Page 35 of Queen of Vengeance

LEA

The long days and sleepless nights began to catch up with me, and Mema’s rhythmic patting of my knee wasn’t helping.

My head began slowly drooping forward.

My eyelids felt like cinder blocks were weighing them down.

My vision became fuzzy, and I was about to let the sleep take me when the front doors of the healer’s clinic flew open.

The cheaply made wooden door slammed against the clinic’s wall, causing a loud banging sound to rip through the otherwise quiet waiting room.

My head snapped up, and I quickly reached for Mema.

The dust from the outside kicked in, making it difficult to see who was entering… At least until it was too late.

A shadowy figure walked in slowly, rumbling the floor with every step. The figure became clearer now, and I saw it was a werewolf. This was different from the others I saw… He was bigger and more volatile—foaming at the mouth and snarling at the people waiting in the waiting room. This werewolf stood almost eight feet tall And had jet-black fur aside from several brands all over his body. He looked deranged… or sickly.

My heart leaped into my throat.

Fear flooded me until I felt cold, right down to my fingertips.

I wanted to get up. I wanted to scream, but my body was useless. I couldn’t even bring myself to breathe, let alone move.

My mind began racing at the speed of light.

I couldn’t help but wonder if this was the last thing my parents saw before being murdered.

The moment seemed to be moving in slow motion.

I watched everything unfold as if I had a millennium to stop it. It was just my brain trying to make sense of the situation. Even if I could stop time, I still couldn’t move.

I finally pulled my eyes away from the frightening wolf at the door’s entrance. I looked around, and I saw the room descend into chaos.

Suddenly, werewolves flooded the waiting area and clawed to the back, where the staff kept the medicinal potions.

Then, a disembodied scream caused a jolt of adrenaline through my body.

I was on my feet before I realized I had stood up.

My shaking hand clung to my Mema, urging her to get to safety with me.

The guards tried to stop the werewolves from walking out with armfuls of medicine, but the werewolves threw them across the room.

Is this really what our kind has been reduced to… using our brute strength against the innocent?

I began ushering my grandma out of the room when I thought they wouldn’t notice.

There was a side door only fifty feet away from us that I knew we could escape through, but we only managed to take a few steps before we crossed paths with a jet-black werewolf.

The werewolf made eye contact with me and stopped in its tracks. It watched me as if it knew me.

Now that I was looking at it, something was familiar in its eyes.

Those burning green eyes reminded me of the beautiful green moss.

I took in a sharp breath.

The only thing I could focus on now was his eyes.

---