Resounding Truth: (Werewolf Novella) (The Resounding Series) (4 page)

CHAPTER FOUR

The sound of chaos reached her ears long before she arrived back at their camp, and Drucilia raced toward the screams of her pack. She slowed as she reached the edge of the woods, the opening before her filled with violence and desperation. There were two humans to every one of the pack. The wolves were easily holding their own, but that wouldn't last for long. She jolted into the mix, her eyes searching for her sister as she held back from the rage that pushed her to rip someone's throat out.

Her pack was completely in wolf form; their strength and cunningness increased when they let the animal instinct of their ancient magic run its course. Karis was nowhere to be found in the midst of the fight. Drucilia raced toward their tent, her sister’s muffled screams reaching her as she plowed through and felt her blood run cold. A large man with blood stained clothes was leaning over the girl, his body pressed to hers as he pinned her down.

Dru morphed into her human form, reaching under her bed for her blade as the man moved to get up, realizing someone else was in the room. Karis screamed out to her as Dru moved with speed that didn't belong to her human form. A quick jerk of her arm, and the blade cut across the man’s throat, almost taking his head from his body. Blood splattered across her naked form, but she ignored it, moving toward her sister and keeping the knife tightly in her grip.

"Oh my god. Are you okay, Karis?" She sat the knife on the floor in front of her and busied herself with making sure her little sister hadn’t been hurt or truly attacked. The girl lay on the bed, dressed in her nightgown, half of her body still under the covers.

Karis cried and shook as she sat up and reached for Dru, the two of them clinging to each other. "He … he was going to hurt me. I know it."

"I know, baby. I'm here now, though. It's going to be okay." Dru pulled back, shaken to the depths of her core. Since her mother and father weren’t here to protect Karis, Dru was all she had, and she'd almost failed her.

"You saved me, though. I'm okay now. I'm okay, right?" Innocence spread across Karis's features as she looked up.

Dru pushed Karis’s hair back, blood smearing on the girl’s beautiful face. "Yes, but there is more danger to face. I need you to change into your Lycan form, and let's get out of here." Dru stood up and jerked around as the tent opened, her knife at her feet if needed.

Mark, an older member of the pack, walked in and looked around. "Oh, thank heavens. I thought something horrible had become of you girls. Quickly, transform and let's be gone. I’ll help to protect you."

Dru moved back and grabbed her bed sheet, using it to clean herself and to cover herself a little. Most wolves had no sense of modesty, but that didn't mean that standing around naked in front of the males of the pack so close to the full moon was a good idea.

"Take Karis and protect her, Mark. I'm staying here to help get anyone out that I can." Dru dropped the sheet and moved toward the door.

Mark reached out to grab her arm. He paused as if he were going to argue with her and then sighed softly, a smile playing on his strong features. "Okay. Just be careful and remember that there are a few Hunters out there. Most of them are silly humans who think they’re on a regular hunting expedition, but the Hunters are far more skilled and able to kill our kind with efficiency."

"I will. Please protect my sister."

"I will, rest assured."

Dru looked back to Karis and winked. "I'll see you later tonight."

She left without hearing what her sister had to say, her body quickly transforming into her Lycan form. The world before her grew rich in color and scent; her ability to see more clearly, to hear more acutely and to feel the slightest movement of air beside her gave her an advantage that the Hunters would never have.

She ran toward a female human who had pinned David, one of their elders, to a tree. It was obvious that the woman was lithe and strong, based on her one-armed hold on the large wolf. Dru shifted her shoulders as she reached the scene, running full speed, her body sliding along the earth as her teeth connected with the woman’s Achilles tendon. Dru jerked hard and blood poured from the wound as she righted herself and growled loudly.

The woman screamed and dropped David, the elder whimpering before gaining his bearings and running toward their escape. Dru turned her attention to the rest of the camp, where a few remaining humans were still fighting some of their strongest wolves, neither side relenting and yet no one winning. Dru could see a few humans running with heated excitement toward the exit most of her pack had taken.

It was only a slight shift of her head that saved her from an arrow in the side of her face, the wind giving her advance notice of the incoming weapon. She rolled across the ground and bounded toward the Hunter with the arrows, the woman's eyes the most vivid green she'd ever seen.

Dark curls framed the woman's alabaster face, her beauty ethereal and almost stunning. The thought faded fast as Dru shifted to avoid another arrow and leapt in the air, pushing herself off of a large oak tree to plummet into the Huntress. They rolled together, the weapon lost to the struggle, and Dru landed on top of her, swiping once to lay the female's face and neck open. The beautiful creature jerked to her right just in time, so that Dru's claws still cut her flesh, but not enough to kill her.

The struggle shifted as the woman turned the fight, punching Dru hard in the muzzle once and stunning her. Dru’s eyes burned with hot tears, making it hard to see. The Huntress seemed to know exactly how to fight Lycans. Dru struggled to get away as the woman pinned her body to the ground, her free hand punching with strength she shouldn't have, over and over. Dru growled and struggled, finding her freedom as someone barreled into the female and knocked her off.

The white wolf.

Dru pulled herself up quickly, her vision impaired and her face bleeding, thanks to a sharp ring the woman was wearing. The white wolf had to be twice Dru’s size and was snarling in a way that even scared Dru. She backed up a little as the Huntress put her hands up in defeat, and the wolf pressed the woman, nodding his head, as if giving her the right to leave. Dru barked and moved in to attack the woman again, but the large white wolf cut her off, his commanding presence leaving Dru helpless, unable to disobey him.

The woman looked at them both for a moment, her small hands covering the open wounds on her face before she ran toward the rest of her group.

Dru ran toward the large wolf and plowed into his side with her head ducked low and the full weight of her body behind her anger. How dare he let her go? Just because she was beautiful she was afforded a free ticket to kill and pillage?

