Chapter 6

“Well – time for round two I think."

Caleb circled Helena like a hyena, enjoying watching her struggle against Jack. He came very close to approaching her but seeing the rage in her eyes and her legs free to kick at him the thought better of it, for now.

Motioning to Jack he growled “Further into the woods, don’t want to be interrupted now do we." As they stumbled onwards, roots and branches causing them all to stumble occasionally Caleb chuckled menacingly. Alle was whooping at their victory, they were going to enjoy this, she would pay for her attitude.

As they carried on walking his imagination was firing on all cylinders, but the first thing he was going to do was use Jack’s knife to snip free that halter top and revel in her humiliation. Caleb was so caught up in his plot that he never ever saw the huge cloaked figure appear in front of him.

A clawed hand slashed across his face and neck, then hurling him to the ground, choked gurgles erupting from what was left of his throat.

Jack immediately turned on his heels, abandoning his brother but dragging Helena with him. “GET OFF ME!” she screamed as he tried to readjust his loosened grip on her.

/Do it now/ Fyre urged and with one swift motion Helena twisted Jack’s arm viciously, freeing her enough to lunge forward and pluck out his left eye.

Beta Dawes had trained all the women in self-defence and now he would be recognised by everyone as an attacker of women. A mark of shame that no shifter healing could erase.

She threw the jellified eye to the ground as Jack howled and lunged towards Helena with the knife. Another deafening growl erupted from behind her as the figure charged in front and swiped at Jack’s throat before he could even react, sending him spiralling to the ground too.

Both brothers lay on the floor bleeding, burbling for help but the trees deadened their noise to anyone at the party nearby, just as Caleb had originally intended.

Panic started to set in as her legs automatically set off to take her further into the forest when a strong, warm hand grabbed hers sending her colliding her into a man’s solid chest. She felt the roughness of the material he wore against her face and then the heavy sensation of his arms gently pulling a heavy cloak around them, enclosing her within.

She should have screamed and attacked but her fear simply evaporated. /Safety/ Fyre murmured, Helena allowed herself to be held, focusing on getting her breathing under control, face pushed right into his chest and facing downwards, not daring to look at her rescuer.

“Are you hurt?” a deep rich voice with a trace of a European accent. It was so deep it seemed to vibrate through his chest into hers. She felt his head twisting side to side, sensing for any further danger.

“No…I didn’t get hurt…thank you,” she whispered, face remaining in his chest. His arms held the cloak fast around her frame, she could feel his strong heartbeat against her own as her breathing steadied, unavoidably inhaling his scent, woods mixed with an unknown spice that warmed her to the core.

“Can you walk to the stream nearby?”

“Yes I guess so…what for?”

“To wash the blood from your hands before the Beta's arrive,” he stated bluntly.

“Oh no…” her stomach sank, her options closing around her like slamming doors. Murderer of an Alpha, there is no coming back from that.

“They are not dead, they got nothing more than they deserved.” He could feel distress barrelling through her and softened the tone of his clipped accent “White Forest Beta’s shall also visit them shortly and probably suggest they accept responsibility for fighting off a rogue attack. Better than admitting they were trying to attack one of their own.”

/Look at him/ Fyre urged, /who is this man, we must know!/ Helena took a deep breath stepped out of the protection of his embrace, allowing her glistening brown eyes to travel up to his face only to realise the hood of his cloak rendered it completely obscured by darkness of the forest.

All she could see was a firm jawline framing his firm lips set into a neutral expression. In the moonlight the V-shape of his shirt revealed soft, dark hair coated his broad chest and unruly brown or black waves of hair were peeking around his upper neck and jawline.

“Okay…well then let’s get away from here and get cleaned up. Good plan.” and with her game face somehow set she turned around to silently stride through the wood to a little beck fifty metres away.

Washing Jack’s blood from her hand no longer made her scared, instead a pride that she had used her father’s teaching for exactly what they had intended surfaced. Caleb and Jack’s groans had quietened but who was this deadly stranger she was now walking through the woods with.

“Go back to the party, you need to be seen” his low voice reverberated, she understood the implication.

“Well…” she bent back down to give her hands another scrub.

“Hm?” he tugged black leather gloves onto his hands, waiting for her to finish.

“I understand I have been sold to your pack so there is only so much of this party I can really enjoy…having maimed my Alpha’s sons," raising an awkward smile.

A sharp “I’m not part of the White Forest Pack” was his only reply as they walked through the woods in silence. After a minute he placed a gloved hand assuredly upon her bare back giving rise to a shiver of a million different sensations, Fyre urged her to turn round and try once more a look at his face, or to grab his other hand but Helena would not yield.

The trauma of the evening had been completely replaced with a yearning for the warmth and power of his embrace once more, the manly smell of the woods mixed with a spice she couldn’t name. She didn’t need to have come of age to understand her reaction. The confidence in his manner and power in his voice had upon her body yet she had no idea who he was was tantalising.

They reached the edge of the trees and across the clearing the fairy lights and tables were visible. She realised he had led her on a route that didn’t go past where the brothers lay. Coming to a natural stop, she felt his hand slowly trace up her spine, to the base of her neck where his thumb delicately brushed a curl of hair away from her ear.

She was frozen to the spot as the gentle warmth of his breath grazed the side of her face. He murmured in her ear in that crisp accent “I’ll see you again soon”.

Giving into her urge, Helena spun round to try and grab a look at his face but he was already heading back into the woods, black cloak concealing all but the stomp of his leather boots.

Knowing better than to follow, she wandered back into the party as nonchalantly as possible, hoping Celeste was still there but knowing nothing could be said about the evening so far.