Renegade

7

Magic?

If she weren’t being held against her will, Winter would probably burst out laughing after she called her captor crazy. But, given her current predicament, she opted to keep her mouth shut.

Winter wanted to ask more about her mother but decided that a plan of escape is more practical. Besides, the man could easily make things up just to scare her! There were plenty of psychos in the world who can commit crimes against women!

But why did he choose me? She muses to herself as she huddles against the wall, tucking herself deeper into her thermal jacket.

Winter spies a glance at her captor and notices he’s breathing evenly. He is either asleep or a very good actor. Taking a deep breath, she decides to look around once more for an avenue to escape.

A few minutes later, she gives up but not before a new idea creeps into her mind. She grabs the chain, bunched it up in her hand, and she starts to pound it against the cabin wall.

She did not care if it hurt her hand, but she kept a consistent pounding in hopes that someone would hear it and miraculously come searching.

“Stop that!” A frustrated groan echoes from the doorway. “Nobody will hear you!”

Winter ignores the man and continues to knock on the wall as loudly as she can with the chain. If her abductor wanted silence, he would have to get up and pry the chain from her cold, dead body!

“I said stop making that racket!”

She hears a growl before the looming figure of the guy towering over her. He grabs the chain but she did not let go. Winter winces in pain as her hands strained to keep holding on to the metal links.

“You are not making this easy for yourself, Princess!” he growls loudly, his usual friendly, calm voice disappearing.

He tugs again and Winter digs her heels into the ground, pulling back. Finally, after feeling enough momentum, she lets go of the chain as soon as he yanks hard.

Winter watches as the man wobbles and loses his footing before landing on his backside. Seeing the slim chance at escaping, Winter scrambles to stand up, running as fast as she can towards the door. She reaches for the handle, praying hard that she can open it before he even gets the chance to get up.

It seems like everything is in slow motion.

Winter feels her hand close around the handle, and she twists, yanking it open. She can see the light of the moon glinting off the snowy ground but as she was about to step out, the door slammed shut in front of her face.

Winter stands frozen, facing the closed door, afraid to turn around to see who is behind her.

The guy’s hand on the wooden partition seemed to be bigger than usual, his nails longer as it scraped against the wood. However, it wasn’t the hands that were making her tremble; it was the menacing growl that was rumbling near the side of her face.

She gulps as fear starts to creep into her body as the sinister sound continues to hum. She did not know how, but she could picture a set of sharp teeth being bared, scary electric blue eyes glowering at her as if she was a tasty meal.

Panic began to rise in her chest and she squeezed her eyes shut waiting for her life to end.

After a few slow seconds, the growling ceases and Winter feels normal human hands enclose around her wrist. She did not open her eyes as he pulled her roughly back towards the blankets.

Winter yelps as he throws her on the ground, and before she can react, the shackles are placed around her ankle this time.

“Remember,“ the guy snarls, leaning towards her face as soon as she finds the courage to open her eyes. He rattles the chain link “ you brought this upon yourself. Now, get some sleep!”

Jared

Meanwhile, somewhere in the same forest, Jared is sprawled on the ground for god-knows how long after one of the Royals kicked his ass. It was like he did not have any motivation left to stand up. He just let his wounds and bones heal as the snow continued to fall on him and darkness started to descend. He had forgotten how short daylight can be in Redwater.

I don’t have to stay here and accept whatever responsibility they foist on me. I can run away and live my own life as I have for the past few years! He mutters, talking to his wolf. It whines in response, tired and somewhat feeling feeble from being defeated a while back.

The older folks were probably convening at this very moment in their house. He then remembers Stefan’s threat and thought it was nothing but bullshit! He had been away from Redwater longer, even when his father was alive. He was not manhandled or forced to go home by anyone.

His wolf grunts with agreement before snarling again. Jared knew his wolf spirit did not like the fact that he was beaten down so easily, especially after being declared an Alpha.

True, he knew that being chosen as Alpha is only half the process, the additional power, prowess, and privilege would only be received and manifested once he accepted the title. He and his wolf can actually feel the strength of his birthright humming in the surrounding air.

No! I will not let my father win even after his death! Jared grates out. His wolf stops snarling but instead whines a little as if in disagreement to his choice.

He sighs, ignoring his wolf as he tries to sit up from the ground. As much as he would love to gain more power, his pride would not allow him to. Grasping and owning what used to be his father’s strength made him want to throw up. It was something utterly unacceptable.

He hears his wolf’s teeth snap together, anger and frustration bristling against the tips of its fur. It wants to be let out. It wants to revert to baser, primitive instincts and hunting. This would not make it forget its defeat, but it could placate its wounded pride.

Jared lifted his hand and checked the side of his face to find out if the long gashes were completely healed. He feels better than he did about an hour or so ago, so he closes his eyes and lets his thoughts go.

The wolf quickly takes form as Jared lets it push aside his human consciousness. He allows the animal to think, feel and move like it would if it were free in the wild. He needed to rest his mind anyway.

Go crazy, buddy! Just remember, no attacking humans. He reminds the animal who snaps its jaws at him in response. The wolf was not in the mood to be told what to do.

Grinning, Jared closes his eyes, letting the wolf control his physical and mental state. It was sometimes dangerous, especially if the two spirits did not express who dominated who.

The wolf could choose to hold the human spirit hostage if the person’s psyche is weak. If man is not able to hold power over his wolf spirit, he could remain in wolf form until it achieves dominance and all humanity is lost.

But, Jared and his wolf have gone through a lot and the trust they have built over the years is unbreakable. Thus, he let the animal take over from time to time. He knew that if he needed to be in the forefront, he could easily command his wolf spirit.

Uncaring about the time or place, Jared drifts off to sleep as his wolf hunts. He did not care if they were lost or in the deep part of the woods. He can always find his way back to the mansion or to the town using his other ability.

A loud snarl awakens him, realizing that his wolf had sensed some danger. Jared quickly asserted his consciousness forward while maintaining his huge, indigo wolf form. Something is not right.

Sniff.

There’s a faint scent lingering on one of the tree stumps. It did not smell familiar, but it was definitely another shape-shifter, even close to Lycan. Jared has been away for years, and he does not have a complete accounting of the warriors and species under his father’s command. It could be that there were some comrades who had Lycan blood.

Easy. He cautions his wolf as it begins to growl, its ears picking up a sound from a fair distance away. It sounded like someone was pounding or punching wood. The sound is faint, like it came from somewhere deeper in the woods, but he is now positive it was not something his ears or his brain is making up.

Jared wonders if there was someone in the abandoned shack just beyond their pack’s outer perimeter outpost. He did not know much about how things were run in this kingdom since he had been gone a long time, but he can still remember the layout and the buildings that were surrounding their protected area. Who knows if the shack is abandoned or still used?

It seems possible that someone like an outsider has been inside this outer boundary. It could be using the shack or worse, killing whoever did patrol.

Jared sighs. He should not care if there’s going to be an attack from enemies, since it isn’t his battle after all. However, he felt an unshakable urge to protect Redwater and his mother.

We could check it out. He muses as his wolf seems to give off a sinister grin. They were both still looking for a fight to blow off steam. Okay, bud! Let’s see if we’re wrestling a foreign wolf or brawl with a possible Lycan!

He lets out a howl, his wolf’s spirit rising to the challenge as well as the excitement of an imminent fight as it charges towards the direction of the sound.