She Is Safe

I pushed myself up to stand behind my family as they all shifted, forming a line of imposing bears who were all baring their teeth in warning. I met Kraven’s eyes, and I instantly knew that he meant what he said. He would fight to the death to get to me. It didn’t matter to him that the bears he was facing were his family. It didn’t matter that he was outnumbered. All that mattered was his need to get to me. His need to make me pay for something that I was not responsible for. I swallowed hard, already making up my mind.

“Kraven, please, if you spare them, I will come with you,” I whispered as tears started to course down my face.

He bared his teeth at me before pawing at the ground. When I tried to walk between Elena’s and Osprey’s bears, the two of them stepped closer to block my way. I swallowed hard before touching Elena’s bear’s hip.

“Let me pass, Lena,” I murmured. “I don’t want any of you to get hurt or die for me. I’m not worth it. Let me be the only one that’s punished for my mistakes.”

She didn’t move so I started to climb over her, but she stood up on her hind legs, shaking herself hard to make me let her go. When I hit the ground, I cried out in agony as pain almost crippled me for a moment before I could push myself back up to my feet. Once I was upright again, she started to growl as she backed up, forcing me to move with her until she had me pinned between her and a tree while the rest of my family took steps closer to each other to close the space between them. No amount of tapping on Elena’s bear’s flanks got her to release me, and in my weakened state, I couldn’t fight her hold.

“Gerry,” I called out, my breath catching on a sob. “If any part of you is still in there, please don’t do this. Please fight him. For our daughter, don’t let him hurt her family.”

Kraven started pawing at the ground again as his eyes started to flicker while the wall of bears, along with a newly present wolf, all began to move in sync towards him. Kraven began to shake his head violently, trying to keep himself in control, and not Gerald. My protectors took Kraven’s moment of distraction to launch their attack. Godric managed to launch himself onto Kraven’s back, sinking his teeth into Kraven’s shoulder.

Osprey threw himself to the right, trying to topple Kraven over so he could expose Kraven’s stomach to the rest of my family, which was a good plan, considering it would only take one deep slashed to create a fatal wound. It was an attack that had been drilled into us since our first training session with Aunt Mona and Aunt Tara. If we were fighting in a team of three, one would topple, one would cut the stomach open, and the third would immediately pull the intestines out.

It was a good plan, but a plan that Kraven knew, which the odds of him falling for it slim to none. I was not surprised when he back pedaled to a tree before raising up on his hind legs to slam Godric against it repeatedly until he was released from Godric’s teeth. I could see it in Godric’s eyes that he was a little dazed as Kraven turned his furious eyes on Elena, who was still keeping me away from the fight. Jarrod’s wolf and my father both lunged at Kraven from opposite sides, barely managing to avoid Kraven’s deadly claws.

I pressed my hand into my mouth to mute the whimper that came out. I didn’t want to distract them, especially not when the only reason they were fighting Kraven was to protect me. I watched in horror as Kraven continued to fight, slowly lowering the number of opponents as he dodged their attacks, shifting back and forth from his bear form to his human form to aid him in injuring our family. When he pinned our mother to the ground, snapping his jaws at her throat in an attempt to get leverage to critically injure her, she kicked up at him with all four of her legs, barely managing to keep him from reaching her goal. I started to frantically slap Elena’s hind quarters.

“Let me go!” I begged. “I can help. Please, let me help.”

She grunted as she looked over her shoulder at me angrily. I knew what she was telling me, but I also knew that Kraven wasn’t going to go down easily. He needed to be weakened, and I was the only one that could do it. I knew it and so did she. She bared her teeth at me warningly before nodding as she opened our link.

‘We’ll do it together. You’re surviving this, Annie, so don't do anything stupid!’ When I didn’t respond, she snapped at me. ‘Promise me or we will stay here where you will be guaranteed to survive.’

I threw my hands up in the air agitatedly. ‘Fine! I promise not to let him catch me.’

