Roxanne Desired (8 page)

“Declan!” Ember shouted as she sprung in his direction, landing at his side before I could blink.

I didn’t know in which direction to go. Should I follow Ember and try to help her with our wounded? Or should I jump into the ring with Tegan? Immediate danger prompted me to make a decision and I moved to my right. There was nothing I could do for the injured wolf but I could help fight the enemy when Tegan eventually lost her control over them. From the looks of her fatigued face and trembling hands, that was going to happen much sooner than later. I could hear Ember radio backup as I jumped into the sparring ring.

A slow grin lifted Tegan’s lips when she saw that I had joined her. With a wink, she threw her arms to the side making both wolves slam into the steel cage. The bars buckled against the force.

“You might want to shift,” she said before following her own advice.

I didn’t hesitate. When I was on all fours I was surprised to see that Tegan was also a white wolf, just like me. She had been pacing back and forth in front of me, guarding me until I finished my transformation.

One by one, the mutts toppled to the red mat. In my wolf form, my animal instincts overrode my human ones and all I could think about was killing the enemy, the bloodier their death the better.
Kill. Drink. Blood
…those words played in an instigative loop in my mind. I had to push back the homicidal rage that was riding me so I could take advantage of the use of my human faculties and fight with a clear head. The brown wolves snarled, saliva dripped and frothed out of their mouths. They both looked mad. Not in an angry sort of way, but in the Mad Hatter sense of the word. I felt dangerous and wild like a hunter. That was probably why I moved first, not waiting for my prey to get the jump on me. I rammed my head into one of the wolf’s sides, knocking his body back to the mat before he had a chance to regain his footing from the first fall. I could see Tegan playing with her opponent. She nipped at his throat several times while jumping out of the way of his sharp, wildly flying teeth. She was just testing the wolf, waiting for the opportunity to sink her fangs deep into his jugular. I, on the other hand, was busy trying to dodge the slashing claws of my own adversary.

“Get the fuck away from them!” I heard someone screech from a short distance away.

It could have been Ember yelling; it was definitely a woman’s frantic voice that boomed at us.

“Those wolves are contagious!” The same voice screamed again.

At
first, the direness of my current situation and the frantic warning that rang in my ears, failed to fully sink in. The wolf in front of me was still frothing wildly at the mouth, the bubbly liquid dripping in long runny rivulets to the mat. His eyes were pinned on me with a murderous intent. After I took a really good look, I saw that, at the same time, those same eyes appeared vacant and somewhat soulless. I hadn’t noticed the state of the two wolves before. Their skin hung a bit loose from their bodies, drooping as if they were in the process of slowly melting. Small gaping wounds soiled their fur as small gobs of blood and yellowish goo seeped from them. I gagged from the heavy smell of decay. My own fear overshadowed my fury, and also went a long way to abate my blood lust as I finally realized exactly what the voice was trying to tell me. If these creatures were sick and possibly contagious, I had to get my ass away from them immediately. The disease, or whatever it was that was ravaging their bodies, wasn’t something I wanted to catch anytime soon. More like never wanted to catch. Ever.

“Did you guys hear me?” Harper bellowed, her voice sounding closer this time. “Get your asses out of there. Now! Unless you fancy being turned into a fucking zombie!”

Yeah, Harper’s last statement was enough to convince me. These beasts were zombie-like? First, I learn that werewolves, vampires, nymphs, and even hybrids like me existed. Now there were freaking zombie wolves running around too? My god! I shuddered at the thought of what else might be out there roaming the world.

Harper stepped in front me. She spread out her arms and legs wide, interrupting the sick wolf’s view of Tegan and me. These beasts evidently weren’t too bright. They were easily distracted from pursuing their prey. The disease they contracted, had probably eaten away at their vital organs first, including their brains, before moving on to their skin and muscles. The wolves fell back, shaking their heads, making drool and spit fly everywhere. Tegan and I wasted no more time in getting out of the steel death trap, shifting back to human form in the process. When I was clear of the cage I swung around to see what was going on with Harper. She was dressed in thick leather pants and matching knee-high boots. There was a sea of leather traveling up her entire body, stopping at her neck, reaching almost to her chin. She even had her hands covered with black gloves. Only her face and a chignon of blond hair were left exposed to the elements. Harper’s already pale skin resembled smoothed cream against the darkness of her tight fitting leather uniform. It was obvious that she had first-hand knowledge about these vile creatures and knew how to protect herself accordingly against them. A crossbow hung horizontally from her back with plenty of arrows attached to the side of it running long ways for easy access. But she didn’t reach for that weapon; instead she pulled a long sword from a scabbard she had tightly secured to a thick belt at her hip. She looked like an avenging angel in black, sent down to earth to rid it of all its contemptible creatures. Or in this case, a couple infected wolves.

