Chapter 5

Flora’s P.O.V

Getting past security was surprisingly easy.

I don’t know if it’s because they were excited for the feast or something else was the matter, but security was low and even though the entire palace was buzzing with activity, we seemed to go unnoticed.

Joshua looked thankful as we made it past the gates without any complaints. Although we were stopped by the guards, I explained to them that I needed herbs for the injured soldier and we were immediately allowed through, but with an extra guard. I felt relieved that now I had two escorts instead of one and both had guns to defend us in case any rogues were lingering in the woods.

It was a ten minute walk to the destination where most herbs were found. It’s not that herbs didn’t grow near the castle, but with constant picking, the herbs had stopped growing as much near the castle and now, we had to walk further into the woods to get the necessary herbs. The soil needed to be allowed to heal and once it did, fresh herbs would grow from it.

Samuel, the new guard, chatted away with Joshua about Ricky, the soldier who was in the infirmary right now. I didn’t mean to pry but I did learn a lot about the soldier’s quarters and how they lived as I walked a step ahead of the men. Apparently, the single men lived in pairs and Ricky and Joshua had been roommates for four years now and that’s how they developed a relationship.

After a few moments, I stopped listening because the conversation seemed private and I didn’t want to pry. A smile formed on my lips as I thought how Daphne would react to me shying away from gossip. She loved to gossip and was often the go-to person for all sorts of information.

The cool breeze ruffled through my white dress, making my long hair fly back from my face. When I had first arrived at Lindersay, my hair had been to my mid-back. Now, it was past my hips in dark blonde waves. Sometimes at night, I would dream of having red hair, but I couldn’t really fathom how it could be possible. Was it dyed? Why would I have chose to dye it red?

You look gorgeous. The colour suits you.

It was the same male voice I often heard in my dreams, calling my name. And even in my dreams, it made me blush…made my heart flutter.

“I found the herbs.” I let the soldiers know as I bent to pick them up. They looked like any normal wild herb plant but what distinguished them from the rest was their unique scent, so I made sure I got the right one. The basket I had brought with me was almost full when everything went downhill.

Suddenly, several warning howls went up in the air, and they seemed to be coming from the direction of the palace.

“What’s going on?” I asked urgently, a shiver running down my spine. I didn’t like the feeling the howls gave me. Something seemed very, very wrong about them.

“We don’t know, Lady Healer, but it’s better to stay here now.” Samuel told me, taking up a guarding position beside me. “The howls are coming from the castle.”

“I think we need to go back!” It was Joshua who looked panicked. “Ricky is still there and I…You stay! I’ll go back!”

“Joshua!” Samuel warned. “We need to stay to protect our Healer.”

“Yes, but-”

Joshua never got to finish that sentence.

Blood splashed all over us as he fell to the ground, his arms trembling wildly as more blood spilled on the ground.

I didn’t even get time to process the horror when Samuel started firing at the intruder. “Get behind me, Lady!” He shouted over the noise of the gun.

Rising to my feet on shaky legs, with my heart threatening to burst out of my chest, I hid myself behind Samuel, my back to a forest giant as he stopped firing to understand what had attacked Joshua. But what greeted us what even more horror.

Almost all bullets had made contact with Joshua’s lifeless body as it fell to the ground with a dull thud. His head rolled at an odd angle and we noticed that a chunk of his flesh was gone from his neck.

I couldn’t move my eyes from the body. He was just talking to me! He was just standing there! How could he be dead? There was so much blood!

I felt bile rise to my throat as my stomach churned, but I couldn’t even throw up. My body was paralyzed on the spot in fear. I couldn’t even feel my hands and feet, everything just felt numb.

“Ricky…?”

That whispered word was shrouded in horror and it snapped my attention to Samuel. Ricky? What was he talking about? Ricky was in the infirmary. He-

The sound of a low growl made me look ahead…at a dark brown wolf who now stood a little behind Joshua’s lifeless form. Its jaw was covered in blood and it dripped down to the ground in slow motion. And then I noticed its eyes.

Red.

Rogue!

Alarm bells went off in my head but it was already too late. The wolf jumped at us then and Samuel pushed me back with all his strength as he pointed his gun at Ricky. The next few things happened in a blink of an eye and I hardly got time to process any of it.

My back hit the tree with enough force to make my bones rattle and as I slid to the ground, even more blood splattered over me, staining my dress a dark, dark red. I looked up just in time to see Samuel’s neck being ripped out by Ricky in his wolf form as he fell to the ground trembling.

And then I was the only one left.

Sharp, bloody fangs snapped in anticipation as I backed myself into the tree even farther. The brown wolf’s eyes glowed a bright red as blood and saliva dripped off its muzzle. This wasn’t Ricky anymore, this was a rogue. A wolf who had lost all humanity.

This was it. I was going to die here, at the fangs of this rogue that would give me a slow, painful death. I could see the thirst in its eyes as madness swirled in the blood red of its iris. Death stared back at me hungrily and I had nowhere to run. And then there was no more time.

With its jaws wide, the wolf jumped and I closed my eyes shut tightly, preparing myself for the pain…but it never came. Instead, I hear the low moaning noise of a wolf in pain.

Snapping my eyes open in hope and fear, I stared right into wolf-gold eyes as a gasp escaped my lips.

Ricky, who had just sprung to attack me, was now on the ground, whining in pain as another bigger wolf held it down with its teeth sunk into its neck.

The new wolf had bright red fur and was almost double the size of Ricky, who had taken down two soldiers…and yet, I didn’t feel any fear. It’s eyes were gold with a ring of red around the iris, which was strange since all rogues had full red eyes. Then what made this wolf different?

And why did I suddenly feel like I was being pulled towards it like a magnet.

The red wolf let go of the brown and he took the chance to escape, but that news just registered as an afterthought as my entire focus was now on the red.

There was something about him that felt different yet familiar. My heart leapt in my chest, but it wasn’t from fear, but neither could I name this emotion I felt as I stared at the red.

Who was this wolf? Why wasn’t it attacking me like the rest of the rogues? Why did it have only a ring of red around its iris instead of full red eyes? And most important of all, why did I feel like I knew it?