Chapter 11

Arthur lifted his nose. Daphne was getting closer. He had been waiting at the door of the house they’d been given in since she left, half-fearful that she shouldn’t return and on edge about how long it took her to return.

She smelled nice, clean, and relaxed. There was a hint of medicine in the wind that made him relax a bit. Daphne’s injuries had been treated. Arthur stood and headed towards the scent at a light run to meet her on the road.

In the distance, he heard a struggle and the sharp snap of metal coming from the prison. He hurried toward the ridge that overlooked the prison as the wall burst open with a snarl.

The stench of the rogue pissed him off, but the anger turned to fear as Daphne’s scent caught his nose. The rogue twitched and turned his head towards where Daphne was. She turned to run as it lurched into a run and Arthur roared, rushing forward as Daphne screamed.

"Arthur!"

The rogue snarled mid-leap as Arthur closed his jaws around the rogue’s neck and twisted, snatching him out of the air and breaking its neck. Blood gushed into his mouth, metallic and heady. He set the rogue’s corpse into the ground with a loud thud and stomped on its chest until the bones creaked and broke through its fur. Blood gushed and sputtered out and he kept stomping on it.

Daphne shuddered, seeing Arthur trampling the rogue as wolves came down the summit from the training field. Someone gasped in horror. They skidded to a stop and backed away staring at Arthur in terror as Daphne got to her feet and rushed to Arthur.

“Arthur, enough!” She cried pulling at a patch of fur along his flank. “It’s already dead! Calm down!”

Arthur stopped and turned his head sharply to look at her. His eyes glowed red and a muffled growl rumbled in his throat. Slowly, the growl eased and Arthur relaxed. His red eyes lost their blood lust and seemed aware of Daphne’s presence.

She swallowed as her stomach clenched in fear, “A-Are you okay?”

“Yes...” Arthur nodded. “Are you hurt?”

Daphne shook her head, “No. You came just in time. Thank you for saving me… again.”

Arthur huffed and turned on the patrolmen sharply, growling at them. While Daphne was safe for now, this place wasn’t as safe as he thought it was. Blade and the rest of his had lied to him!

Just like the Brown Valley Pack…

He bared his teeth at the nearest patrolmen, “It’s their fault, isn’t it? The bastards—”

“No, Arthur!” Daphne said, tugging on his fur. “That’s not true. This wolf escaped from the prison—“

He growled and the patrolmen took several steps back as Arthur began to shake with fury. It was an unlikely story as far as he was concerned. A prisoner just happened to turn rogue and escape when his mate was nearby?

Lies.

Traitors.

Nowhere was safe and no one could be trusted.

No one but Daphne.

“It was probably planned! These incompetent cowards almost got you hurt!

“Arthur, no—”

He shot forward at the patrolmen, forcing her to release him or tear out patches of his fur.

The wolves dove aside, barely avoiding Arthur’s attack, tumbling and skidding out of the way. They tried to run, but Arthur was faster than they anticipated. Despite facing dozens of rogues not so long ago, he was far more powerful than them. They stumbled, scrambled, and ran, but Arthur used his size to his advantage, to head them off. His wounds eyes leaking, further tainting his bloody, dirt coat and Daphne’s stomach twisted with nerves.

He'd already lost so much blood. He couldn’t be so ready to kill more in his condition!

“Wait—” One of them yelled.

Daphne rushed forward, darting between Arthur and a wolf, “No, Arthur! Don’t hurt them.”

Arthur turned with a growl to another group.

“What’s happened?” Blade’s voice broke out above the skirmish.

Arthur ignored him, chasing another wolf. Blade transformed and shot down the hill towards them, leaping at Arthur.

“No, Blade, don’t—” Daphne was cut off by the sound of Arthur’s paw catching Blade in the chest and sending him crashing back. Arthur turned to attack Blade as Blade landed and Daphne rushed in front of him.

“Stop!” Daphne yelled, holding her hands out and glaring at Arthur. “I told you to stop, Arthur!”

