Chapter 9
Brother.
The word seemed to echo in the night as the gray wolf disappeared into the forest. What did that mean? He pushed that thought away. Owen was gone now. The rogues lay slaughtered in around them and Daphne was safe.
He took a deep breath of relief. He had never known such terror as when he’d woken up to find her gone from their little camp. Her scent had been strong enough to follow, so he assumed she hadn’t been gone long.
Why had she left at all? Didn’t she know how dangerous the forest was? He wanted to ask her, but he couldn’t get the words together around the relief of her still being alive.
He turned sharply to look at her as the scent of her blood cut through the haze of his easing panic. She had been hurt before they’d gone to sleep. Had he been too late to keep her from being hurt further? Would she be okay? Her heart beat was beating too fast.
“Daphne? Are you alright?”
Daphne shuddered as the gray wolf vanished into the dark trees. Slowly, her heart slowed down and she let her gaze drift over the carnage Arthur had created. The blood pooled around the corpses and made her grow cold inside. She’d survived once again somehow.
Arthur spoke louder, “Daphne? Can you hear me? Are you hurt?”
Then, the werewolves who had been howling and heading towards them broke through the tree line. They lifted their noses and looked around.
“Rogue—” The wolf in front drew up short. “… dead rogues.”
Daphne didn’t look at the corpses lying around as the wolves scanned the area and their gazes landed on Arthur.
“A werewolf…” a wolf said then looked at Daphne. “And a human woman?”
“Where did the rogues go?”
“Who did all of this?”
“They must have started fighting for some reason,” another said. “You know they’re fucking crazy.”
Arthur turned, in a daze, to look at them. They grew tense as he tried to assess them as a threat. A few of them growled at him, growing tense and it set him on edge.
“Rogue!” One of them shouted.
Arthur bared his teeth as he remembered the villagers before shouting in the same tone.
Murderer!
Cursed by the goddess!
Arthur braced himself, tensing and growling at the wolves, “Get out of the way!”
The wolves shrunk back, fearful and murmuring about what to do. It was clear that they intended to attack him, but were unsure of how to proceed.
“He’s speaking…”
“Are we sure he’s a rogue?”
“But his eyes.”
Daphne’s guesses were right. Red eyes were a usual mark of rogues, but so was the loss of speech. She wasn’t sure how they would feel about Arthur who had red eyes but spoke clearly, and she didn’t want to chance it. Daphne got to her feet as they started to advance and threw her arms around Arthur’s neck. The wolves stopped in their tracks.
A sense of safety filled her as she remembered how sure her death had been and would have been if Arthur had not come.
Her tears made her vision blurry as she glared at the wolves, “Are all werewolves this cruel? He was hurt because he was trying to protect me! If those rogues hadn't attacked first, he wouldn’t have ended up like this!”
Arthur let out a low placating growl, nuzzling her gently. Daphne shuddered at the feeling of blood-soaked fur sliding across her face. Another wolf stepped forward and Arthur let out a low, angry growl, stopping it in its place.
The wolves looked at one another before one of the black wolves stepped forward and transformed in a swirl of light. He was a tall, dark-skinned man with a heavily muscled body.
“We are not trying to attack you. We are the patrol from a nearby pack, Sharp Armor. We smelled rogues on this side and wanted to expel them.” A wolf brought him something to wrap around his waist as Arthur sat on his haunches beside Daphne. She sniffled, listening to the man’s explanation and mostly relieved.
A werewolf town nearby was a good thing for them and much more manageable than trying to bring Arthur into a human town.
“You look like a rogue,” the man gestured to his eyes. “That's why we were wary. But, you look... at least somewhat sane. Why are you here? Who is this human?”
Arthur growled, “She's my mate! Go away and stay away from us!”
The wolves looked surprised. They whispered for a while, then the dark-skinned man gestured. The wolves went silent and he continued, “You can't stay out in the forest in your condition, let alone with a human. It's too dangerous. The rogues will come back to attack you. Come to Sharp Armor with us, at least for the night.”
Arthur growled at them again in anger, growing stiff and defensive. Several of the wolves stepped back in fear, but the dark-skinned man held his ground.
“Wait,” Daphne said, tightening her grip on Arthur. “Just… wait.”
Arthur turned his head just enough to look at her out of the corner of his eye.
“M-Maybe… They can speak. They’re no rogues, and they don’t seem to mean any harm. It’s not a bad idea.” She swallowed and lowered her voice, “You need healing, and we need shelter and food. We can't keep wandering through this forest.”
He grumbled.
“They’re werewolves just like you—”
“I don't trust them!” Arthur growled, glaring at them, defensively. “What if they're lying? What if they plan to hurt you?”
Daphne’s eyes burned and her guilt swelled. She had been trying so hard to get away from him and gotten him injured again, but Arthur was still concerned about her. She shouldn’t have left him. She leaned into his fur and hugged him with a sniffle.
“I don’t want you to get hurt again.” She stroked his fur. “Please, Arthur… just think about it?”
Arthur shuddered, but slowly, the tension in his body began to ease, and lowered his head with a little nod of agreement.
“Okay,” he said. “We’ll go, but if they turn out to be a danger to you…”
“I understand,” Daphne said and looked at the group of wolves who were all staring at them in shock.
Her face burned with embarrassment. She wasn’t used to being around people, let alone being stared at by werewolves. Their eyes were filled with awe. She was surprised too. Arthur had slaughtered the whole pack of mindless rogues, but he was yielding to her wishes so easily.
Daphne stood gingerly, wincing at the pain in her foot, “Thank you for the offer. We… need shelter, food, and clean clothes.”
“And medicine,” the dark-skinned man said nodding to her foot and glancing at Arthur. “Will you be able to manage the walk?”
“I’ll be fine.”
He didn’t seem completely convinced, but he nodded and led them through the forest. She leaned on Arthur as they walked and tried to keep up as much as possible.
The walk wasn’t long, but the thrill of the fight and their injuries made it seem much longer. They reached the end of the forest that gave way to a vast plain and a road that led to a town in the distance. Her heart swelled with relief and amazement. She had never seen such a large city. Farmland surrounded the main town and there was a patrol walking along the perimeter.
Towards the center of the town, there seemed to be lookout towers facing each direction. They walked through the farmland area and people looked at them, whispering and clutching their chests with expressions of sympathy.
“…poor thing.”
“Is that a human?”
“The rogues must have attacked them on the road.”
They approached the grand city gates that remained closed until the dark-skinned man called up to the gatekeepers. They seemed to separate the farmland and the outer areas from the inner city. She wondered if it was a matter of class or if their city was just built around a great keep like in the books she’d read.
“We’ve returned with injured. Open the gates!”
Someone scrambled across the top, and she heard something turning as the gate lifted to allow them entry. Beyond the wall, the town’s streets were filled with people. People yelled about their wares, what they wanted to buy, greetings, and a hundred other things.
Daphne gasped in awe. The human town she visited sometimes had never been as busy as this one. They walked inside and Daphne looked around at everything in amazement. People looked at them with curiosity, but they greeted the dark-skinned man and the rest of the wolves with respect.
Arthur seemed a bit tense as people looked at them, drawing closer to her as they whispered. She stroked his fur, hoping to keep him calm as bits of their conversations reached her ears.
“… injured.”
“…alive?”
“…red eyes like that? What do you think is going on?”
They reached what seemed to be the center of the town where a long banner bearing a symbol of a chest plate with spikes hung over the fountain where children were playing.
The dark-skinned man turned to them with a smile. He gestured and the rest of the wolves shifted back one after the other and began to dress.
“Welcome to Sharp Armor.”
