Post by Annelise on Dec 21, 2006 20:39:34 GMT
This one just came to me and wouldn't leave me alone. A lot of you have already read this, but I asked Lyn if I should post it here and she told me that I should, so... I decided to! XD
They were coming. How could this have happened? The pack was stronger than a ragtag group of rogues. At least, they had thought they were. In all fairness, the attack had come seemingly out of nowhere and they had not been ready for it. Even so, there were only a handful of attackers and yet the pack was finding it extremely hard to overcome them.
The leader of the band of male rogues had given the Alphas an ultimatum, but none had been foolish enough to actually believe it. He had said that if the pack turned over their territory and half of their females, the rest would be left alone. Even if the Alphas had believed what they were saying, they never would have given in. The Alphas and Betas had been the first killed…
Annelise stumbled, cursing a protruding root that had caught her foot. Running was not the fighter’s way, but what was left of the pack needed to regroup if they could. Suddenly, he was next to her, hurriedly helping her back to her feet, peering through the trees as he attempted to pinpoint the rogues who had obviously taken time to learn the layout of the land before challenging the pack’s claim on it.
“Almost there,” Adam Devonshire told her softly, his dark hair mussed and so different from its typical tidy state. “I haven’t been able to smell any of the others. Have you?”
“No. They have to be here, though,” Annelise told him just as softly, her blue eyes scanning the area ahead them while Adam’s dark ones took in what was behind them. “They all know where to go if we get separated.”
He gave a nod and tensed visibly as a twig cracked somewhere off to the left, sounding as loud as a gunshot. “We should keep moving.” He turned and, taking Annelise’s hand, started off at a run, making a beeline for what had been dubbed the Treasure Cave. In reality, it held a weapons cache so, in a way, it really was full of treasure.
With just three days separating them age-wise, Annelise and Adam had done everything together. They had played together as children, trained together when they had chosen to become pack fighters and patrolled together when it became necessary. They had been inseparable ever since they were children and now, running to regroup and hopefully figure out how to drive the trespassers from their land, it seemed only right that they were together. They were each others strength and weakness. They worked together effortlessly, knowing that if one could not accomplish a certain task, the other would find a way to.
“There,” Adam said in very clear relief when the entrance of the cave, hidden behind some rather wildly grown tree branches, came into their line of sight. “It’s been nearly an hour since we separated, so the rest of the sur- everyone else should be there.” He had caught himself before ‘survivors’ had been spoken. They had lost so many of their number in the hours since the fight had started. Both he and Annelise had lost their parents early on in the attack- his parents being the Betas and hers the pack’s top fighters. Neither could understand how the rogues had managed to cut their numbers so dramatically, but that was currently the least of their worries. They would hold proper funerals and mourn correctly once the fight was won and the rogues were dead. As things stood at the moment, there was little time to worry about anything that did not have to do with the fight they were currently losing.
Bursting through the tree branches, they startled the dozen others who were already there, everyone relaxing slightly when they realized who had just barged into their hiding place. As Adam released her hand, what Annelise saw made her anger at the rogues grow. There were no children present, nor any of the older pack members. Nor any males past Adam… It had been no secret what the rogues had intended- kill the males and take the females as breeders. But the children… If they were not there, then… The blonde fighter could not bring herself to think of their fate.
“Is this all?” Adam asked, looking at the females.
“Everyone else is dead,” someone answered. “All of the bodies are in the eastern field.”
The pack’s home had been a large, sprawling estate directly in the center of the woods they were now in. Fields had surrounded the large house, which had been burnt to the ground by the rogues and was likely still smoldering.
Adam cast Annelise a glance and she gave a nod. None of the others were fighters and right now, they needed someone to step up as a leader; Adam’s glance had asked her if she was up for the task. They would lead this group together. Become emergency Alphas.
The lone male immediately went into action, moving for the back of the rather shallow cave where the weapons were kept, Annelise moving quickly after him. “Arm yourselves. At least one revolver for everyone and be careful with the bullets. Don’t handle them without something to protect your hands. They are silver.” If there was one thing about the now deceased Alphas, it was that they had made sure there were weapons in the cache for every situation. “Forget about lack of training. If you can hold the thing, you can fire it. If you miss, someone else will make sure to get a good shot in and finish the job.”
As Adam easily removed the lid from one of the storage crates, Annelise could not help but note how the role of a leader fit him so well, and vice versa. She supposed that was what came from being the son of the Betas.
After a brief moment, Annelise moved to the container of bullets and pulled it open, peering inside before pulling out the waterproof container that held the bullets themselves; tugging the lid off that, she turned to the right and pulled the lid off another container, this one full of thin but protective gloves that would allow her to handle the silver bullets. Pulling on a pair, Annelise caught the revolver Adam threw her way and immediately began to load it, shutting the chamber when she was finished and passing it off to one of the others. This process continued for a few moments in silence until everyone was armed with two revolvers apiece. Hopefully, that would be more than enough to finish the job. Even so, the two fighters procured sheathed daggers from one of the other containers, strapping them on along with the holsters holding their revolvers.
