In a tizzy, Azalea asked worriedly, "OMG..is he dead?"
"Be quiet and let me think," was the curt response from Michael.
Tears came to Azalea's eyes while her dad seemed to have nerves of steel, he was unflinchingly calm and quiet.
After a deep breath, the politician in him raised its ugly head.
Michael ordered, "Go and check while I call an ambulance, the police and my lawyer."
She thought, why not add a priest to say last rites while you're at it?
Azalea didn't argue with her dad, she opened the car door and ran over to the side of the road.
They were in the middle of the woods with no one else for miles around.
What was her dad thinking, the guy would have a better chance of surviving if they rushed him to the nearest hospital rather than wait on emergency services to arrive.
Taking her time, it was a good thing to dress comfortably for the long ride to Mercy Academy nestled in the deepest part of Aylsham Mountains.
She wore a simple black top, matching jeans and sneakers.
Most of her wardrobe was always a toss between black and gray colors; it just made life so much easier.
Azalea wanted to hurry but she took her time going down the slope.
So that she did not have to worry about slipping and injuring herself and joining the injured man in the ambulance.
The sun was shining down on them and the guy had fallen spread eagle on the hot ground.
There was a thick patch of cow itch to cushion his fall.
How did she know it was cow itch also called the trumpet vine?
Don't ask but it felt as if a very faint voice whispered this in her skull.
Did the jerk when her father slammed on the brakes scrambled her brain too?
A familiar little sprout grew another inch and trembled with fear in her mental garden.
He was lucky to not have broken his neck, his body was twitching as if he was trying to move.
"Don't move, help will soon arrive."
Azalea tried to console him soothingly as she waited for her father to get off the cellphone and join them.
Then she realized he was trying to reach for his toes.
Even though she couldn't tell his precise age she could see he was young despite being desperately in need of a trim.
In spite of his hairy face, he was still handsome with his long sage-like beard and thick mustache that blended into his long black hair on his scalp.
It seemed like he had come out of nowhere and ran into the car, was he being chased but by whom?
She tried to move his hand that inched towards his feet but then he twisted sideways.
Then sat up and grabbed at his right heel to bring it closer for inspection.
It seemed that his big toe was drooping like maybe the tendon had been severed and if that was the case he would need surgery.
Not only was his big toe affected but the three of the smaller toes had flattened like pancakes.
But what intrigued her the most was the fact that he had been running at such a fast speed in flip flops.
"ROAR!!!"
He frightened the hell out of her when he hoarsely growled and then his body started to sprout massive amounts of hair.
Clearly not afraid to be outed by her, the injured young man shapeshifted before her eyes.
It was clearly painful as he stretched his limbs and flexed his toes several times until they reverted to what passed as normal.
He gave her a side glance before he trotted off into his woods but before disappearing from her sight he was attacked by a bear.
The unnatural size of that apex predator and her own instincts picked up that it was another mental ability user in his beast form.
Azalea lay stunned where she still knelt on a patch of grass a few inches away from the cow itch.
She couldn't even move her meager body if she wanted to because her mental energy was mediocre in comparison to the two beasts clashing right now.
As the energy forced down her throat by the strange guy yesterday had long since been absorbed by her mental garden.
Murderous aura filled the air as if the two mental ability users were in a battle to the death.
The black wolf's body was full of muscles which meant he was from the highest totem of all wolves known as the alpha werewolf.
Even as they fought the alpha's reaction time was fast as if he could read the giant black bears every move before he attacked and counter it with explosive mental power.
Clearly the alpha wolf had an overpowered advantage over the black bear.
It seemed as if the bear was surprised that the wolf continuously blocked his attacks as if reading his mind.
The black bear didn't give up; he was patient and always looked for the right timing, to return a heavy blow.
Some of it was hard for her to watch with the blood that splattered out as they did serious damage to their bodies.
Every now and again Azalea's eyes widened and she subconsciously hid her face behind her hands.
Especially when the murderous beast did something like bite off the flesh then spit out the blood and skin.
Azalea sucked in her stomach and held her breath as she watched them fighting.
Bear massive fists were powerful and with every blow the wolf knew that the battle couldn't drag on or the bear would gain the upper hand.
It seemed that the Bear was surprised that the injured wolf could hold out for so long until Azalea watched the wolf fling dust into the bear's eyes then flipped him over.
Then the wolf stomped angrily on the bear's stomach several times before he twisted one of the bear's legs maliciously, pulling back his left hand then slamming down hard with his elbow.
With the bear slightly disoriented the wolf let go of his hand and started running into the woods until he was completely out of sight.
When the bear came to, he paid Azalea no mind and just gave chase as he tracked the wolf's prints into the woods.
Azalea, feeling relieved, watched them go as she was no match for either of them.
A twig snapped behind her. Azalea was startled and froze. Was it another predator behind her?