Snarls of fury

CHAPTER NINE

“Looks like she put him out of commission.” Knox glanced at the royal guard who now lay lifeless on the ground, once the trio got back to the royal chamber.

Hera went pale with horror. Did she just kill a werewolf? But she could have sworn that he was alive and writhing in pain just before she left.

“Oh no!” She panicked, eyes widening like saucers. “Is he dead?! Did I kill him?!”

Knox chuckled. “Relax, human. He's alive. Just resting.”

Hera sighed with relief but gasped as Asha ruthlessly kicked the guard out of the doorway, forcing herself in.

“Sit.” Asha commanded and Hera obliged immediately, finding one of the few chairs in the room to sit on. “Now, talk.”

Hera raised a confused eyebrow which seemed to irk Asha but she couldn't help it. She didn't know what she was supposed to talk about.

Knox who seemed to grasp the situation despite how air-headed he might seem spoke. “Tell us who you are, human. Tell us why you are really here.”

Hera let out a sigh. She didn't know how many times she had told her story but she was ready to recount it as many times as possible if it would get her out of here.

“My name is Hera Kline and I'm from Wardsville. One night, three werewolves broke into my parent's house, killed my parents and injured me. They bit a chunk of my flesh here,”

She pointed at her side, remembering clearly as the wolf tore her skin like she was a piece of meat. She shuddered heavily at the memory.

“I passed out from the pain and days later, I woke up to see my parents rotting body but I was completely fine and all my injuries had healed.”

“What?” Asha’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “Your injuries healed?”

Hera nodded. “They did.”

“What else did you notice?” Knox asked, seemingly invested in her story.

“Every time I had an injury or shattered a bone, it healed right back. And I developed some kind of super strength.”

Asha shook her head and began pacing around, her long auburn hair flowing in the. “I don't believe this. This is outrageous. Humans cannot survive the werewolf bite. That's the way it has been for centuries. That's why Rune banned all werewolves from entering the human town.”

Hera's chest fluttered at the mention of the name ‘Rune’ and she had no idea why that was. All she knew was hearing that name left her feeling light and giddy.

“Who's Rune?” She asked and the betas looked at her with an unreadable expression.

“Our Alpha King.” Knox replied and Hera’s chest fluttered even more. That was the King's name. Somehow, it just seemed to suit him. She hated how thinking of him and hearing his name made her feel and she shook her head, trying to stop whatever this was.

“And who are you two? Warriors?” She asked.

“We're the King’s betas,” Asha replied sharply. “Now, do not change the topic.”

Hera had no idea what betas meant but she couldn't ask as Asha looked eager to move on to the main topic of discussion.

“Knox? What do you think? Do you expect me to believe this nonsense she's spewing out of her mouth now?” Asha spat in annoyance and Hera flinched.

“I really don't know what to believe, Asha. It's true that humans cannot survive the bite but at the same time, she smells like a werewolf and a human. You can smell it right?” Knox replied.

“Of course, I can. What am I supposed to make of that?” Asha growled before rounding on Hera.

Hera gulped, slowly moving backwards. She didn't like the look in Asha's eyes one bit. “You!” Asha thundered, grabbing Hera by the front of her dress and slowly lifting her up in the air.

“Tell us everything now! Who sent you?! Did our enemy pack send you? Why do you have the human and werewolf scent? Were you experimented on?!”

Hera's entire body quivered under Asha's iron grip. She couldn't believe the strength of this woman. How could she lift an entire human off the floor just like that? And why were her eyes glowing blue? Weren't they green just now?

“I swear, everything I told you is true. I was bitten!” Hera gasped, shaking badly.

“Then prove it!” Asha bellowed, holding Hera in the air with one hand and pulling out her sword with another. Hera's eyes widened at the sight of the steel sword and her face paled significantly.

“Woah, woah. What are you doing? Are you trying to kill the king's prisoner?” Knox butted in, grabbing the sword from Asha and rescuing Hera from her hands as Hera sighed in relief.

She couldn't believe Asha was going to kill her right there and then.

“Relax, I wasn't trying to kill her. I just wanted to cut her up and watch her injuries heal right in front of me.” Asha shrugged, appearing to calm down a bit and Hera gaped at her incredulously. Cut her up? This woman might just be sick in the head.

Knox chuckled. “That's not necessary. How about we test her super strength?”

Asha crossed her arms around her chest, still glaring at Hera. Hera gulped and slowly backed away from the angry woman.

“Fine.” Asha muttered and Knox began to look around the room for what he could test her with. His eyes landed on the largest couch in the room and a smile graced his features.

“There,” He pointed at it. “Lift that couch.”

Hera's eyes went wide. “W-what?” She examined the couch with fear in her eyes. Surely they didn't expect her to lift that monstrosity now, did they? One dirty look from Asha had her scrambling over to the couch.

She examined its sheer size and let out a sigh. How in the world was she supposed to lift this all by herself? It would be extremely difficult for two human men to lift it judging from its size and now, they wanted her to do it?