“This is it,” Annelise said to the others gathered. “It’s time to make our stand and avenge those who have died during this thing. Help each other. Watch out for each other.” She was uncertain as to whether or not she should give this next order, but when she thought about all of those who had been lost, she knew it was the right way to go about things. “Take no prisoners. None of the rogues leave alive.”
There was a soft murmur, but everyone waited. It was up to Adam and Annelise to lead them into the final stage of this fight. Taking a step forward, ready to leave the cave and finish what others had started, Annelise was surprised when Adam caught her arm gently. She turned to him, curiosity clear in her eyes. “What is it, Adam? Is something wrong?”
“No. Not wrong. When… when this is over, would you… consider being more than friends?”
She looked at him in surprise. Was he asking her…? “Do- do you mean…?”
He gave a nod, looking shyer than she had ever seen him look before and, considering that they were over three centuries old, that was certainly saying something. “Mates?” His voice was soft. Tentative, almost as if he thought he was asking for far too much.
“Adam…” Annelise reached out and gently pushed a lock of ebony hair away from his forehead. When he met her eyes, she answered him in the most effective way she knew; she pressed forward and kissed him softly. It was hard to believe that something so good could come from a time of such darkness and despair. She could tell that he had not been expecting this particular means of answer, but he recovered quickly and returned the kiss.
After a few moments, they parted. “Can I take that as yes?”
“You most certainly can.” She stretched up and gave him another kiss, this one quick. “I think it’s time to finish this.”
“I think you may be right,” Adam agreed with a nod. “This fight has lasted too long already.” With that, they started for the mouth of the cave together, moving side by side, the others following them. As they exited, they found themselves facing six scruffy, dirty looking males, three of whom were in their human forms while the other three were facing them as wolves.
“We thought we were going to have to come in after you,” the leader said, his cold eyes taking in the group and finally settling on Adam. “You’ve got two choices, boy. You can join up with us and share in the pleasure of what we intend to take with us, or you can die.”
“I can think of a third and fourth choice,” Adam said, nonplussed. “You can turn around and leave, or you can die.”
The leader gave a bark of laughter and gave a signal to his followers that started the last leg of the fight. The six rogues attacked with a vengeance. Gunshots exploded, tearing apart the strange silence that had settled over the woods. No one was willing to go down without a fight.
One of the transformed rogues plowed into Annelise before she could draw any of her weapons, sending the female over backwards, giving a yell of pain as claws ripped into her right side and left hip, tearing flesh and drawing forth a rush of blood. She knew that they had not been intended as killing blows. If the rogue had wanted to kill her, she would have been dead as soon as she hit the ground. Giving a growl as her eyes went from blue to the somewhat washed out yellow of her wolf, Annelise reached up and put both hands against the broad chest of the rogue, pushing with all of her might and attempting to turn over onto her side in hopes of dislodging the large male. Before she had the chance to accomplish her goals, the rogue was tackled from the side and toppled sideways, freeing her to scramble to her feet, leaving large puddles of blood where she had been as Adam rolled deftly to his feet and put two bullets into the rogue’s brain.
Annelise gave a nod of gratitude and pulled both of her own guns, turning and squeezing off a shot with each, causing two of the other rogues to fall dead. With that done, she returned the guns to their holsters and raced forward, drawing the dagger as she moved. Raising it high, she let it fall with deadly accuracy, the blade plunging directly into the rogue’s heart.
“Enough!” Annelise turned towards the voice and felt her heart drop. While five of the rogues were now dead, one having been killed by bullets from one of the non-fighters, their leader was still alive and he had Adam. The other male was on his knees in the fallen leaves that blanketed the floor of the woods, a wicked looking, thick bladed knife at his throat. “I have to admit, this is the first time I’ve found myself impressed since coming here. You happen to be very good at what you do. That much is obvious. But him…” he indicated Adam, “he could use some more training.” With that, he dragged the blade across Adam’s throat, effectively slitting it before plunging the dagger down and into his heart.
“No!” Annelise had failed to recognize her own voice sounding out, even as she pulled both revolvers again and emptied them into the rogue leader, the silver doing its job effectively. He was dead before he hit the ground.
With a sound that she did not realize was a sob, Annelise dropped her weapons and raced over to Adam, dropping to her knees and turning him over as she pulled out the dagger, which she immediately tossed aside. “No, no. Please, no.” She was trembling and, vaguely, she could hear the others behind her, grateful that they were keeping their distance. So much had happened in so short a time. This was the breaking point, though. Annelise had now lost everyone she had ever loved. Bending forward at the waist, her own injuries forgotten, she rested her forehead on Adam’s still chest and did something that she had not done since she was a child: she cried.
