Chapter 7

Earl gently flung Nellie aside and jumped on his feet, the three Rogues that stood at the entrance of his room were prepared for war. They'd stabbed Ma'am Dodda so bad that she was bleeding profusely, Earl charged towards them and quickly transformed to his wolf form.

He fought hard, with the anger and pain that was boiling in him. The Rogues were no match for his strength and he had no time to thing as he shredded them, slamming their bodies against the wall.

He transformed into his human body and stood hovering over the last of them that still had a little breath in him.

"I'm going to ask you just once and you'll give me a straight answer for each question else your death will be more painful than you imagine" Earl growled.

"I'm already dead, Alpha" The Rogue emphasized on the last part mockingly.

"You think so?" Earl asked, his eyes was dark with anger.

"There's no more you can do and you are not getting anything from me" The Rogue spat at him.

Earl didn't have to speak, he moved closer to the Rogue, bent down and yanked his right hand from his body.

The Rogue yelled in pain.

"How did you get in here and how many of you are left?!" Earl yelled as he dragged the Rogue by the colar and carried him up, his feet shaking in the air.

"We want the woman, more of us are here and we are going to get her even if you kill me!"

"So you choose death" with that, Earl threw him across the room, making sure he had no breath left in him.

He turned around and picked up Ma'am Dauda, he inspected the stab wound and immediately rushed out to get her to the healer. He hoped she was not dead, because he didn't know what he'll do of she was.

"Earl… I'm... sorry" It was Nellie.

Earl turned around, his nanny still in his hands. He gave Nellie a distant look that made her scared, the lool in his eyes was could kill. She was scared.

"You are one of them… I want you... out' With that he turned and left the room.

Nellie was scared to death, she could barely move. The bodies of the three Rogues were scattered in the room, she could imagine them coming back to life and grabbing her neck. She wave the feeling aside but it won't go away.

Nellie ran out of the room, she felt sorry for Earl, he had asked her to leave. But then she couldn't blame him, she'd always given him the impression that she never wanted to stay here and she had to be grateful he hadn't killed her. He'd only asked her to leave.

But where was she supposed to go? She couldn't go out, if the Rogue could disguise and come in here to hunt her then she could only imagine how many of them were outside, waiting.

Nellie could'nt even return to her room, she paced in the corridor. She didn't know where Earl had gone into so she couldn't go after him, the castle was a big one.

Just then she heard footsteps behind her, she turned around, ready for war. It was Earl's Beta, Charlie and the same guards he'd come with earlier.

She wondered if they had not heard when Earl had been fighting with the Rogues. She stepped aside for them to pass, avoiding the deadly glare from Charlie.

"Just how long before you leave already?" Charlie sneered.

"It's none of your business" Nellie replied nonchalantly, she didn't know where the with came from.

"Your presence here is bad luck" Charlie shut back and pushed past her.

Nellie eyes her eyes and placed her back on the wall, she had to admit Charlie was right, but she was going to change that. She was going to wait and talk to Earl. She sank into the floor by his soor and waited patiently.

••••••••••••••••••
Earl placed Ma'am Dauda gently on the healer's bed, he stroked her hair softly. He couldn't bear to loose her now.

The woman was more than a nanny, she was like his mother, she'd been there way after The Invasion, she'd saved him from. She had to live.

"Make sure you do everything to save her" Earl said to the healer.

She gave a curt nod and added;

"Please step out for a while, Alpha" The healer

Earl walked out of the room and headed into his study. He picked a glass and poured in brandy, he dawned the liquor and poured another one.

'How come I couldn't sense them?' Earl wondered, it was almost like his sense of smell had been tempered with. He was an Alpha, he should have sensed the Rogues before they even got close but he didn't, it was his fault, Ma'am Dodda wouldn't be lying there if he'd been faster.

He poured another shot into the glass and downed it. He shut his eyes and sanked into his seat. His mind went back to Ina, he felt his chest tighten. She'd betrayed him so much. He imagined what she could be doing now. Probably lying under one of those dirty Rogues. He spat in disgust.

How could she? How could she have betrayed him so much?

For some reason he'd never gotten around to marking her, Ma'am Dodda often told him she was not his mate. But he'd always dismissed it as a bluff, he'd never had the urge to mark her.

It was not new for some wolf to have a mate than was not their wife, Earl had often thought he had no mate or the time has probably not come for him to mark his wife but right now, he was grateful he'd not marked Ina. Maybe she was not his mate, but damn! He loved her.

Earl did not realize he was holding the glass too tight out of anger, the glass shattered in his hand and only when the cold liquor touched the wounds the shattered pieces of glass had left in his hands did he realize he had been wounded.