Arthur froze. His gaze was confused and a bit as he stared at her. She panted and pointed a finger at him.

“Stop fighting! Look what you've done!”

Arthur shook his head, “But Daphne—”

Daphne let out a deep breath in relief. If he was replying, he wasn’t lost to his fury. There was some hope.

“I know you're trying to protect me, but you're going too far! These people aren't the enemy!” She turned to look at Blade and kneeled beside him. “Let me see.”

Blade grunted, allowing her to see the injury as he got onto his feet. Guilt filled her. If she had just been a little bit faster, maybe Blade wouldn’t have gotten hurt.

“I'm sorry...”

Blade shook his head and got to his feet before glaring at Arthur and the others, “ What the hell happened?”

Some of the other patrolmen were wounded, but not fatally to Daphne’s relief. They staggered towards Blade, giving Arthur a wide berth. Many of them stared at him in terror.

“One of the prisoners turned rogue and broke out of the prison,” one of them said. “He was going to attack Daphne. Arthur killed him, but he was very angry about it and…”

Blade shifted back into his human form with a little sigh of understanding. The wound seemed less gory in his dark skin, which made Daphne feel a bit better, but his expression was grave.

“It is our fault as we did not manage the prisoners well, but…” He looked at Arthur. “You attacked our patrolmen and injured them. I will report this matter to our alpha, and he will pass the final judgment.”

Daphne frowned as Arthur narrowed his eyes at Blade.

“What’s an alpha?”

“The leader of your pack,” Blade said and turned to the rest of the patrolmen. “Get the injured seen. The rest of you get back on the training pitch and complete the training for the day.”

Blade looked at Arthur, “As for you two. Return to your house.”

Arthur bared his teeth at him, “Don't order us around!”

Daphne glared at Arthur, “That's enough, Arthur! Let's go!”

He resisted, glaring at Blade, but followed her up the hill, keeping himself between her and the patrolmen as they got themselves together and traded whispers that seemed to only agitate Arthur further.

When they arrived at their small house, there was a small group of wolves seeming standing watch nearby.

Arthur growled at them, glaring, “What the—”

“Stop,” Daphne said, tugging him towards the door. “Stay out of it.”

“But—“

“They've provided us with shelter, medicine, and food!” Daphne huffed. “Please, Arthur, don't make things any harder than they are already.”

Arthur seemed almost apologetic and Daphne had no idea how she, a human, had become the mediator between a werewolf and a pack.

“You need a bath and your wounds need to be tended,” Daphne said and eyed him.

He sat on his haunches, looking out the window every once in a while and Daphne decided getting him to shift into his human form wasn’t a battle she needed to fight right now.

She gathered the bandages and medicine while setting a kettle of water to boil over the fire.

When it was warm enough, she did her best to clean his fur and his wounds. It would have been better if she could fill the bathtub around him, but that would have taken more strength than she had.

After getting him as clean as possible, she realized that his fur was a soft golden color.

She pushed that thought away as she dried him as much as possible. For now, Owen was out in the forest, far away from them, and she had to keep Arthur from getting them tossed out of Sharp Armor before they could heal enough.

Unwrapping the bandage on her foot, she collected a bit of her blood for his injuries.

“You don’t have to…” Arthur said, his voice seemed a bit drowsy, and Daphne continued treating him.

Arthur leaned against her with a little rumble as she wrapped his injuries. He closed his eyes and his face lost all tension and fury. He looked peaceful.

“There,” she said as she tied the last bandage around his leg. “I’m—”

She smiled wryly as Arthur shift a bit and she realized that Arthur was asleep. He was large, but his relaxed state made her think of a little wolf cub after a good meal. If she hadn’t seen the violence he was capable of, she would never think this Arthur was the same as that violent wolf.

She went to the bed and grabbed one of the extra quilts to cover him. She didn’t know if werewolves really got cold, but it was better to be sure since he’d lost so much blood.

She cleaned herself up and got into the smaller bed full of confusion.

The Arthur that protected her so fiercely and the one who seemed so nervous about pleasing her: which one was the real Arthur?