~~~~~~~
They were coming. How could this have happened? The pack was stronger than a ragtag group of rogues. At least, they had thought they were. In all fairness, the attack had come seemingly out of nowhere and they had not been ready for it. Even so, there were only a handful of attackers and yet the pack was finding it extremely hard to overcome them.
The leader of the band of male rogues had given the Alphas an ultimatum, but none had been foolish enough to actually believe it. He had said that if the pack turned over their territory and half of their females, the rest would be left alone. Even if the Alphas had believed what they were saying, they never would have given in. The Alphas and Betas had been the first killed…
Annelise stumbled, cursing a protruding root that had caught her foot. Running was not the fighter’s way, but what was left of the pack needed to regroup if they could. Suddenly, he was next to her, hurriedly helping her back to her feet, peering through the trees as he attempted to pinpoint the rogues who had obviously taken time to learn the layout of the land before challenging the pack’s claim on it.
“Almost there,” Adam Devonshire told her softly, his dark hair mussed and so different from its typical tidy state. “I haven’t been able to smell any of the others. Have you?”
“No. They have to be here, though,” Annelise told him just as softly, her blue eyes scanning the area ahead them while Adam’s dark ones took in what was behind them. “They all know where to go if we get separated.”
He gave a nod and tensed visibly as a twig cracked somewhere off to the left, sounding as loud as a gunshot. “We should keep moving.” He turned and, taking Annelise’s hand, started off at a run, making a beeline for what had been dubbed the Treasure Cave. In reality, it held a weapons cache so, in a way, it really was full of treasure.
With just three days separating them age-wise, Annelise and Adam had done everything together. They had played together as children, trained together when they had chosen to become pack fighters and patrolled together when it became necessary. They had been inseparable ever since they were children and now, running to regroup and hopefully figure out how to drive the trespassers from their land, it seemed only right that they were together. They were each others strength and weakness. They worked together effortlessly, knowing that if one could not accomplish a certain task, the other would find a way to.
“There,” Adam said in very clear relief when the entrance of the cave, hidden behind some rather wildly grown tree branches, came into their line of sight. “It’s been nearly an hour since we separated, so the rest of the sur- everyone else should be there.” He had caught himself before ‘survivors’ had been spoken. They had lost so many of their number in the hours since the fight had started. Both he and Annelise had lost their parents early on in the attack- his parents being the Betas and hers the pack’s top fighters. Neither could understand how the rogues had managed to cut their numbers so dramatically, but that was currently the least of their worries. They would hold proper funerals and mourn correctly once the fight was won and the rogues were dead. As things stood at the moment, there was little time to worry about anything that did not have to do with the fight they were currently losing.
Bursting through the tree branches, they startled the dozen others who were already there, everyone relaxing slightly when they realized who had just barged into their hiding place. As Adam released her hand, what Annelise saw made her anger at the rogues grow. There were no children present, nor any of the older pack members. Nor any males past Adam… It had been no secret what the rogues had intended- kill the males and take the females as breeders. But the children… If they were not there, then… The blonde fighter could not bring herself to think of their fate.
“Is this all?” Adam asked, looking at the females.
“Everyone else is dead,” someone answered. “All of the bodies are in the eastern field.”
The pack’s home had been a large, sprawling estate directly in the center of the woods they were now in. Fields had surrounded the large house, which had been burnt to the ground by the rogues and was likely still smoldering.
Adam cast Annelise a glance and she gave a nod. None of the others were fighters and right now, they needed someone to step up as a leader; Adam’s glance had asked her if she was up for the task. They would lead this group together. Become emergency Alphas.
The lone male immediately went into action, moving for the back of the rather shallow cave where the weapons were kept, Annelise moving quickly after him. “Arm yourselves. At least one revolver for everyone and be careful with the bullets. Don’t handle them without something to protect your hands. They are silver.” If there was one thing about the now deceased Alphas, it was that they had made sure there were weapons in the cache for every situation. “Forget about lack of training. If you can hold the thing, you can fire it. If you miss, someone else will make sure to get a good shot in and finish the job.”
As Adam easily removed the lid from one of the storage crates, Annelise could not help but note how the role of a leader fit him so well, and vice versa. She supposed that was what came from being the son of the Betas.
After a brief moment, Annelise moved to the container of bullets and pulled it open, peering inside before pulling out the waterproof container that held the bullets themselves; tugging the lid off that, she turned to the right and pulled the lid off another container, this one full of thin but protective gloves that would allow her to handle the silver bullets. Pulling on a pair, Annelise caught the revolver Adam threw her way and immediately began to load it, shutting the chamber when she was finished and passing it off to one of the others. This process continued for a few moments in silence until everyone was armed with two revolvers apiece. Hopefully, that would be more than enough to finish the job. Even so, the two fighters procured sheathed daggers from one of the other containers, strapping them on along with the holsters holding their revolvers.
