14.

The second shift was much quicker than her first one into the large beast, the beautiful white coat was turning red on her hind leg but she didn’t let it phase her as she rose to her paws. The young girl scrambling out of the way with a peal of soft tinkling laughter, even the male was smiling this time.

“Don’t go easy on me!” The wolf’s lips curled back as she growled, earning her a dark chuckle in return. His playful demeanor was just a ruse, it was the female who was playful, he was simply murderous, and quick on his feet too. He lunged forward with such speed that she almost couldn’t keep track of it and barely dodged as his hand lashed out just a split second after she had moved.

“Who would’ve thought such a large animal would be so fast!” The girl practically squealed with excitement. The wolf pinned her ears to her head as she dug her pack paws into the dirt and threw herself forward. Placing the sudden weight on her back leg hurt and the male wasn’t expecting her to do so. He stumbled, tripping over himself as he rolled out of her way.

“Wow, you almost seem like you’re trying to kill me!” He raised his left hand just slightly with a single finger pointed to the sky.

“Not yet! Don’t ruin the surprise yet!” The girl yelled at him, drawing his attention away from a moment as he frowned.

“If I get killed it’s your fault then!” With his head turned the wolf attacked once more, unaware that the opening had been on purpose. The wolf had tilted her head to the side, prepared to snap her jaws shut around his thin neck. She had not been prepared for him to catch her momentum, his long slim arms catching her weight with ease as his fingers closed around her throat in the same fashion that had resulted in a deer with its throat ripped out.

She reared back quickly before he could get a firm enough grip on her, her back claws digging into his waist and drawing a wince from him. Once she had pulled back, she was quick to duck her chin down and sink her teeth into his shoulder.

“You bitch!” His voice was a deep snarl that was completely unlike his earlier tone. Her weight kept his left arm pinned to his body as he grabbed the back of her neck with his right arm and yanked as hard as he could.

Her teeth shredded through the muscles of his shoulder as he threw her large form off of him. Her body hit the ground but she was quick to bounce back up. As the male rose to his feet his left arm hung limp at his side, the look of fury on his face made it obvious it had been a long time since he had been hurt. Even the girl had fallen silent. As the male stalked forward slowly the wolf raised her head proudly as she smugly showed off her bloody maw. Her paws moved her slowly around the male to the side, forcing him to begin to circle.

“I can’t wait to skin you alive.” He snarled, moving quickly to try and grab hold of her, but her back leg had healed enough to allow her to spring past him quickly. He reeled back in surprise at the fact that she had so blatantly missed him, before realizing she was charging right at the girl. The girl recognized what was happening, her silver eyes widened in pure surprise as she watched the white wolf draw closer. She had just launched herself into the air to pounce on the young girl when she was swiftly brought back to the ground. She snarled as her body thrashed against the heavyweight on her side. The girl smiled slowly as the wolf looked to find a tree root wrapped around her body.

Her blue eyes looked between the two slowly, the girl hadn’t moved a muscle, and magic like this was ancient. As she brought herself to look at the male again, it was his turn to look smug as he curled one of his fingers slowly. With the small motion, the root slowly began to squeeze. “That’s enough.” The girl commanded softly as the wolf squirmed with a growl. He didn’t stop however as he had the root continue to squeeze.

The wolf let out a low whine as the air was squeezed from her lungs. “I said that’s enough!”

“Not yet it isn’t!” The girl rose to her feet as she began to inhale slowly. Through the wolf’s squinted eyes she could see the male’s face slowly beginning to turn red.

“If you’re going to steal the air from her then I’ll do the same to you.” The girl snarled. They both held out on each other for as long as possible. The wolf’s vision began to fill with black spots before finally the root released and returned to the earth.

Once the threat was gone Farryn was back, gasping heavily for air on the ground as the girl crouched down and brought the silver dagger to Farryn’s throat.

“You didn’t beat my friend in combat, so now I get to kill you.” Farryn chuckled breathlessly as she peered up through the strands of her hair that had fallen in her face.

“No you don’t, you didn’t say I couldn’t use you to beat your friend. I still won, seeing as how he gave in first.”

A silence settled over the pair before the girl smiled and looked to her companion. “It seems we’ve been outsmarted by a dog.”