The wolf rolled Dru, pinning her to the ground, but not before she bit a small chunk from his cheek. The wolf howled in pain. His body was much larger than Dru's, and he dropped her to the ground and pressed the full weight of it against her. He growled in her face, his eyes filled with emotions that bordered anger and lust. She nipped at him again, rolling out from beneath him as his face bled.

Two large male Hunters headed their way, and Dru moved in to begin another fight, her body already weary. The last time she remembered being so tired after a fight was the night her mother had died, and that was a night best left unvisited.

The white wolf pulled ahead of Dru, his large body launching into the air as he attacked the bigger of the two men. Dru started to follow suit, but her Alpha came out of nowhere and attacked the other man. Dru hit the ground with grace and backed up to watch the large black wolf work quickly to rip the throat out of his opponent, the white wolf doing the same with as much expedience.

The two males looked at one another and growled as awareness dawned on them. It was unheard of amongst their kind to have more than one Alpha male in a confined space at any given time unless negotiations were underway. Even when one retired and another moved into the position, the former one had to leave the pack.

The heat of the battle with the Hunters was nothing compared to the fight that brewed between the two large wolves in front of her. The opposing colors of their large forms brought to mind the battle between good and evil as they circled one another.

Dru moved between them, nipping at the white wolf, encouraging him to leave. He'd helped them today and she couldn’t stand by and watch him lose his life in the process. His fur was coated with blood, blood that had been earned by killing humans beside her pack. He growled at her, which caused Derik to move in even more. Dru nipped again, slinging her head to the side to tell him to leave, and he did. He looked at her for a moment more, the dark blue of his eyes calling to her, and then he was gone.

Dru turned to face Derik as the large black wolf moved toward her. He nuzzled her and licked at her nose and face. His efforts to clean the blood from her were quite natural, but fear for her sister had her pulling back. She nodded toward their exit, and the large black wolf moved back, urging her to go. Dru turned to run down the path toward what was left of her pack, but not before looking over her shoulder to ensure that the white wolf wasn't in trouble.

Derik nipped at her hind legs and she took off again, the wind welcomed as her body ached from the slight beating. The Huntress had been skilled and fearless, the woman someone Dru could find herself wanting to know if they hadn’t been deemed enemies.

Why had the white wolf shown up? Had he been here to save them from the fight or to protect the Huntress? He most certainly had stepped in to save Dru, and yet he had given the Huntress protection also. Did he know her?

Perhaps he was just a respecter of women altogether and wouldn't allow harm to come to any of them. That was unacceptable as the Alpha of a pack. The Alpha had to be willing to kill without thought or reprieve if his pack was in danger. Did the white wolf have no pack? Was he truly alone as Dru had deduced the first time she’d laid eyes on him? And what about Caleb? She was sure he’d given off the scent of an Alpha too, though scents were trickier with unfamiliar humans, or even wolves in human form. Could the appearance of this dark-haired man and the white wolf be related?

The white wolf was familiar and yet not. His appearance planted a seed of hope in her for a different future, one where Derik was not their vile dictator anymore, but where they would find a benevolent leader, one that loved them and cared for them as a father or husband might. She picked up her speed, her thoughts slowing her down as the forest blazed past her. Derik was at her heels, his large body hovering just beside her. He could run much faster than he was, his intent obviously to stay with her and protect her.

They slowed down a while later as they approached a stream, Dru's breathing labored and her side hurting from hitting a large root when she’d fallen with the Huntress. Derik changed into his human form, his large naked body bruised from taking a beating, much like hers. She morphed as well and waded into the icy cold water, her teeth clenched together as a groan lifted from her.

"You okay?" he asked as he moved to stand in front of her. The water was up to their chins and the summer sun was doing very little to warm the cold current.

"I've been better. Those humans were far more experienced than any I've ever seen."

"Yes, well some of them were just humans and others were Hunters from the Circle of Elders." He reached up and used his thumb to softly wipe the blood from her face, his careful movements almost endearing.

"The Circle of Elders? I don't know if I've ever heard of them." She let him finish and begrudgingly repaid the favor, though her actions weren't as soft and caring. He was a bastard, and she knew his moment of kindness wouldn't last long. He'd proven that time and time again.

"I'll tell you about them when we reach safety tonight. The lands that our scouts found us are only an hour from here, so it's not too much farther." He caught her hand and pulled it to his lips, licking and kissing at the pads of her fingers before using his grip on her to pull her body flush against his.

Heat spread immediately through her, her breath catching as her hands came to rest on the large muscles of his shoulders. He used his free hand to capture the back of her head, pulling her in fast as his lips pressed with hunger to hers. She pushed back and he grumbled no, kissing her with a passion that she had honestly written off as fairy tale. The moon would be full and heavy in the sky that night, and the call of its ecstasy was already resounding within her kind.

She pulled back again, though her mind had already laid waste to the idea of not getting close to him, her daydreams vivid and painfully delicious. He growled and made love to her mouth, his hand moving from the hold he had on her hair down to her back and then lower, encouraging her to wrap her legs around him. She started to follow his command as the image of Caleb appeared in her mind.

His soft, kind smile and deep, demanding gaze that beckoned her lust and possibly even her love.

She pulled back, her forearm coming up to block Derik as he nipped at her.

“No. Back off. I have to know if Karis is okay,” she insisted, effectively pulling herself from him, “and your brother will be looking for us.”

A look of pain crossed his features for a moment, but then he disappeared beneath the surface of the water. She wasn’t going to question her good fortune.

Dru waded from the creek and transformed back into her Lycan form so that her body would heal more quickly. Derik surfaced a moment later, the scowl on his perfect mouth telling her that he was less than pleased with her decision to deny him again.