Chapter 3: Aislin

Chapter 3: Aislin

With yesterday’s spar a bust, there was no way I could get around training today. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have wanted to. Physical combat was my area of expertise. Gavin and I used to fight all the time as children, and despite his size advantage against me, my agility kept him on his toes and won me half of our spars. The thrill of the fight was addicting, the physical challenge—measuring my skill against someone else—fulfilled an innate primal urge that appealed to my wolf. Deep inside, it had to be some underlying compulsion to prove myself worthy, but I’d never had a reason to doubt myself until now.

I woke up that morning whistling from my lungs. My condition had deteriorated even worse from the spar with Niko, which was so embarrassing it caused me to avoid everyone afterward. An hour was spent bent over my bathroom sink, coughing, and spitting up red until finally I could breathe. Dark circles under my eyes and a paleness in my skin betrayed how poor I was feeling. But I straightened up and smiled radiantly at myself, manifesting the fiery demeanor I was so known for. Nobody would be any wiser. And I was confident of this… until I left my apartment building and found myself winded just from walking. Maybe I can’t go on like this, I thought miserably, leaning against the building and evading the curious glances of people walking by. The only person who would be able to help me was Muriel.

Okay, I decided to myself. I’ll talk to her.

She was at my parents’ house as far as I knew. I called my dad, but the line rang five times before going to voicemail and I didn’t want to spark curiosity by leaving a message about the unicorn. I called my mom, but she didn’t answer either. There wasn’t even an answer on the landline. That meant nobody was home, and I had no idea where Muriel was.

Gavin was my next option, answering quickly. “What’s up, Ais?”

Phlegm caught in my throat before I could speak. Annoyed and embarrassed, I pulled the phone away to breathe. “Sorry.” Maybe he wouldn’t think anything of it. “Where’s Muriel? Nobody’s answering the phone at my parents’ place.”

“They brought her to the cabin while they’re doing a border check,” said Gavin.

“Okay. Thanks.”

There was a moment’s hesitation in Gavin. Fearing he would ask about my coughing fits, I hung up before he spoke again.

I’d take a quick trip to the cabin and get this over with. Hopefully Muriel would be recovered enough and she wouldn’t feel inclined to share my injury with anyone else.

Clouds had rolled overhead by the time I pulled up to the cabin. The smell of rain hung heavily in the air, emphasizing the personal scents of my packmates woven into the dirt and between trees; most nauseatingly, it was Niko who dominated the yard, and I quickly found out why. He appeared from around the corner of the cabin, carrying a ladder for some task he had intended to do on the roof, only to sneer when he saw me getting out of my car.

I swung the door shut. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”

“Got the morning off,” said Niko. “Surprised to see you back here after running off with your tail between your legs.”

Anger crackled within me. “You just hit me in a weird spot. That’s all.”

“What got stuck up your clam, you on your period or something? Can’t take a little shove?”

Did he have to be such an asshole? I breathed in sharply to fire something back, only for the pain to spike through my lungs. He laughed, unaware while I struggled to speak.

“What’re you here for?” Niko prodded.

“I don’t have to explain myself to you,” I rasped.

Niko set the ladder beside the wall, nonchalantly gazing up at the gutters. “Sure, ginger.”

If there was one thing I hated, it was being brushed off and disregarded like I was nothing. I couldn’t stand for him to see me as weak. I wouldn’t let someone like Niko Silva think he was stronger than me, better than me. “Come at me then,” I challenged. “I’ve smashed you before, Niko, and I’ll do it again.”

“Uh huh, we put on our big girl panties today,” Niko drawled.

“What’s your problem?” I marched up behind him.

He peered over his shoulder at me, looking me up and down, then abandoned the ladder to face me. “My problem is you and Gavin thinking you’re invincible and then you—” Niko thrust his finger at me, “—pussying out, acting like you’re tough shit just to fuckin’ bail at the last minute. Doesn’t look good, Mundy. For any of us stuck here in Grandbay.”