“This is it,” Annelise said to the others gathered. “It’s time to make our stand and avenge those who have died during this thing. Help each other. Watch out for each other.” She was uncertain as to whether or not she should give this next order, but when she thought about all of those who had been lost, she knew it was the right way to go about things. “Take no prisoners. None of the rogues leave alive.”
There was a soft murmur, but everyone waited. It was up to Adam and Annelise to lead them into the final stage of this fight. Taking a step forward, ready to leave the cave and finish what others had started, Annelise was surprised when Adam caught her arm gently. She turned to him, curiosity clear in her eyes. “What is it, Adam? Is something wrong?”
“No. Not wrong. When… when this is over, would you… consider being more than friends?”
She looked at him in surprise. Was he asking her…? “Do- do you mean…?”
He gave a nod, looking shyer than she had ever seen him look before and, considering that they were over three centuries old, that was certainly saying something. “Mates?” His voice was soft. Tentative, almost as if he thought he was asking for far too much.
“Adam…” Annelise reached out and gently pushed a lock of ebony hair away from his forehead. When he met her eyes, she answered him in the most effective way she knew; she pressed forward and kissed him softly. It was hard to believe that something so good could come from a time of such darkness and despair. She could tell that he had not been expecting this particular means of answer, but he recovered quickly and returned the kiss.
After a few moments, they parted. “Can I take that as yes?”
“You most certainly can.” She stretched up and gave him another kiss, this one quick. “I think it’s time to finish this.”
“I think you may be right,” Adam agreed with a nod. “This fight has lasted too long already.” With that, they started for the mouth of the cave together, moving side by side, the others following them. As they exited, they found themselves facing six scruffy, dirty looking males, three of whom were in their human forms while the other three were facing them as wolves.
“We thought we were going to have to come in after you,” the leader said, his cold eyes taking in the group and finally settling on Adam. “You’ve got two choices, boy. You can join up with us and share in the pleasure of what we intend to take with us, or you can die.”
“I can think of a third and fourth choice,” Adam said, nonplussed. “You can turn around and leave, or you can die.”
The leader gave a bark of laughter and gave a signal to his followers that started the last leg of the fight. The six rogues attacked with a vengeance. Gunshots exploded, tearing apart the strange silence that had settled over the woods. No one was willing to go down without a fight.
One of the transformed rogues plowed into Annelise before she could draw any of her weapons, sending the female over backwards, giving a yell of pain as claws ripped into her right side and left hip, tearing flesh and drawing forth a rush of blood. She knew that they had not been intended as killing blows. If the rogue had wanted to kill her, she would have been dead as soon as she hit the ground. Giving a growl as her eyes went from blue to the somewhat washed out yellow of her wolf, Annelise reached up and put both hands against the broad chest of the rogue, pushing with all of her might and attempting to turn over onto her side in hopes of dislodging the large male. Before she had the chance to accomplish her goals, the rogue was tackled from the side and toppled sideways, freeing her to scramble to her feet, leaving large puddles of blood where she had been as Adam rolled deftly to his feet and put two bullets into the rogue’s brain.
Annelise gave a nod of gratitude and pulled both of her own guns, turning and squeezing off a shot with each, causing two of the other rogues to fall dead. With that done, she returned the guns to their holsters and raced forward, drawing the dagger as she moved. Raising it high, she let it fall with deadly accuracy, the blade plunging directly into the rogue’s heart.
“Enough!” Annelise turned towards the voice and felt her heart drop. While five of the rogues were now dead, one having been killed by bullets from one of the non-fighters, their leader was still alive and he had Adam. The other male was on his knees in the fallen leaves that blanketed the floor of the woods, a wicked looking, thick bladed knife at his throat. “I have to admit, this is the first time I’ve found myself impressed since coming here. You happen to be very good at what you do. That much is obvious. But him…” he indicated Adam, “he could use some more training.” With that, he dragged the blade across Adam’s throat, effectively slitting it before plunging the dagger down and into his heart.
“No!” Annelise had failed to recognize her own voice sounding out, even as she pulled both revolvers again and emptied them into the rogue leader, the silver doing its job effectively. He was dead before he hit the ground.
With a sound that she did not realize was a sob, Annelise dropped her weapons and raced over to Adam, dropping to her knees and turning him over as she pulled out the dagger, which she immediately tossed aside. “No, no. Please, no.” She was trembling and, vaguely, she could hear the others behind her, grateful that they were keeping their distance. So much had happened in so short a time. This was the breaking point, though. Annelise had now lost everyone she had ever loved. Bending forward at the waist, her own injuries forgotten, she rested her forehead on Adam’s still chest and did something that she had not done since she was a child: she cried.