The Girl and The Fox
Chapter 22

Deliah gasped with eyes wide, oxygen filling her lungs once again. Finally awakened from her state of trance, she closed her eyes again. All she could make out were meaningless blobs of light. She tried to think back to the last thing she remembered. She had been shot, but with what, she did not know. It was a hunter. The hunter.

A wolf ran through the endless forest, the wind combing through her fur. She stopped for a brief moment, looking up at the sky. It was a pallet full of colours, all different shades of red, yellow, orange and blue, and a big shining orb, making its way from the vanishing point. There was nothing better than a gallop whilst the sun was rising.

There was the snap of a twig, but she wasn't fast enough to run. Deliah heard a gun fire. It was too close. It was too loud. In a split second the wolf felt a piercing pain, jolting through her side, staining her silver coat with blood and a poisonous wound. Now in human form, the woman pressed both her hands to the open wound, desperately willing it to stop bleeding. Her injury didn't obey her command, though. Black spots started clouding her vision, and the struggle for consciousness begun. Everyone in the end fails that test. No one can resist the pull of the after life.

*End of Flashback*

The first thing Deliah saw was the hunter, hovering by the door. She got snapped out of her gaze, however, when Crystal placed her arms around her.

'I was so worried!' Crystal sobbed, trying to keep her tears in. Deliah put an arm around her friend, but still remained silent. How long had she been asleep? Where was she? Why, above all, was her killer here?

'Why-' the young woman started, but her leader cut her off.

'There's no time for questions. All you need to know for now is that Isabella was captured by Eric and almost drowned and we need to get back to her. Quickly!' Crystal hurried, pulling Deliah to her feet. 'Oh, and by the way, Nicolas is now our ally. He's the only reason you just woke up.'

Deliah chuckled, knowing Crystal never liked explaining anything, and with all the information she needed for now, the three shapeshifters ran back down to the pack house. Two of the things the leader had planned had been done, now they just had to make sure her ex-husband didn't lay a finger on Theo... or they would be in big trouble.

The door was open. Wide open. The trio entered the house, their leader balling her fists. Angered, she advanced through the open door to only feel the tense atmosphere, ignoring all the heat drifting out of her house, and hear one word. Meeka.

'What's going on here!?' Crystal yelled, the irritation visible in her navy eyes.

Everyone turned around to be met with their unhappy Alpha, frozen at the sight of her. Isabella, however, just smiled and replied, 'I was just screaming at your pack not to kill Scarlett.'

Everything was silent again, no one wanting take the blame. Crystal sighed and ran a hand through her tangled hair. She didn't know how her daughter could be so bland and bold to stand up to her. Crystal could never stand up to her mother when she was younger. A shiver ran down her spine, and pushing that thought away she focused on the present and not the past.

'I'm sorry, what were you saying about Meeka?' Crystal inquired, her steady voice slicing through the atmosphere. Her eyes, however, gave away all her fear. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, and I guess whoever 'they' are, were right.

'I wanted to know who she is? I heard a boy talking to her-'

'WHAT!? How? What? Where?' Isabella's mother's face was frantic, not bothering to hide her fear any longer. Her eyes were wide, but with shock or fear, no one could tell. She paled, hoping she wasn't near.

'Um...' Isabella started, confused as to why her mother was in this frenzy. 'How do you know her?'

This time it was Crystal's turn to freeze, looking in her daughter's eyes, unblinking. After a few seconds, she closed her eyes and took deep breaths. 'She... she's your aunt. My sister.'

No sound was made, inside or out. No one even dared to breathe.

Tizzie stepped out, looking around at everyone with a puzzled look on her face. Finally daring to break the silence, the girl said, 'If she's your sister, then what's the problem? She's a wolf. We're wolves. She's our ally, isn't she?'

Crystal sighed for the millionth time that day, a tear slipping down her face. 'No, she's not on our side. She's with Eric,' their supposedly fearless leader struggled. 'So were my parents.'

Crystal fought side by side with her pack. Her stolen pack. She had gathered up the wolves who weren't happy about working with the foxes. They stole all their supplies, bossed them all around and wouldn't let them decide on anything! She had enough wolves now to start her own pack. To overthrow her parents, but she knew their pack wouldn't give up without a fight.

Crystal kept her eyes peeled, looking for one couple in particular. Her parents. She spun her sword around her, remembering all the lessons she'd snuck from one of the guards when she was younger. Her parents hadn't let her train until she was sixteen, but one guard in particular had a soft spot for her. He would never say no to training illegally with her, and she actually started when she was six. They were always allowed to see all the fox guards, but never the fox leader, but she never understood why.

Finally catching sight of her parents, she snuck up on them, which was hard with everyone coming at her with murderous attempts. She raised her swords, wanting to give her parents a chance against her, then decided against it. She couldn't. She just... couldn't. With one swift movement, she plunged her cutlasses into their backs, holding back sobs, but one tear slipped past. One tear going down her face. One piece of evidence she didn't want, saying she still loved the people she had brutally murdered. Still with the sword inside her, her mother reached her hand towards the tower and whispered something barely audible. Meeka. The stolen pack's leader followed her hand, looking her sister directly in her horrified eyes, tears streaming from them. Crystal quickly looked away, jerking out her weapons from the now dead people's backs, and returned them to their sheaths.

All the fighting had stopped, frozen in time. Some of the wolves were wining, others howling in victory. The shifters in their human form turned into their wolves, and Crystal's side threateningly growled, frightening off all the enemies. Shortly after all of the opposing side were gone, Crystal's pack scattered, running off back to the pack house.

*End of flashback*

'Hey sis.'