The pains shut through him, but it was nothing compared to the pains he felt in his chest. The pain of betrayal and lost.

He raised the wounded hands to his face, he stared at the blood, he needed it… blood. He licked it quickly but it was his own blood he needed. Earl sighed in frustration, he felt a strong urge to taste blood, if he had felt this way earlier he would have considered drinking from the Rogues.

No! He dared not, he couldn't imagine himself tasting the blood of those dirty Rogues, they had always been a pain his very existence, Earl sighed. He wished he could wake up from this terrible dream, but it was not a dream. This was realty.

Earl finally pushed the thought aside, he sat back on the chair and let his head till to the side, he closed his eyes and tried to make his mind blank.

It was not long before he fell asleep.

•••••••••••••••••••
"Help!"

Earl could here the voice from a distance. For some reason he felt the voice was calling out to him, he ran towards the direction he thought he heard the voice.

But it only faded more. He ran faster.

"Earl!"

This time the voice was calling out to him, it was a female.

"Ina!" Earl shouted, he felt connected to this voice somehow. But it didn't sound like Ina.

He hoped it was her.

"Earl I'm here" this time the voice sounded desperate.

"I'm coming for you"

Suddenly he could sense her, it was not Ina, no.

"Earl I'm dying"

Earl used his wolf blood and teleported himself to where he sensed the voice. He saw her.

She stood there in the midst of so many thorns her back to him, her dark hair flying in the wind, the white glowing gown was flowing behind her. She looked like an angel, an angel in hell.

"Earl! You came" It was a male voice behind him. The voice gave out a wicked laugh.

Earl turned around in time to catch the sword Tony swung at him, he charged towards Tony and they fought tooth and nail.

Earl was getting weaker by the moment, he could barely blinked. By the time raised his head from Tony had pushed him, Tony was charging with a sword towards him. He stood over Earl and raised to strike.

The beautiful lady from earlier touched a leaf to Tony's nose and he withered… like a plant.

Earl could only watch in disbelief. He raised his hands for her to grab him and help him up but she seemed to be fading with the wind.

The further he reached for her the farther she seemed to go, her beautiful face was soaked with tears.

"They are coming for me Earl, help me… keep me safe"

With that she vanished in the mist.
****
Earl woke up with a start, it had been a dream, he'd been dreaming! He tried to understand what the dream signified but he couldn't, he thought about the lady from his dream.

Her face was blurry, he couldn't remember her. He didn't know her. He'd recognized her from the dream but right now his memory of her was as blurry as the mist that has swallowed her in the dream.

Earl felt a deep connection to her. He waved the dream aside, he looked around. He was still in his study. He stood up and made his way out into the corridor.

He headed to his room, he had ordered Charlie to have them clean it, he was going to get a shower and try to rest.

Earl was almost in his room when he stumbled on figure curld in a ball beside his room door, the hairs on his body stood up. It was a female. He could smell her, it was a familiar scent.

He moved to where she lay and gently turned her over with his leg, he was surprised to find it was Nellie. He felt a slight of deja-vu as he touched he face. She was sleeping peacefully.

The Alpha sighed. He had asked her to leave and here she was, lying on the cold floor. He picked her up and took her into his room. For some strange reasons, the strong urge to bite her neck came to him, he could smell her blood. He could hear her heart beat. He'd never felt this way, he shook the feeling aside, it was probably as a result of pent up anger he told himself.

Tomorrow she was going to leave, he was going to release her. He shook his head at the thought, what if she was a spy? He couldn't release her, he knew next to nothing about her, just her name.

He was going to make her talk tomorrow, he had to. The woman was just too stubborn, he gently placed her on the bed. As he looked at her he thought about the woman in his dream, she reminded him of her. She looked peaceful when she slept.

He studied her features, she was a very beautiful woman he had to admit. But there was something about her… something inviting… something charming and at the same time dangerous.

He wondered why he couldn't kill her. He had thought about that saveral times when he was angry. But he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

He could have killed her earlier, after the three Rogues, but something in him didn't let him.

The urge to bite her came back, it was strong, her neck looked…inviting, almost delicious. Earl shook his heard, he was not a vampire. Those strange creatures he'd encountered once were the only ones that fed on blood.

The people from his pack only killed. They gnawed on their prey, he still didn't understand why he felt the urge to suck on her neck. He brought his head closer to Nellie's neck, she stirred In her sleep and her mouth parted.

Earl paused to look at her lips it was inviting… he didn't know when his mouth went closer…

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Nellie's eyes flew open.