Werewolf Compilations
Chapter 75

The midnight air steals away the heat from my face, sharp against my cheeks as I feel the tip of my nose growing numb. I should have grabbed a coat, but I don't expect to be out here for long. It's just a simple question. Has there been an influx of rogues? Could you tell me?

I join the trees and once I get close, I call out to warn them of my presence. "Excuse me? Is anyone over here?" I walk farther and watch my feet, making sure I don't fall. "Hello? Are there any guards?" Then I hear the wonderful, familiar calling, "You're too close to the borders. Go back."

I follow the voice blindly. "Actually, I'm looking for a guard to help me. I've been wondering about the rogues in the area lately and-"

A man suddenly appears. "I'm sorry, but you have to go back. The borders are not safe."

"Not safe? Because of the rogues? Or just because you want me to leave?"

His eyes look off into the distance, into the deep forest as if he is watching for someone. "Go back. Now. This is an order."

I nod. "Okay. I'm going."

This was rushed, I feel it. I can't just panic for a moment and come running to the borders like I have everything all figured out. It's the kiss-I can't stop thinking about it, about the way it felt, about how he grabbed me and made me feel so good in just a flash. He's dangerous. A man who hurts me then pleases me so easily is dangerous.

A guard calling in the distance makes me glance back over my shoulder, but I cannot decipher what he said. I completely turn around and contemplate going back, but a sudden, deep growling sound from behind me causes my entire being to stop.

My eyes stare down at a protruding tree root as I attempt to grasp what could be behind me. Then there's another throaty, beast-like noise and my body squeezes into itself. I feel the need to scream, but my throat swells closed. Like a rabbit hunted by a wolf, I slowly turn back around, hardly feeling the beating of my heart anymore. I see a dark thing. I smell blood, the iron stench that everyone knows. My eyes focus as the dark thing becomes a large wolf standing only meters in front of me. Immediately, my mind goes to the frightening void that is death.

The beast lurks forward and with each step it takes, I stumble back. My eyes switch rapidly from the wolf to the body-like thing behind him to the dimming trees, begging internally that someone appears. The wolf is too large. It's too strong. Shifted or not, it will kill me. I have never planned on fighting for my life, and now I wish that I would have at least thought of what I would do in such a scenario from time to time. "Please," I whisper, "don't." Adrenaline pulsates through me and I think about running.

Before I can make a decision, a brown thing pounces at the dark thing, and I hurry back as they blend together, tumbling and snapping. I begin to run towards the house until my eye catches another dark coated thing lingering in the brush. Running in a different direction, feeling surrounded, I stumble upon a dead thing and feel my stomach bubbling up. Without time to process that there is a dead wolf lying at my feet, another nearby growling jumps at me.

I shut my mouth and peer up at the Moon, then I lift half of the lifeless wolf and crawl underneath it, pushing myself until most of my body is covered. Believing that the overpowering smell of rogue and blood will cover my scent, I stay put, feeling the blood of the creature soaking into my clothes, into my skin, and washing through my hair. I didn't notice how much blood had poured from him until it drips down over my sealed lips. Between a dead beast and dirt, I can't help but sob softly to myself.

I hear things all around me, and I do not know if they are guards, rogues, or something else. After a few minutes, I watch as a light colored wolf moves past me, it's paws only feet from my hidden face. This is how it is for me, right? No matter what I do, the result is never in my favor. Nothing can go right. The Moon Goddess hates me, I know that now, I really know it.

The weight of the wolf makes it hard to breathe, but I stay lodged underneath it until the noises lessen to hardly anything. My eyes open and close and open and close, and I cannot tell if I am falling asleep or dying. The night air taunts me with its freshness as the stench of flesh fogs my mind. I am not cold, though. The body on top of me and its warmed blood wraps around me like a shallow bath. I begin to dream of my shower.

After what seems like hours, the blood has cooled, and I grow restless. Thankfully, non-threatening sounds grow close and three guards appear in the trees, heading towards the body, likely coming to collect and rid of it. I feel a need to laugh and cry at the same time. "I'm here," I shout, "I'm under it!"

They speed up, looking confused until they notice my feet and hand sticking out, my hand waving to grab their attention. "Are you injured?" One asks, the tallest of the three.

"No, just, just get me out! Get it off, please!"

Two men roll the beast off of me as the other helps me up. My legs are numb along with my behind, and they shake and wobble like a child learning to walk. I use the guard to stable myself. "Why were you underneath a rogue? Did it fall on you?"

I glare up at the tall one who seems to be in charge. "What the hell happened? Why were there rogues over the border! I hid underneath it so I wouldn't die! Goddess, how long have I been under there?" "There was an incident at one of the posts. A large group of rogues came out of nowhere, some got in," he explains, finally, someone giving me a taste of information. "It took a few hours to secure the area and the post. I'm assuming you were trapped for longer than needed. We've been disposing of bodies for a while. We burn them, it takes time."

Still gripping onto one of the other two, I look up at him, no longer wanting information. My clothes reek of guts, my skin is slathered in a rogues blood, and if I do not get into a shower in two minutes I may just lose it. "Alright. I'm fine from here," I tell them, letting go of the guard's arm and straying towards the pack house.

"You were under a dead rogue for hours," the leader calls to me, though I haven't made it far, "we should see you home, call a doctor."

I look back, exhausted. "I'm Alpha Grant's Mate. I'm sure the house workers will help me."

Before I turn back around, walking slowly to the house, I catch a glimpse of the leaders face. From what I saw, the man looked ill.