Chapter 6. Rogues

"Are you asleep?" Ysabelle asked her. Eirisse's body became loose and fell forward but Ysa caught her before she fell. 'Was she sick?' She held her body carefully and sat beside her, hugging her next to her to prevent her from falling off again. She had fainted.

They were halfway there when the carriage suddenly started shaking and the horse nickered in a scared manner. 'What the...' Ysabelle took a deep inhale and noticed an unknown scent, a creature that she had not met before.

A pair of howls made Ysabelle freeze. Logan was not near this area, so who the hell were they? She hoped the driver would go faster regardless of the bumpy road.

The carriage then stopped abruptly, the driver let out a painful scream, meaning he was probably now dead and they were next. Ysabelle looked at Eirisse, she was still out. The penetrating smell of blood hit her delicate nose making her grimace in disgust.

She looked through the glass and noticed that four rogues were surrounding the carriage. Her canines started to come out involuntarily at the threat, her canines ached at the change but she managed it. She had never come cross with rogues in her entire life, so what was she supposed to do? Logan is the one to take care of things since she was still new to the pack and she always helped to hide the women and children when things like these happened.

She felt so useless right now, she just hoped they did not hear her rapid heartbeat. Being a shapeshifter had its advantages, if she desired she could change into a werewolf, but then the disadvantage, she had to be fully concentrated at that moment. How would she take Eirisse with her at the exact moment of her shift?

She immediately mind-linked Ethan, if he was home it would be faster for him to reach them. The pack was farther away from here and it would be too late by the time he gets here.

Ethan. Answer me. It's urgent. We are surrounded by rogues.

Silence.

Did he turn off his mind-link? She sighed with expiration when she needed him the most…

Where are you? He answered back in a worried tone. Phew, he is linked.

We are ten minutes away from town, the old road. You better hurry, we're still in the carriage and-

She was not able to finish when the door to their right started opening. It made her stop mind-linking Ethan, her concentration was on Eirisse again. Ysabelle hugged Eirisse tighter and stared at the door as it paused. She looked to her left side and slowly, trying not to make a sound, she took hold of the handle.

The small ravine looked painful through the window, but it was better than being attacked by rogues. They were heartless and only the Goddess knows why they were here. They were wild beasts that abandoned their humanity even before leaving a pack. Heartless and lethal.

A low growl came from beside her, but she did not turn around. She squeezed her eyes tight and gulped silently before letting out a silent breath. Her hand turned the handle silently, ready to open it if it attacked. It gave her a louder growl, making her turn her head slowly towards it, beads of sweat started forming on her temple as her breathing gave a little heave. She opened her eyes and looked at the massive wolf's head peeking into the carriage.

They locked eyes for a brief second before its' eyes landed on Eirisse's limp body next to her. Ysabelle froze, her mind was racing as she looked down at Eirisse and back at the rogue. Its gaze was penetrating her as if it could see her soul. A sudden adrenaline rush overcame her.

Hurry up! She cried with all my might inside her head through the mind-link, hoping Ethan would bring more werewolves with him as a backup. She had forgotten about him for a second, because now, Eirisse was her target she realized.

The giant dark-brown wolf, which would barely fit inside the carriage, growled loudly and threw itself at her, scratching part of her right arm and part of Eirisse's. It got stuck inside the carriage and she took that as an advantage to open the left door and closed her eyes. The wolf's waist got stuck and was trying to get out and after them, but it couldn't. Thank the Goddess carriages were made for human forms. The bad thing was that there were three more rogues on her trail.

She wrapped her arms and body around Eirisse's smaller form as she jumped out of the carriage and into the air. This was going to be painful, but she knew she would heal. She might not a natural werewolf like her father, but she had healing abilities in her genes thanks to him. If she shifted into something bigger to protect Eirisse, it would take longer for her to heal unfortunately, her energy had its limits.

Her body hit the ground a few yards below the road and fully shifted into a werewolf, but she started rolling and rolling, hitting sharp rocks and tree branches. She tried to open her eyes to see if any of the rogues were following, but every time she tried, she would hurt her huge body in a new area, making her wince in the process; she had probably broken some bones by now.

