We are together in the dining room. It’s quiet, but everyone is weary and exhausted after this morning’s ordeal. Everyone has been watching me like a hawk throughout the day. Beth serves us dinner, and my Dad gives me a look after I have been pushing my food around for a while with my fork. I begin to eat my food, and he nods. I manage to eat over half my meal. It’s the most I’ve been able to eat for a long time. I place my fork down and stare at my wrists as I caress my thumbs over the scars. Theo is sitting next to me and frowns at the scars but doesn’t say anything.
With everyone now finished dinner, I stand. ‘I’m very tired, and you probably are all tired too. I’m going to go to bed,’ I say, leaving the hall. As I enter my room, Amara rushes in behind me.
‘Amara?’
‘Lylah,’ she says, rubbing her arm nervously. ‘It would give me peace of mind if you would allow me to sleep in your room with you tonight?’
‘Amara,’ I sigh, ‘I’m not going to… you know,’ I say, unable to finish the sentence.
‘I-I know, but,’ she bursts into tears and lunges at me and hugs me, ‘ I was so scared I was never going to see you again this morning, and it’s been over four months since we’ve spoken. I’ve missed you. I miss having you around, and you gave me such a scare this morning.’
‘Fine, you can sleep in my room, but only tonight.’
‘Thank you!’ she says, leaps onto my bed, and hops under the covers. I roll my eyes at her. Someone knocks at the door. I answer it to see Theo with his hands behind his back.
‘Theo, don’t tell me you want to crash the night in my room too?’ I ask.
He looks over my shoulder to see Amara in my bed with a big grin on her face.
‘Actually, I was thinking about the scars on your wrists and know it’s something you wouldn’t want others to see, just like the ones on your back you hide.’
I stiffen and become uncomfortable at him mentioning them. The horrible reminder I have to see each morning and evening and every time I change and bathe. I never walk around anymore in my tank top or shirts with thin straps unless I have one of my hoodies over the top so no one can see the scars.
‘I thought about getting you some bracelets to help cover them up, but I know that jewellery isn’t your style. So, I thought you might like to wear these each day instead?’ he says, pulling leather bracers out from behind his back.
‘Theo,’ I say, taking them. ‘These are your favourite set of bracers. You’ve had these for so many years, and you wear them every time you practise archery.’
‘Yeah, well, I always thought they gave me luck. So, I want you to have them. Besides, Mother has been complaining she never sees me wear the ones she bought me last year for my birthday.’
‘Thank you,’ I say, forming a small smile.
Theo smiles, nods and walks away. I place the bracers on the table where my knives are and notice the dagger Micah gave me is there. I’m grateful my parents never kept it from me, although I can imagine it wasn’t an easy decision for them. It would have been because they knew Micah made it for me and that I wouldn’t be able to part with it. It’s been thoroughly cleaned and sharpened. I could recognise my father’s work any day.
I climb into bed, Amara cuddles right up to my back, and we fall asleep. I dream the same nightmare I have each night of Micah’s death and wake up early in the morning to Amara shaking me. I sit up, drenched in sweat.
‘You were having a nightmare, Lylah. You were thrashing your arms around, yelling. Then, you hit me in the face… twice,’ she frowns.
‘I’m so sorry, Amara.’
‘You couldn’t help it. Do you have these nightmares often?’ she asks.
I nod, ‘The same one, every night since Micah….’
‘That’s terrible, Lylah. You are suffering enough not having Micah here but reliving it again each night. I wish there were something I could do. Perhaps Kayla might have a potion that will stop the nightmares?’ she suggests.
I shrug and get out of my bed and walk towards my bathroom. ‘I’m going to have a bath. I’ll see you afterwards at breakfast.’
‘Okay,’ she replies, and I close the bathroom door behind me, strip my clothes and look over my shoulder at the long thick scars down my back. I place a towel over the mirror to avoid looking at my scars and hop into the bath, only to stare down at the new ones on my wrists. I feel ugly and ashamed of myself. I realise I’ll never be beautiful, and these horrible scars would make anyone cringe. No one would ever want a wolfless hybrid, especially one covered in scars with a broken soul.
