Malevolent

Chapter 5

"He's here! Let's go," I was released, the blade leaving my throat, "We have what we came for." And the attackers all scattered in different directions.

I looked back into the trees for signs of Fenrisúlfr, but he had disappeared. My subconsciousness was looking around franticly for him, desperate for one more glance.

Delaney had a long cut running down her face and snout, Rukain had chucks of fur ripped out, a bite mark on his leg, and smudged blood staining his coat, no doubt trying to keep Delaney safe. And Dutch was on the ground, breathing slowly, a long scratch down his side and his ankle twisted at a funny angle.

I kneeled beside Dutch, my mind still whirling, seeing green eyes when I blinked. "Dutch," I said breathlessly, "Are you okay? Can you walk?"

He groaned, "Next time, you warn me when you try to chop someone in half, okay?"

I smiled guiltily at him, "I'm sorry."

"Yeah," he grunted, "At this rate, you'll be chauffeuring me around."

I sighed, "Thank you." Holding him stable, he struggled up as Ruakin and Delaney were surveying the area. "We need to leave now."

He nodded, pulling away from me, "The Alpha will want to hear of this."

As we hurried back to the pack, my thoughts jumbled together in a sticky web, everything had happened so quickly, it was hard to process if it really happened at all.

"It couldn't have been him!" Delaney announced in denial, pulling on her clothes.

We were in the castle courtyard, just inside the main gate, "Who?" I questioned innocently, nursing my arm.

"That roar, Lope! It was Fenrisúlfr's, there's nothing else like it." Her eyes were wide and frightened.

"We were just attacked and all you can think about is who made a noise?" I reasoned back, trying to convince her otherwise. "It could have been anyone from that group."

"God! You're so thick in the head sometimes, Lope," She growled.

I was taken aback, ready to spit some hurtful words back at her when Rukain stepped in; "Doesn't matter now, he's gone." He said loudly, now fully clothed, "I want to know what they meant when they said they had what they came for, and why they attacked us." Rukain hugged Delaney close, kissing her head.

I turned away, helping Dutch up and supporting him on my shoulder. My subconsciousness wiped the sweat off her brow, thanking our bonded for his terrifying reputation. And I had to agree, he saved us. Which meant he had come back... Was he following me? Did he want to save me or did the attackers pose a threat to his territory? My head was whirling, how did they know my name? And how did they know it was because of me that Fenrisúlfr didn't finish off my pack? The attackers brought a churning feeling to my stomach and my gut twisted with unease. Why did they attack us? Was it because they know of the magic between Fenrisúlfr and I? Maybe it was a test. They could have known Fenrisúlfr was in the area, but how? I have no clue. Did they attack us just to see if he would step in to save me? I shivered at the thought; my subconsciousness had her chalkboard set up and her detective spectacles on.

Dutch was in pain; he was putting more and more weight onto my shoulder the longer we stood here. "C'mon," I said, half carrying half dragging Dutch to the castle stairs, and awkwardly putting him down. "Dutch is hurt; we have to get the Doctor." His ankle was swelling into an egg, and his side was covered in blood from his cut. "Shit." I swore, releasing Dutch and clenching my teeth, I looked down at my arm and it was soaked with red blood. The cuts on my forearms had spit open again, spilling bright red liquid down my arm. I peeled back my sleeve and ripped my shirt off. As I peeled the bandages back, my wound looked much, much worse, the sight made me nauseous and dizzy. I covered it with my hand; I would just have to wait until the Doctor gets here to re-dress it.