She gave me one last warning look before stepping away from me. As soon as she was a few feet from me, Marsha shifted, quickly moving toward my mother who was still pinned under a very angry Kraven while three of our fathers tried to get him off of her. Marsha let out a loud roar as she charged at him, leaping through the air to tackle him. We rolled a few yards before coming to a stop with me on top of him.

Marsha ignored our pain as she bit into his neck, pushing our venom into his system to mark him. He let out a threatening roar as he rolled, throwing me off of him. Marsha fled from me again, forcing us to shift back into our human form, making me scramble backward as Kraven began to stalk over to me slowly. Godric, Elena, and Timothy got between us, blocking his way to me. I swallowed nervously when I saw their blood soaked fur and deep gashes. They were out of breath while Kraven was fully in control with minor injuries that were quickly healing. Kraven met my eyes over Elena’s shoulder, making me shiver with the hatred in his.

When Godric leapt at him again, I quickly crawled over to a tree to pull myself up. I closed my eyes to seek Marsha out, asking her to stay alert enough to help me cripple Kraven. She weakly agreed and I slowly let my eyes open to look back at Kraven who was swiping aggressively at Elena. I looked down at my hand, focusing on it intently as I filled Marsha in on my plan. It took her a few tries, but she finally managed to let one of our nails shift. I took a deep breath before lifting my other arm up so I could drag my sharp claw down it, easily tearing through the skin to let blood start to pour onto the ground.

Kraven immediately cried out as his head whipped around so he could glare at me. That brief distraction allowed Godric to tackle him from behind, sending them both crashing to the ground. Godric managed to pin Kraven down with Elena’s help, barely managing to restrain him, as my legs buckled, making me drop to the ground. I held his gaze as I lifted my claw to my throat.

“I may hate you!” I whispered as I started to push my claw into my skin. “But your death means that you will never hurt her!”

I dragged my claw across my throat, immediately losing all my air as blood bubbled up before pooling around my body. Kraven’s body jerked violently before shifting back to his human form. Godric along with Elena shifted back as well. Osprey and Elena immediately grabbed Gerald’s arms to hold him still as Timothy’s bear approached him. Osprey met my eyes sadly, nodding as a tear crept out of his eye.

“He will never hurt her, Annie. I promise you that,” he said.

Timothy’s bear closed his teeth around Kraven’s throat before biting down, almost completely severing it. He shook his head once, finishing separating Gerald’s head from his body. I closed my eyes as his rolling head finally came to a stop in front of me.

‘She is safe,’ I whispered to Marsha before letting go of the last tether holding me to this life.

******

Natasha

As Maddy shifted back, I felt Annie’s link break and I rushed over to her. I held out my hand as tears poured down my face.

“GET ME MY BAG! HURRY! I CAN STILL SAVE HER! GET IT! PLEASE!” I screamed.

A hand landed on my shoulder, making me look up at Vine Keeper Annaria, who was staring heartbrokenly at Annie. “It won’t help, Alpha Sow Natasha. She’s made her choice. She won’t come back.” She knelt behind me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders as she put her chin on my shoulder to put her cheek against mine. “I know it’s hard, Tasha. She was my daughter too, but she has left us the most precious gift she could have. We may have lost her, but we gained another perfect little girl to love.”

“She didn’t even tell me where her daughter was,” I sobbed, wiping my face to no avail.

My tears just kept coming.

“She gave her to me to protect. If you are ready, I would like to introduce you to our granddaughter,” she murmured softly.

I nodded, sniffling as I glanced around the clearing to check on the rest of our small party, only to see that they were all alive with vines wrapped around them to aid in their healing. She stood up before helping me up to lead me over to where a tiny pod, the same kind of pod that had nurtured Annie for the first part of life, laid on the ground. As we approached it, it lifted higher into the air until it was even with my waist. I reached out with a shaking hand to touch it, trying to hold back a sob as it slowly opened to reveal a beautiful little girl that was the perfect mix of both Annie and Gerald. I gently picked her up, cradling her close to my chest.

Vine Keeper Annaria ran her finger down the little girl’s face lovingly before saying, “Tasha, it is my honor to introduce you to your granddaughter, Gilda Lonnaria…”