Chapter 30
“No,” she shook her head as her eyes burned with tears. “No. No. No.”
It couldn’t be Anthony. It couldn’t be!
Anthony had been one of the only people on the patrol who had been kind to Arthur and remained kind to him. He was so young, he couldn't just die like this!
She could save him, couldn’t she? Her blood had managed to heal Arthur’s wounds. She had never used it to save someone so badly injured, but she couldn't just watch Anthony die in front of her. It would at least give him a chance, right?
She looked up at Arthur for confirmation. His eyes widened slightly before furrowing. She knew he didn’t want to agree but she worried her lip.
“Please… h-he’ll die—”
Arthur looked down at Anthony, gritted his teeth, and nodded stiffly, speaking softly.
“I'll block other’s view, so hurry.”
It was dark, and everyone's attention was on how exhausted they were and their despair. They were all sure Anthony was going to die and mourning those who had already died. Daphne leaned into Arthur's shadow, pricked her finger with Arthur's fangs, and dripped a few drops of blood on Anthony's wounds. He grunted a little as the wounds began to heal enough to stop bleeding.
She wanted to drip more, but Blade howled from the edge of the village with the doctor just behind. It was all she could do. The doctor’s assistants got the injured off the ground and started treating their wounds as they hurried them back to the infirmary. Daphne and Arthur pulled back allowing the main doctor to get to Anthony.
They withdrew from the area as Daphne held her finger.
She leaned towards Arthur, “Are you hurt?”
Arthur shook his head, “It’s just a small injury.”
Daphne nodded, but she wasn’t entirely sure she believed him. She didn’t press as the doctor and his team got Anthony off the ground and headed towards the village.
“What happened?” Daphne asked, her heart filled with anxiety. “Why are so many people hurt?”
Arthur's expression grew hard and furious. Daphne felt as though she knew what he was going to say but she hoped she was wrong.
“Arthur?”
“We ran into him.”
“H-Him?”
“Owen.”
Her stomach plummeted towards her feet with terror.
“T-Tell me.”
They had reached the end of the patrol route for the day and were resting by the river before they would head back to the village.
As usual, Blade had posted several wolves on sentry duty to watch out for trouble that might come.
They hadn’t even heard them coming up towards them, they had been so quiet. They hadn’t smelled them either. They found out later that they had been covered in mashed grass and mud to cover up the scent.
Something rustled. Arthur turned his head towards the direction of the sound as one of the werewolves on sentry grew tense.
“What was—“ He screamed as a rogue leaped out of the shadows. A sharp snap echoed through the air.
Someone else screamed in pain before howling in fury.
“Rogue!”
Daphne gasped, “A-A surprise attack?”
Arthur nodded stiffly.
They quickly mobilized to support them and hopefully save them, but it was a trap. Arthur had felt their presence like an instinct he couldn’t explain.
“I… I tried to stop them.”
But it had been too late. They would never abandon their comrades to their deaths. All Arthur could do was go after them and try to kill as many rogues as he could. Didn’t know how many rogues there were, but he knew that the patrol members would be in trouble.
They fought fiercely, ripping and tearing through the rogues in practiced patterns. A rogue was only at an advantage against one werewolf because rogues were fierce and irrational beasts. Against teams of three, a rogue lost the advantage of being unpredictable as the three werewolves could cooperate.
It should have been fine, but it wasn’t that simple. He should have known it wouldn’t be that simple. They weren’t normal rogues.
“Arthur, what do you mean?”
Arthur shook his head. He’d thought they were outnumbered because of how long it was taking to kill them, but that wasn’t the case. The rogues were prepared as if they had been trained to cooperate somehow.
As if they were following orders. It was much worse than just sneaking in to poison the wells.
“Where are you?” Arthur yelled into the darkness after killing a rogue with a vicious snap of its neck. “Come out!”
From the darkness, red eyes turned towards him, and slowly, a large grey figure emerged. Arthur stiffened, glaring at him. He had been searching for Owen, but he hadn’t imagined that he would run into him like this. Who else could it have been to be organizing and controlling the rogues but Owen?
His heart was torn seeing his kin and enemy there. Lucas howled for his blood. His body shook with fury and the want to fight Owen. He was going to rush forward, but he stopped himself. What about Daphne? What would she think? What about the other members of the patrol? He couldn’t leave them to the mercy of the rogues. He still hadn’t made up his mind about what he wanted to do about Owen.
“Long time no see, brother.” Owen chuckled. “Looks like you've been doing well lately, and you've started working for a wolf pack?”
“Arthur?” Blade started, inching towards him. “Is this… Is this him?”
Arthur nodded and took a deep breath, “We should retreat.”
Daphne gasped, shocked. She had expected Blade to suggest retreat since he was the patrol’s commander. Maybe she was wrong about how in control Arthur was usually. It was such a sensible decision.
Maybe their bond was doing more than she thought.
“You were going to retreat?”
“People were dead,” Arthur said and growled in frustration.” We were unprepared and injured already… it was the best choice, but he wasn’t happy about it.”
Truth be told, Lucas wasn’t happy about it either, but he had caved to Arthur’s decision on the matter.
Owen’s eyes widened and he growled, “Come on, brother. Didn't we come to a draw last time? Don't be a coward!”
Arthur closed his eyes, pressing a hand to his chest where the small pouch rested against his chest. He had done the same in the forest, hanging onto his control by a thread. The small stone had nearly turned to dust then, but he’d held firm.
“Blade agreed and gave the order…. We were getting out of the area, but he followed. He didn’t want to let me leave, taunting me.”
“Why?”
Arthur shook his head, Owen’s words ringing in his ears.
“I don’t know, Daphne.”
“Arthur, you coward! How dare you not fight me?” Owen snapped at his heels and Arthur jumped out of the way. “How is running fair?”
Arthur turned from Daphne, “He’s insane. He lured us into a trap then wanted a fair fight.”
“They're all just tools! We are special, Arthur! We have to fight, so we can decide who is qualified!”
He growled and felt himself trembling with fury thinking of it. He couldn’t tell Daphne all of what he said. It would only make her ask more questions, and he didn’t want to lie to her. He didn’t trust Sharp Armor, but he didn’t think of tools.
He didn’t think this madness that was in the royal bloodline made them anything but crazy, and Arthur had no intention of challenging Owen to be sure of who was qualified.
He just wanted to kill Owen if he was going to be a threat to his life with Daphne.
“Arthur, calm down—”
“I was,” Arthur said, feeling his breathing speed up as he thought about the battle. He’d fought to give Blade and the others cover. He’d killed a few rogues and dodged Owen’s attacks, urging the rest of them to run. He’d kept his cool as they retreated and ran as soon he had given the rest of the patrol enough time to get a head start.
When he had a chance, he slammed Owen into a tree and ran after the patrol to join them. Owen roared after him, but he didn’t follow.
It was ridiculous to want a fair fight, to try to taunt Arthur into another fight but be unwilling to follow him to get it. It made him think of the meeting at the castle and all of the alphas sounding ridiculous and weak as they tried to deny the facts.
Owen’s voice echoed in Arthur’s mind the way it had echoed through the forest as they escaped. He’d known before running into Owen that he would be a danger to his life with Daphne, but to hear Owen’s parting words be so clear about it was shocking.
“What is it, Arthur?”
He shook his head, “It’s nothing.”
The wind blew and he swore he heard Owen’s voice on the wind.
“Remember this, Arthur! I won’t forgive this insult! You'll pay for it soon!”
