It all came screaming back to me. I couldn’t press it down to the back corners of my mind anymore. I couldn’t resist the anger and hostility crippling my psyche. I loathed the Masters for the terror-filled torture that they had inflicted on the world for generations. They were nothing but arrogant bastards, envious humans who wanted nothing more than to attack and destroy what they couldn’t be themselves.
We needed to eradicate them. It was time to vaporize those who couldn’t be trusted to support equal rights to all people. Why couldn’t shifters and humans live in peace and harmony?
I wanted to actively participate in a world where I could bring that kind of joy back to Sophia’s life. I wanted her to forget her painful past and look forward to a future filled with nothing but light and love spread through the villages all around the world.
“I’m sick of this shit,” I said.
I shifted. I couldn’t help myself. I was powerless to stop it from happening. I looked down at Sophia, who was gazing up at me with wild, fearful eyes. I opened my mouth and expelled a colossal roar that ripped through the trees and shook the very ground under our feet.
I felt monstrous, like I needed to obliterate any enemy I saw that dared cross my path. I saw Sophia out of the corner of my eye. She was meekly crouched into a ball on the ground, partially shielding herself behind a tree.
I flashed her a doting look, hoping she could judge by the look in my eyes that I was still enamored of her and wouldn’t harm her. I could control myself.
Ayden and James watched me for a few moments, until they too couldn’t hold back any longer.
“It’s time to get back at them for what they have done to us,” Ayden said, baring his teeth and looking like a true bully. I gritted my own teeth and looked on as he shifted into his lion form.
James nodded. He took Sophia’s hand and rubbed her back. “We won’t hurt you. We’re doing this to protect you. Just follow us and stay by our sides and everything will be okay.”
After she indicated acknowledgement and agreement for the plan with a swift nod, James shifted into a midnight-black jaguar, moving in jagged circles around a few of the neighboring trees.
Ayden whipped around, his golden, fluffy mane blowing wildly in the breeze. A crow cawed overhead. The air changed. Something sinister was moving through these woods.
“Master!” Sophia hissed, fervently pointing behind Ayden.
My eyes wandered, searching to see if she was right.
Sure enough, I saw a Master looking devious, with red-rimmed, angry eyes aimed directly at us. There was no turning back now. We were caught. I could roar as loudly as I wanted, and I did. I opened my mouth and a substantial and beastly rumble from my throat detonated through the forest.
At least half a dozen guards continued to march toward us. They didn’t even seem fazed by the sound of my vicious bear voice. It was as if they were robots, trained for combat, stopping at nothing until they got what they wanted. They were out for blood, but I was determined to have none shed from my side of the battle.
The guards weren’t afraid of us, but it was because they weren’t afraid of anything. In order to be scared, you had to fear death first and foremost. These soldiers were trained to welcome death if that’s what it took to protect their Masters and defeat the shifters, whom they viewed as the scum of the planet.
This time, we were ready. We had the means to fight back. I had the strength of a nine-foot-tall giant grizzly bear and the teamwork of an expeditious jaguar and a looming lion with razor-sharp teeth.
Even though we appeared to be outnumbered as the guards continued to pour in in droves, we were animals set in a rage against them. The energy of our brawny tenacity would undoubtedly prevail. I kept my eye on Sophia to make sure she was still safe. She had her mighty black wings tucked around her like a shield of protection.
I had too much to lose to fail. Good always triumphed over bad, or so I hoped.
This wasn’t a fairy tale though, whispered through books at the end of a bedtime story. This was real life and the happy ending wasn’t always easy to come by. The storytellers always made it seem so simple, but it was far trickier in reality.
The guards stared on with ruthless glares, unwilling to back down to the predatory animal versions of myself, Ayden, and James. I glanced at my friends. They blinked and gave me a subtle nod in understanding.
Even without words, we were on the same level. Our spirits were connected and supercharged. Revenge beat through our hearts and pumped through our veins. It was time to attack. There was nothing else to do and no turning back.
I stood on my hind legs, bellowing a thunderous roar that crashed through the forest once again. The Master stopped in response, shaking with fear. His guards trudged on, annoyingly indifferent.
I lunged forward, swiping at a few of them who dared to come too close to my protective bubble. Sophia was behind me. They would have to get through me to have any chance at getting their grubby little hands on her.
James was prowling with a snarl behind me, trying to coax Sophia behind a thick pine tree by using only gestures with his head. Sophia took the hint and shuffled on her hands and knees behind the tree, her wings flopping behind her. They were still enormous and I knew it was her defense mechanism kicking in.
Once I knew that James was taking control of the Sophia situation, I focused my attention back on the guards that were beginning to surround us.
Ayden was in front of me, his mane boastfully fluffed out. I went back to all fours and then stood on my hind legs sequentially, making sure to let a few roars escape in the process.
There were several guards encircling me. They didn’t have guns, which relieved me. They did, however, have swords, which were drawn and waiting for the perfect opportunity to be jabbed into my gut.
I moved around in circles, switching back and forth from hind legs to all fours. You couldn’t hit a moving target. I was going to make it as impossible for them to strike me or my friends as the universe would allow.
