Page 17

Chapter Seventeen

AUTUMN

T he vibrations of hundreds of hushed growls hum through the soles of my rabbit shoes and tickle up my legs. I cross my legs at the ankle. A skirt had been the last thing I wanted to wear to a werewolf trial. But that had been the only bottoms that weren’t stained with dirt or soaked in sweat. I refuse to wear my sweatpants in public. I’ll have to finally wash my clothes in that bathtub tonight, when this mess is all over, since I got distracted with Colton’s notebook the last time. I cross my legs the other way as my gaze travels along the cavern around me. The men and Guardians have lined the levels along the wall. Some hang their legs over the edge, and all the tables on the cavern floor are full to capacity.

Zev sits on an ornate wooden chair with large carved armrests inlaid with symbols and carvings. Lupe sits on the edge of his seat, her back straight, braid tight, and bite marks on display. She’s wearing a dress of deep red that drips onto the floor like a pool of blood. To the left of Zev is a larger throne. This throne, however, is left open. It must have been grand once, beneath overgrown roots and dried flowers, there’s a hint of unpolished gold that still shimmers even hidden. It must have shined in its prime. Whose throne is this? Are they waiting for someone? Or do they leave it open out of respect? Renall and I are seated on opposite sides of the dais just below the thrones, sitting on simple stumps.

The rumblings around the cave cease, my leg tingles with phantom vibrations. I cross my legs again and play with the hem of my skirt as my palms grow sweaty. Eyes all around the cave bore into me, through me. I keep my eyes down to avoid meeting them. My gut twists in anticipation. Zev rises, addressing the clan. His voice booming as he growls to the cave. Of course, I can’t understand him. He points to Renall, waves a hand toward me, whispers, and hushed grumbles echo through the crowd.

“He’s explaining why Renall is on trial and how it will be.”

I jump at the sound of English being spoken to me. Onai, Lupe and Zev’s daughter, stands a step behind me. Her hair is tied in two long braids down her back. Her velvet dress is blue in this light. She looks like the splitting image of her Mother, only her eyes lack the severeness.

Sensing my confusion, she adds, “Father said I was to interpret for you. They are going to start asking you questions now. The questions can come from anyone in the crowd. I will translate it to you and your response to them. At the end of the trial, there will be a vote, and clan majority decides Renall’s fate. Understand?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.” Truth is, I’m nervous as all hell. My stomach woke up in knots after the events of yesterday. I barely slept a wink and feel slightly nauseous now in front of all these staring eyes. What is to stop them from storming the stage and ripping me to pieces? Who would be faster? Them or Renall?

Onai growls something and the questions begin. Growling from all sides of the cave erupts before me. I toss a glance at Renall who is watching me, carefully and protectively, even from across the room. It’s probably better I don’t look at him.

“Where did you first meet Renall?” Onai asks.

“Uh, at a camping site in the middle of the woods.”

“Did you feel the bond then?”

“No, I wasn’t of my right mind that weekend. I didn’t feel it until he was in trouble.” I wince, recalling the pain I felt at him being imprisoned.

“They hear you were a Guardian before, what happened to your first wolf?” Onai flinches as she asks me. She must have overheard my conversation with her Mother.

“He was my brother … he’s dead.” I lower my eyes and state only for Onai to hear.

A few solemn nods, a few gasps. But twice as many growls cover them.

“How did he die?” Onai asks these questions in rapid fire.

“He was shot.”

“Shot by who?” she continues.

“Presumably the hunters.”

“How did the human demons know where you live?”

“He was shot in the woods, but they found our house after Renall had …” I pause, I don’t want him to appear weak, especially now. “Found me.”

More growls and a few males rise and pump their fists. Others just stare.

“So Renall’s scent was in your house when the demons were there?” Onai growls something back, probably to the effect of one question at a time, because the growls slow.

“Yes,” I respond.

“What if they followed you here? How could you be so reckless? How did you beat them? Did you kill at least one of them? How many are there?” Onai gasps for breath, but the growls keep on coming.

“There’s usually five in the area, but I’ve seen more. They know me from the town. I worked at the gun store, and they would come and get their bullets from me. I don’t know how they found my brother, but I do know their guns take the kind of bullets that were found in his head. They were shooting at me and Renall, so we ran. We didn’t kill any yet. As far as being reckless, I would like to see you assholes try and fight five against two, with guns the size of your arm, and let us see how many you take down.”

That was the wrong thing to say as more growls greet me. Zev must stand now and growl something back. I meet Renall’s eyes beside him, he’s smirking at me.

“What is your gift?” A Guardian in a deep purple velvet dress asks in English.

I sigh. Glancing at my shoes, I state, “I don’t know yet.”

“Well, what can you do?” another Guardian asks.

“I’ve made some greenery … and stuff.”

A few snorts and laughter greet my admission. Renall growls, then silences them.

