Chapter 17

Arthur woke up alone on the ground. The ground was wet as if it had rained or water had been spilled nearby, but his fur was mostly dry. The scent of blood mingled with something spicy and flavorful. Whatever it was, it made him turn over with a little growl of hunger and open his eyes slowly. Something sizzled in a pan and he heard the rustling of clothing. He frowned and looked toward the source of the sound, before rising to his feet and shifting to his human form so he could open the front door. Daphne turned to look at him, looking a little harried as she stood at the stove.

He frowned, “Daphne?”

She blinked at him, seemingly uncertain before turning back to the stove. She turned again with the skillet and set out breakfast on the table.

“How are you feeling?”

Arthur rolled his shoulder and walked to the table, “Good.”

“You didn’t come back…” Daphne met his gaze, “What… happened yesterday?”

Arthur looked away and Daphne felt something was seriously off about his demeanor, but she held her tongue. She didn’t want to set him off inadvertently.

“I… I’d rather not talk about it.”

Daphne dropped her gaze at his tense tone as he stood and crossed the room. He lowered his head with a murmur of thanks before grabbing his bowl.

The bowl cracked and shattered in his hand, spilling hot soup everywhere. Arthur hissed and shook his hand free of the soup. Daphne grabbed a towel to clean up the mess, but Arthur stopped her.

“You’ll get cut.”

Daphne withdrew her hands and let him clean up the pieces of the bowl on his own. It took two more tries before she just gave him the pot. The metal groaned and creaked, but it didn’t break.

Then, he broke the water goblet, spilling water and glass.

“Damn it!” He cursed, jumping to his feet.

Daphne remained still, watching him. She had suspected that something had set Arthur off and destabilized his mind again.

She tried to breathe through the fear as he seemed on the edge of losing control again. He shuddered, his hands shaking before he cleaned up the glass and water and went outside.

That night, she climbed into bed, terrified. She had gotten most of the blood off of Arthur by dumping water on him while he slept, but she hadn’t gotten all of it and he didn’t seem to care or notice the blood that remained. She didn’t want him to climb into her bed while she slept and wake up to the scent of blood.

Still, she couldn’t fight sleep all night and before she’d realized, she’d been pulled into sleep.

The forest was dark, yet she ran. She didn’t know where she was running to, but so long as she escaped the monstrous red eyes that were chasing her it didn’t matter. Growling and the snapping of jaws echoed from behind her. She could almost feel the panting of their breath on her back. They were going to devour her whole if they caught her.

“Arthur!” She called into the dark. “Arthur!”

She tripped as a streak of gold darted over her head. Relief filled her as she turned back to look. Arthur tore through the group of rogues with ease and viciousness. Blood painted the dark forest bright red as he tore through them. She was relieved as they fell dead.

“Oh, Arthur—” She choked on her words and gasped in horror as her stomach plummeted as if it had been turned to lead.

Arthur stood on top of one of the corpses, his head bowed and tearing at the flesh of the rogue. He ripped a piece free, chewed, and swallowed it.

She was going to be sick. He couldn’t do this. She had to stop him, but she couldn’t. Fear kept her in place as Arthur picked the corpses clean, leaving nothing but bloody bone.

He pulled back and turned his head as the golden fur turned grey and in Arthur’s place was Owen.

He bared his bloody teeth, grim and feral.

“You’re next, human.”

She screamed, throwing off her blanket and nearly pitching herself out of bed as she sat up awake. She wobbled on the edge of the bed and caught herself, panting. There wasn’t the scent of blood in the air, and Arthur was not in bed with her. She looked outside to see dawn’s faint light.

She didn’t remember Arthur coming into the house the night before. She got to her feet and rushed towards the kitchen area. It seemed as though he had at least washed up, so he hadn’t gone into the forest and stayed out there all night again.

She dressed and went to search for him. The spot where he’d lain the night before was still wet with water and blood. She turned from the sight.

She heard the growl of wolves as she reached the hill overlooking the training ground. Arthur was with a small group near the edge, speaking to them. He was in his wolf form. The others shifted and headed into the forest with him.

It seemed that since Blade had not yet healed, Arthur had been made the temporary leader. She thought it odd since he had just gotten out of training, but she supposed, his strength was reason enough to give him the lead on the patrol.

Arthur hadn’t gone off again. It should have been a source of relief, but Daphne was restless. She returned to the house, ate breakfast, and cleaned before going to visit Blade and Mamie again.

Blade was healing well and Mamie looked a great deal more rested than the last time she’d seen them. She spent the day with them trying to keep the nightmare off her mind, but she couldn’t.

Would the nightmare turn out to be real? Arthur had the same red eyes as all the other rogues. Maybe he was just in an earlier stage of becoming a rogue. One day, would he lose his ability to speak? His reason? Would he no longer know her?

It was possible, wasn’t it? One day, Arthur might lose his mind completely. She couldn’t stop him from going into the forest. How would she be able to stop him then?

Daphne shuddered. She had been so afraid that she hadn’t been able to say anything the day before. Had he noticed? Maybe she should have been brave enough to say something. She should have kept asking. She had promised Arthur that she would help him live a normal life. She had promised that they would make a life here together. How could she do that when she was so afraid?

She was afraid of Arthur, but she did not want to lose Arthur. Arthur was good to her. Though he seemed to be on the edge of losing control, he hadn’t. He had kept her from cutting herself and he was trying.

She should try too.

With that in mind, she returned to the house to wait for Arthur and speak to him.

At dusk, the patrol came back. Some of them were wounded again, but no one died this time. Arthur's fur was stained with blood when they reached the training grounds and everyone began to head home. Daphne watched from afar as he stood at the edge of the training grounds, looking into the forest as if he meant to return to the forest.

Daphne ran across the pitch, “Arthur!”

Arthur turned sharply, seemingly startled by the sound of her voice. He looked at Daphne and her heart clenched with terror. His red eyes looked just like they had in her nightmare. His teeth were covered in blood. She drew up short, skidding a bit as she stopped several feet away from him.

She had to say something if this was going to ever work.

She had to stop letting her fear control her. She was a human among werewolves now which meant she had to learn to be brave.

“A-Are you…” She clenched her hands and steadied her voice. “Are you okay?”

Arthur lowered his head, trembling a bit. His lips twitched. He seemed to be holding himself back a little more firmly, but she didn’t relax, watching him carefully.

“Get away from me, Daphne,” he said as if through a clenched jaw. “I'm having a little trouble controlling... Stay away from me!”

He erupted into a roar of pain, bowing forward and twisting sharply as if something had stabbed him in the chest.

“Damn. I’m sorry—“

Arthur held back another cry of agony. Hatred, pain, and fury mingled and raged in his chest, burning through his blood. The words felt like a stab to his heart. It was too much after restraining himself for so long. Lucas was furious, thrashing and demanding that he take the words back, demanding more blood, demanding the familiar wildness of his blackout rages. He wanted to rage and scream and cry, but most of all, he wanted Daphne to comfort him. He wanted her to hold him and stroke his hair, to tell him that everything would be okay.

He turned away from that thought. In this state, he would only hurt her and that would be worse than being away from her. He’d rather die than hurt her.

“I’m sorry!”

Daphne’s heart lurched with fear and a stab of guilt went through her. There had been so much pain in his eyes. She could almost feel the agony the words cost him. He turned and darted into the forest. Her feet broke into a run after him. Her fear was forgotten as she followed him into the forest as fast as she could.

“Arthur!”