Wulven [A Different Wolf Novel]

Chapter 13 | Crossroads III

The forest turns to pitch black as a cloud covers the full moon.

Uncertain of where or how to find Helen, Jake ‌defies his apprehension and enters the dark woodland.

Suddenly, he hears gunshots echoing.

"Helen...", he whispers.

Following the direction of the gunshot sound, he cautiously threads the forest. Not knowing what to expect, he pushes on hoping Helen is safe.

Suddenly, he hears snarls and growls. He quickly turns off his flashlight, hides behind a tree, and scans his surroundings.

Up ahead appears to be a skirmish between three to four wolves. Humanoid wolves. Wulvens to be exact. The black ones are viciously attacking a lone crimson wulven. Behind the crimson beast, he sees a teenage girl. She seems to be protecting her.

Just a few feet away from him, he notices a bloodied man in black lying on his back. In his hand is a gun. Jake cautiously crawls to the man and quickly grabs the weapon.

He hastily moves to another tree to take cover. He takes another peek and sees that the crimson beast is pushing away the girl while staving off the beasts in front of them.

One of the black wulven jumps towards the crimson beast and tries to snap at her. She immediately lifts her arm to protect herself and slashes back at it.

As the beasts skirmish, the crimson wulven suddenly pushes the girl so hard that she is sent a good distance away.

The other bigger wulven tries to jump at the girl, but the crimson beast suddenly grabs its shin and slams it into a nearby tree.

The third wulven jumps at the crimson beast and bites her shoulder. She yelps in pain as another one bites her legs and pulls at it.

"She's outnumbered! I gotta help her..."

Jake, with his back against the tree, reloads his gun and gets ready to shoot. He barely notices that the girl he saw with the crimson wulven earlier is running towards him, likewise oblivious to his presence in the forest's darkness.

Just as he comes out of the tree to shoot, she bumps into him with such force that they both tumble to the ground.

"Wha-, who are you?!", the girl gasps in shock.

Jake scrambles to stand and helps her up.

"Hey, 'you alright?"

Hesitant, she quickly backs off him.

"I'm Jake. Jake Shields. Look, I mean you no harm..."

One of the black wulvens suddenly appears, snarling and ready to take a snap at them.

Y'know, I really like where my head is right now and if you'd like that too, we should get going...", says Jake as he forcefully pulls on her hand and runs.

"Little wolf, I'm coming for you and your boyfriend!", a growly voice thunders from behind them.

She gasps and holds on tighter to his hand, trying to run as fast as he is. Her lungs feel like burning as she tries to bury the tears in.

Pulling his gun, Jakes shoots at it. The beast easily dodges the bullets and becomes even more unrelenting in its pursuit.

Jake's grip tightens as he steers her to a sharp left,

"Almost there!"

Reaching his car, he quickly jumps into its open door window, turning the ignition on and revving it up even before she has closed the door.

"The beast!! It's almost-", she exclaims, seeing the black wulven gaining on them.

"Here we go!"

He quickly reverses the car off the tree line. The tires squeal as he swiftly gearshifts forward into the road and rolls out.

The black wulven chases after them ‌growling, roaring in rage.

"That mutt never gives up." Jake deadpans as he looks at the rearview mirror.

He quickly shifts to the fourth gear and steps on the gas, putting a huge gap between them and the beast.

Taking in a big breath, she feels a big lump rising again at the back of her throat. She tries her best to push it back but she couldn't stop the returning onslaught of tears.

"No, you don't get to break down now. I need you to have a clear head if we're to survive this."

She blows out a shaky breath, wiping her tears off her face with both hands.

A black van suddenly appears and blocks them from the left. He quickly jerks the vehicle to the right, making her grab onto her seat.

She looks at this guy beside her, not even knowing who he really is, quietly muttering under his breath,

"Bloody creatures just won't stop..."

Another van suddenly joins in the chase.

"Wow, they're bringing out everything they've got. Hold on, they're blocking us again."

She steels herself at how fast he's going. She feels they're going to crash, but he turns at the last moment, causing the car right beside them and the one behind to collide.

They slow down and pull over at a safe distance. They see both vans in total wreckage. No one would have survived that.

She sees him glance at the rearview mirror as he suddenly changes gears, stepping on the gas. The tires squeal against the asphalt and a sounding roar echoes behind them.

Out of the toppled vehicles, Mr. Jones and his men crawl out. He is badly wounded with his right arm dislocated. Throwing his fist downward, his arm straightens like nothing happened. He wipes the blood off his eyebrows as the grievous wound across his face instantly heals.

His phone suddenly ringing, he picks it up,

"Y-yes M'lady...m-my apologies...t-they, they got away..."

His voice trembling, Mr. Jones sweats profusely as the person on the phone speaks.

"Y-yes M'lady, I will find them, by all means, I-"

The phone call suddenly drops.

Mr Jones crushes his phone in anger and swipes at a nearby tree, pieces of it exploding to bits. He roars so loudly in frustration that his men look away in fear.

"Find them! Don't leave a single stone unturned!"

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