HECTORMy hind legs had begun to creak and cramp as I shifted from my hunch in the shadowed enclaves of the caves’ rocky exterior.“Where are you?” I rumbled lowly, raking my wolf eyes over the shadowed lowlands that were lined with white orchid trees that overhung ominously over the winding dirt path.It was empty, with only the wind whistling a soft lullaby through the leaves as they sashayed up and down.“Dammit.” I hissed, baring my teeth as the hairs rose on the back of my head before I leaped down soundlessly, with all the graceless ambling of a newborn pup, to the rocky mouth of the cave below.If intruders were waiting on the surrounding hills, they stayed out of sight, the shadows on the top of each dune shapeless and void.I realized I was humming a soulless tune as I patrolled the length of the dirt path, pausing to crane my ears violently to the side when I thought I heard the meaty crunch of an errant footstep behind me.I whirled on the balls of my feet, my yellowed-gray
NOLA REYNOLDS “What the hell was that?” I screamed as the creak of the door shuddering on its hinges grew to a staggering crescendo and the snarls from behind the door became fever pitch.The dark-haired blonde man seemed to shake himself before striking the hilt of his sword on the door frantically until I thought he'd gone quite mad, trying to hack my head off with his silver sword, until the snarls stopped and the insane tempo of the bodies beating against the door seized.The air was quiet, too quiet. Enough that I could be the thumping of my fleshly heart in my chest as my ears rang from the adrenaline.“Hybrids. Careful Nola. You might want to move your back from the door.” Kalden whispered and I gave him a questioning look, looking for any loose screws under the thick locs of his wolf-cut hair.Crazed werewolf guard for sale? Going one? Going two? And donated free of charge! Congratulations! You just got yourself a tree-sized maverick! Enjoy!“I've heard they have incredibly l
NOLA REYNOLDS“Kalden! Do something!” I croaked, feeling for my throwing knives behind me as the weight of the spongy shadow creature rested thickly on my midriff.My neck was numb from the bites on the creature’s punctured tongue, and I felt my mouth open with a panicked gurgle as it reared a bald, misshapen head above me.More tongues burst from its back before the silvery glint of a long, curved claw caught my eye, just as it came down on the meaty mass with a loud clang, and more of the black goo splashed across my face.“Nola? Nola! Can you hear me?” Kalden’s somber rasp sounded disjointed and distant. The words were heavy in my mouth as I tried to move, my vision whirling to focus on the blurred-through lump of the tongue that was lying unnervingly close to me.“Nola? Nola, can you hear me? Say something goddammit!” I was startled, gasping loudly and trying to scoot away as something warm enveloped me from behind, and the Lycan’s honeyed rumble tickled my ear.“H-Hect-” I croake
HECTOR BAYESKalden had been standing over the puddle of inky black when I’d burst into the room, the creature turning to ink only seconds before my eyes could pick out what it was.“What the fuck is going on?” I growled, hooking a claw over the stunned man’s shoulders with my eyes trained on the girl sitting, spread out beneath him.Something struck me as very wrong as I closed the distance between us and put my arms around the slightly shivering girl.Smiling. Nola had been smiling.“It just, I think it came from outside. But how did it get up the walls?” Kalden whispered distractedly, seeming at a loss as he looked back and forth from the brown-haired girl to the blue-tinted open window.I barked at him, growling until he’d snapped back to the present and I repeated my questions.“Jules!” I bellowed in my head using my Alpha voice, and waiting only a second before the brown-skinned hag burst into the room, looking about frantically with a plume of black-grey smoke swirling between
NOLA REYNOLDSThe Lycan’s Witch had said that I was healing well, Just as she sipped the ginger brew that was meant for me from the small white bone china cup, the blackened end of her pinkie finger raised daintily.“Aye, this is the good stuff.” Ma Jules cooed, before sighing heavily and banging the cup on the bedside drawer, and leaning toward me to stretch her hand across my forehead before I wrenched my head so far back that I saw the galaxies.Can't have been me she was about to feel up with those talons. Werewolves didn't see right with just one eye.The witch snickered before leaning back in her wooden chair with a loud creak, as more maidens ambled about the room, avoiding my eyes and whispering furiously between each other.I hadn't known I was holding my breath until the oak wood door to my cave room creaked open and in walked the Lycan. The green-eyed bandit was determinedly behind him, an unreadable expression on his face.The Lycan’s angular face was relaxed when he saw m
HECTOR BAYESThe girl from the village was recovering nicely, save for the spiked barbs that hadn't seemed to leave her tongue since she came from the wolf village.It was a wonder how the gremlin found the energy to be sassy, given how close to Hades’ clutches, she’d gone.“Find anything?” My best friend’s deep baritone sounded as he fell into step beside me, interrupting my reverie. He must have been lurking in the cave shadows again, Kalden Kalden, what to do with you?“I found a rat the other day, festering in the rust-colored walls of my sewers-” I growled, flicking my eyes to the side to see that he was watching me closely before focusing again on the stone hallway.It would do to look where one was walking in the cave corridors, it was how a nursemaid had gotten her petite-shaped head ripped off her neck, the nursemaid’s cotton cap still attached firmly under her jaw.An errant stalagmite that was hastily cut down after the fact.‘The sewers’ was Ma Jules’ choice of word for th
NOLA REYNOLDS“And just where do you think you're going?” The Lycan’s gravelly voice intoned, freezing me in my tracks as I inhaled a sharp breath.“Uh...In the carriage?” I squeaked, jerking my thumb over my shoulder and widening my eyes in faux innocence.I watched as the man’s face seemed to tense, his eyebrows furrowing deeply before a sinister smile rose on the full line of his lips-the ones that always seemed to be pouting.It made my spine tingle with alertness as a beat of quiet passed between us so that the din of the horses neighing around filled the air.“Negative Reynolds, you're riding with me.” Hector mused, jerking his head to the white stallion that was huffing restlessly by his side.No way in the devil's mountains.“Yeah, no thanks, I'll hitch it with people more in my class.” I jeered, taking a precautionary step back as my eyes darted between the horse’s golden mane and the Lycan’s unsmiling face.I’d never been that close to him before, I wasn't sure it was the br
HECTOR BAYESI pulled heavily on the horse’s reins, barreling to a stop just as the first dollops of rain slapped heavily into the mass of my hair and the village girl turned to give me a surprised look. “Did you hear it too?” Nola whispered, her green eyes appearing darker in the sepia blackness.”Don’t move.” I seethed, pressing the reins into her open palm and nodding when the girl shook her head violently.The noise of the carriage wheels barreling to a stop behind us had her looking back again before I swung one leg over the horse’s pale, white rump to leap down to the dirt-covered path, keeping my eye on the shadowed line of the jagged rocks that loomed on both sides of the dirt path.“What the hell is going on?” I hissed at the footman who had been peering into the shadowed window of the carriage, damn near breaking his neck in his attempt to snap away when he heard the rivulets of my baritone behind him.“Sir, I-” He stammered, his downturned eyes roaming the walkway confused