Moonlight Rogue

Chapter Six: Ambush!

We walked in silence for a few moments. He didn’t want to discuss things further. I could see in his eyes he was reliving that trauma again. I didn’t know what she looked like, I didn’t know how I was going to find her. But I’d find his sister and set her free. Once out of the pack and in a safe environment she should open up, at least that’s what I believed.

The silence continued and I started to clear my throat and try to talk to him again when I realized something. Something I should have noticed sooner. Damn. I kept moving as I had just seconds before as I tried to note everything around me. Yes, we were walking in silence, but it was complete silence. The birds were quiet again. There was a sharp whistle and I took a step backward as I plucked an arrow out of the thin air. My hand was cut a little but that was better than an arrow through my eye.

Cya realized our danger and turned to warn me. Cute. I grabbed my sword and swung it in an overheard slice as I knocked another arrow out of the air. That was two. “What’s going on?” Cya demanded as he stared at the arrow I had knocked out of the air.

I circled around him in quick sidesteps as I held my sword at the ready. My ears were strained as hard as I could desperate to hear the smallest sound. The whistle was strange this time. I couldn’t quite figure out why it sounded so strange. Working on instinct I kept in front of Cya as I used that split second to find my target. I spotted it and prepared to swing to knock it too out of the air when I realized why it had sounded so strange. There had been two arrows. I grabbed Cya and threw him to the ground with all the strength I had. I dodged one of the arrows, but the other tore right through my calf. I snarled in pain but fell to the ground.

“Morgan!” Cya was at my side in an instant.

Well, he tried to be by my side but these two men came out of the forest and each grabbing an arm they dragged him away from me. I started to push up and go after them but the pain lanced through me freezing me for a long moment. With my teeth grit, I grabbed the arrow and snapped the head of it off as I pushed the stick the rest of the way through, grunting the entire time. I wasn’t about to let Cya get taken away in front of me.

“I wouldn’t just stay still if I was you.” Mused an overly amused voice behind me. I started to turn to see what was going on when a boot impacted my back and I went sprawling onto the ground. Whoever this was stood on top of me. “I don’t know who you think you are, wild woman being near my Cya, but this comes to an end now.”

“Your Cya? You guys almost killed him.” I said as she ground her boot even harder into my spine. She was enjoying this I could tell.

“Yes, my Cya! We weren’t shooting to kill him, just you. Who are you anyway and why are you so close to him?”

“Morgan!” I heard Cya’s voice as he was dragged over still held immobile between the two. “Are you okay?”

“Why do you care about what happens to her, Cya? You’re my husband!”

I watched Cya wince. “Listen, Emma, I told you that I’m not going to marry you. It’s one of the reasons I left the pack.”

“Of course you are. You just got cold feet, Cya. But why’d you get with this old bag?”

“If he doesn’t want to be with you just accept it, kid. I’m not in anyway with him, we’re just traveling in the same direction.”

“Hey!” Cya didn’t like that.

I chuckled and the princess above me just ground her foot in more. I was starting to find it hard to take a breath. “Listen, if you make me shift, you’re going to regret it. I don’t like letting my wolf out. It gets messy, I have to put my tools back together, there’s gore I have to clean out of my hair afterward. Let’s just skip that part, okay?”

She moved her foot and I took a breath of fresh air. Before the boot caught me in the ribs. I coughed in pain as I curled up and then howled as she bent down on top of me and plunged her finger into my arrow wound. “You’re not the only werewolf here, we can all shift too, but now you can’t.” She giggled. “So shut your mouth before I decide to shift myself and bite it off.”

“So help me, Emma if you don’t get away from her I’m going to never talk to you again.”

She pulled away from me and I shuddered from the pain but watched her with narrowed eyes. What had she meant when she said I couldn’t? Where she touched burned as if she had put fire in it. Had she poisoned me? Cya was still held between the two but he had stopped struggling. As she moved closer to him I got a better look at my tormentor. Long brown hair braided down all the way to her heels, why in the world would anyone want hair that long? She was standing in front of him now and my hackles rose. I didn’t want her anywhere near him at all.

“Cya,” her voice was singsong as she grinned at him. “Are you saying that if I leave your ugly old friend alone you’ll come home and stop fighting me? It’s just a case of cold feet, I promise it’ll be long gone by the time we’re happily married.”

This was why I hated packs. There were always people that couldn’t understand how real-life worked. She really did sound like a spoiled little princess. “I’ll go back with you, Emma, just please leave my friend Morgan alone. She’s not part of this.”

Emma glanced over her shoulder at me and our eyes met. I stared her down and her pretty face turned into a sour scowl. “No deal, I don’t like her. She has to be punished.”

“Then I”m not going with you.” Cya said each word with emphasis. “You do what I say, or I’m done with you, Emma.”

“Don’t talk to her like that!” One of the men holding him increased his hold until Cya grunted in pain. I was going to get revenge on him for that. “You’ve been chosen by our sister, you should be far more grateful.”

“She chose me?” Cya shook his head. “You guys are confused here. She only wants me for one thing.”

I really tried hard not to roll my eyes. I didn’t need to hear him talk about his body. Emma, however, was staring at him again. “That’s not true, Cya. You’re so mean!”

“You just want the connections my family has.” His words were a growl and I barely caught them.

“We’re leaving, Cya. We’re going back home and you can’t stop us. Your friend can be tied up and left here if you don’t fight. If you do fight with me I’ll have the boys kill her right here and now.”

His eyes caught mine and gave me a sad smile. “Morgan, I believe in you. I’m sorry I can’t accompany you any further. It’s been fun.” He turned back to Emma who was watching him with an eagle eye. “Okay, Emma. Let’s go home. I’ll let my family know about our pending nuptials.” I could almost hear the shudder in his words but he kept his easy smile and it was enough to throw off Emma.

“Very well.” She nodded to her men to release him and grinning she looped her arm in with Cya’s. “I have so many plans for the wedding!” She dragged him off and away from us leaving me alone with just the two reaming brutes.

One had a rope and looped it around my wrists and to my ankles so I was hogtied, and then tied the whole contraption to a tree branch so I was hung like a giant succulent ham. He grinned at me and pressed hard on my wound causing me to grunt and the pleasure in his eyes vanished. “No scream?” He demanded.

I chuckled. “No, a grunt is all you’ll get from me.”

“No, I think I can make you scream and cry.” He grabbed my injury again and pushed his thumbs into the hole in my flesh and he pulled as if he was trying to rip my leg open. True to his words my head reared back and I screamed but this wasn’t a scream of fear or just pain. No this was a howl as I predicted my upcoming victory with the princess and her goons.”

He took it as a scream for pain and laughed as he let me go. “Now that you’ve rung the dinner bell, I guess we won’t have to worry about seeing you later.” He patted me on my head as if I was an animal and strode off leaving me alone.

Well, not exactly alone. The predators were already starting to close in on what they assumed was an easy meal.