Chapter Two: Daerius

“We captured the trespasser, it turns out she is female,” my gamma informs me.

“Is she human?” I ask. Not many people would be brave enough to enter my territory unless they didn’t realize who it belonged to.

“Not likely, she was running from a large group of men that stopped chasing her once she entered the forest. We tried to track them, but we lost their trail after they entered the Zhyden Mountains,” he tells me.

“Is that all you know?”

“No sir, beta Cadyn helped to capture her and is in the prison currently, he will have much more information,” my gamma says.

“Thank you gamma Mykael, you may return to your post,” I dismiss him with a wave of my hand. He bows before leaving my office.

Who would be crazy enough to trespass on my territory? I wonder in amusement.

She must be a shifter, but what kind? My wolf, Madox, says.

Perhaps a feline of some sort, she may even be a wolf, I tell him.

Not many wolves would dare do such a thing, however felines are often very sly creatures with no fear, or respect for that matter, he says, disgust evident in his voice. Madox believes wolves are the superior species, and I can’t help but agree with him.

I pull out a book from my shelf and sit down at my desk. It was fairly old, with leather bindings and worn out edges. I open it up and flip through the worn-out pages. It was a book on all the creatures discovered. I read through each type of shifter, their strengths and weaknesses, in the hope that whatever this female is, I will be able to easily break her.

The door to my office slams open and gamma Mykael bursts in, his hair a mess and his eyes wide. I stand and quickly nod for him to speak.

“The trespasser, she escaped from the prison and is at the border,” he says, and I immediately run out the door and down the hallways.

I allow Madox to take over and feel my bones cracking within seconds. I sprint out of the house on four paws and run through the forest.

Suddenly, the smell of burning fur reaches my nose and I slow down, suddenly confused. I see a small spot of glowing orange in the distance and run towards it.

I see my beta trapped in a circle of fire and growl. Cadyn, send for some wolves to get you out of the flames, I tell him through a mind-link.

One moment sir, I think I can just-- I hear him yelp before landing beside me, his fur singed on one side.

You must find her, he tells me urgently and I nod in understanding. I run through the forest, following the scent of my wolves. I spot a girl surrounded by my warriors.

She looks around in panic before lifting her arms in the air and a circle of flames bursts around her. I jump back in surprise as a six-foot wall of fire burns around her.

Three of my wolves are caught in the flames and howl in pain. I growl and get a running start before leaping over the wall. The heat from the fire licks my paws and I barely make it over without being burned.

I land on the other side just a mere foot from the girl. She looks at me with wide eyes, shocked at my sudden appearance.

She stares at me, visibly shaking with fear at the growl rumbling in my throat.

Shoot her, I order my wolves through my mind-link. She gasps as a small dart pierces her neck. She screams as waves of pain shoot through her body. The wall of fire vanishes as she collapses onto the ground.

My wolves lunge forward with growls and the girl curls in on herself. I walk over to her and hear her whimper before her entire body goes limp.

Put her in the torture cell, I growl and turn away.

Daerius, I beg of you not to do that, Madox whines in my mind. He sounds almost as if he is in pain.

Why the hell not? I growl.

Please, just trust me, do not hurt this girl, he pleads once more.

I will do whatever I want, I snarl at him. I hear him growl in frustration before going quiet.

I stalk through the forest back towards my house. I think I need to take another look at that book, not many creatures can manipulate fire.