C8 Drex Saves Lyra

She did something that no human being had ever done in decades in the town.

Drex glanced at Darken. Darken’s face was white as chalk. Green-yellow fire sparked in his eyes. His lips twitched. The muscles around his jaw tightened. His hands clenched into fists, veins standing out in his arms. He stood, body quivering with furious rage. It was obvious he couldn’t believe what the huntress had done to one of his boys.

Drex suppressed a naughty grin that threatened to slip through his lips.

Just then, he heard noises and turned his eyes away from Darken to see the remaining wolves creeping menacingly towards the huntress. Their razor-sharp fangs were bared. It was apparent they were about to strike again.

He dragged his eyes to the huntress. She wasn’t moving. At all. Sudden fear gripped him. Was she dead?

Then his super hearing picked up the rhythmic beat of her heartbeat. His body relaxed. She probably passed out. That must be it. No normal human could have killed a big, aggressive wolf in that manner and not pass out from the extreme stress of it.

Well, after all, he told himself, why should he even care about her? What happens to her is not my business, he reasoned. It wasn’t even his business in the first place. She’s a huntress. A formidable and highly trained enemy. And even still, he had tried his best to warn her. He had warned her never to engage Darken in a fight.

As an Alpha, by warning her—protecting a huntress—he had shattered the first howl. He had broken one of the ancient laws of wolf combat laid down by the first wolves. If his pack found out, they would look at him with disgrace. They could even begin to doubt his leadership skills and stop believing in his ability to lead as an Alpha.

This was not my fight, he said to himself as he turned to slip into the darkness.

And yet, he found he couldn’t leave her. That feeling—the same intense, unexplainable magnificence that had brought him to the bar this cold night—was pulling at his heart again. Burning him inside furiously like fire. To protect this huntress.

This is a dangerous enemy of his. To defend her from the Greyhoof pack, who, though enemies of his, still shared his lineage and blood with him.

Oh, you poor bastard! He cursed himself. You fucking loser. You don’t even know her! Can’t you just fucking go away? Run away like a coward. Crawl if you may. Just go! Leave her!

And instead of listening to those wild, impulsive thoughts, he found himself walking purposefully towards the creeping wolves. His head held high. Face tightened. Shoulders bunched. Hands clenched into fists. His warm whiskey eyes burned molten gold, glowing like a hot, blazing liquid fire, ready to blast anything in its path. Claws were bursting savagely through his fingertips.

The wolves saw Drex approaching. They all stopped at once. In their merciless green-yellow eyes was the shadow of fear. The glowing balls of Drex's eyes terrified them. They watched stupidly as Drex planted himself between the unconscious huntress on the ground and them.

“If you come near her, I will tear you all apart.” His voice snapped like a whip.

Startled, the wolves dashed away to hide behind Darken. Absolute terror filled their green-yellow eyes.

Darken, still fuming with anger at how Lyra had killed one of his wolf crew, didn’t believe what he was seeing. The huntress had shocked him by killing one of his own. But what Drex was doing right now was another, added shock. Something totally… unthinkable.

He was confused.

“What the hell are you doing, Drex? What’s this?”

Drex said nothing. Green-yellow fire blazed in Darken’s eyes.

“Will you step away so my wolves can have their ways with her?” he shouted.

Drex folded his arms. An expression of fierce determination appeared on his tightened face. His eyes kept burning a hot, golden fire.

“No one touches the huntress,” he growled, and his voice echoed frightfully around the night. “No one touches her! Darken, take your dogs and get the hell out of here. If you don’t, you know what I can do. Don’t push me this night. That’s a warning.”

“Wait… what… are you doing?” Darken stammered. “What the fuck is on your mind? Have you gone crazy? Are you trying to protect her? Are you protecting her from us?”

Drex said nothing. Darken looked totally confused. His green-yellow eyes stared coldly at Drex, then shifted to the huntress, then back to Drex. He was trying to understand… to understand what the fuck was happening.

He stiffened as a sudden realization hit him.

“You already liked her!” he announced, not even believing his own words. “You dumb fuck. You liked her. That’s it. That must be it. You’ve fallen for her. That’s why you are protecting her from us.”

A look of raw disbelief, disappointment, and disgust crossed his face.

“I don’t believe this. How could you?” he said, abashed. “You’ve made a grave mistake, man. You spared her life! You shattered the first howl—wolves don’t protect those who hunt them—it’s unheard of.”

His face had become dark with fury.

“You know what you’ve done? You just signed the death warrant for every wolf in this town. No one is safe. Not you. Not me. Not your pack. You spared her—and we’ll bleed for it. Every last one of us. War is coming.”

And with that, Darken let out a slow, deep whistle and slipped away into the darkness. His gang of wolves, snarling and howling, ran after him.

After he was gone, his warnings, like thick, cold smoke, hung in the air. Unknown to Darken, the burning hatred he had for Lyra now was destined to turn into love, then spiral into a dark, consuming, obsessive lust.