leave us alone
1591 Words
Kiara didn't say a word.She just smiled, turned around and said "follow me."
I followed her without saying another word. I didn't have anything else to say with how my heart was pounding heavily inside my chest.
Kiara led me away from the pack house and I noticed immediately that something was off. The pack grounds were completely empty.
There were no warriors on patrol and no pack members basking under the blood moon which had a few hours before it disappeared
The pack was shrouded with total silence, something that was unexpected for such a blessed night.
"Why is no one outside?" I asked Kiara, looking around. "I thought the blood moon was supposed to …" I trailed off as something clicked in my mind.
"You'll find out soon." Kiara answered without looking back.
I followed her past the training ground and further than I had ever gone before. The trees thickened and the path got narrow until we were walking on a single file.
Then I smelled something with my heightened senses…blood.
We came out into a small clearing and ahead of us was what looked like a cave cut from a stone.
There were torches on either side that threw unsteady light across the ground.
Two warriors I recognized were being dragged out by three others.
Their clothes were torn and one had a deep gash across his arm. The other could barely stand on his own. The blood I smelt from earlier was defined theirs.
From inside the cave something growled.
It didn't sound like a normal wolf growl. It was deeper and raw, like that voice came from a place of immense pain.
I was about to ask what was making that sound but Kiara stopped at the entrance and turned to face me.
"Asher is inside." She said, "Whether you want to go in or not, it's your choice to make." She offered, looking me in the face.
I looked at her face. Worry and fear written all over it and Kiara never let those show.
I wanted to ask so many questions. Why was Asher in a cave and not his room? What was making that sound? Why were trained warriors coming out bleeding?
But I could see Kiara was not going to answer any of it.
All I knew was that Asher was inside and he needed me. Otherwise she would never have brought me here.
I walked in, ready to get the answers of the questions in my mind myself.
When I stepped inside, I realised that the cave was bigger than it looked from outside.
The smell of blood was stronger inside than outside.
It was also layered with something else dark and heavy that I couldn't name.
I spotted Leon and Doctor Julio talking to one side and three warriors stood further back.
They looked tense and scared,like they would rather be anywhere else but here.
My eyes moved from then and there…in the middle of the cave was Asher.
I stopped in my steps at the sight before me.
Asher was half shifted, caught between his human and wolf form. His legs had transformed into wolves but his upper side of the body remained human.
One look at him and I could tell he was in pure agony.
He also had silver chains around his wrists and ankles secured to iron rings in the floor. His chest was heaving and his eyes completely black. The veins I had seen during training had spread towards his neck and arms.
He lunged against the chains and the sound that came out of him made my stomach turn.
"Should we inject another sedative?" Doctor Julio proposes, his voice strained. "If he breaks free we could lose lives tonight." He added.
"We have injected too much already." Leon replied, rubbing his face hard.
He looked frustrated and lost at the same time as he looked at Asher.
"If we inject more, the side effects will be worse than the curse." He added.
The conversation between the two slammed into me, knocking all air from my nose.
"What is happening to him?" I asked after taking two deep breaths to calm down.
Leon spun around and the look on his face when he saw me was pure alarm.
"Bella." He called, walking to me fast. "What are you doing here? You should not have come." He grabbed my arm and started pulling me toward the entrance.
I pulled free.
"I am not leaving." I declared.
"Bella…" he called and his tone had a hint of warning in it.
It was like he was dealing with a stubborn child throwing tantrums except that I was not doing that.
I was genuinely concerned about Asher.
"I am not leaving Leon." I repeated sternly this time.
After making it so far, how could I just turn around and leave?
Leon stared at me without saying anything until doctor Julio stepped forward quietly.
"Leon." He said. "She is his mate. Her presence might be the only thing that can reach him right now."
Leon looked between me and Asher and the conflict on his face was hard to watch.
He clearly cared for Asher but it also looked like he had been specifically instructed to keep me away.
Knowing Asher and the stunt he made Kiara pull in the morning to send me away, I would not be surprised.
After a moment of contemplation,he eventually stepped back.
I turned to the doctor because he seemed most likely to give me answers compared to Leon.
"What is wrong with him?" I asked.
The doctor looked at Leon as if asking for permission to say something.
Seeing that,I could not stop the frustration that bubbled inside me.
"Things have come to this point and you are still keeping secrets? Is Asher's life worth less than whatever you are protecting?" I snapped in annoyance.
Leon exhaled hard.
"Asher is under a curse." He replied.
"It gets triggered every blood moon but this time it's worse than anything we have seen. We don't know if we can hold him through the night." He explained.
“ A curse? Why would Asher carry a curse?” I pressed.
“ Only Asher can give you the specifics of that since it's his story to tell. I can tell you that much Bella.” Leon asserted.
I nodded in understanding then turned to look at Asher straining against the chains.
"Is he in pain?" I asked quietly.
"It's not just pain." Leon said. "It's like having a thousand ants gnawing at you from the inside.” He added.
“When the curse is triggered, he doesn't recognize anyone. He has already injured four warriors tonight." He said, sighing at the end.
I started walking toward him without thinking about it. My heart ached for him. Luna was whimpering loudly in my mind, fighting to take control but I managed to push her back.
"Bella…" Leon called in warning.
"Stay back." I said without turning.
I walked until I was close enough to see everything. The black veins, his black eyes and the way his whole body was shaking.
I choked on the tears threatening to fall from my eyes and extended my hand slowly.
"Asher." I called, my voice coming out smaller than I expected.
Unable to control the pain stabbing my chest, my tears finally fell and I did not try to stop them.
“It's me, Bella. Can you hear me?"
Asher stilled for one second then lunged and grabbed my wrist. His teeth caught my skin and broke it.
I gasped as pain exploded through me but didn't pull away.
Behind me Leon moved fast.
"Stay back!" I screamed at him and he froze.
I turned back to Asher only to find that he had stilled completely.
His lips were pressed against my wrist where the skin had broken.
Then I get something weird happen…something that had no business happening.
The pain from the pierced skin disappeared and was resolved with something else…pleasure.
It shot straight to my head and toes and an unintended moan slipped past my lips.
I froze and so did Asher and everyone else in the room.
Asher's chest stopped heaving violently and so did his growling.
He let out something that sounded like a pleasured whimper as he continued to drink my blood.
The black in his eyes began fading slowly, his grip on my wrist loosening.
Nobody in that cave said a word.
I could hear Doctor Julio's sharp intake of breath behind me and Leon go completely still.
Luna was purring so deep inside me it felt like it was coming from my bones.
Then something warm passed between Asher's lips and my wrist at that moment. I felt it move through me like a current.
It was followed by the sound of bones snapping. Looking down at him, I watched as his lower body that was half shifted turn back to his human form.
Asher's eyes cleared completely.
He looked at my wrist, then up at my face and the confusion in those eyes fro earlier cleared off immediately.
"Bella." He called, his voice coming out wrecked and raw.
It sounded like it had been dragged over gravel.
"I'm here." I said softly, patting his back reassuringly.
"I have never seen him calm that fast." He said quietly. "Not even with the strongest sedative we have."
I felt Leon's eyes on my back but I didn't turn around.
“ Can you leave us alone?”
- Writer