We needed a distraction, something to catch the soldiers off guard and alarm them. Then, as if by some miraculous twist of fate, as if the universe had undeniably read my mind, something majestic happened. My unspoken prayers were answered.
Two trees burst into spontaneous flames. I felt the instant heat of the combustion and saw the magnificent glow light up the gloomy forest. It lit up in sparkling hues of amber and orange and the chill in the air fled instantly.
The Master guards seemed startled for a few brief seconds, staring at the trees as if they couldn’t understand how such an event occur. I too was astounded, and judging by expressions on Ayden’s and James’s faces, they were too.
I glanced over my shoulder to make sure Sophia was still safe and that no one had managed to skirt past us and snatch her. That was when I saw the reflection of the fire in her eyes.
I saw pain ignite and turn to ash in the way her expression was contorted. Her lips were twisted. She was staring at the inferno of the two trees in front of her. Her eyes were narrowed and focused, her senses look sharply acute.
The guards slowly and scrupulously moved around the trees as fastidiously as they could. They stared at the burning trees in awe as the flames licked the sky and sent a shower of hot golden embers fluttering to the ground.
They had to walk with careful precision now, and it was slowing them down. Their eyes darted left and right as if they were paranoid that they too might impulsively combust at any second. Wouldn’t that be a wonderous sight? If I had anything else to pray for, it would surely be for that.
I glanced over my shoulder at Sophia again. She looked like she was concentrating and her eyes danced with satisfaction that made my heart gallop like a wild horse. Was she the one who started this fire?
It suddenly dawned on me that I had a memory of her telling me that she was able to make things happen with her mind if she set her undivided attention on an object. Could this be the control she had been referring to?
/>
I had no time to ponder it, because the guards were beginning to gain on us again. We needed another phenomenon to occur. At this rate, the entire forest would need to erupt into flames and incinerate the military men in a single sweep. The guards were gathering around us and the clock was ticking, one excruciating second at a time.
20
Cameron
I listened out for the sound of anything and anyone around me that could pose a threat. I no longer heard the trampling footsteps of guards behind me, which was consoling. The only sound I heard was the panting of my breath and my heart pounding like a drum through my ears.
I was currently crouched behind a large bush that shielded most of my body. I waited there quietly for several minutes, just listening to the sounds of nature and the wind whistling occasionally through the trees.
I felt like I had been running forever. I had even shifted back to my human form at the break of dawn, but I still had that unsettled feeling that I was being watched and followed. I was sweaty and on edge and I felt pins and needles from my head down to my toes. I had managed to escape the Master and the few guards that had followed me for a short while, but it had come at a price.
I didn’t recognize anything around me. My surroundings were completely unfamiliar. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to find the base camp. It seemed like I was walking around in circles. Hadn’t I just passed that very same stump with the green moss growing on the top?
I tried not to allow panic to overtake me and focused on keeping my breathing level and even.
Hunger and fatigue ravaged my brain. My stomach grumbled. My eyes felt heavy and swollen, but I couldn’t fall asleep here. I was too vulnerable, especially because now that the Master had seen me, I all but had a target tattooed to my back.
My throat felt scratchy and swollen with unbelievable thirst. Wasn’t there a river around here somewhere? Why couldn’t I find it anywhere? I couldn’t even hear it, which led me to believe I wasn’t anywhere near it.
My tongue felt like it was made of gritty sandpaper. I was parched, in dire need of something to drink. Even if I could find a leaf with enough dampness on it to squeeze out a couple of droplets of water…
But there was nothing, not a single ounce of water to drink. I squeezed my eyes shut in order to escape the burden of a spinning head. It was as if somebody had twisted my stomach into knots. I felt dizzy and when I opened my eyes, my vision was blurred, and I couldn’t see straight, not even an inch in front of my face.
My posture sagged. Time was not on my side. Eventually, if I didn’t make it back to the base camp, I knew that the probability of me being sniffed out by the Master guards was probable, if not inevitable.
It was early afternoon at this point. I still had quite a few hours before I would be able to shift back to my werewolf form. I usually viewed this curse as a disability, but what I wouldn’t give to have the capacity to shift whenever I felt like it, just like my friends.
I felt so much safer when I was in my werewolf skin, and I knew that I could protect myself better if threatened. I glanced down at my bare hands, then looked at the sky and groaned. I didn’t even have a weapon. I had nothing but my fists to defend myself with if it became necessary.
My legs were starting to feel numb from crouching in one position for too long. I groaned as I stood up, hearing my knees crack. I stretched my arms to the sky and did a slow little circle to assess my surroundings and figure out what my next move should be.
The unfortunate thing about the wilderness was that every tree and branch and bush began to look exactly the same. The more I tried to distinguish things, the more they seemed identical.
What was I going to do? Well, I didn’t exactly have a plan yet, but I knew I needed to brainstorm something soon. It wasn’t like I could remain perched behind this bush forever. At some point I would need to go out and search for water. I probably should have been doing that all along. These critical mistakes were my own fault, and I had no one to blame but myself.
