fangs²[wyatt lykensen]

.9

POINT OF NO RETURN

I COULDN'T HEAR anything besides my own footsteps and the subtle breaths leaving my lips as I trekked through the dark forest. I was going in the directions I'd originally seen Declan going in; it was my only lead, and if I could pick up a fresh scent I could find Wyatt.

I didn't know for sure if anyone was watching my movements, but I wouldn't rule the possibility out. This pack invaded our land as if they were here first and began using our own territory against us. That needed to change.

I felt my eyes begin shift to a glowing blue, allowing me to see even better in the dark than before. I stopped for a moment to gain my bearings again, to let my senses reevaluate what was happening around me. Tracking could be difficult sometimes, but with the motives I had, it felt like second nature. My eyes closed for a moment as I breathed in deeply, shooting open as soon as I found what I was looking for.

The scent seemed to be purposefully covered up—clearly not very well—and was fading away the longer I took to move. It was a smell of burnt firewood and dirt, making my nose twitch a bit.

I ran quietly as I continued tracking the scent. I ran for what felt like miles until I saw the distant, small flicker of a fire. My mind yelled at me to stop, so I did and placed myself lowly behind the truck of a tree. If the fire belonged to the them, chances are they had patrol wolves nearby that I had to sneak past.

Unless...what if I didn't have to sneak past them?

A plan formed in my mind quicker than I could think it all through to make sure it wasn't stupid—it probably was.

☽

"Here we go," I muttered to myself, my eyes watching as a wolf that was patrolling began sauntering by. I made sure to make myself known in a way that made it seem like I was trying to hide.

I stepped on a twig, making it snap before cursing at it lowly. If that didn't catch their attention, I was sure they must not have been as smart as Declan made them out to be.

I smirked when I heard footsteps approaching me. I sunk to the bottom of the tree trunk and waited for a moment.

"Who are you?" I was yanked up by my forearm roughly and met the face of a brunet boy with glowing yellow eyes. His fingers clenched into my skin roughly and the sudden pressure made me uncomfortable.

Not wanting to risk the others in their pack recognizing my real name, I went with the first one that popped into my head. "My—my name's Whitney. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—" I was cut off by being pulled into a walk behind him.

"You're one of them," he said with a small grin. The light from the fire grew brighter the farther he took me. "They're gonna love that we got another one of you." The remark caught my attention, but I forced any physical reaction down. Another one, I thought, Wyatt's here.

I pretended to struggle as I let him lead me to the rest of his pack. Loud cheers and celebratory noises came from the seemingly rowdy bunch of werewolves, and it only got louder as soon as I was led around a small cave formation.

My eyes widened as I finally saw the pack that began to take over my land. There was at least thirty of them; some were talking, others were eating and drinking, and the remainder was dancing around to nonexistent music and howling.

"We got another one!" my captor cheered as he paraded me around like a trophy. I was led past the crowd and to the opposing tree line. The trees that lined the opening were fit with rope, as if they were ready to catch intruders. I looked down a few and noticed a slouched figure with a streak of white at the front of his hair. My heart skipped at beat at the sight. He looked exhausted and he'd only been gone for three hours at most. What did they do to him?

I fought back lightly as the brunet bound my wrists to the tree and propped me against it before wiggling his fingers at me. "I'll see you later," he assured. I growled as response, my fangs bared at him for a few moments as he let out a chuckle and left.

As soon as the attention fell off of me, I looked down the row to see the boy I'd came here for. "Wyatt," I whispered harshly, trying to get him to notice that I was here. "Wyatt," I tried again, causing his head to unsurely lift and allow him to look around for the source of the noise.

"Cora?" he asked, his jaw slacking as he realized it was me. "Cora, what are you doing here?" The words came out slowly and a bit hoarsely. "I told you I'd be back."

"You were taking too long," I excused. "Don't worry, I almost have a plan."

"Almost?" Wyatt repeated, furrowing his eyebrows at me as he became more aware of his surroundings. "Cora, you should've stayed back at the den. Now you're stuck here, too."

"Unless I'm not," I countered, giving him a soft smile. I allowed my claws to extend from my nails and I unclenched my fists as I did so, giving myself enough room to work. It was going to take a hot minute, but I would eventually cut through the rope.

"No, Coraline," he said firmly, glancing between the busy crowd a few yards away from us and back to me. "They're after you. You needed to listen to me and you didn't. We have no idea what the hell they're gonna do when they realize that the girl they're after is right under their noses."

"Then let's hope they don't find out."