Onai whispers, “Renall just told them he feels your power and it has yet to manifest to its fullest. He also added to shut up or he’ll rip their throats out.”

Another growl comes from a young male in the front row. He growls louder than all the others and spits at me when he’s finished. I stare at the spit in front of my shoe as Onai translates, “You haven’t mastered your gifts or how to control it, so what makes you think you are good enough for an ancient warrior? What makes you think you deserve him?”

I answer honestly, “I don’t. I don’t deserve him.”

Onai translates, and immediately a red-haired male in the third row snickers, and Onai whispers his growls as if she didn’t want to repeat them loud enough for all to hear, “She might deserve him; Renall has lost his touch. Renall is weak.”

I feel Renall rise from across the stage, his anger spilling out of him in waves. But it’s my own anger surging forward that I can’t control. Sheer protectiveness bubbles up inside of me. They can say what they want about me, but Renall is where I draw the line. My legs rise of their own accord, and I kick the stump backward as I snarl back at the male and his friends who agreed with him. My eyes have locked on my target, and I’m ready to pounce, damn it all to hell. I don’t notice their faces change or the way they rise until the pain erupts behind my eyes and I bite my tongue as my head is knocked against the cave wall. The metallic taste of blood fills my mouth.

Renall is in his wolf form, pinning me against the wall behind him.

More single men stand at attention as they sniff the air. Only then do I feel a droplet fall down my inner thigh. The air whips around me as more men transform into their wolf.

“Oh, Goddess, you’re bleeding,” Onai gasps.

“So?” I mumble, the pain coursing through my tongue. “Isn’t that like water to you guys?” I finish between gritted teeth.

“This is a different kind of blood.” She blushes slightly as she whispers to me, “ And it’s the blood of an unmated Guardian.”

My eyes widen in realization, the stomach cramping this morning, the nausea—I thought it was because of the nerves, and it may as well have been, but it was something else as well. I just got my period in front of an entire pack of werewolves and Guardians. The sheer embarrassment will destroy me if these desperate feral wolves do not.

The vibrations of Renall’s snarls echo through me. A snarl that I know deep in my bones is protective in nature and dares anyone to make another step toward me. Toward us.

A young wolf, half Renall’s size, makes that mistake. Young, stupid, and desperate enough to test that Renall’s bite is worse than his snarl. The young wolf lunges toward Renall’s throat, but in doing so leaves his own extended. Renall slipped to his side to sink his teeth in the wolf’s brown hide before he had time to close his jaw. His eyes meet mine, inches from my face, as the life fizzles out of them. I swallow the tears, ready to drop at any moment. I had the urge to attack them a few seconds ago, and yet now, seeing it firsthand, makes me sick.

Hold it in, Autumn. Hold it until you’re alone. Don’t show any weakness, not here. Not now.

My wolf snarls again, taking a step forward. I copy his feet, always keeping myself behind him. Renall still has me pinned to the wall as we slide toward the stairs. A few wolves growl and snap their jowls in response. I’m too far away from Onai now to get a translation, but from the depth and sheer ferocity, they aren’t happy that Renall is keeping them away from me.

Slowly, we ascend the stairs, and Renall switches sides as we pass the onlookers on our floor. A few couples escape into their rooms to avoid us. Only one man dares to step in front of our path. He has a scar from his temple to his lip. His smooth onyx hair is held back with a single piece of twine. His chocolate eyes don’t acknowledge Renall at all, they are set on me .

The remainder of the ledge is vacated as our audience below grows. Without warning, the scarred man transforms into a smooth onyx wolf before our eyes. His face still has that scar from ear to lip in his wolf form. I’m wondering whether he got it in human or wolf form when he lunges for Renall. His canines locking onto Renall’s front haunches as his eyes remain focused on me and his teeth close hard. Those eyes swallow me whole. They reek of possession and sheer desperation. A shiver crawls down my back. Renall has caught the wolf in the leg as well, and as the onyx wolf releases his hold on Renall, he opens his crimson-dripped jowls toward me. He can’t reach me over Renall’s body, so his bloody tongue reaches out. Even though I flinch away, he catches me on the side of my face. His blood-slicked tongue slides up my cheek.

Renall snaps his head back as his teeth sink deeper into the scarred wolf’s leg, dragging the attacker’s body with him before Renall flips him over the ledge. In a single movement, Renall spins around and he’s in his human form, ushering me through our door. He slams it shut, locking it behind us. Renall turns my face toward his, his eyes roving all over me as he’s inspecting me.

“I’m sorry. I …” I stop. Wait, what am I sorry for? Menstruating? Letting another man lick me? Being a liability once again. The words in my own language fail me.

He shakes his head, pulling away, as he runs his hands over his face. He turns ashen.

My face is sticky with blood that isn’t mine, and my leg has blood that is mine. I immediately slip into the bathroom to freshen up. A knock at the door sounds as I’m looking around for toilet paper, or maybe something to fashion a pad out of.

