Twin Moon - Chapter 271 - The Half-breed
Zelena.
Lunaya looked back down at me with a warm gentle smile. She is a good woman, I can see that now. I regret being so hard on her back when she told me the truth about who she really was. I was awful to her then, though it does feel like a whole other lifetime ago now. I'm actually very lucky to have her. She's so strong and brave, and unbelievably resilient. But there is so much more to her, so much that she hides from everyone else around. She has a softness to her, there’s a motherly glow in her eyes when she looks at me. Roe has the same kind of spark in her gaze too. I know I can trust her, with anything and everything, including my deepest fears and insecurities. All the daunting feelings filling my chest, the fears I have for the fast-approaching end to this prophecy. I know that can share them all with her, without the possibility of her judging me, or seeing me as weak. I have no doubt she is carrying many of the same fears. I sighed heavily and opened my mouth to speak, to tell her that I was scared, to let her in on all the worries that were still plaguing me. But before I got the chance, a shiver ran up my spine and loud voices echoed in my head. I closed my eyes, dropped my chin and grabbed at the sides of my face. Though covering my ears was futile, the voices weren’t coming from around us, they were being flashed through. I hit the side of my head, thinking that would lower the volume. It didn’t, obviously. A flash of anger rolled through me, and I quickly looked up at Gunner. He was shaking his head with his fingers to his temple, an angered look plastered across his face.
“Slow down, one at a time!” he shouted out loud for everyone in the room to hear, but the sound still resonated through the flash at the same time. I didn’t know I could hear anyone else other than Smith and Tobias, unless I was in wolf form of course. How was I hearing all this. I tried to focus on one voice at a time, which was hard, there were a lot of them.
***East border has been crossed***
***They’re coming in from the south***
***They’re not attacking***
***Intruders at the West***
***They’ve pushed through***
***All borders have been breached*** one voice yelled through above the rest. It was Felix’s voice, I was sure of that. But I thought he was out looking for Whiskey. More importantly, who has breached the borders.
“Gunner?” I asked worriedly. He looked back at me quickly before his voice rumbled through the flash.
***Perimeter breach! We are under attack, all fighters to the village!***
Gunner's voice bellowed. There was so much dominance and power in his voice. I’ve heard him give an order before, and I've seen the way it can make a Were bend and obey. It’s never had that kind of effect on me though, thankfully. Regardless, this was so much stronger than I'd heard from him before, it felt heavier almost. Smith and Lupus jumped to their feet and bounded out the door after Gunner. Elaine and Venus also jumped to their feet and looked to me in question. I paused before running after Gunner,
“Someone’s crossed the borders” I told them quickly as I turned on my heels and ran out of the kitchen. I could hear their footsteps running after me, but it was quickly drowned out by the commotion coming from outside. Once on the porch, I could see our pack fighters coming in from all directions, surrounding the house and filtering through the village. Vicious growls, howls and shouting filled the cool night air. Gunner’s large silver wolf stood at the bottom of the steps. A gust of air flew past me, as my mother's black and white wolf stood at Gunner’s side. A sharp snap sounded behind me, followed by low growling. Both Elaine and Venus were now in wolf form too, standing on either side of Roe and Alyse. I went to turn back to the village but quickly stopped. I did a double take, looking over Alyse again. Her claws were out and her fangs were fully extended. What surprised me though was the shape of her face had changed slightly. It was almost like she had stopped mid change. Her nose and jaw had protruded forward, giving her the slightest appearance of a muzzle. Her brow had grown, and her eyebrows were bushy and wild. I’ve seen Were’s in human form with their fangs out, but not with a partially morphed face. It was honestly a little frightening.
Howls rang out through the trees, recapturing my attention. The sound felt unfamiliar somehow. I knew the howl didn’t come from someone in Tri-Moon, I could feel it in my belly. But I also knew that it wasn’t a battle cry. It was like I could understand it, like someone was speaking actual words. This is new, I can speak wolf now apparently. The howl sounded again, alerting us of their approach, and informing us that they mean no harm. Soon there were rows of wolves lining the front of the house and along the middle of the village. They aren’t going into the woods to meet the intruders? Why are they letting them get this close to the house? There must already be fighters in the forest, Gunner knows what he’s doing. But if they do manage to get this close to the village... I whipped around to Roe and Venus with wide frightened eyes,
“The twins” I whispered. My voice broke slightly with the fear warping into my words. We don’t know who these Weres are, or what their intentions are. Do they really mean no harm, or is it just a ploy to get close enough to hurt us. Are they here from me, or for my babies, who knows. I can’t take the risk of waiting to find out. The twins are the most important thing, and I will kill anyone that threatens their lives.
