Chapter 3 My Savior

It’s been over two weeks since I started living in the forest.

In these two weeks, I have had more peace than I ever had during all my years in the pack.

I finally have time to myself.I do my own hunting.

It was hard at first, but since I am a werewolf, even if I am latent, I am still a werewolf.

I turned the big tree beside the lake into my home.

With my determination to get stronger, I began training.

Each day, I run and swim to build stamina.

Since I can’t turn into a wolf, I have to learn how to fight with weapons.

I was training when I heard the disturbance.

Footsteps.

And not just one.

I didn’t like the idea of being disturbed in my sanctuary. The footsteps sounded like they were running.

I decided to hide, hoping they would leave after they were done with whatever they came to do.

I climbed up the tree and hid as best as I could.

A few minutes later, I saw two people running toward the lake, a young man and a young lady.

Five wolves were chasing them.

The two were a witch and a wizard.

The wolves carried the stench of rogues.

Seeing they had nowhere left to run, they turned to face the wolves.

One of the wolves shifted back into a rugged-looking man.

He was naked, yet he showed no sign of shame.

“You have nowhere else to hide, witch,” he chuckled as the other wolves began to circle the witch and wizard.

“We are of the royal clan. You will be hunted down if anything happens to us,” the young man threatened.

“We are rogues. Do you think we care about being hunted down? We are always being hunted,” the man laughed, his fellow rogues growling in agreement.

“And if I am killed after having my way with a royal witch, I would die a happy man,” he added with a cruel grin.

I watched all of this from my hiding place.

I knew about royal clan witches and wizards.

They were all respected because they commanded great power.

The lady was already injured, and the young man looked exhausted.

They must have fought earlier.

I knew the fate waiting for them would be a terrible one, and I should have minded my business…

But I just couldn’t stay hidden and do nothing.

Evil triumphs not because of evil people, but because of the inaction of those who think themselves good.

If I stayed hidden and did nothing, I would be no better than the villains.

It was five against two.

Adding myself wouldn’t even the odds.

So I had to create an advantage if I was going to join the fight.

I picked up one of the javelins I had made and targeted one of the rogues.

I didn’t aim for the leader. There was a chance his heightened senses would allow him to dodge it.

I chose the one who seemed the weakest and threw the javelin at him.

I didn’t stop there.

I grabbed another and quickly threw it at a second rogue.

I only had three javelins with me, so without waiting to see if the two I threw hit their targets, I jumped down from the tree.

From what little I knew about fighting, it was best never to give your enemy a chance.

As I jumped down, I dashed toward one of them.

I felt a surge of relief when I realized that the two javelins I threw had killed one rogue and severely injured another.

I yelled as loudly as I could, hoping to gather the courage I needed.

The leader turned toward me, shock flashing across his face.

I didn’t stop. I charged straight at him.

In my mind, everything was already over.

I would kill the leader with this surprise attack, throwing the others into confusion.

And in that confusion, I would kill them too.

I laughed in my head.

Who said I couldn’t protect myself?

I was about to kill five rogues.

Kill.

Kill.

I repeated the word in my mind, and my eyes drifted to the wolf I had killed.

Seeing his lifeless body lying in blood, my heart skipped as the realization hit me.

I had taken a life.

The shock overwhelmed me so much that I didn’t even realize I had reached the leader.

He grabbed my javelin and threw me over his head.

I crashed to the ground beside the witch and wizard.

“Are you alright?” the wizard asked, concern written all over his face.

I noticed the witch was now pinned down beneath one of the wolves.

They must have tried to attack using the advantage I created, but things hadn’t gone well.

I turned to the rogue leader, and he was smiling.

“Who would have thought I’d come across such a beautiful girl while hunting?” he grinned, his eyes filled with undisguised lust.

“I’m sorry… you got dragged into this because you tried to help,” the wizard said.

He was on his knees. He must have been too exhausted to even stand.

Pain flared through my right ribs.

I must have injured myself when I hit the ground.

The impact had been strong.

I forced myself to stand and retrieved my javelin.

The leader watched me with a smirk but made no move to stop me.

In his mind, I was no threat.

“You’re a wolf. Why are you using a weapon instead of shifting?” he asked.

I didn’t answer.

Then suddenly, he gasped.

“You’re a latent,” he announced.

I didn’t flinch at his words.

I had sworn never to look down on myself for being latent.

In fact, I would wear it proudly so no one could ever use it to hurt me again.

Even as the witch and wizard looked at me in surprise, I held my head high and pointed the javelin at the leader.

“Come. I’ll show you how dangerous a latent can be,” I said.

I saw the amusement on his face.

I understood it.

I would be amused too if a toddler stood before me and threatened to show how dangerous they were.

To him, I was probably even weaker than a toddler.

Just as he was about to speak, a growl echoed through the forest.

Deep.

Heavy.

The rogues whimpered as they all turned toward the source of the sound.

Only a powerful Alpha could instill such fear with mere presence.

But while the rogues trembled in fear…

I felt warmth.

A strange, comforting warmth that wrapped around me, as if telling me I was safe.

I looked past the rogue before me.

And then I saw him.

A massive black wolf stepped out of the forest.

He was larger than any wolf I had ever seen.

And without a doubt…

I knew the wolf before me was my savior.