I can protect you

"Why are the Lycans here?" I questioned, even though my mind was already forming the answers.

Kieran walked toward the window, slowly parting the curtain. He scanned the surroundings before turning to me. "They haven't surrounded the house yet. We still have time."

Have time for what exactly? 

"Kieran, I need you to tell me the truth." I swallowed the fear. "Where have you been these last few hours?"

Kieran's throat bobbed. "I—I went into the woods to find the animal," he stammered. "Then I saw Lycan soldiers out there. They were raiding the area.”

My throat constricted at his words. Lycans were raiding the area. Oh moon goddess. They must have found the Prince. 

“They caught me, Rose, but I got away. I led them on a chase through the forest, and I tried to confuse them, tire them out before I lost them." He raked a hand through his hair. "I didn't think... I didn't think they'd follow me all the way down here."

My eyes widened with fear, and just before I could speak, a loud bang sounded against the door.

 What trouble had we landed ourselves in?

Many years ago, the werewolf empire crumbled under the Lycan invasion during the war, because the Lycans wanted to enslave us. It was the Lycan King, Malric, who led the soldiers in killing and defeating the last werewolf king before taking over the empire.

Malric created harsh laws for the werewolves to follow, and if one was broken, the punishment was severe. Malric cared only about power, and about being the head of it. He didn't care that those below him were dying every day from starvation.

In his words, this was an act of good—that werewolves deserved to be slaves to the Lycans.

I could still remember the night King Malric's first son, the crowned prince, was proclaimed dead. There were massacres, and hundreds to thousands of innocents lost their lives after it was rumoured that a werewolf might have killed him. 

My body shook with fear, because if Malric ever found out what had happened to his only son, he would not spare a single werewolf.

Boots shuffled outside. I looked around the house wildly, and when I saw no sign of Lycan soldiers in the backyard—just the empty yard—I took a deep breath.

 Grabbing Kieran's arm, I motioned toward the backyard door.

"Come on," I said. "We can escape through here."

We started toward the door when the pounding began again.

"In the name of King Malric," a deep voice barked through the entrance. "Open this door immediately."

I froze, eyes widening with horror.

"Don't be afraid, Rose," he murmured. "I have my wolf. I can protect you."

Protect me from Lycan soldiers? A werewolf couldn't so much as win a fight against o Lycan.

My mind flew to our neigbour, whose family was raided, taken, and imprisoned for stealing from the Lycans. A few weeks ago, a friend of Kieran's had been executed in his own home.

What would the soldiers do to us? Ours would be worse—we'd nearly killed the Lycan King. Nearly? What if he'd died since? What if he didn't survived?

My heart drummed with fear.

"We need to find a way out of this house before they come in," I said, moving toward the door. Slowly, I reached for the latch.

The pounding continued, even louder this time. I held my breath as I opened the latch.

"For the last time, I demand you open this door, now!"

The latch gave, and I breathed a sigh of relief as we slowly, quietly eased the door open. A breeze slammed into me immediately, sweeping through my hair.

As we stepped out of the house, Kieran wrapped his hand around my wrist. His skin was cold with fear. We were just making our way to the low fence that separates our house from the woods when I heard footsteps.

A finger of terror trailed up my spine. I slowly turned around.

There was nothing out there  but the occasional gust of wind and the shuttered windows of our sleeping neighbors.

I sighed in relief and started to turn my gaze back. That's when the Lycan emerged from the darkness, and his red eyes connected with mine.