CHAPTER 2

“Aaahh! Get off me!”

Despite having her eyes close as she struggles from the figure trying to attack her, she used all her strength to fight back.

Zane instantly jumped on the creature and wrapped his arms around it to get it away from Keira. The creature was huge than a normal person and obviously stronger than him. Zane felt a lot of hair, or rather furs all over it. It smelled like a combination of earth, nature, and wet ground after it rained. It’s musky and strong all at the same time. Almost smelled like a wild dog. Zane thought it must be a wild wolf which happened to bump them, but it’s too strange to even call it one.

“Aaahh! Zane!” Keira continued to wail as the creature snarled at her.  

Zane used all his strength to pull away the strange being from Keira, but it was too strong and too huge for his size alone. So, he coiled his right arm around its neck instead to stop it from biting his best friend.

“Keira, run!” He struggled to voice out while tightening his armlock on its neck.

The girl was frightened, but she tried to hysterically search for any sharp twigs or fallen branches on the ground. Thanks to the full moon, it illuminated the inside of the forest, giving them enough gleam to see in the dark.

“Keira, just go!” Zane yelled at her again.

“No! I’m not leaving you!” After saying that, she caught a branch with a slightly sharp edge and mindlessly ran towards the strange creature.

“Aaah!” Keira screamed at her lungs and tried her best to penetrate the branch, which hit the creature’s side, inside him with the intent to kill it.

The adrenaline must’ve overtaken her entire system that she felt incredibly strong while twitching the branch as it slowly tore the creature’s skin.

The beast painfully growled but since it’s stronger than them, Zane almost stopped breathing when he was hit by the beast on his side, making him loosen the grip around it which eventually freed the creature.

Growl!

The creature snarled at Keira again and despite the pain, Zane reached for the creature and hit it with the huge rock his hand picked up from the ground. This made the beast stumble a little. Keira saw an opportunity to run pass the creature, so she did. Zane immediately caught her hand and they started running again. However, because of the multiple layers of clothes on Keira, it was a struggle for her to run fast and eventually she tripped on some roots on the ground.

Snarl!

There came the beast again.

“Aaahh!” Keira screamed.

Zane blocked Keira from the beast and that’s when he saw a proper look at it.

A wolf? A huge dog? A bear? What is it?

Questions flashed in Zane’s head. The appearance was indistinguishable, but it’s definitely a large wolf.

When Zane was about to make contact with the strange looking being again, he saw it twist its body along with a painful whimper and instantly dropped on the ground. He saw a silver object penetrating half of it on the creature’s back and when he looked forward, he saw a man standing with a cold stare at him.

Zane wasted no second and immediately grabbed Keira from the ground and was about to flee the scene when another figure blocked their way. But this time, it was another guy who looked like just a little older than them.

Keira was shocked again and when she was about to scream, the stranger did something to her neck that Zane didn’t notice because it was as fast as a blink of an eye. Then Keira lost her consciousness and dropped towards the stranger.

“Hey! Hands off her!” Zane protested but the guy already carried Keira on his shoulder.

“Bring her safely back in town.” The strange deep voice passed through Zane’s ears from behind.

The other guy just casually nodded and ran in full speed carrying the unconscious Keira outside the woods. Everything happened too fast that Zane couldn’t do anything to stop the stranger to take Keira away from there. Zane then felt a figure behind him, so he was about to beat him when the guy caught his fist so fast.

“Who are you?” Zane firmly asked, making his voice a little intimidating.

The man stared at him with those cold eyes again. This time, with the close distance, he could see the blue and greenish eyes of the guy that glare at him as cold as the winter.

“Why are you in the middle of the forest during a full moon?” the guy with the deep tone voice asked.

Zane clenched his jaw and broke loose from the guy’s grip. He instantly kicked him in the abdomen which caught the latter off guard and fell on one knee which gave Zane the chance to chase after the man who took Keira. However, he immediately stumbled on the ground when the man grabbed one of his legs and quickly went over him.

Zane pushed the guy right away and reversed their position with a bit of struggle and strength. The other guy was also stronger than him, but not by far. Hesitant to throw a punch on his gorgeous face, Zane grabbed the guy on his collar and glared at him.

“Who are you? And where did you take my friend?” Zane gritted his teeth.

“If you let me go, I’ll tell you where your friend is.” the guy negotiated with his stoic face.

Zane hesitated for a second, but he should come after Keira right away to make sure his best friend was safe, so he frustratingly dropped the guy’s collar and was about to break away when the latter pushed him to the ground again. This time, Zane’s collar was caught in the guy’s grip, almost exposing his chest and his necklace to almost snap.

“Your friend will be safe. I just want to ask some questions.” the guy uttered with a much calmer tone.