The murderous look was still in the male’s eye as he gazed at the two females even as his smile mirrored the girls. “It seems we have been indeed, and we are people of our word.” The girl grabbed Farryn’s wrist before the alpha could make a complaint, she drew the dagger over her palm, drawing a thick line of blood before doing the same to her own hand and clasping them together tightly.

“As I said earlier, we are here to serve until you say otherwise.” As the girl released Farryn’s hand the male slowly replaced it, he had sliced open his hand with his teeth. He was much more reluctant to seal the deal but would follow through regardless.

The boiling urge to simply kill the two Faeries for the trick they had pulled on her had Farryn seething, but the longer she watched the two interact the more she calmed down and realized just how useful they might actually be to her. She couldn’t quite peg what the relationship was between the two, they looked as if they could be twins but they seemed to be much closer than siblings. With a deep sigh, Farryn slowly closed her eyes.

“Do you two have names? It will be hard to introduce the two of you without them.” Farryn slowly brought her naked form to her knees, both seemed to gaze at her with curiosity at the fact that she seemed rather comfortable with being in the nude. “I would appreciate no staring.” She sighed as the girl stood up and put the dagger away while the male, despite his shredded shoulder that was already starting to heal, removed and offered her his shirt.

“You can call us Vini and Celeste.” Farryn gazed skeptically at the shirt before taking it slowly and standing up. Her leg was still bleeding but not quite as bad. The blood on her face had dried, for the most part, everything else had been wiped away.

“Well Vini and Celeste, let’s head back to the pack, there is a lot for the two of us to discuss.” Farryn had a million questions but was determined to make having these two on her side be useful in the end. The wolf inside chided her for not taking her warnings seriously early but she didn’t care anymore.

As Farryn began to pull the shirt over her head she could have sworn she had seen amber eyes watching the trio from the undergrowth over Vini’s shoulder. But once the shirt had passed her eyes, the eyes were gone, leading her to believe she had just been imagining it. Farryn shook her head as she began to walk, leading the pair back towards the pack home. “Why did the two of you wait two whole weeks before coming forward with another message?”

Farryn had intended to wait until she had them back in town before she began to question them but her curiosity got the best of her. The pair remained silent and she quickly looked over her shoulder, they were holding each other’s gaze, seemingly having a silent conversation between the two of them. Vini was the first to look away, his cold silver eyes holding Farryn’s as he smirked, he seemed to thrive best from her discomfort. “We didn’t leave a previous message.”

Farryn blinked slowly as she stopped and turned to face them. “I’m not as stupid as you might think I am, I’m talking about the deer.” The pair both shook their heads no. Farryn had to swallow back the lump forming in her throat as she looked to Vini. “You grabbed my throat the same way that deer’s was ripped out.” She insisted while his smile grew.

“There’s only one effective way to rip someone’s throat out, it’s not uncommon. But we didn’t touch any deer, we did though, hear from some others about the deer.” Celeste was doing her best to hold back her smile as Vini spoke, hers wasn’t as malicious as her companions but rather, she was excited to have information that Farryn didn’t know.

“It was done by someone named Deacon!” Despite her excitement, Celeste spoke in a whisper, as if she was worried this Deacon might appear behind her and do the same to her. Farryn’s brows furrowed as her eyes drifted away to look around, her mind going back to the pair of amber eyes she had seen. Perhaps she hadn’t imagined them after all.

“Let’s go, we don’t need to stay out here any longer.” Farryn’s fingers brushed the newly closed wound on her leg as she turned. She had noticed that Vini’s shoulder had closed up as well so neither would need to make a visit to the pack doctor. She did, however, need to let Tony know to keep an eye out for any stranger lurking near their property and to keep an ear out for any information regarding Deacon. A frown etched her face while Celeste peered around the Alpha’s arm.

“Are you afraid?” The question seemed to flip a switch inside of Farryn, to send her back to how she had been a year ago alone.

“No. There is no room for fear.” Her frown disappeared at the answer. It was an honest answer, both personally and as her position as Alpha. She could not afford to be afraid, her fear would lead to her pack becoming afraid. She had just gotten them all calm after the deer and now had to deal with this. Showing up with the two Faeries would raise concerns as it was.

“This is going to be so much fun Vini!” Celeste giggled as she fell back in line beside her companion.