My head felt fuzzy. Maybe if I took a little walk, I would be able to clear my mind and muster up the strength to keep pressing forward. But in what direction? That was the missing link. The key to the rebellion base camp’s location was like a loose screw in my head, a puzzle piece that I couldn’t snap back together to make a whole.
My friends must be out here looking for me by now, or at least, that was the hope. I pictured Sophia, trying to rally the others and persuade them to charge into the wilderness to scoop me out. She was so beautiful and pure at heart. There was not a malicious bone in her entire body, and she fought for the rights of all shifters. She would never leave anyone behind.
She had told me once before that she felt eternally grateful to me and my friends for rescuing her, taking her under our wing and saving her from a broken leg. I knew that dancing was her whole life. She hadn’t danced for any of us, not even herself, in so long. It made me sad to think that she didn’t have time to release her stress on a hobby that brought her immense levels of joy.
I never wanted to see the fire inside of her die. I wanted her to be able to enjoy a life of things that brought her pleasure. She was the one constant that would keep me going. I began walking with a purpose, determined to find that rebellion camp and reunite with Sophia once again.
I smiled as I imagined running my hands through her soft, silky hair. I wanted to feel her warm breath on my cheek. I longed to shower her inner thighs with sensual kisses and see the pulsing throb of her engorged clitoris. I felt my cock growing stiff and chubby as I vividly pictured Sophia’s back arched and her mouth open as breathy moans escaped from her throat.
She had her legs wrapped around my waist and her thighs pressed up against my torso. I rammed her as hard as I could, knowing the goal to hit her G-spot in the most exceptionally perfect way possible.
But when I heard a bloodcurdling scream echo off in the distance, my private and naughty thoughts vanished in an instant. I was no longer sensually enchanted. I was jolted back to a reality I didn’t want to be in. I was still lost in the forest.
The scream that had burst through the air several seconds ago had sounded like it had come from a female. My eyes darted left and right, panning the area with increasing paranoia as my vision bounced from tree trunk to tree trunk.
I looked north and saw what appeared to be a plume of gray smoke rising up through the air like a claw stretching to the sky.
“A fire?” I said aloud, startling myself with the sound of my own voice. “Who would have started a fire in the middle of the woods?”
I couldn’t explain it, but there was an unstoppable force residing inside of me that compelled me forward. I started running as fast and as hard as I could, pounding my feet to the dirt.
I raced in the direction of the smoke, and when I got close enough, I could smell the thick cloud of hot ash and smoky fragrance of burning leaves.
I heard shouting. It was faint at first, but it slowly became louder as I cautiously approached the area. That’s when I saw my friends, locked in a heated battle with the same Master and his guards that had spotted me in the woods the night before.
For a split second, my heart swelled with pride that they had come to search for me after all. I had never felt so appreciated than in that moment, but it quickly faded when I realized how much danger that they were in.
They needed me. Perhaps I could create a diversion. My head was swimming, bogged down with such an enormous influx of thoughts that I couldn’t formulate a single one of them.
Then I noticed the werewolf and the shifter who had been with the Master. They seemed to be brainwashed in some way, fighting for the Master and with the guards. This made me furious. If they had any power over themselves, they wouldn’t be joining forces with the true enemy. The only real monsters lurking in these woods were the Masters and their soldiers.
I saw Sophia perched behind a tree. Her black wings were giant and stretched out around her protectively, looking
like delicate butterfly wings. I quickly hurtled toward her, making sure not to be seen just yet.
I knew I would have to go and help my friends, but I wanted to ensure she wasn’t hurt. Her wellbeing was my top priority. Besides, I couldn’t shift, so I wasn’t sure what amount of aid I could give them because they were all in their animal forms.
The guards were coming at them from every angle as if made no difference to them whether they lived or died. I approached Sophia.
“It’s me,” I whispered so that she wouldn’t shout out in surprise.
Sophia looked at me and her jaw dropped. Her eyes were enormous.
“Cameron?” she whispered back. She gripped my arm, her slender hands ice cold. “Where have you been?”
“I got lost,” I explained. “I wouldn’t have been able to find my way back to the camp, or to you all, for that matter, but I just happened to hear the shouting and see the smoke. I followed it and it led to you.”
Sophia ran her fingers through my hair. “Thank God, We’ve been trying to hunt you down all day.”
I nudged my chin in the direction of Ayden, Blaze and James, who were still locked head to head with the stubborn guards.
“I see you’ve met up with friends here in the woods in the process.”
The edges of Sophia’s lips cracked into a smile. I was glad I was able to distract her, even if it was only for a few seconds. Then her eyes darkened and flashed with a grim intent that draped a chill over my mind.
“I’m the one who started the fire,” she said as her eyes moved over the guards, watching them balefully.
I pointed to the burning trees. Branches were snapping off and dropping to the ground with noisy thuds.
“You…caused the fire?”
Sophia nodded resolutely and stared at me with a flat expression. “Yes.”
“How…”
“I used my mind,” she said.
Dark Swan 2 Page 15