Zane clutched his hands on the wrist suspending him before answering, “Then let go of me first.”  

The guy on top of him immediately dropped his collar and stood up, not even offering a hand for Zane to get up. Zane infuriatingly rolled his eyes on the other guy and helped himself up, too. He fixed his shirt and jacket before glaring at the stranger in front of him.

“Where did you bring my friend?” he instantly asked, wasting no time.

“She’ll be fine. That guy will bring her home safely.” the strange, yet good-looking guy answered.

“How do you even know where she lives? Are you stalking her?” Zane’s tone elevated in annoyance.

The guy just sharply exhaled at the idea he just heard. “What are you doing in the forest during a full moon?”

Zane’s brows creased at the same question asked. “Why not? No one owns this forest.”

“How did you manage to fight this?” the other guy interrogated while motioning his head to the figure lying on the ground.

Ah! Right! Zane suddenly remembered the beast after forgetting it for a minute.

His eyes dropped on the ground and saw a much smaller figure – a man to be exact. Zane’s eyes almost popped out when he saw a different being than what he saw earlier, so his head robotically turned left and right trying to find it.

“Where’s the wolf?” he asked instead, trying to think that he must’ve missed another person while he fought with this stranger on the ground.

“Wolf?” the deep tone voice guy questioned.

“Yes! The one you shot!” Zane almost said in a mad tone. “I’m not sure what kind of wild wolf was that. But it’s strong and really violent!”

The other guy’s head slightly tilted as he listened to Zane’s words.

“Where did it go? Did it flee? I saw it was shot on…” Zane looked around while he spoke and immediately paused, brows twitching, when he saw the silver dagger half penetrated on the now man’s back who’s lying on the ground. “… the back.”

He was confused for a moment. It can’t be. What he fought earlier wasn’t a man… or was it?

“It can’t be a…man. I grabbed it and it was like a big wild wolf.” But then Zane remembered a face slightly flashed in his mind. It’s hairy, eyes are flaring yellow, and the teeth are bloody and sharp.

The other guy leaned down, and Zane was surprised when the former nonchalantly retrieved the dagger out from it and picked up the man by his shoulder.

 “W-What are you doing?” Zane curiously inquired trying to look at the unconscious man’s face.

“You need to get out of here now. It’s dangerous.” the guy warned him. “Your friend must be home now.”

Keira! Zane remembered in his head. Right! His best friend.

Although Zane hesitated, Keira was his priority. So, he turned around after giving the stranger a suspicious and proper look one last time. But he almost bumped into the man earlier, the one who took Keira, who is now standing in front of him.

Zane just glared at him with his furrowed brows before running away from the scene. He’s hoping Keira is safe and nothing bad happened to her. Otherwise, he’ll sure to hunt those two strange guys.

-xx-

“Another newborn.” the guy talking to Zane earlier informed his companion, who just came back.

“Luckily, we arrived just in time and those two weren’t bitten or anything.” he said while looking at the unconscious man.

“Maybe? But it wasn’t just luck. I saw him stop it from attacking his friend.” the good-looking guy informed his companion with a suspicious tone.

“Are you sure, Tyr? Maybe he’s just strong.” he shrugged.

“Strangely for a human, he is. Newborns are usually stronger than normal werewolves because of the change happening to them, and it’s a full moon, Zeev. Plus, he even kicked me and almost punch me in the face.” Tyr sneered remembering how he almost stumbled on the ground after he was surprised by a kick.

The other man devilishly smirked and launched a surprise punch on Tyr but before his fist land to the latter’s face, he’s already whimpering by the aggressive and painful fingers clawing on his hand.

“Argh! Argh! Sorry! Sorry! Let go.” Tyr saw how his friend aided his fist for trying his trick on him.

“He didn’t even flinch like you.” Tyr added.

“You’re joking.” Zeev scoffed and sounded a little offended after hearing Tyr’s words.

Tyr smirked. “Who knows? He might be stronger than you, Zeev,” and he chuckled.

“He can’t be. He’s an omega, Tyr. His scent is too strong. Even stronger than his alpha friend.” Zeev uttered in disbelief.

“That’s why it’s strange. I can only smell his human pheromones but…” Tyr’s voice was coated with suspicions.

Awoo!

Zeev’s and Tyr’s heads turned in sync to where the howl came from. It must be another newborn unable to control themselves as it has been a usual occurrence during the full moon. Tyr and Zeev gave each other a look that says they must move now and stop the newborn from causing havoc again. It was only the beginning of their night chasing these rogues and didn’t expect to have such a strange encounter. So, the two just slightly nodded in affirmation before they went to the direction of the howl.