Celeste's cry distracted Kent, and it gave Byron a perfect chance to strike.
The Alpha punched Kent in the jaw and knocked him to the ground with a thud. He wasted no time and was on Kent in an instant, pinning the man's hands beneath his knees and clasping his hands together to keep him from fighting back.
Panting heavily, Kent struggled against Byron's weight, twisting and writhing under the larger man's grip. But his struggle was in vain.
"You stupid piece of trash! Let go of me!" Kent threatened through gritted teeth.
"Run, Cel!" Instead of responding to Kent's warning, Byron shouted at Celeste. Then he immediately snapped his attention back to Kent. The man was still struggling.
"No! I won't run!" said Celeste firmly as she stepped closer to Byron and Kent. "This is my pack, and you're my leader! How can I help, Byron?"
Byron growled, "You can't help! This is between him and me."
Kent attempted to pull his wrist away from Byron's grip, but Byron firmly crushed it against the ground, causing a hiss from the man.
"Go! Help others, Cel! I'll settle this with him." The Alpha gritted the words out of his teeth. He stared into Kent's eyes and said in a low voice, "It was not me, kiddo. You're looking for the wrong enemies!"
The tension in the air was palpable.
Kent was silent for a few seconds before he spat at Byron's face. His own face contorted into an expression of rage, and he gritted his teeth so hard that his jaw cracked. "Like hell, you fucking coward!"
While Byron was dodging, Kent threw him off his body. But he didn't stand up. Instead, he turned to his limbs and transformed into a massive black wolf in an instant, tearing his clothes apart as he did so.
The black wolf bared his teeth menacingly and growled at Byron, ready to pounce on him at any moment and rip out his throat with a savage force.
"Go! Go help the others!" This time, Byron didn't bother looking at Celeste. He kept his eyes fixed on Kent before leaping forward and transforming into a wolf himself.
The two wolves clashed, sinking their teeth into each other's flesh and slashing with wild abandon in a brutal combat of primal savagery. The sound of their snarls and growls echoed across the place as they fought tooth and nail, locked in an intense struggle for dominance.
Celeste knew that she couldn't help Byron. If she stayed here, she might even distract him.
A flicker of motion caught her attention and she glanced towards the corner of the room where members of her pack crouched in fearful silence. She knew what she should do.
As the chaotic frenzy of the sudden attack subsided, the pack gradually regained composure and summoned courage. The stronger werewolves stepped forward to fight back the enemies. Among them, Celeste saw Alan's father locked in combat with a brutal rogue who bore a scary scar across his face. From the look of it, the father was getting the better of his adversary as he landed ferocious blows on Scarface's broken defenses.
Celeste ran to the nearest corner where she found a girl hiding behind the sofa and crying with her head in the crook of her knees.
"Shh… Don't be frightened, Lucy. It's me. It's Celeste. I'll help you out," Celeste said softly and placed a gentle hand on Ludy's shoulder. The girl shivered when her hand landed on her, but she relaxed a little when hearing Celeste's voice. Lucy looked up from her knees.
"Can you walk, Lucy?" Celeste asked and was relieved to receive a nod from the girl. "Good. We'll go that way. We made it to that table, and you run into the woods. Got it?"
"What about you?" Lucy asked in a quiet voice.
"I need to help others. But as long as you make it out successfully, I can go to help the next family. And I will finally run away myself. So don't worry about me." She gave Lucy a gentle smile. "So, promise me. When you reach that table, you run as fast as you can. Okay?"
Lucy wiped tears off her face and nodded seriously, "Okay."
Celeste took Lucy to the table and watched her run into the woods. Luckily, the enemies were too busy in the fight to notice her. Celeste went to her next target.
But when she saw the woman shivering in the corner, her mouth twitched. She almost wanted to turn away, but she forced herself to stay. "Nancy Wolton…"
Surprised, Nancy snapped her head up at Celeste's voice. Soon, the surprise was replaced by awkwardness.
"What… What the fuck are you doing here, Straggler? This is my spot."
Celeste didn't know what to make of it. Why, Celeste wondered, at a time like this, the first thing this woman did was still to provoke her?
"Err… Sorry," Lucy said even more awkwardly. "It just slipped out. You can stay here if you want."
Celeste rolled her eyes. "Why do I want to stay here? And why are you staying here? Just run for your life! You can wolf out, right? Then wolf out and get the fuck out of this place!"
"But I was scared!" Nancy raised her voice a little. But when Celeste put a finger on her own mouth, Nancy lowered her voice into a whisper, "What if they caught me?"
Celeste resisted the urge to roll her eyes again. "Open your eyes and look around! The rogues were busy fighting our own. If you run, no one can catch up with you. Go in that direction." With that, Celeste pointed at the way.
"You sure you're not lying?"
Celeste sighed and huffed impatiently, "Suit yourself. I'm not wasting my time here."
"Fine. I'll go." Nancy turned around to leave. But she paused. She looked at Celeste and worried her lips.
"What now?" Celeste frowned.
"On second thought," said Nancy, "since you are here to help, I guess I can contribute, too."
Celeste really wanted to laugh at her comment. But it was not the time.
"Fine! You go that way, and I–"
"Dad!"
Before Celeste could finish her sentence, a heart-wrenching cry pierced through the air.
She turned her head and saw Alan running towards Scarface.