A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter Forty-Seven An intense fight ensued as we were quickly engaged by a group of wolves.

To my surprise, Aleric had already taken two down and was on to his third before even a few minutes had passed

But there were so many more to go.

The bottom line was that we weren’t going to win this, and we both knew it.

I had two wolves on me and I had so far been holding my own against them well. Neither of them had expected me to be able to fight so well underage and it showed. They moved as if assuming I wouldn’t be able to keep up, but they were wrong.

“Aria!” Aleric yelled. “I can hear there’s more coming. We need to go.” 

I knew he was right. We’d vastly underestimated how large this cave system was. With the number of wolves here, it seemed plausible that it expanded out more than what we could see here. Most likely, there were hidden tunnels somewhere which would explain how th appeared to be coming out of nowhere. Our best option was to run. Suddenly, Aleric screamed out in pain. I wanted to turn and check what had happened but the two on me weren’t letting me take my eyes off them for even a second. They were determined t o finally get a hit on me as their frustration had only been growing the entire time I’d been dodging them.

But I didn’t need to wait long in order to find out if Aleric was okay.

Because I soon heard the sound of someone shifting, followed by an encore of whimpers, howls, growls… and flesh tearing. A lot of flesh tearing. I quickly unsheathed my knife, waiting for the moment I knew would be coming, and was pleased he didn’t keep me waiting long.

The largest black wolf I ever saw then came bounding out of nowhere and tackled one of the two away from me, snapping towards his throat for a final blow. I’d only ever seen Aleric’s wolf a handful of times but it was always an impressive sight, as with any other Alpha wolf.

The second rogue naturally tried to turn his attention to Aleric in order to help his comrade, but that was a mistake. I moved lightning fast to kick him to the ground, pinning him in place with my legs... and instantly embedded the silver knife into his chest.

Finally exhausted, I leaned back and looked around me. It seemed like Aleric had killed off the entire room as the corpses around us began to shift back into their human bodies.

But it had been a complete massacre. I heard Aleric then whimper, drawing my attention back, and I knew what he was trying to say. He’d mentioned there were more coming and it was a reminder that we didn’t have long to leave. I nodded that I understood and looked down to retrieve my knife… only to find the wolf had reverted back to his human self underneath me.

Instantly, I felt my entire body freeze up at the sight of who laid there. But it was impossible, wasn’t it? Surely it was someone who just looked similar... 

have sworn was Doctor Andrews, the future head pack doctor that would replace my mother one day. Aleric barked out loudly next to me but I was barely able to register him with what I was seeing. It literally didn’t make any sense. He couldn’t be a rogue because in two years he would be a doctor in our pack. It had to be someone else. Maybe his brother or another relative. Or maybe not

n his face.

me away from the body before I even had a chance to

the hard, stony ground cutting into my legs had been enough to snap me out of it.

as I could, still shaken, but managed to make the rest of the way outside and sprint back

followed Aleric the entire time, trusting

I inspected him, I couldn‘t help but notice he was limping ever so slightly on one of his back legs. I assumed this was why he’d cried out earlier. It didn’t take us long to get back to the car and I immediately doubled over panting, now out o f breath from having ran the

mean I’d see him naked. Out of all the crazy shit I had just seen… Aleric’s naked body was by far the least of concerns… and it wasn’t even a new thing for me. It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen his

a few moments to shift back but I could see his mood had turned just as dark

me because of what had happened in

Well, we could both agree on that at least. Aleric sped the entire way until we made it to the closest patrol tower, but he had been right. B y the time they did manage to get back to the cave, all the rogues had left and managed to take most of their belongings with them. Even all the bodies Aleric amassed

already. Only the larger furniture

nearby. There was no other possible way they could have moved that many people and dead bodies over an extended distance, without leaving a single trace or track. The search continued for the rest of the

anyone. For now,

stupid to go in there alone,” my mother

check-up as soon as Aleric and I had finished giving our report to

head away defiantly. “You can’t keep saying that forever, you know? I have a job and a responsibility to the pack now. If Aleric and

not thirty.

for them.” Her words hit hard considering I’d literally done that once already. Did she know? Had my father ended up disclosing my past? I‘d personally been

mind if she knew the truth but her expression seemed to be one of only a

could have been different in the past. Would I have tried to run away sooner if my mother had still been alive? Would

But as her words made me recount the past, it also reminded me of what I’d seen in the cave. “By the way...,” I said, thinking. “Do you know where I can

mort