering who you were speaking to"

Taliyah's eyes turned yellow for a brief moment, a deep glimmering gold that radiated anger, her voice was raspy, "Sometimes I just want to tear their throats out." Her skin rippled and shift, bones moving beneath her flesh.

"Calm your wolf, Taliyah," Serenity growled, "My car's taken enough damage today. I don't need you shifting in my backseat, nor do I want to explain to our classmates why I have a 200 pound wolf with me."

The half-breed grumbled in response, her skin settling slowly. The morning light burned into their skin as they pulled up to the school parking  lot, the truck's engine rattling as they slotted into their usual spot.

Eyes were pinned to them as the engine came to a halt, pinned to the spiderweb like crack that graced the truck's dirty windshield. A familiar figure standing in front of them, annoyance painted on his face.

"That's going to be expensive to fix, isn't it?" Mor whispered, eyes wide at the glass, it's fractures like ice, held together by nothing but a thin layer of plastic.

Serenity shrugged it off, cold eyes trained on the boy in front of them, "Maybe it might convince my parents to get me a better car."

Taliyah leans forward between the seats, glaring at her mate, the yellow eyes flashing once more like a forest fire.

"Looks like we have something else to worry about first."