I turned to Tegan and asked, “What is she doing?”

Tegan looked at me momentarily before her gaze swung back to Harper. “I would imagine that she’s about to lop some heads off.”

Sure enough, one of the wolves sprung at Harper. The other looked like he was still trying to instruct his sluggish brain to focus on a new victim. He must have had the sickness a bit longer than the other infected wolf, or maybe it was just hitting him harder. The smarter of the two gnashed its teeth as it sailed through the air. Harper dropped her shoulder, ducking and swinging her sword at the same time. The shiny blade bit into the wolf’s neck, slicing straight through bone and tendon like warm butter. The decapitated wolf’s body dropped to the floor with a sickening plop. Its head tumbled to the mat soon after. I was distracted momentarily by the sound of several boots reverberating off the black rubber floors that covered the training room. My head swung in the direction of the noise, silently praying that there weren’t more decaying wolves about to attack us. Thankfully though, I saw several Adelphi warriors and some of my own pack’s security officers storming the room instead. Ember waved frantically at the soldiers to join her. She had already freed Declan’s arms from the punching bag and had him lying on one of the mats. He wasn’t moving at all, but I could sense that he was still very much alive. I blew out a relieved breath and turned back to Harper. She had just jumped over the remaining wolf, avoiding its claws, landing behind it. She brought her sword up once and again swung. With an elegant and deadly arc that glinted against the overhead lights, Harper, with her sharp blade, stripped the last crazed wolf of its head.

***

After Tegan had artfully disposed,
more like evaporated
, the lifeless bodies of the wolf-zombies by using her witch born magic, we all rallied in the infirmary across the hall. The stark white room was fully stocked to the nines with top of the line machines, several beds, and cabinets full of medical supplies. Ember had put a call in to the main house asking for the Adelphi resident doctor to come and treat Declan’s wounds. The doctor had arrived about an hour later, right before Amos had busted through the swinging doors with two wolves in tow. His men had successfully captured them before they could escape. They both were sporting bruises and cuts to their faces. Ember had taken it upon herself to give Declan’s assailants a not-so-nice welcome.

“So are you going to arrest us already or keep us tied to this fucking bench like dogs all day?” The taller of the two prisoners complained.

“Shut your muzzle, Assface. We will keep you tied up as long as we damn well please,” Harper hissed back at him.

The strange wolf’s eyes gleamed with malice, and his thin lips lifted up into a cringe-worthy smile. Harper wasn’t fazed at all. She just flipped him off, turned, and walked over to the other side of the room. I watched as she yanked a white curtain aside before pulling it closed behind her.

“She’s checking on Brady.” Ember said, briefly taking her eyes off Declan to look over at the curtained enclosed area Harper had disappeared behind. She held his hand in hers, absently stroking her thumb over it. I didn’t know if it was for her comfort or his; most likely both. She hadn’t left his side since she’d found him and it didn’t look like she was about to anytime soon. The doctor was forced to work around her, and he seemed to have no problem with that. The doctors white coat billowed out behind him as he shuffled from one end of the bed to the other. His hands moved with purpose over each one of Declan’s wounds, pulling out jagged pieces of silver and probing deep into his cuts, checking to see if there were any fragments he might have missed.

“Is he going to be alright, Jarrod?” Ember asked.

The doctor nodded. Several strands of his long blonde hair fell loosely across his face. “He should be, Alpha. I was able to retrieve all the silver shards from his body. As a result, his vital readings are improving by the second and he has already begun to heal.”

The young looking doctor seemed confident with his diagnosis and it showed. The atmosphere in the room went from being thick with panic to a more subtle air of relief.

