Chapter 8 - The captive.

The following night everyone was feeling more cheerful and merry than usual as we tucked into the array of fish we had caught from the river. We sat around the fire feasting with a sense of pride in how much we were progressing, and I found my restless nights weren’t occurring as often as they used to. Miles away from our old pack, we were starting to see a future ahead of us, one in which we were safe and no longer grieving from the tragedy that had kicked us all down. There still wasn’t a day that passed where we didn’t think of it, or ask ourselves why it had to happen, but at least now, we didn’t feel as though we were looking over our shoulders every minute of the day and night.

I didn’t tell anyone though, not even Lacey that I’d see that man’s yellow sinister eyes glaring right in front of me, whether I was awake or sleeping, they’d just appear right in front of me. I’d be busying myself with hunting, training, assisting with the house builds, gathering whatever we needed for the pack. But whenever I felt a sense of calm, there they would lurk in my view, as if I could reach out my hand and touch them. The first time it happened, I believed it was real and I instinctively reached out my claws to slash them, only to smash my hand into a tree. It felt like a warning from my wolf that the worst of things were really not over. I’d feel her restlessness whenever we’d journey back to the village, or at night if we’d hear a rustle or scuffling in the distance She’d immediately jump at the noise, startling me, making me feel on edge. I trusted her though, her instincts, and I had to admit, my own  were telling me it was only a matter of time until he’d come looking for us all. At first I thought I was just being cautious, paranoid even from the weight of responsibility to keep them all safe, but the more often it happened the more I knew, both me and my wolf wouldn’t feel secure until we saw him die right in front of our own eyes and burnt his body with the rest of his clan.

I naturally smiled as I watched them start to tap some old tins, bang their palms on the upturned logs and shaking pots of herbs, encouraging everyone to get up and dance to the beat. Men and women got up and pranced around the fire, when Lacey got up with a chuckle, grabbed my hand and pulled me along with her. Others clapped and whistled in tune as we swayed and twirled around one another, skipping along with everyone else.

See, how could I tell them anything…. How could I wipe away the little bit of joy they’ve managed to find by telling them my concerns? Instead, I laughed along, danced with the pack and chose to be cheerful with them tonight and deal with my worries tomorrow. I had our gruelling trip to the village and back again to mull over my thoughts… tonight, I wanted to be happy, and seeing Lacey’s smile, it was hard not to be.

After making our way back to the village, we did what we had become so routine in. Pick a house and together we start to pull it apart. Taking as much of the furniture and wood as we could each time. Today we picked the house myself, Emma and Max had used, and I helped two of the women gather more blankets, clothes and toiletries. We still had more than enough in our new home, stacked up to ration through, but we never stopped bringing more. I pulled down the curtains in my old room and stuffed them into one of the bags as I glanced out of the window to see the sun was already setting.

“WE DON’T HAVE MUCH TIME! GATHER WHAT WE HAVE, WE NEED TO LEAVE!” I shouted through the house, and my eyes darted to the woods that sent a shiver down my spine every time.

“WE’RE ON IT!” One of the guards, Jason shouted back.

I grabbed the bag, and made my way out of the house, hauling up a long plank of wood to add to our pile outside. I chucked it all down and as I looked at the sun growing dimmer, I gulped. As much as my grandfather wanted this place to be a refuge for his pack, it only ever gave me the creeps. I hurried myself along, running in and out of the house, gathering the wood and bringing it back out as the others repacked the tools. There was only four of us today, and I could feel the time ticking by with each second we were here. The night sky starting to set in and the sun fading behind the cornfields.

I threw down another plan of wood and decided that was enough for today. We could come back for the rest, next week, I didn’t want to spend another minute here!

I turned away from the pile, about to run back to the house, and call down the guards to leave everything and move their arses out here. All of a sudden, my skin bristled, and my wolf growled, I looked over my shoulder to see a tall man with a seedy smile glaring at me. I extracted my claws, prepared to swipe him and shout for help, when two hands wrapped around my mouth and my chest pulling me against a hard body, towering over me. I tried to slash his arm as the tall man came bounding toward me, I lifted my leg and slammed my foot into his gut. He staggered back, then looked at me and hissed. “You’re lucky I’m not allowed to kill you”. He snarled as he kicked with his heavy boot, slamming it onto my ankle, causing me to yelp against the man’s large, rough hand as it tightened to muffle the noise.

The tall man leaped toward me, pulled back his arm and smashed his clenched fist into my face, then again and again until I collapsed against his friend still holding onto me.

My eyes started to flutter open dazed and disorientated as I felt the sense of my body floating. Cracked stone and metal wire moving past me as I looked at what seemed to be a burrow of some sort. I tried to blink away the blur and I let out a croaky breath when I realised I recognised it to be the tunnels. The same one that I came through when we ran from Sun pack. I could feel then, the arms against my back and the chest against my face… I wasn’t floating, I was being carried.

“She’s starting to wake up”. The man carrying me grumbled.

“Good, then she’s just in time, we’re nearly there”. Another man in front replied.

I subtly extracted my claws, looked up at the man who’s attention was focused ahead, and I quickly rammed them into his chest. He yelled out in pain and dropped me to the floor as the other man turned around to see the commotion. He flashed over to me and wrapped his hands around my neck, and I slashed his face, whilst the other man fell against the wall clutching the wound on his chest.

“Ahh, you fucking bitch”. The tall man seethed as he let go of my neck. He swung his arm up to punch me like he did before, but I blocked him, just as Kent had taught me, then uppercut him in the chin, knocking him back.

“Don’t you put your fucking hands on me!”. I snapped back as I took another swipe at him and tore the skin on his arm as he tried to cover himself from my attack.

The other man tried to balance himself as he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my own and my torso, trapping me in his hold. I flung my head back hard enough to smash against his mouth, his arms loosened from the sudden blow as he fell back on his feet. The tall man who was seething from the bloody marks I left on him came for me, I quickly gripped one of his arms that were stretched out in front of him, ready to grab me. I rammed my claws through it, seeing them poke out the other side covered in his blood as he yelled in pain. I pulled them back out then kicked him hard against his ribs, as he flung back onto the floor.

Just as I was about to make a run for it, a sudden forceful blow struck my head and I collided into the wall. My hair was pulled, yanking my head back as another blow hit my face, then I was thrown down face first to the floor. Big, strong hands were wrapping around my wrists, pulling my arms behind my back as I coughed out blood that splattered along the dirt floor.

“There’s not a fucking chance we’re going back without you! But this time, I’ll make sure you can’t try any of that shit again”. The man with a wounded chest spat as he started to bound my wrists with his leather belt, pulling it tightly until it dug into my skin, then wrapped his jacket around my arms and hands to cover my claws. He hauled me to my feet, chucked me over his shoulder. “Get the fuck up”. He demanded to the other man who was groaning from the holes in his arm. “The sooner we get her back, the sooner she’s no longer our fucking problem”.