I scowled. “I’m not gonna pussy out next time there’s a fight. I didn’t when Dalesbloom had us surrounded, did I?”

“When people almost die it tends to change their way of thinking,” said Niko.

It stung that he thought me so incompetent.

“I’m not gonna put my life on the line for a wimpy little bitch, Ais,” he added, stooping toward me, adjusting the bill of his trucker hat. “Don’t make me regret staying here.”

The venom in his voice triggered outrage in me. He was supposed to be loyal—now he was accusing me of being a coward, using it as an excuse to second guess his own decision to stand by Grandbay! “If you want to take off, then do it,” I snarled, shoving his chest.

Niko grabbed my wrists and thrust me toward the cabin. I hit the wall with a gasp, my lungs trembling. The pain was immediate, but instinct told me I couldn’t just shrivel up and forfeit this time. As soon as Niko released my wrists, I reeled my leg up and kicked him in the stomach, sending him staggering back onto the ladder. Satisfaction blossomed to see him trip over the ladder, watching the ladder come crashing down—but he pulled himself away before it landed on him.

“Fucking bitch,” he spat, rising to his feet.

My shoulders shuddered as I breathed hard, mucus wet in my throat. “Don’t act surprised. You know I don’t let assholes walk all over me.”

“Been wondering lately if you and Gavin are worth any respect,” said Niko. “You gonna try to prove it to me this time?”

“I’ll shove your face into the mud if that’s what it takes,” I snapped back.

Niko straightened and rolled up the sleeves of his flannel. He looked at me not just like I was an opponent, but like I had become eye candy. I’d felt him look at me this way before. His eyes crawled all over my body with pervasive amusement, imagining how he might like to put me in my place. Before, I used to just shrug it off. Now, it incensed me worse than anything else. It reminded me of Colt. I was no man’s plaything.

This time, I didn’t let him make the first move. A clenched fist carried all my anger toward Niko, aiming for his cheek, but he ducked out of the way and chopped into my throat. The impact made me choke. Reflexively, I smacked the bill of his cap up off his head, then grabbed a handful of hair and wrenched his head down, but he reacted by thrusting his shoulder into my stomach. It hurt so badly that I wanted to cry out. No sound escaped me—I tried not to, or else I knew my strangled noises would only encourage him. After stumbling back, I swung my foot into his ribs. He caught my ankle and twisted it the opposite direction, leaving my only options to drop to the ground, or pull myself closer. I opted for the latter, bending my knee and hopping close enough to wrap my arms around his neck. Niko let go of my ankle, freeing my legs to wrap around his abdomen. I barely had enough time to choke him with my arms before he ensnared my hair, yanking my head back. My feet went back to the ground. I jabbed him in the throat and he recoiled.

We separated again, panting and eying each other up. I had to bring him down to the ground if I wanted to win this, but it was already hard to breathe again. I coughed into my arm and he used that opportunity to strike, filling the space between us. Once more, he launched at me shoulder-first, driving his shoulder into my diaphragm. Niko must have known I was vulnerable there. The collision sent me flying backward and winded me as I landed hard in the grass. I wheezed and couldn’t breathe, but Niko’s onslaught didn’t end. As he lunged at me, I brought my feet in and tried to fend him off, kicking at his chest and stomach. One good kick gave me enough space to roll onto my hands and knees, but he dove at me immediately after, slinging his arm around my neck and squeezing.

I was trapped. Niko had me in a choke hold, kneeling behind me and bending my body backward as he crushed my throat in his arms. Clawing at his arm was futile, even as I dug my nails into his skin—it only caused him to squeeze tighter, gritting his teeth beside my ear. “You ain’t shit, Ais,” he hissed. “If this is how you’re gonna fight someone from Dalesbloom, I got a feeling it’s gonna end poorly for you.”

