Page 59 of Wolf's Whisper

I figured they knew what they were doing, but one metal chain against a bunch of swords seemed like something that could go horribly wrong. For our side.

With my breath trapped in my chest and my fingers itching in fear, I watched how the pair waited patiently.

For a moment, everything was quiet.

And then steel clashed against steel, bodies hit bodies, mud sprung to life under their feet. Regan absorbed the first hit with his arms, which made no sense. How could he have blocked the hit of a sword?

Looking closer, I caught a glint of something metal. He must've had some kind of steel bracers hidden under his jacket that he was using as defence. Smart. And a testament to how strong he really was.

As he took the hit, Danny twirled to his other side and I saw the first man fall down at their feet. A small trail of blood gushing out from the wound on the back of his neck. He never even saw it coming.

With Regan skillfully blocking another hit from the side, and all of us watching the battle in front of us, I suddenly realised what was going on. Danny and Regan were fighting them off on their own so the rest of us could recover. Damn, that was smart.

I let out a small yelp as I realised the second man had somehow managed to get behind Regan's back. Just as I was about to yell a warning, Regan turned on his feet and swung up his arm to block the incoming hit. Before I well and truly realised what was happening, their second attacker was lying lifelessly on the cold ground.

They were good. As much as I admired Danny and Regan's skill, I feared them for it. I silently thanked the spirits I had taken good care of Aspen because these were not people you wanted to turn into your enemies. They proved that point with the massive pile of bodies around us.

It wasn't before long that the last man joined the rest of his fallen comrades and fell into his forever sleep.

With the chain rattling as they rolled it back up, the pair rejoined us. Danny wiped some dried blood from her forehead, but it looked like she barely broke a sweat. How she and Regan managed to fight together like this without even talking, was beyond me...

"Good job." Ashleigh nodded, and to my dismay, I had to agree. My eyes fell onto the gash on Ashleigh's forehead and the same searing anger as before welled up in my stomach. They had tried to take my mate away from me, they deserved to die. She was right. They had done a good job. Killing people, nonetheless. But yes, good job.

"Yes, nicely done," I blurted out, my voice only slightly shaky. I had to stop being a wimp and try and see this situation for what it was. There were people attacking us. People trying to kill my mates, my friends, and me. All I was doing was protection myself, protecting the ones I cared about. How could that be wrong? How could fighting to preserve life be wrong?

I balled my hands into fists, telling myself to woman up. This was no time to be the helpless little girl. I almost died today. I couldn't let them come that close to killing me again. I needed to figure out how to stop being a burden and start pulling my own weight. I was going to protect all of them, even if that meant taking a life from the other side.

"You need that?" I asked JP, pointing at the knife in his hand. The knife that had almost killed me earlier.

"T-This thing? No." He shook his head and threw me his spare dagger. I hadn't noticed earlier on how heavy the blade felt in my hands, but that had probably nothing to do with the actual weight. Before, it was a knife to protect me. Now, it was a blade to kill.

"Let's just hope you don't have to use it again," Ashleigh spoke softly, her hand reassuringly warm on my arm. I threw her a puzzled look, wondering how she always seemed to know the right thing to say.

She grinned. A rare smile in the middle of doom and death, but it lifted my spirits. It awoke my wolf. Ashleigh was here and she was okay. I would be okay. A calmness settled in and I felt the ball of stress in my stomach disintegrate. I wouldn't die today. She wouldn't let it happen. None of them would.

I glanced at all the men lurking in between the long shadows of the trees and just wished they would leave. That they realised how dangerous my friends were and turn around, to go home alive. But they didn't seem to care about the loss of their men. They didn't seem to need the numbers. The third man barely hit the ground and five more were running down towards us.

I wondered if Danny and Regan would keep on fighting or if someone else would take on the next group. Nobody really seemed to talk. They all seemed to know exactly who would do that, something that could only have grown by working closely together for years.

"I g-got this," JP confidently stuttered, swinging two short blades up in front of his face. I wondered where he got them from and how he was going to stop five men with swords, but I didn't need to worry.

As the men surrounded him, swift and fast, he danced around in his little circle. A swift jab here and a slash there, metal hitting metal, blood hitting ground. It was over before it even started. Five grown men fell almost at the same time as JP expertly shielded his blades in sheaths hidden under his shoulder blades. So that is where he kept them.

"D-Done."

"If they keep this up, we'll be dead before morning," Regan grunted, stretching his shoulder as Danny seemed to be rubbing his back. They were keeping up a brave act, but underneath Regan's stern face, I could tell he was concerned and tiring fast.

"If they keep coming in small groups like this, we can take them," Darren argued, polishing and cleaning his blade. His dark eyes were glittering with an emotion I couldn't exactly place but he seemed to be in his element.

"Depends on how many they send," Ashleigh sighed, tying up her own hair in a quick ponytail. Looks like they all meant business. I should probably tie my own hair up as well and avoid fiascos like before.

"Looks like we won't have to worry about small groups," Regan groaned, pointing upwards. As if the hills came to life, more men than I had expected suddenly charged towards us. There were easily twice as many men as the first wave and as skilled as my friends were, I doubted they could take on this many people.

JP and Darren looked ready for a fight, but both Danny and Regan seemed to be much more tired than they had let on. Ashleigh had a fierce look in her eyes, but I could tell her arms were already trembling from exhaustion. And Aspen? Aspen was still curled up in a ball, unable to stop shaking.

With my wolf roaring in my chest, I ran through the mud and wrapped myself around him. A hug to comfort him, to let him know he wasn't alone, to protect him. I had failed the first time, I wouldn't let it happen again. This time, I would make sure nobody touched Aspen until he was back to his cocky, cheeky self.

Covering his ears with my hands, I hoped I could keep spare him the noises of death. If he was already struggling with all the killing he had done, he didn't need to hear last words and cries as lives were ended for good right beside us.

---