Dark Wolf

CHAPTER 6

LYNN’S POV.

I stood on the porch of our cosy little house as I looked out onto the woods that protectively surrounded our home. I clutched the cup of coffee in my hands as my mind whirled with thoughts of all that happened over the past few days. First it was the news of Vex seemingly coming back to life, then after checking up on the Vex Manor yesterday, I decided to make a quick stop at Catheryn’s hidden cell before going home and what I saw shocked me to my core. At first, I transported myself quite a distance away from the entrance to my usual spot where I kept an eye on the eye every now and again and that’s when I noticed that things seemed to be a bit off. It was too quiet and there was no one guarding the entrance. In the past when I made check-ups like these, I stayed hidden, only observing that everything was still locked up tight, but yesterday everything felt wrong since I landed there. For the first time in years, I dared to go closer since that day that she was put in there and as I got closer, the stone in my stomach grew heavier. I could feel dark magic in the air like residual static left behind and the hair on my neck rose as a coldness washed over me. I wasn’t new to dark magic since I dealt in some of it myself, but this was so familiarly dark that I wanted to be sick… and the smell… I didn’t even need to go in to know what I would find, because knowing Catheryn, if she got out then she would have left a trail of dismembered bodies behind. That was her speciality. She loved to torture and take her victims apart piece by piece.

I swallowed and gathered my courage and reached out to take hold of the handles and wrenched it open before I could change my mind and I stumbled back and held a hand in front of my nose and mouth at the overwhelming smell of blood, s**t and piss. I fought down the nausea as I let my hand drop from my face and gulped in a few lungs full of fresh air. Standing there, I knew that we were screwed. Vex was alive and Catheryn has escaped and from the dark residual magic in the air, I knew that it was him who broke her out. For a moment I wondered if I should send a message to the pack, but then I decided against it. A message would be suspicious, and my scent would be picked up here so they will blame this on me anyway, so I decided to just leave. There was nothing I could do here.

Walking away, I tried to get my thoughts in order. I needed a plan and quickly. Vex didn’t waste time to find Catheryn so time is going to be something that is going to be strained and Athena is going to need protection.

“Mom?” Colton’s voice startled me out of my thoughts, and I spilled some of the coffee from the cup that I held in my hands and whipped around as my one hand instinctively went to the knife holster on my hip, ready to defend myself. “Bloody hell Colt! Don’t sneak up on me like that.” I said as I seethed the half pulled out weapon. Colton stood there and eyed me suspiciously with a raised eyebrow. “Mom, is everything alright?” He asked me, looking from the knife to me again. “Yeah, honey. I just have a lot on my mind.” I said as I wiped the spilled coffee from my hand and clothes. “No, it’s not. I can see something is wrong. I can feel it too. In the air. Like something…” He said and trailed off as he tried to think of a way to explain what he felt.

“Like a disturbance in the magic around us?” I asked and he nodded. I sighed as I looked sympathetically into the dark blue eyes of my thirteen-year-old son that was almost as tall as me now. I wasn’t surprised that he could feel it. Like me, he has always been sensitive to what went on around him and most of it is due to him being half lycan and half werewolf. In the human world, the two would be considered the same, but in truth they are very different. Lycans, as we call the wolves from the magical side, are of an older and purer line, uncontrollable during their shift, whilst werewolves are more a product of genetic mutation, giving us more control of our shifts. Even our transformation forms differ, where they take on a more humanoid form, we take the form of an actual wolf, only bigger and where their bites are venomous, ours are not. You can only be born a werewolf, which is probably why our packs are so small and only a few exist. In Colton’s case with him being half and half, he took on neither the werewolf nor the lycan form, but of something in the mix of both. Whether his bite was venomous or not we didn’t know.

“You are so much like me, you know.” I said and smirked at him which he returned. “Yeah, I know. I’m just cooler.” He said and ran his hand through his short dark hair to which I rolled my eyes at, but then he dropped his playfulness and stared at me seriously. “Mom. I know you are going to say that I’m too young, but I can help with whatever is going on.” He said and I swallowed nervously. “I know Colt, it’s just…” I said and he finished for me. “You don’t want me to get hurt, I know.” He said and I nodded. “Well, I have to go get ready otherwise I’ll be late for meeting Kevin at the arcade.” He said and gave me a kiss on the cheek before turning to leave, but he stopped just before entering the house and turned to face me. “Whatever is going on… Please be safe.” He said and disappeared into the house, not expecting a reply.

I released a breath I didn’t know I was holding and turned to face the woods again as my mind raced. I knew he was more than capable of taking care of himself, heck, he could take on wolves twice his size with ease, but that wasn’t what made me nervous. The truth was that I might just have to ask him for his help because, except for Hunter, I didn’t trust anyone else to have my back, but I was scared… there was a lot that could go wrong, especially if people found out who I was when I started to get involved and I couldn’t see any way around that. I just needed to make sure that Rex was safe, then Hunter and I would be able to do whatever we can to rid the world of the Vex’s.

ATHENA POV.

It was late in the afternoon when I returned. I sneaked around the back of the school and shifted in a hidden alcove and pulled on some clothes I had stored there previously. I felt exhausted as I walked back towards my quarters and I sent up a silent prayer to the Gods that I didn’t run into anyone on the way, but it was short lived when I entered my room and I found my grandmother seated on my couch, waiting for me. I hesitated for a moment as I fought the urge to turn around, but I knew I couldn’t avoid her forever, so I closed the door behind me.

“Come sit Athena, we need to talk.” She said and with a sigh, I made my way over and sat on the couch. “Are you alright?” She asked and I shook my head. “No. Why does grand always get like this when I talk about Ashlynn?” I asked as I looked at her and I could see the sadness in her eyes. “It is not easy for him, my child. The situations between Catheryn and your sister are so similar… he is scared, and he doesn’t know how to handle it. Especially since no one has seen or heard of her in years.” She said and I nodded in understanding. “I know, but I still believe in her. I know it sounds stupid, but Ashlynn and I have gone through too much together for her to just… there has to be a reason why she did all those things.” I said and my grandmother still had that sad look about her.

“Athena, I don’t want to believe it too, but the evidence is there. She killed some of our people and rogues and her scent was at Catheryn’s cell. What possible reason could she have had for being there?” She said and I couldn’t find an answer to give her, so I looked down onto my hands that were folded on my lap. She sighed and got up, fixing her ankle length coat. “We will be leaving soon; it would mean a lot to me if you would be there to see us off.” She said and I nodded and got up. “Yes grandmother.” I said and I saw her out of my room. once I closed the door, I leaned against it and fought back tears. “Get a hold of yourself Athena, there will be plenty of time later to have a break down.” I said to myself aloud. I grabbed some clothes and went to take a shower and by the time I was done, I felt a little better and went down to where I knew my grandparents would be waiting. I just wished that Donavan wouldn’t be one of the guards staying behind to protect the school.