Renall growls, and a woman’s voice returns the growl. The door creaks open as I sit on the edge of the tub, rummaging through the shelf above it.

“I brought you some tampons,” Onai whispers outside the curtain.

“You guys have tampons here?” I gasp, ripping the curtain back.

“We’re not total savages …” she teases. “Previous company excluded, despite the earlier mess. We’ve found that tampons are the only thing that doesn’t throw the wolves into a frenzy. They have to get close to smell it on you. Trust me.”

Trust her? I realize then that she is in a similar state to mine. That, and she seems to be the only one beside Renall attempting to help me. “Not like an entire amphitheater full of unmated males, diving toward the only unmated female.”

“No,” she snickers. “Definitely not like that; although, it is nice that a lot of the eyes are not solely on me anymore.”

“Glad my virginity is of service to you.” I snort. “Gods, it’s so embarrassing they can smell that through my blood.”

She giggles as she hands me a green and blue box.

“How do you even get name brand tampons anyway?”

“We make supply runs every now and again for things we can’t make or grow. Tampons are always on my list. I’ll be sure to ask for more on the next supply run. There should be one coming up soon.”

A sigh leaves my body as I slip to the floor. “I just feel like the learning curve here is so high, I’m going to get eaten alive before I grasp it all.”

Onai sits beside me considering this. “I’ve seen a few Guardians find us from the outside, following the heartcall of the mating bond and they always learn. Although, none of them have gone this long without mating, but it will come with time.”

“It seems like time is something we don’t seem to have enough of.” It comes out as a whisper.

She nods, seemingly understanding my insinuation. “Then enjoy what time you do have and leave it up to the Goddess.”

My Mother used to tell us stories of a Moon Goddess, Mother Nature, and the Sun God. I never really listened. We were already outsiders in the town, and add weird beliefs into the mix, and I was headed for years of torment and bullying. So outside of the cabin and after Mother died, I seemingly forgot about all that God and Goddess talk. Although some things are hard to forget, like swearing.

Renall grunts from somewhere in the room, breaking us from our conversation. Onai rises and slips behind the curtain. I take care of my needs before following suit.

Renall is sitting down, cleaning a wound in his shoulder. It’s dripping blood all down the back of the couch.

“You’re hurt?” I state like a question, but of course he was hurt. I watched as the scarred wolf bit into his front leg. Now, in his human form the bite remains, and I’d forgotten. The swirling tornado of my own feelings in my gut overpowering my sixth sense.

He growls. Onai translates, “He says this is nothing.”

Renall growls again, looking at me up and down.

Onai tells me as she drips something from a bottle onto his open wound, “He wants to know if you’re okay.”

“Okay.” I nod, giving him the thumbs up. “I’m embarrassed, scarred for life on menstruating in public, but I’m physically okay.”

As Onai translates, Renall tries to get up. Onai growls back and pushes him down onto the couch. “No rokay.” Renall’s trying to rise again.

“Oh, shut up, you’re okay, you stubborn wolf,” Onai states in English before pushing him back down, and then growls at him because Renall growls something back.

I smirk at their playful tone, it feels familial. It feels like me and Colton. My heart pangs at the memories that are still so fresh. Tears burn the back of my eyelids.

Renall growls lightly at Onai.

“He says you’re thinking again.”

I sigh. “I was, am I that transparent?”

“To him you are,” she comments, starting to wrap his arm in a bandage. “It’s been said that soulbonded Guardians and wolves can communicate telepathically.”

“Soulbonded?”

“Oh yes, they are extremely rare, but the bond itself leaves you very in tune to each other and their needs. I mean, that’s the whole point now, isn’t it. To balance and protect each other.”

“Soulbonded,” I whisper again to myself.

“Renall believes you to be at least heartbonded, he told my father he heard it call to him.”

“Heard what?”

“Your heart, your heart was in pain. It’s what caused him to leave the cave. You called him.”

“I called him? I was, am, in pain—my brother … he felt that? He came to help me?”

My eyes meet Renall’s. He’s watching me with that inquisitive look as if he’s trying to read every emotion either on my face or through our bond.

Once Onai’s finished tying the bandage, she taps Renall on his good shoulder and growls something because he rises and comes over to inspect me.

“How come my blood didn’t affect him like the others?” I ask Onai while keeping my eyes trained on Renall’s inspecting green eyes.

“Who says it didn’t?” Onai answers from behind me now, by the door.

My brows crease, “He doesn’t look affected.”

“Renall is one of our last warriors from the ancient Warrior Clan. It’s true, he’s been trained from birth to be fierce and vicious, trained to kill, but he’s also been emersed in the art of warfare. Patience and strategy. It seems he’s not going in for the short kill, he’s playing the long game with you … If you’ll let him.”