Chapter 49: 49: The Black Wolf
The black wolf snarled, its powerful jaws clamping forward and into the neck of the first rogue that got too close. With a sickening crunch, it snapped the rogue wolf’s neck before flinging its limp body to one side.
Once it was done with the first, it swiped its large claws down, slicing the next rogue’s face open. Blood splattered onto the green forest floor, dyeing it red.
One by one, the rogues attacked. But one by one, they fell to the black wolf. They never even stood a chance. It took them down easily, and by the time it was done, only a couple of rogue wolves were left. They stood far away, cautiously watching as their brethren fell to the black wolf’s vicious attacks.
I could see the calculating look in their eyes. One of the rogues made eye contact with me, as though deciding if I was worth risking their lives over. Apparently, I wasn’t, because in the next second, it turned and left. The others followed him quickly.
The thud of their paws echoed through the forest, and I stayed still until I could no longer hear them even in the dead of the night. Only then did I allow myself to completely collapse on the forest floor.
I panted heavily, my shoulders heaving up and down as I tried to calm myself down. I didn’t think leaving would be an easy task, but to encounter a problem this quickly was demoralizing.
Especially since I could no longer leave Shadowclaw.
Slowly, I turned and looked at the black wolf. It stayed still, its ears moving and twitching, presumably trying to listen out for the rogues to see if they might come back. Only when it was satisfied did it turn around to face me.
I swallowed the bile in my throat.
Its scent was familiar and really similar to the triplets. To add on, it was enormously large, a size only an alpha could be, and it had a similar black coat to Rowan, Soren, and Cassian. Those factors automatically led me to believe that it had to be one of them.
But who could it be?
"I suppose you’re here to bring me back to Shadowclaw again, aren’t you?" I said with a sigh.
The wolf said nothing. It simply stared at me with its amber eyes, its golden gaze piercing through me.
I gulped.
Cassian hated me. He was the least likely one to appear right now. Even if it was him, he wouldn’t be calmly staring at me, and would’ve shifted back to give me hell himself. Rowan and I spent two nights together, but he didn’t seem particularly fond of me. If anything, I was just there at the right time and satisfied his bodily needs.
That left Soren. He had saved me once. It could be entirely plausible for him to save me again. However, he did also make it very clear that he wanted to take everything back and have nothing to do with me.
At present, none of the three brothers seemed like possible candidates.
The wolf slowly trotted forward, nudging me with its nose. I realized that it was trying to get me to stand, and I used its head as support before pushing myself back on my own two feet.
"Are you not going to shift back?" I asked curiously.
The wolf did not reply. It merely turned its head in the direction of Shadowclaw, freezing for a moment. Its ears began to twitch again, and it crouched down as though it was anticipating something.
"What is it?" I turned to look in the same direction, but I couldn’t see or hear anything out of the ordinary.
When I turned back to look at it, the black wolf had already straightened up. Just then, I heard a rustle of leaves. In an instant, the black wolf took off, leaving me alone in the forest clearing.
"Wait!" I yelled, watching as it disappeared past the trees and into the woods. In the dark of the night, I couldn’t see where it had disappeared to. As soon as it had darted into the shadows, it was gone.
Left alone, I quickly swiveled around. My eyes landed on the silver blade, which was now on the floor. I bent down, about to pick it up, when suddenly, I was forced backwards.
I landed on my back with a thud, the air knocked out of my lungs from the impact. When I cracked my eyes open, I was met with a familiar pair of amber eyes and a face full of anger.
"What do you think you’re doing?!" Cassian growled, his eyes practically glowing with anger, his wolf so close to taking over. "Who gave you permission to leave?"
"Get off of me!" I said, struggling to break free, but Cassian held me down rather effortlessly. Whatever strength I had gained just now during my adrenaline rush had been temporary, it seemed, as I couldn’t push Cassian off, no matter how hard I tried.
If anything, it only seemed to enrage him even further.
"Not until you tell me how the hell you made it this far out past the borders," Cassian hissed. "Who helped you?"
"Violet did," I spat out, relishing the way his face contorted in surprise, disbelief, then rage once more.
"Do you really expect me to believe that?" he growled.
"Yes," I said firmly, "because both of us know damn well that Violet has everything to gain with me out of Shadowclaw."
That way, she would have no competition, and the triplets would be properly hers.
His lips parted, as though he wanted to say something, but paused halfway. Slowly, Cassian’s eyes widened in surprise as he froze. He looked up, peering deeper into the woods while still maintaining our position. A frown gradually spread across his face.
"Who was here with you just now?" Cassian asked, snarling.
My eyebrows shot up in realization. Cassian didn’t see the black wolf, but he probably caught its scent on me.
"Rogues," I casually replied.
"You think I would believe you managed to fend off a group of rogues on your own?" Cassian asked, scoffing. "Who was with you? Answer me!"