Eirisse groaned in pain under her. Ysabelle was doing her best to not hurt her, but it was becoming more difficult. She bumped into an enormous rock, making them fly in the air and making her let go of Eirisse's body. She pushed her body to reach her arm but gravity was not in their favor at that moment.

Her eyes widened, frightened of how injured her body will end up after this, if she survived, she had to; whatever powers she had, they had to help her now. She may be a witch, but apparently, she had no knowledge of magic, so she could not heal herself yet, she was just a powerless human. Witches were more human than any other creature, physically anyways.

Ysabelle hit the ground first, her beastly body stopped rolling thanks to a tree. She turned to look down before her towards her new friend and Eirisse's body landed with a loud thud and a breaking sound she did not like at all. Her panicked eyes were as wide as an anime character's, frightened for her life, her heart was out of beat and her breath hitched, she had never had a female friend like Eirisse, she knew they would become closer, she liked her.

Her body was still rolling down, regardless of the painful bumping on rocks every now and then. She almost reached the little stream at the bottom, becoming smaller and farther away from her. Good thing she was already unconscious, or else Ysabelle wouldn't like to hear her scream. She would have already passed down either way.

Ysabelle let out a painful howl, hoping her pack would hear her when suddenly howls responded in the distance. Ethan!

She laid her head down on the ground, relieved he got there on time. She let out a deep breath, not realizing she had been holding it for a while.

Loud, heavy animal steps were heard behind her, making her snap her head up to notice a rogue now a few yards behind her, the others were still making their way down. Ysabelle slowly stood up in a defensive stance as it snarled at her, saliva dripping down its canines and growling lowly at me.

Her breathing almost stopped when it launched itself at her. While at midair Ysabelle stood up and stood on the other side of the tree, taking refuge in it. The energy was long gone from her body as she slid to the ground.

She held onto the tree and closed her eyes tight shut, waiting for it to get to her. I heard a painful animal scream as it hit the tree but not just from the tree. A beautiful, yet familiar scent hit her nose, making her smile to herself. He came to save her, he always did, her mate, her love, Logan.

She opened her eyes tiredly and noticed an enormous werewolf attacking the one who was going to kill me. A massive, black wolf.

'Logan,' she whispered through their link, her eyelids getting heavy. She smiled faintly, waiting for her body to give up the last of its energy. He glanced at her for a brief moment. His wolf face was worried about her, wondering how hurt she was but it quickly changed into his alpha-mode expression. It gave her goosebumps looking at him when he looked like that. His Alpha aura made her feel submissive from this distance.

The rogue attacked first., lunging its body at Logan, aiming for the neck. The Alpha was faster, though. The black wolf moved its left shoulder back just in time to miss the bite.

In less than a second, the rogue's neck was in Logan's mouth. Logan bit deeper until the rogue screeched, making her cover her ears. It wiggled in pain, trying to get out of the Alpha's deathly grip, he was killing him slowly, torturing it. The wolf's cry stopped and she uncovered her ears, its body was limp in Logan's mouth.

More wolves were coming down, but she could tell they were from Logan's pack.

"Mate!" Someone cried in a deep, familiar voice. He sounded hurt, deeply wounded.

Logan walked down to Ysabelle's side still in his wolf form. Ysabelle did not dare to shift back to her human form because she would have no clothes. Logan lowered his head down and smelled her, she smiled and nodded, telling him she would be fine. Someone threw a t-shirt their way and only then did Ysabelle shift. Logan's huge body covered hers as she put the shirt on. He helped her up, his massive arm around her, stopping her from falling. She looked up into his gray eyes and smiled faintly.

"Are you okay?" He asked in his deeper voice, his wolf, Chann, through the link. She nodded while closing her eyes and leaning her head on his warm chest. The tingling sensation she felt when their skin touched still got to her every time. She knew he felt the same, maybe stronger, alpha blood was powerful and more dominant than any other she knew. He held her a little bit tighter, for a second he thought he had lost her.

"Mate! Where is she?" Luke, Logan's brother cried while running down towards the stream in his human form, wearing only a pair of jeans.

Logan was checking her wounds now, but some were already healed. She froze and stared down at Luke's running figure toward Eirisse's limp body in the stream. Realization got to her like a bucket full of freezing water.

Wait!

No way! Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped wide open in shock.

Luke is Eirisse's mate?! How was that possible?!