I am now dressed in black pants with a matching crop top. I put my favourite hoodie on, but I keep it unzipped. I tuck my beloved dagger in my belt, push the sleeves of my hoodie up, and place the bracers on. I pull on the thin leather straps and tie the ends together, so the bracers remain firmly gripped to my forearms. Ready for the day, I walk downstairs to join everyone for breakfast.
Everyone is surprised but relieved to see me walk into the dining hall. They all smile at my presence. I knew if I tried to stay in my room or lock the door, Dad would only break it down and drag me down here for breakfast. I take the seat next to Theo.
‘The bracers suit you. They also look better on you than on me,’ Theo smiles.
Leo stands up and walks to the large window as we finish breakfast.
‘Is that Alpha Greg and the warriors? He must have left half of them behind to continue searching for the vampires,’ he says.
We all join Leo and stare out the window. Alpha Greg looks hagged and worn along with the few warriors he has with him.
‘I don’t have a very good feeling about this,’ my father says and exits the dining hall to greet Alpha Greg.
We wait in the hall until Alpha Greg enters and sits with the warriors. They all look tired and worn out.
My father enters behind them. ‘Beth will bring you all some food and refreshments,’ he says.
‘Thank you,’ Alpha Greg replies. ‘Unfortunately, I have returned with terrible news. We thought we had found a lead a few nights ago and followed it, but it turned out to be a trap. We were cornered, and a vampire with dark hair and a black cape appeared. It seemed he was the only vampire at the time. So we weren’t too worried at first, but then he told us to bow down and pledge our allegiance to him. We laughed, of course; he became furious and emitted a black mist from his hands, and large dark shadows appeared. They were so fast, and their eyes were red. We think they were more vampires. We were attacked from all directions. As soon as we managed to kill a vampire, it instantly disappeared, only to reappear a moment later. Over half the warriors were killed. The rest of us only managed to get away. We returned to the area the next day, and all the warriors had been drained of blood with two holes pierced in their necks and were all dismembered. We buried them before the humans could find them.’
Everyone is silent from shock, processing the horrible news. My breathing intensifies and becomes heavy. Everyone stares at me. I slam my fist down onto the table in rage and scream.
‘I’m going to find those bastards and kill every one of them until they no longer exist!’
‘Lylah, these vampires are much quicker than us and seem to wield some kind of power we have never seen or dealt with before. Defeating them is going to take more than us. We will have to organise more packs to join us to fight them, and we will need more than wolves to help us,’ he says.
‘What else could help us?’ my father asks.
Alpha Greg looks to my Mother and Kayla, ‘Magic, and as much as we can get,’ he says. ‘I suggest you train as many pack members as possible each day to improve their strength and agility. Contact as many packs as you can. Have them do the same and be on standby. We will head out and hunt them down together as soon as we find the location or a lead to where the vampires reside. Then, hopefully, with Kayla and Hope’s magic and more wolves, we can defeat them.’
Everyone agrees to the plan.
Beth enters and serves food and drink to Alpha Greg and the warriors. I walk to the serving trolley, pile some food onto my plate, sit back at the table, and eat.
‘You just had breakfast,’ Leo says.
I swallow my mouth full of food. ‘I need to eat all the food I can, in order to start training each day and get my strength and fighting skills back on track for when it’s time to kill the vampires,’ I explain.
My father looks at me, ‘Lylah, I’m sorry, but you’re not going to go with us. You won’t be able to keep up without a wolf, and unfortunately, you don’t have magic either.’
I drop the food I hold onto my plate, stand and look him in the eyes.
‘I’m a good fighter, one of the best around, and you know it! I will be going whether you like it or not, but it’s your choice if I go with you or if I go alone,’ I say firmly and storm out of the hall, not giving him a chance to reply.