“Rox!”

The unexpected sound of my name being said in such a frantic way jolted me. Before I knew it, a set of strong, trembling arms spun me around. I found myself pressed up against Nathan’s chest. He was breathing heavily and only after he kissed every inch of my face was I able to look up into the worried eyes of my wolf. He was pale with a countenance that seemed to be crashing down, resulting in the gloomiest frown I had ever seen. I held in a gasp trying not to drown myself in his apparent sorrow. Whatever was wrong or bothering him I needed to fix it, and fast. It killed me to see him like this. My hands flew to his face. The texture of his skin was clammy and a bit damp, as if he had been crying. I ran the balls of my thumbs under both eyes, trying to wipe away the evidence of his grief.

“What’s wrong, my love?” I whispered.

He shook his head and leaned forward, very gently resting his forehead on mine. It took him a moment to find his voice.

“When I heard that you were being attacked by those vile creatures? I...I…” he pulled me tighter to him. “I feared the worst.”

“I’m okay,” I said, squeezing back. “There’s not even a scratch on me. Harper was a life saver. She got us out of there in plenty of time.”

He nodded and hesitantly pulled away from me. He didn’t let go though, just held me at arm length, inspecting my body from head to toe.

“Are you sure those bastards didn’t get ahold of you? No bites, scratches, or anything you might have missed?”

“Positive,” I assured him.

“Why don’t you both go and grab some food or something, take a break from all this crap. I will call your cell when Harper and I figure out a new time for our first training session.” Tegan said, practically pushing us out of the room.

I almost forgot that Tegan was still here. She had been hanging back, in the far corner of the room, talking to her fellow Adelphi soldiers. A few of Ember’s security guards were over with them too, minus Amos. He left to resume his guard over Dane. The security detail had stayed behind to keep an eye on the prisoners. From the look on Ember’s face as she looked over at the two cuffed wolves, it was a good thing they had; she was out for blood and vengeance.

Ember set Declan’s hand down beside him atop the sheet that covered his still body. The white fabric held traces of his blood, the only reminder of his suffering, since his wounds had healed themselves. It still amazed me how quickly we immortals could heal. After nodding at the doctor, no doubt to make it clear she would be back momentarily, she crossed the several feet between us. She stopped, and at first I thought she was going to say something, but she just let out a heavy breath. After trying to rub the exhaustion from her eyes, she took me by the hand. Still without uttering a word, she led me out into the hallway; Nathan followed.

“Where’s Colin?” Ember finally asked. Not of me, but of Nathan.

“He had to stay behind. The wolves at Haven are in a complete frenzy. Collin was the only one able to calm most of them down. It’s bad over there, Ember.”

“I assume this has something to do with the two wolves Tegan and I faced down earlier today?” I asked, deciding to add my own two cents.

Nathan’s worried eyes landed on me. I hadn’t meant to remind him of his recent pain, the torture of not knowing if I was okay.

“It has everything to do with it. Those infected wolves are two of many that have been infected. The packs are in a panic.”

“What are we going to do? What can we do?” I asked.

This wolf disease had the potential to spread like a plague; the impact on the world itself would be devastating. Humans and supernaturals alike could be wiped out within a matter of a few years. Heck…even months if it wasn’t contained.

“Let me worry about this problem for now. Tegan’s right. It will do you two a world of good to get away from here for a little bit. I will call Collin and get the scoop on this new wolf strain,” Ember said, brooking no argument.

She leaned over and gave me a peck on the cheek and squeezed Nathan’s arm before walking back into the infirmary.

Nathan tugged on my hand and started leading me down the hall. I was reluctant to leave while things were still so turbulent within my pack. But there really wasn’t anything for me to do.

“You heard the orders of our Alpha. Let’s get out of here,” Nathan insisted.

I went along with him and allowed myself to relax. I had a feeling that the training Harper and Tegan had in store for me and everyone else was going to be extremely brutal. I was going to need to be well rested, on my A-game. I didn’t know what worried me the most, actually battling the Darkin or the training that went into getting ready to fight them. The thought of the original vampires was scary, no doubt. Then again, I have seen Harper and Tegan in action, and they could be pretty frightening themselves.