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Authors: Catherine Bullard
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came
out of the woods, so they would be safe.
A root
snagged on his boot and he went down, his face smashing into the unforgiving
ground. Cursing, he struggled to his feet, then howled with pain as one of the
wolves sank his teeth into his leg. The wolf pulled hard, and he would have
gone down again if he hadn’t the foresight to grab one of the thick branches on
a nearby tree. Snarling, he lashed out with his knife, embedding it deeply into
the wolf’s shoulder, who was forced to release him as he howled with pain.
“Come on!”
one of his fellow hunters hissed, grabbing him and continuing to pull him
through the woods.
****
The next day,
after her aunt retired for another afternoon nap, Kyra headed out to find
Bryce. She found herself moving quickly across the field, her eyes
darting about almost guiltily as she watched for any sign of Jake. He hadn’t
appeared, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
Yesterday’s
ride had been fun, but the experience had been marred by the kernel of guilt
constantly brushing up against her consciousness, like a pebble in her shoe she
so desperately wanted to remove, but couldn’t. She’d been frustrated with
herself because she knew that unless she wanted to lead Jake to their secret
village, she needed to stay with him, but apparently her emotions didn’t agree
with her logic.
Last night
she’d had no dreams that she could remember, but had bolted up from her bed
with her heart in her throat and sweat breaking out over her forehead in a
panic. She felt as though something had gone terribly wrong, and when she had
listened to the howls and heard the pain and fear in them, knew that something
bad had happened out there. She’d been of half a mind to throw caution to the
wind and head into the forest then and there, but she knew doing such a thing
would be both foolish and dangerous, and had forced herself to wait until
morning.
She navigated
the maze swiftly this time, as though she’d been doing it for years even though
this was really only her third time. When she emerged in front of the village
entrance, it was to find the village almost deathly silent, with a heavy pall
hanging over the air. The two guards standing by wore grim expressions, and her
heart sunk into her shoes.
Stepping
forward cautiously, for they looked rather bloodthirsty today, she spread her
hands to show she meant no harm. “What has happened? I… I can feel that
something has gone wrong.”
Something
moved in the guards’ eyes. “An attack,” one of them finally growled. “By your
people.”
Kyra frowned.
“My people?”
“Humans,” the
other ones spat. “We keep to ourselves, leaving the village only to hunt at
night, and yet they are determined to hunt us to extinction.”
Kyra didn’t
know what to say, twisting her fingers nervously. She had no idea there was a
group of humans hunting the shifters, but if that were the case it would
explain their animosity toward the human race. Biting her lip, she wondered if
she should try to go into the village or not.
“There she
is!” a female voice cried, and Kyra turned, startled, to see a woman standing
several yards away, pointing an accusing finger at her. She was tall and
willowy, with inky black hair that flowed to her hips. Her blue eyes glowed
with hatred, and her otherwise pretty mouth was twisted into a sneer. “The
filthy human responsible for the attack last night!”
“What?” Kyra
took a step back. “I had nothing to do…”
“How do we
know that’s not true?” A man stepped forward beside the woman. “You could have
easily told them of our location. We hunted very close to home last night, and
they still managed to find us. Three dead, five severely wounded.”
More clan
members came out to hurdle accusations at her, and Kyra began to tremble
violently as their voices rose, tears filling her eyes. She’d never felt such
intense animosity being sent her way before, and didn’t know what to do with
it. She knew
out of the woods, so they would be safe.
A root
snagged on his boot and he went down, his face smashing into the unforgiving
ground. Cursing, he struggled to his feet, then howled with pain as one of the
wolves sank his teeth into his leg. The wolf pulled hard, and he would have
gone down again if he hadn’t the foresight to grab one of the thick branches on
a nearby tree. Snarling, he lashed out with his knife, embedding it deeply into
the wolf’s shoulder, who was forced to release him as he howled with pain.
“Come on!”
one of his fellow hunters hissed, grabbing him and continuing to pull him
through the woods.
****
The next day,
after her aunt retired for another afternoon nap, Kyra headed out to find
Bryce. She found herself moving quickly across the field, her eyes
darting about almost guiltily as she watched for any sign of Jake. He hadn’t
appeared, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
Yesterday’s
ride had been fun, but the experience had been marred by the kernel of guilt
constantly brushing up against her consciousness, like a pebble in her shoe she
so desperately wanted to remove, but couldn’t. She’d been frustrated with
herself because she knew that unless she wanted to lead Jake to their secret
village, she needed to stay with him, but apparently her emotions didn’t agree
with her logic.
Last night
she’d had no dreams that she could remember, but had bolted up from her bed
with her heart in her throat and sweat breaking out over her forehead in a
panic. She felt as though something had gone terribly wrong, and when she had
listened to the howls and heard the pain and fear in them, knew that something
bad had happened out there. She’d been of half a mind to throw caution to the
wind and head into the forest then and there, but she knew doing such a thing
would be both foolish and dangerous, and had forced herself to wait until
morning.
She navigated
the maze swiftly this time, as though she’d been doing it for years even though
this was really only her third time. When she emerged in front of the village
entrance, it was to find the village almost deathly silent, with a heavy pall
hanging over the air. The two guards standing by wore grim expressions, and her
heart sunk into her shoes.
Stepping
forward cautiously, for they looked rather bloodthirsty today, she spread her
hands to show she meant no harm. “What has happened? I… I can feel that
something has gone wrong.”
Something
moved in the guards’ eyes. “An attack,” one of them finally growled. “By your
people.”
Kyra frowned.
“My people?”
“Humans,” the
other ones spat. “We keep to ourselves, leaving the village only to hunt at
night, and yet they are determined to hunt us to extinction.”
Kyra didn’t
know what to say, twisting her fingers nervously. She had no idea there was a
group of humans hunting the shifters, but if that were the case it would
explain their animosity toward the human race. Biting her lip, she wondered if
she should try to go into the village or not.
“There she
is!” a female voice cried, and Kyra turned, startled, to see a woman standing
several yards away, pointing an accusing finger at her. She was tall and
willowy, with inky black hair that flowed to her hips. Her blue eyes glowed
with hatred, and her otherwise pretty mouth was twisted into a sneer. “The
filthy human responsible for the attack last night!”
“What?” Kyra
took a step back. “I had nothing to do…”
“How do we
know that’s not true?” A man stepped forward beside the woman. “You could have
easily told them of our location. We hunted very close to home last night, and
they still managed to find us. Three dead, five severely wounded.”
More clan
members came out to hurdle accusations at her, and Kyra began to tremble
violently as their voices rose, tears filling her eyes. She’d never felt such
intense animosity being sent her way before, and didn’t know what to do with
it. She knew
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