Chapter 111 The rogue attack

Chapter 111: Chapter 111 The rogue attack

Talia’s POV

The morning light woke me before the servants came.

I blinked against the pale sunlight filtering through the window, and I turned my head to the empty space beside me. Kaelen’s side of the bed was cold, and his pillow still held the faint indent of his head, but he was gone.

He had left without waking me again.

I lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling, and I thought about the night before. I thought about his hands on my body, his voice whispering my name, and the way he had looked at me like I was something precious, and something worth protecting.

My face burned hot, and I pressed my palms against my cheeks to cool them down.

I pushed the thoughts away and climbed out of bed. The floor was cold beneath my bare feet, and I shivered as I walked to the bathroom.

The warm water washed away the last traces of sleep, and I stood under the spray until my skin felt warm again. I washed my hair, scrubbed my arms, and I tried not to think about the way his fingers had traced my collarbone.

But I failed.

My face burned again, so I turned the water colder.

When I came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, a knock came at the door.

I dried myself quickly and pulled on a soft grey top and a pair of jeans. The fabric was comfortable and easy to move in, and I did not want to wear anything fancy today.

I opened the door, and a servant stood in the hallway with a tray of food.

"Good morning, Luna," she said.

"Good morning," I said.

She carried the tray to the desk and set it down. There was a bowl of oatmeal topped with fresh berries, a slice of buttered bread, and a cup of hot tea. The smell made my stomach growl.

The servant bowed and left, and I sat down to eat.

The oatmeal was warm and sweet, and the bread was soft. I ate slowly, savoring each bite, but my mind kept wandering back to Kaelen. The way he had held me, and the way he had kissed my forehead before I fell asleep.

I wondered where he was. Training, probably. Or meeting with the elders. Or standing on the Eastern Terrace, looking out at the mountains with that distant look in his gray eyes.

I pushed my empty tray aside and stood up.

The room was too quiet without him. The walls felt closer than they usually did, and the shadows in the corners seemed deeper. I needed air, and I needed to move. Because I could not sit still in the room for one more minute.

I walked out of the room and into the hallway.

The pack house was busy in the morning. Wolves rushed past me, carrying supplies and talking amongst themselves. Some bowed when they saw me, some nodded, and a few just stared.

I kept my head high and my eyes straight ahead.

I did not know where I was walking at first. My feet just carried me forward, down the main hallway, past the library, and toward the back of the pack house.

Then I remembered the eastern path. Kaelen had mentioned it a few days ago, when we were walking back from the training grounds. He said it was safe because patrols ran it every hour, and he said wolves sometimes walked there when they needed to think.

Right now, I needed to think. So I pushed open the back door and stepped outside.

The air was cool and clean, and the sun was warm on my face. The mountains rose in the distance, with their peaks lost in the clouds, and the trees swayed gently in the wind.

I walked toward the forest.

The path was narrow and lined with stones. The trees grew thicker as I walked, with their branches reaching toward the sky like fingers. Birds called to each other in the branches, and the wind rustled the leaves.

I breathed deep, and the smell of wild flower and damp earth filled my lungs.

For a moment, I felt almost calm. The weight in my chest lightened, and my shoulders dropped from where they had been hunched near my ears. The forest was peaceful, and quiet, and I understood why Kaelen and other wolves came to places like this to think and relax.

I thought about my mother, about the fire, and about the last time I saw her face.

I thought about Vivienne. About the way she had looked at me during the bonding ceremony, with pure hate burning in her eyes, and how she had tried to poison me during the Luna Celebration, but had failed.

I wondered where she was now, but then I pushed the thoughts aside, because I knew that whatever punishment she was getting, is what she deserved.

I thought about Serena. About the way she had stormed off the Eastern Terrace when Kaelen kissed my hand.

I smiled at that memory.

But then I heard the howl.

It came from deep in the forest, somewhere ahead of me on the path. The sound cut off suddenly, like someone had put a hand over the wolf’s mouth, and the silence that followed was worse than the howl itself.

I froze. My heart slammed against my ribs, and my hands curled into fists at my sides.

My wolf stirred inside my chest. She was alert now, pressing against my ribs, and growling low in my throat. I knew immediately that something was wrong.

Something was very wrong.

Another howl echoed closer this time, then screaming followed next.

I ran without thinking.

My feet pounded against the dirt path, and my heart pounded against my ribs. Branches whipped against my arms, leaving thin red scratches on my skin, but I did not feel them. I could only think about the wolves who needed help.

The forest grew darker as I ran. The trees pressed in on both sides, and their branches blocked out the sun. Roots snaked across the path, and I had to jump over them to keep from falling.

The screaming grew louder, and closer.

I pushed faster, and harder. My lungs burned, and my legs ached, but I did not stop.

I broke through the tree line and saw them.

There were five wolves from the patrol, and three were already on the ground, bleeding into the dirt. Their faces were pale, and their eyes were closed, and I could not tell if they were alive or dead.

Two were still fighting. They had their backs against a fallen log, and they were outnumbered.

For the rogues, there were at least seven of them, or maybe eight.

Their eyes were wild and empty, and their claws were dark with blood. They did not wear the colors of any pack. They were nothing more than animals, and they circled the wounded wolves like vultures circling a dying thing.

One of the rogues looked up.

He saw me standing at the edge of the trees, and he smiled. His teeth were yellow and sharp, and his eyes were black with hunger.

My heart slammed against my ribs. My hands were shaking, and my breath was shallow, and every part of my body was screaming at me to run.

But I could not run.

There was a young wolf on the ground. A boy, no older than sixteen, and his face was pale, and his leg was twisted at an angle that made my stomach turn. Blood soaked through his pants and pooled on the ground beneath him.

He was looking at me.

His eyes were wide with fear, and his lips were trembling, and he was looking at me like I was his only hope.

I took a step forward.

Then the rogue lunged at me, and his claws were inches from my face.