Chapter 9

Snow

Running away was not in my dictionary.

I had learned to face certain situations and avoid others, but I would not run away from a fight at such a vital moment as that, when innocents were in danger. That's why I made William think I was running away without actually doing it.

I wasn't going to leave him helpless with the rogues; he wasn't alone, but he was at a great disadvantage, and I wasn't a fool who would run off crying for help.

The boy may be a haughty jerk, but he's too noble for him to realize it himself, so I like him already, my she-wolf said, and I shook my head at her comment.

Of all the things she could say in this position, I wasn't expecting that one, though the truth was that she was right, albeit that it surprised me. William was trying not only to get me to safety, even though he considered me an outcast, as he had rightly said minutes before, but he was seeking to protect the members of the pack who could not take care of themselves.

That was not only noble; it spoke to the sense of responsibility he had about caring for his pack members. The system within the pack might be wrong, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to stand up for everyone when the time came.

He just showed me that no matter who you were, he was going to be a protector when the occasion arose, and that was impressive.

I hope this doesn't end badly, I thought with concern.

I have a feeling the boy will not only know how to defend himself but will also take advantage of the tranquilizer being slow-acting, so give him some credit and don't underestimate him. Get help and then come back so we can kick some ass, my she-wolf said earnestly.

My she-wolf was right.

I just needed to find a classmate to tell her what was going on and have her tell teacher Conie right away. The problem with that task was that my idea was blocked by more rogues.

They began to emerge from the shadows, and there were more of them than I had imagined.

About five surrounded William, and about fifteen were waiting nearby, so the situation was worse than I could have expected. I noticed that three of them had guns with tranquilizer darts, which did not bode well.

I didn't understand either what they were after or what they wanted to accomplish by violating the treaty not to approach our lands, but I knew this would be bad for the southern territory. If anything happened to my schoolmates, there could be a damn riot, and Alpha Hudson would be questioned for not looking out for the safety of the young people.

It was a very bad situation.

When William whistled, the rogues became alert and started going in different directions, so I had no choice but to stand in their way. I heard William's fight in the background, and when I looked, he was beating up the rogues, for which I smiled, and that gave me the confidence to step out of the shadows and attack a group of four that had intentions of going to the east side.

I'll go to the surface, my she-wolf said, and I let her.

She began to control everything under my skin, so she came to the surface, and I knew it had to show in my eyes. However, at that moment, I didn't care; I just went straight to incapacitating the bad guys, so when I hit one of them in the back of the head so hard that he fell like a sack of potatoes on the floor, the others turned around in surprise.

They hadn't smelled me because the wind direction was in my favor and because the Goddess had been blessed to make the werewolves' primal senses diminished in the rogues, yet this did not make them weak contenders. They had found ways to become dangerous.

"Where did she come from?" one asked, immediately raising his weapon to throw a dart at me.

With the speed that my wolf gave me, in a few steps I approached him and kicked his weapon, then I took advantage of his bewilderment to grab his hands and twist them until I threw him to the floor in pain. I was extremely strong, so I did not hesitate to break his arm. That made him groan and elbow, and the other two who were left came closer.

With my elbow, I hit the sore guy in the temple and knocked him unconscious. Then I got up and gave the other two a fistfest, to the point that it got the attention of three more. I didn't know what they had done, but one of them pressed a button on the watch on his wrist, and all the other watches lit up red.

That's not a good sign, my she-wolf said with a growl.

When I left the last of the four incapacitated, I picked up the device and noticed that the display said SOS. The other three came straight towards me, which made me get up immediately and jump backwards. They were shocked by that move, so they tried to get closer, but I didn't give them time; I started kicking them in the chin to knock them out of the game.

The problem is that I was so entertained that I didn't see the other three who approached and grabbed my arms, which made me growl immediately.

"She needs to be sedated, so grab a gun and shoot her with about four darts," one of the rogues said.

"Only if I let myself," I replied, and I headbutted each of the ones next to me, which knocked them off balance and made them let go of me.

The third one took aim at me and fired a round of darts, but I dodged them all by running in a circle, so the other two got up, and I heard someone approaching. When I sniffed, I realized it was William running in that direction, and seeing that he fell down and passed out, I had to stop them from approaching him.

I had to find a way to finish with all these to give time to the reinforcements to come. I knew well that the whistle that William had made was an alert for his friends; I just hoped that they would not take too long.

So I started punching, throwing, and kicking. I didn't realize at what moment my reality perception altered to just attack. My she-wolf was furious, so she was a danger to the rest. I think that's what made them run away, so they got away from me, and I went straight to where William was lying on the floor.

I checked his vitals, and they were fine; he was just unconscious, so I waited a few minutes, but no one was coming, and I cursed between my teeth because maybe the whistle hadn't been heard loud enough.

What do I do? I asked my she-wolf.

Run and get help now; it's the only thing you can do, she replied firmly.

But I don't want to leave him alone; I told her right away.

Do it; you can run fast and report.

With those words, I got up and ran as fast as I could to the entrance of the forest, where teacher Conie was waiting. I was so fast that it took me no more than a few minutes. I was so focused on what had happened that the moment my she-wolf retreated to my mind so that we would not be discovered, I did not hear the shots in my direction; I only felt the darts hit my back.

 When Master Conie saw me, she became concerned.

"What's wrong, Snow?"

"There are rogues with tranquilizer darts in the woods; William is wounded and unconscious on the east end," I said before collapsing and passing out at her feet.