Roe nodded back to me in understanding and dashed back into the house. I turned my gaze on Venus, who paused. She looked over at Elaine’s wolf, then out to the gathering fighters, before back to me. She was hesitating or unwilling to leave the possible fight.
“Please protect my babies” I half pleaded half demanded of her. She growled lowly but was swiftly cut off by a bark from Elaine. With that, she nodded and rushed back into the house. Another howl called out, this time sounding much closer than the last one. I walked to the edge of the porch steps and looked out to the tree line. With the help of my Were eyes, I could make out the trunks of the trees lining the forest through the darkness. They'll be here any second. I took a deep breath and let the power roll over my skin, wrapping around my veins and filling my body. The tingles sparked at my fingertips and the strength it gave me made me feel tall and powerful.
A figure emerged at the tree line, flanked by maybe a dozen wolves. It may have been dark, but I could still tell that I didn’t recognise them. They stopped right at the fringe, where the trees end and the clearing begins. They made a point of coming far enough out of the forest to show us their numbers. I'm unsure if that was an intimidation tactic or a way to show they aren’t hiding. Either way, I'm not counting anything out, not until we know their true motives. I stared at the tall man standing among the wolves. He was unusually tall, dark haired, and well built. For just a moment the pit of my stomach dropped, as the similarities between he and Galterio crossed my mind. But no, that’s not possible. Galterio is dead, I killed him. This isn’t him. This man was taller, broader, his arms looked longer and there was something feral about him. Galterio was horrid and delusional, no doubt, but he still carried a poshness with him, something that gave off upper class vibes. Not this man. Everything from the way he stood, to the way his arms hung bent at the sides of his body. This man screamed wild and dangerous.
It was only a few seconds until the small mystery group were surrounded by our pack fighters. Another second and they were being herded into the clearing. They didn’t resist or even try to push back against the fighters. I don’t like this, something feels off. This doesn’t feel the same as the other visiting Weres, the ones that came searching out the Triple Goddess, or to bring offers of alliances. This feels like a trick. The annoyance of the unknown was eating at the insides of my stomach. By the time the fighters got them to the centre of the village, right next to the fire pit, they were outnumbered three to one. I counted thirteen of them. Definitely more than a regular delegation or visiting group would bring.
My body was shaking in anger, with fear and uncertainty weaved in too. I shifted my eyes down to where Gunner’s wolf was standing. His posture was rigid and the wolves around him appeared to be cowering away from him somewhat. I could basically see the anger rolling through his shoulders. The fur on his back was sticking up and his ears were pulled right back. His low and ferocious growl rumbled around the entire village. I whipped my eyes back to the man standing with the other Weres and gasped. His long arms were spattered with thick hair. His hands were half morphed into claw like talons. His long legs were bent backwards at the knees, and sticking out of holes in his jeans were tufts of dark hair. He was barefoot, but his feet were half deformed. They were half human, half wolf, with sharp claws digging into the dirt. I trailed my eyes back up his thick and fur spattered body to his face. His ears were pointed at the top with more fur like hair covering them. His brow line was large and bushy and furrowed over dark and venomous eyes. His nose and mouth were protruding forward into a half snout. Just like Alyse, though this man's was more prominent. His fangs hung out the sides of his mouth with slobber dripping from the sharpest point. He was only half a wolf. How is this possible, is this normal?
“What is he?” I whispered to myself.
“A half-breed” Alyse answered. I looked at her quickly, I wasn’t expecting an answer.
“Like me” she clarified,
“Almost” she added viciously as she flicked her eyes over my shoulder and back to the half-man. I stared at her blankly for a moment, considering the answer she just gave me. I didn’t even know a half-breed was a thing. Does that mean one of his and Alyse’s parents was human? Weird, I wonder if they’re common.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
