"I'm sure we were chasing a grey wolf. How comes it's a black one caught in the net?"
With my sharpened hearing, I caught one of the hunters whispering to his partner.
"It must be around here too. It won't escape for long with the traps set here," the other replied.
To say I wasn't scared would be lying to myself. I had faced bad situations before. I had fought rogues, I had faced wild beasts, and I had survived more than I thought I could. But never, not even once, had I been trapped in the middle of a circle of bloodthirsty hunters. Fear crawled inside me, deeper and deeper, and my chest tightened until I heard Onyx's voice echoing in my mind.
"Calm down, Haven. I can feel your fear and it's… annoying."
His words didn't calm me even a little. In fact, they made my fear rise higher, though I knew for sure this was Onyx's way of caring. Any other person would have thought he was being rude, but to me, this was his blunt way of showing care.
Almost in a whisper, I asked him, "What will we do? They are too many, and you know no wolf can stand against wolfsbane. Even Alphas fall to it. What about us? We… we will… die."
At my words, Onyx growled low, a sound filled with warning, but he didn't say anything else.
Then suddenly, one of the hunters raised his bow and released an arrow. I saw it cutting through the air straight toward us. My heart pounded wildly, but the only thing I could do was close my eyes tight and wait for the pain.
And I waited. And waited.
But no pain came. Not a sting or even a scratch. For a second, I thought maybe the hunter had missed his target. That was the only explanation that made sense in that moment. Quickly, I opened my eyes, but what I saw froze me in place.
My voice stuck in my throat, and I was swallowed by pure shock. My lips trembled as I forced out, barely audible, "Onyx?"
There was no clear answer. Only the sound of Onyx's slow, steady breathing reached me. His fangs were dripping thick blood, his snout stained red. And before him, spread in a wide circle exactly where the hunters had been standing, were bodies.
The hunters. All of them were down.
They writhed on the ground, their screams sharp and broken. Some clutched at bleeding stumps where hands had once been, others were crawling with legs that had been slashed clean away. And the most horrifying sight, the one that made my stomach turn, were those whose heads lay beside their bodies, eyes wide open even in death.
"Onyx…" I called again my voice hollow, almost dazed.
The last time I had seen a massacre like this was when my previous pack was attacked, the night my parents were slaughtered. Now, staring at this blood-soaked scene, those memories clawed back, blurry yet enough to make my heart hammer in fear.
"Onyx…" I whispered once more, desperate to pull myself out of that dark memory, but my body remained frozen in shock.
"Let's get out of here," Onyx's voice cut in firmly, leaving no room for hesitation.
And with that, she bolted, dragging me away to somewhere I didn't know and didn't even care to find out. My mind was clouded, clogged with the bloody images replaying over and over, tormenting me like punishment for a sin I hadn't even asked to commit. Maybe I was a sinner after all, because it was my wolf who had spilled all that blood.
***
I woke to a sudden flood of light spreading across my eyes. With a hoarse growl, I blinked against it, only to realize it was the rising sun. Guided by instinct, I scanned the area side to side before finally sitting up.
I was lying in the middle of a grassy patch, trees forming a canopy above me. My body was bare, completely naked. Heat flushed through me and quickly, I wrapped my arms over my chest, not daring to stand.
"Your cloth is behind you."
Snow's voice murmured softly inside my head. I glanced back and true enough, my simple white dress lay neatly folded there. I didn't think too hard about how it had gotten there, because deep inside, I already knew it must have been Onyx's doing. Quickly, I pulled it on, trying not to let the memories of last night swallow me whole.
"Onyx, are you there?" My voice was small, almost empty, as I fought against the heavy images in my head.
"Mm," came Onyx's low hum.
"Why… What I mean is… Last night… those people…" The words tangled in my throat. No matter how hard I tried to push them away, the memory kept pulling me back.
"I did what was necessary, and I don't regret it," Onyx answered, speaking more than he usually did.
"But… you shouldn't have. I never knew you were… this powerful. It's dangerous…" My voice shook with horror, my heart both terrified and confused. I didn't even know how to form the right words, because everything inside me had shifted. After what happened, nothing could ever go back to what it was before.
"They would have killed us if I didn't kill—"
"Stop it!" I shouted in my mind. If I had been able to use my voice out loud, I would have screamed until my lungs tore. But all I had was the mind-link, and through it I poured my frustration. "I know you wanted to protect us, Onyx, but killing those hunters was too cruel. You could have just injured them or something. I… I don't want to blame you, though I know I am right now… but your actions will bring us trouble."
Onyx stayed quiet. His silence helped me calm a little. It wasn't truly his fault, this was who he was. Overprotective to the point of recklessness whenever danger showed itself. But last night, he had crossed a line. He had never killed before, not once, or maybe it was me who always stopped him in time. Last night though, it had happened so fast I didn't even know how. I had closed my eyes for less than ten seconds, and when I opened them, not less than twenty hunters had already fallen, some dead, others destroyed.
His speed… it was beyond what I had ever known. Faster than Grey, faster than Snow, that much I already knew. But I hadn't realized he could be that fast, that unstoppable.
"What should we do, Haven?" Snow's voice broke the long silence. It was soft, but carried worry and sadness.
I sighed inwardly, asking myself the same question, until a thought slowly came to me.
"The hunters saw a grey wolf and a black one. That means all we need to do is make sure we're not discovered. Grey, Onyx, you both need to stay hidden for now."
"Okay," Grey replied quickly.
"Mm," Onyx agreed with a short hum.
"One more thing, Onyx." I paused, weighing my words carefully, knowing how heavy they were. "Never do such a thing again. No killing, no matter what, not unless I say so. You of all have to keep your existence as minimal as possible Okay?"
It sounded cruel, even to my own ears, but it was for the best. Onyx needed to stay in control, to stay hidden the way he used to. I wasn't afraid for myself, I was afraid for all of us. My wolves were everything I had, and if anything happened to any of them, it would break me.
"I understand, Have " Onyx finally replied, and with those words I could feel the weight of realization inside him, the awareness of the trouble he had caused though he hadn't meant to.
"I'm sorry too," I added softly, guilt stinging my chest. "For being too harsh with my words."
"No worries. It was me who didn't think through my choice," Onyx said gently, surprising me. His tone was rare, softer than I was used to, and it warmed my heart.
"Then let's find a place to hide for now."