Chapter 3 Eyes in the Dark

The bolt hurt Elara like fire. Elara did not feel it that much because Elara was running towards Thorne really fast in her wolf form. Thorne's face was very serious, his eyes were wide open because he knew what was happening. At the last second Thorne moved out of the way and Elara's claws scratched the tree instead of Thorne. The loud howl of the wolf was heard again; it was closer now. It felt like the ground was shaking with a warning. Elara and Thorne were in a bad situation because of the wolf.

Elara stopped fast, her ears standing up. She felt like something was wrong. Thorne jumped up. Put more bullets in his gun. He said "Wait I know what you are. Please do not make me do this to you."

His voice cut through the fog the sound of words hitting her animal instincts. She felt really confused. Part of her wanted to attack him. Another part wanted to run away. The tea she drank still had an effect on her. It made her anger not so sharp so she could think a bit. The tea's effects made it possible for her to have some control over the beast that was her.

A big gray wolf came out of the dark. This wolf had eyes and its fur was standing up. I was angry. It growled at Thorne. It did not even look at Elara. Thorne pointed his weapon. Fired. This time he did not miss. The bolt hit the wolf's shoulder. It made a hissing sound when it touched the wolf's fur. The wolf let out a cry and ran back, into the bushes. The wolf was. It went away. Thorne had shot the wolf with a bolt.

Thorne turned to Elara. He said to her "You need to run now. That person is a scout for Darius. We have to get out of here because that scout works for Darius."

The name brought back something Miriam said.. The pain in her body was still really bad and the rush of energy was going away. The hurt made her go back to being human and when she did her body shook over. She fell down naked and cold.

Thorne looked away, throwing his jacket over her. "Let us go now before it comes back with its friends."

He helped her to his truck that was hidden nearby. Then he drove to his cabin. The cabin was really simple inside. There were maps on the walls, weapons in cases and books about folklore. Thorne put a bandage on her cut. His touch was gentle even though you could feel the tension between them. Thorne was being very careful with her. That was nice of him.

"Who are you really?" Elara asked, she wrapped herself in a blanket. She wanted to know the truth about the person in front of her. Elara was very curious about this person so she asked again "What is it that you do and who is this person that I am talking to? I mean who are you really?"

Hunter. My family was killed by werewolves. That is a thing that the werewolves did to my family. I have been tracking the werewolves ever since they killed my family.. You are different from the other werewolves. You seem new to all of this.

She told him about when she woke up and the journals and Miriam. Thorne listened to what she had to say. His face became softer. He said "Darius is getting more powerful. The fact that you come from this bloodline is a threat to Darius. So Darius is getting rid of anyone who's not completely loyal to him the loose ends and that includes people, like you from your bloodline."

"Why help me?"

I do not kill people. That is not what I do.. You remind me of someone I know.

The conversation between Thorne and Elara went on and on until the sun started coming up. Thorne told Elara about his past. He talked about something bad that happened to him when he was a kid. He said he wanted to get at the people who hurt him.

Elara felt drawn to Thorne. She liked the way he smelled now. It made her feel safe.. Trusting someone is not easy. Trust is a fragile thing. Trust in Thorne was fragile.

In the morning she went home and her mind was all over the place. When she got to work her boss Harlan told her that he really liked the report she did but she did not tell him about the supernatural things that happened. Then Maya called her. She was really worried about what happened the night before. Maya said to her "You left early, is everything okay?"

"Fine, " Elara said, which was not true. "I am just really tired, " Elara said to that person. Elara was not being honest, about how she was feeling she was just saying that she was tired.

She went back to the places where the attacks happened. She found some fur. Then she took the fur to her garage. She looked at it really closely with a microscope she had from when she was in college. The fur was pretty rough like the fur, from a wolf. It was bigger.

That afternoon Miriam called her over. She said to her "The scout reported back to us. Darius knows about Miriam's friend now that Darius knows about her."

"How?"

The pack can tell when there is someone around. You really need to learn how to do things. The pack is talking about the time when you change into a wolf so you have to learn how to control that change.

They spent hours in the glade doing breathing exercises and visualizing chains on the beast. Elara was able to manage a shift of the beast, her claws extending without a full change into the beast. This was progress with the beast. It was really exhausting, for Elara and the beast.

The evening. Thorne was at her door. She said "I found something that I think is important. It is a map that shows the territories of the packs."

They looked at it together, their fingers touching. They got a lot of ideas. He moved in close to her. "We could. Check it out. We could find out what the other person is bad at."

Elara was tempted so she agreed to go with it. They went for a hike when the sun was setting trying to be quiet and sneaky. The forest was full of noises like owls making loud hooting sounds and leaves making rustling noises. When they got close to a clearing they. Watched as wolves came together and these wolves were talking to each other in human form about their hunting plans.

Darius stood in the center. He was really tall and he looked very strong and his voice was extremely loud. "The Voss heir is still alive. We need to catch her. The power of the Voss heir will belong to me."

Elara's blood ran cold. Thorne grabbed her arm tightly. He said to her "We have to go, now."

Something happened when she took a step. A twig snapped under her foot. People turned around their heads moving towards them. Everyone's eyes locked on the girl and her companion staring at them.

Darius yelled out loud "Intruders are here!"

The wolves. They were charging at them. Thorne fired his bolts. He was able to take down one of the wolves. Elara felt this pull and she shifted partially so she could fight them. Her claws were slashing at the wolves as she tried to defend herself. The wolves were still coming at them. Elara was ready to keep fighting.

They ran fast through the trees. Their hearts were beating fast. Thorne got it. Stumbled. Elara pulled Thorne. She felt a lot of strength. She kept pulling Thorne through the trees. Thorne and Elara just had to keep running.

They got to his truck. Speeded away but the howls followed them. The sound of the howls was still loud. His truck was going fast. The howls from whatever was, behind them kept coming.

At the cabin Thorne made a face. Said he was really hurt. "This silver poison is very bad."

Elara was really scared. She said "What am I supposed to do with the situation that Elara is in?"

"Antidote in my bag. But hurry."

As she gave it to him Darius's voice was in her mind saying "You can not hide forever heir." She thought about what Darius said. Darius's words were still, in her mind she remembered Darius saying "You can not hide forever heir."

And outside, shadows moved, circling the cabin.