Desperately dragging in gulps of air, I curled my fingers around his arm and tried to open up my windpipe. My chest radiated with pain. I couldn’t breathe. There had to be a way for me to get out of this. Twisting my body, I tried to squirm free, turn around and maneuver myself into a position that would allow me to breathe again, but then he slapped his palm over my mouth and nose and cut off my airways completely. My ears rang as panic surged in my veins, hot adrenaline and cold fear confronting the blurry darkness creeping into my vision. Everything hurt. I thrashed, kicking my feet, pressing my back into him, but the gravelly sound of his laughter told me he was just enjoying this.

“Give up yet?” he taunted.

I knew better than to push myself any further than this and smacked his arm, begging for him to let me go. But he didn’t.

What he was intending to accomplish by holding me here, I didn’t know. All I knew was that my mind screamed with the urgency to breathe and I couldn’t. Blood pounded in my head as my sight grew cloudy, a burning sensation behind my eyes warning of the lack of oxygen to my brain. I couldn’t even utter muffled pleas for freedom, because phlegm and blood welled up in my throat and prevented any noise from escaping other than hoarse, hacking coughs. I tore at his arm, trying to rip out chunks. I didn’t know if it worked. My vision turned dark and all the energy in my body drained away. Numbness took hold of me before my mind escaped reality and sprang into the realm of unconscious hallucinations.

Now it was death which had me wrapped up in its arms.

Thick smog embraced the forest, rolling in between trees and devouring the grass around me. I was suddenly awake again, only in a wilder shape. My long legs were sprawled around me, my body limp on the ground. I raised my weary head and stared down my snout into the churning fog. I was a wolf, but the autumnal hues that usually cloaked my body seemed duller, drained of life and color. My eyes stung and when I opened my maw, it was to find that I still couldn’t breathe. The problem didn’t seem to be with my lungs this time. Now, the problem was with the air itself, like there was no oxygen, only smog—and I quickly realized why I couldn’t breathe it. It wasn’t smog or mist. It was dense, ashy smoke that filled my mouth with the taste of burning. My eyes rolled back as I took in my surroundings, but my body barely felt like my own, every part of myself too heavy to hold.

Out of the darkness came flashes of red. I rose drunkenly to my paws and shook, dragging inhalations collecting barely enough oxygen to keep me alive—or was I even breathing? Heat enveloped me and wormed under my skin, sitting under my pelt with unbearable discomfort. A hellish glow burned between the trees, dancing out of the smoke in crackling, spitting embers. I could see it now—tongues of fire plumbing the forest, mounting the treetops and reaching toward the sky. A hot wind ripped through me, whisking the inferno into a storm. It was all around me, the thick smoke so harsh it debilitated my senses, smothering me completely.

I tried to run, but my legs wouldn’t move. Stumbling forward only brought me back to the ground, but I couldn’t give up, willing myself to find my feet. This was a nightmare, it had to be—but even if it were just an illusion of my unconscious mind, it portended the fate that was awaiting me. I wouldn’t be able to outrun these flames. My fate was already spelled out in the howling firestorm devouring the forest. I couldn’t breathe, and the fire was lurching ever closer.

A dark shape eclipsed the burning fire glow. My eyes strained upward and I slowly registered someone looming over me, a massive body, ears perched high upon their head and eyes like gunmetal glinting in the blaze. Helpless, I weighed whether or not my pride would allow me to reach out, to beg for them to take me away from the fire, and I almost didn’t move. I almost closed my eyes and let the inferno take over. I didn’t want help—I should have been strong enough on my own.

But I didn’t want to die.

A whine slid from my throat as I raised my head, imploring.

The wolf made his decision and ducked low, grabbing the scruff around my neck. It was only when he came close enough that I heard the whistling in his chest too, his breath raking out of his lungs as he clamored for air. I felt his limbs shaking, smelled the sawdust in his fur and the blood on his lips. He couldn’t breathe either, but all the same he wrenched me to my feet and pulled me alongside him.

We ran, clutching one another in our teeth, knowing that the fire would either consume us… or it would set us free from this nightmare.