Angel Lykos

I stared at Amelia's retreating form with tears in my eyes, Jared's hands around my waist were the only thing stopping me from running to her. Howls filled the air as wolves ran past us to chase her, her roars overpowering them as she tried to draw as much of them to her.

*"She will not buy you much time, the both of you have to leave now!"*

"No!"

Jared stroked my hair as I watched her dodging from side to side, almost getting overwhelmed by the swarm of wolves that tried to take her down.

"Amelia sacrificed herself for us to get help for all of them--"

"We will never make it back in time, Jared. Shadow Mountain is a two days journey at least, and by then there would be new guards searching for us... we have nothing left to hold on to. They have our Alpha, the Werecats' Alpha, and one of the strongest she-wolves known to us... we will be slaughtered before we even leave their borders...look!"

We held our breath as more wolves seemed to materialise in the forest, skirting around the clearing once more, sniffing the air in an attempt to catch our scent. Jared growled as they moved around us.

"They know that we are still here, Damien will keep pouring wolves into this forest until he smokes us out."

"And while we sit here, some many of our own are being tortured... within our grasps, but yet so far away."

I closed my eyes and tilted my head to the back, trying my best to suppress sobs, thinking to myself that if Amelia were to die... her last memory of me was going to be me screaming and blaming her. I opened my eyes to see the moon staring at me, mocking my sorrow with its beauty... its goddess was the reason we were in this mess in the first place. I opened my mouth to scream at it when I realised that it was my turn to make a sacrifice, one for the family that took me in.

I pushed myself out of Jared's arms and stood facing him, my hand trembling as I stared at my elongated claws.

"Angel, put your claws away---"

"Damien, Sappphire, and Xander all saw and received help from the Moon Goddess in their sleep, but we do not have that luxury right now, and I doubt she would spare the time for the rest of us... However, Sapphire once told me another time where she had seen the Moon Goddess..."

"Angel, no!"

Jared rushed towards me, and so did Maxwell and his wolves. It was as if time had suddenly slowed down, I smiled at their approaching forms as I raised my claws to my neck, closing my eyes as they tore through my flesh. My hand fell to my side as Jared finally reached me, gently lowering my down while stroking my eyes, his eyes wet with unshed tears as he pressed a kiss to my forehead and sobbed into my hair.

"You stupid, rash girl."

I smiled at his words before blood flew from my mouth as I choked, the thick liquid filling my throat, forcing its way into my lungs. I looked up at the sky as the world around me seemed to close up, the moon being the only thing that had not been swallowed by the darkness.

I entered this world without a family, I am not leaving it until the people that gave me one are safe.

My lungs screamed in pain as I rolled onto my side, the blood forcibly expelling itself from my body. My throat burned as I gulped down air, my hand clawing into the bark of the Black Pine as I pushed myself upright... Black Pine.

I sniffed the air and smiled in the relief to see myself in the forest of Shadow Mountain... I could not believe that it actually worked. I started to make my way to the stronghold when the cries of a child echoed through the forest. They grew louder as a little girl emerged from the dense foilage in front of me, her hands in her face as she was pursued by a group of young wolves, I hung my head as the unwanted memory resurfaced.

"I cannot believe that the Alpha actually took you in!"

"The only reason you are still alive is because you are a Lycan!"

My jaw clenched as I watched my younger self cower at the base of a tree, trembling as they advanced towards me. All I wanted was to belong, to prove my worth that I deserved to be called a Lykos. Hours were spent training and shadowing my adoptive parents so that I learned the mannerisms of the pack, but it never seemed to be enough for some who still saw me as an outsider.

A growl sounded through the forest, and it was now their time to cower as Xander came into view, his presence enough to bring them to their knees. They could not even raise their eyes to meet his as he glared down at them, their necks craning to the side in an act of submission.

"Leave."

A single word sent them running, tripping over themselves in an effort to distance themselves as far as possible from Xander. My younger self sniffled and turned away from him, utterly humiliated, but he did not say a word of what had just happened...

"Mother and Father caught some elk today, let's go home."

I watched with a smile on my face as he shifted and lowered himself so that I could clamber up his back. My loud shrieks of delight caused me to laugh as I watched Xander run, he hated the thought of anyone riding him like a horse but did so for me because he knew I loved it.

"Blood does not mean everything, does it?"

My neck popped as I turn my head abruptly to see the Moon Goddess herself standing before me... an etheral being with long white hair covered in small starlike diamonds, her face as pale as the moon itself. She smiled at me and moved towards me, her silver eyes sad as she placed her hand over my throat.

"What have you done, Angel?"

I knocked her hand aside and scoffed at her reproachable tone, Sapphire's hatred for her becoming clearer with each passing second.

"You left me no choice, you abandoned us! You left us to die at the hands of your mistake! You show yourself to the three of them but what about the rest of us? What about extending that care to the families that you have ripped a part?"

She gave me a sad smile as she turned away from me.

"I do not expect you to forgive---"

"I did not come here to hear a repetition of what you told Xander and Sapphire. If you want any semblence of forgiveness you will help me alert the Shadow Mountain Pack of what happened on the scouting trip, that they need to get to Blackwater as soon as possible."

She turned to face me once more, her eyes still sad as she gazed at my throat, my hand covering it instinctively.

"I can do that for you, Angel, but the price for what you have done will have to be collected one day... the change that you are about to go through with will cost you everything--"

"And I will lose everything if I do not. I know what I have done, and am willing to pay but only if all my family is safe."

Tears rolled down her cheeks as the sky aboved me darkened, lightning striking the ground as the Earth shook. I screamed as the ground below me started to crumble away, revealing an endless abyss below. My screams fell silent as my throat started to burn once more, the searing pain causing me to fall to my knees, my eyes wondering around helpess as the ground continue to crumble, leaving me on a lone piece of land.

"Howl, Angel, howl!"

I opened my mouth, but it was too late, the earth below me gave way, sending me into the Earth's open maw.The air did not howl as I fell through it... there was nothing but silence in the void. My heart started to race as the hole above me started to close, the ground patching up its wounds leaving me alone in silence.

I had to do this, I had to.

I closed my eyes and howled, but this time... it worked. My howl was clear and loud, the wind howled along with me as I heard trees creak under its might, carrying my howl through the wind. It seemed to go on forever before I finally opened my eyes to see Jared's surprised face. I panted as I threw my arms around him, taking in deep breaths to stop the spinning. He gently pushed me away, his hand reaching to stroke my throat, the wound I had inflicted on myself now healed over... leaving nothing but scars.

"What have you done, Angel?"

"I made a deal to save the people we love."