Rejected - The Enchantress

“I hear you want to go on a nature walk!” Kevin’s upbeat attitude is infectious as I feel myself becoming more excited with every word he speaks.

“Yes, sir. I’m ready when you are.” Our not so quiet discussion has earned us even more displeased looks from the others in the room, but it does not deter us.

“If you need anything, just link me. I will be with Alpha Daniels so I can help if you should need it.” Kevin bows his head slightly with his neck exposed, a sign of submission from what I have read.

“Don’t worry, alpha. She’ll keep me out of trouble.” He winks at me, talk about earning brownie points! Kevin takes my tray to the kitchen then returns and leads me out of the building and into the woods. Kevin seems to be an unabashedly friendly soul and has no issue talking about anything and everything under the sun.

“So, you have NO idea who your birth parents are or where you come from?” I chuckle at his surprised expression.

“Nope. Don’t even know my own date of birth.” He shakes his head and kicks a rock across the forest floor.

“Then when do you celebrate your birthday?” I raise a brow and my pace slows.

“Um…I don’t.” He whips around and stares at me slack jawed.

“How long did you live with those dicks?” I smile and take several steps forward before stopping again.

“Seven years. Not that the other homes were much better.” He shakes his head and we resume our walk at a much slower pace.

“Did they always treat you so…” I smile and provide a suitable response when he seems to struggle.

“Abhorrently? Like a slave? Like a walking, talking punching bag? The answer is yes.” He places his hand on my shoulder and squeezes gently.

“No one should be treated that way.” I can see the anger and sadness warring in his eyes, but it is suddenly vanquished by another emotion that I can’t quite place. His body becomes rigid and our movements have halted. His eyes are scanning the heavily wooded forest with an intense gaze. He turns to me and places a finger to his lips as a foul scent that is a mixture of decay and filth permeates the air around us.

A low, rumbling growl comes from somewhere ahead of us, quickly followed by one behind us and one to our right. I see his eyes glaze over for a brief second before returning to their deep brown and without warning, he shifts into a large brown wolf. Several tan and grey wolves emerge from the bushes around us, five by my count, and begin stalking toward us. Kevin growls, warning them to back off I guess, but they continue to approach without hesitation. Two of the wolves charge at him, determined to take down the greater threat. I watch him fight, unsure of how to help when I hear the sound of a twig snap behind me. I turn just in time to spot the wolf sailing through the air toward me, raising my arm up to protect my face. The wolf closes his jaw around my arm and the moment he breaks the skin, he releases me and stumbles back, pawing at his mouth in an attempt to rid his mouth of the offensive blood that is burning into every part of him that it touches.

While the wounded wolf continues his struggle, I run forward and wrap my arms around the neck of one of the wolves that is attacking Kevin, making sure to get my blood on every part of him that I can. He stop his advances and drops to the ground, rolling in the ground in a futile effort to rid himself of the blood that is burning through his flesh like acid. The remaining two wolves leap at Kevin, choosing to avoid me after seeing the effects my blood had on their pack mates. I feel the air around me charge with energy as I watch Kevin being overtaken by the beasts. I focus on it, drawing it in then forcing it through my hands as I run forward and grab the scruff of one of the wolves, forcing the energy through them like lightning before moving onto the next. I hear the thundering of paws on the forest floor running toward us and moments later, a giant black wolf leaps over me and tackles the remaining wolf off of Kevn and ends his life with a single jerk of his head that snaps the wolf’s neck. Several more wolves run to us, all shifting as soon as they see that the threat has been eliminated.

“Let me look at that.” One of the strange men hisses out as he reaches for my arm, but I pull away and hold my arm tightly to my chest.

“Don’t touch it! You can’t touch any of them either.” The man grabs my hair and rips me to my feet, but the black wolf quickly shifts and I realize it had been Sylas.

“Get your fucking hands off of her! She is trying to protect you! Her blood has silver and wolfsbane flowing through it!” I pull off my shirt and wrap my injured arm to ensure I have covered as much of the exposed blood as I can.

“You have been letting her walk around our pack house when you knew this?!” the man who had grabbed my hair shouts.

“She would have only caused harm if someone injured her. I only found out this morning, but it changes nothing.” Syrus states in a calm voice.

“She is a ticking time bomb and you brought her into our pack! What if she had managed to cut herself, or maybe she isn’t who you think she is!” Syrus steps around me to stand between me and the angry wolf.

“She just fought off five rogues to protect one of my men instead of running. She is exactly who I think she is!” Sylas shows his anger as he growls out each word. He picks up Kevin as if he weighs nothing and motions for me to follow him. We walk back to the pack house in silence where he takes Kevin to his room and I return to mine to shower and dress my wounds. The bite cut deep, but the bleeding has already slowed and the tissue is not as badly damaged as I had expected. I take a shower, finish bandaging the wound and changing my clothes then head out to the balcony where I sit until after the sun has begun to set.