Chapter Five

Rose

After the mind link ended, all the magical sounds of the carnival ceased to exist. Matthew grabbed Harriet’s face pulling her lips against his and stole a passionate kiss. Heather and I turned away to give them a moment. We only turned back when we heard him say four words.

“I love you, Harriet.” He choked out as a tear ran down his cheek. He shredded his clothes as he shifted into his large molasses wolf with a white underbelly. He bolted towards the southern border visibly forcing himself to look to the border as Harriet crumbled to her knees.

“You asshole! That’s not fair! That wasn’t part of the agreement !” She screamed after his wolf as the tears streamed down her cheeks. “I love you, too.” Harriet whimpered into her hands. Heather leaned down and hugged her sister from behind.

To other packs, this probably would be no big deal. We are just a small pack in the middle of the mountains. We aren't a fighter rich pack, we are peaceful. What did we do to deserve this?

“Come on.” I pulled at my friends. “We can’t stay here. We are too close to the southern border.” Harriet stumbled to stand and Heather helped pull her up.

We quickly headed north out of the carnival. Howls filled the night air as we ran through the trees. Fear settled deep in my soul. Discarded prizes and food cluttered the forest floor as we tried to quickly weave through the trees. “Hurry up.” I egged them on. Branches whipped my face and legs as we ran faster.

Suddenly a piercing pain ran through our chests. All three of us looked at each other with terror glistening in our eyes as we leaned against the trees for support. This pain that tore into our hearts could only mean one thing. Alpha Dane was dead. More howls echoed through the trees with the sounds of thunderous paws smacking the earth.

“Come on” I hissed. We all took off at top speed not daring to look back. “We can make it.”

The smell of smoke wafted to our noses and started to engulf us. The sounds of heavy breathing were almost missed before a large gray wolf with matted fur and a scarred-up snout came charging at us, a rogue. Behind him, a large molasses wolf with a white underbelly trailed furiously, Matt. I shoved Harriet out of the way just in time as I took the brunt of the gray wolf’s charge. I was smacked into a tree and a gasp escaped my lips. I tasted metallic blood in my mouth as I tried to catch my breath. Matt’s eyes were raging black pearls as he tackled the rogue. Matt furiously tried to snap at his opponent’s neck. The rogue was able to shove Matt off of him. The two started circling each other trying to gain the upper hand.

“Come on,” Heather panted as she and Harriet helped me stand. I spit some blood on the ground. Harriet looked back at Matt with a pleading looking in her eyes.

We quickly tried to make our way towards the safe houses that were hidden in the woods by the base of the northern mountains. My ears perked up as I heard the crackle of fire up ahead. I looked up in the sky and thick black clouds of smoke billowed from ahead of us. My face contorted in horror. I shifted immediately and ran.

Not the safe houses...no...no. That’s where the majority of the pack should be. Heather and Harriet had shifted as well. They were both pale ginger wolves, but with different white markings. Harriet had a white underbelly and Heather looked like she was wearing socks. As we ran we heard paws closely following behind us. I turned to face the new enemy and nodded my head to the sisters to go and try to save anyone they could.

I let out a loud growl as gray and white rogue approached. It was a she-wolf and she smelled like old blood and death. We began our circle dance. She was the first to make a move first. She tried to claw my eyes and snap at any flesh she could get a hold of. I dodged her advance and ventured the favor as I bit down on her paw with all of my might until I tasted blood and slung her into a boulder. She yelped as her back collided with the rock.

Parts of the boulder showered onto her. As I looked at her I saw red and orange flames licking at the trees behind her coming closer to us. She took a deep breath before charging me again. Both of our fangs dug into each other's bodies. We wrestled to the ground struggling for dominance over each other.

Blood spilled onto the ground and I rolled away from her but her teeth tore into the flesh on my front leg. I was quicker than her and I charged at her with my claws targeting her eyes. I made my contact slicing into her eyes. She howled in pain and the blood poured from her face. I was not a well-trained fighter but my fight or flight mode was engaged. It was my fucking eighteenth birthday, this bitch was not taking away my life. The fire was getting closer by the second. The air was getting harder to breathe. I needed to finish her. The sooner the better.

The rogue whipped back towards me when I stepped on a twig. Seems I had blinded her. I was going to use this to my advantage. I quickly went for her throat sinking my canines deep into her throat ripping a large chunk of her flesh from her neck. She stumbled away from me. I charged sinking my teeth into her hind leg and whipping her body into a burning tree. The tree crumbled on top of her. I caught my breath as I watched to make sure she was done. The seconds felt like hours as I stared at the burning heap before me. I licked at my torn flesh and once I was satisfied that she was dead I quickly made my way through the burning trees trying to escape the smell of her burning flesh.

I kept running, ignored the pain in my leg and the burning branches that scorched my fur. My fur was dripping blood, but I would not stop until I reached the safe houses. When I finally broke out of the trees Harriet was standing naked outside one house crying with a small group of people. I looked around for Heather, but I couldn’t find her. Harriet noticed my presence and came running.

“Goddess Rose! Are you okay? How bad are you hurt? Where's the rogue? Did you kill her? Have you seen Heather?” she gasped out her barrage of questions. I was confused. My body gave in to the exhaustion as I began to shift against my will. She reached out and caught me as I collapsed.

My forearm had a deep gash that wasn’t healing. I fruitlessly tried to wipe the ash from my face, so I could see. As I attempted to catch my breath enough to answer any of her questions or ask about Heather, l heard someone else break through the burning trees. Before I could even attempt to look Harriet whispered with tears in her eyes, “Matt…”