#8 The Archer and her Wolf

Thea

I pushed through the crowd of people with the guard, whose name I learned was Thomas, hot on my heels. I heard snarling and yelling just as I broke through the last of the crowd.

In the center of the open air market were Tank, the boy, the two women from yesterday, and two other wolves. Tank had the boy in a vice grip with a knife to his throat. The women were glaring at him, holding back their wolves from shifting. The two wolves must’ve been a part of the boy’s guard, they were snapping at the rogue.

I notched an arrow and made my presence known. Everyone gasped at the sight of an Archer and fear flashed in Tank’s eyes. His grip on the boy tightened.

“Don’t come any closer, Archer, or this boy dies!” Tank shrieked, but his hand was shaking.

“Release him.” I replied coolly.

“Didn’t you hear me?” Tank shouted again.

“I heard you, now, release him. Last chance.” I said, “Hugo is my target, not you. You still have a chance to walk away.” That was total bullshit, but I would say whatever lie I had to, to get him to release the young Alpha.

“Hugo?” The man’s facade faltered, “He hired me to take the boy.” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at his obvious statement.

“Yes.” I replied with a bored tone. I would keep this fool alive and he would tell Base whatever he knew about Hugo and his operation. I didn’t need to waste my time with questioning him now.

One of the wolves got antsy and he lunged towards Tank, I guess hoping that he was distracted enough to be weakened. He was mistaken. I shouted at the wolf, but it was too late. Tank sliced the knife through the air and slit the wolf’s throat in one single motion. He released the boy, who crawled towards one of the produce stands and hid under the counter.

All hell broke loose then. The two women transformed into their wolves and, with the second guard wolf, launched towards Tank. Other pack members started to shift as well. I grumbled, these wolves would kill him before the Base had a chance to question him. Now I would have to get my hands dirty.

I sat my bow and quiver down, preparing myself for hand to hand combat. They both vanished, becoming invisible the second they were removed from my body as a precaution. I dove into the group, shoving snarling wolves away and reaching for Tank. Tank was still human, although I had no idea why, so I grabbed him around the throat and threw him across the stone clearing. He skipped across the ground like a rock on a pond.

“You stupid bitch.” He spat blood onto the stones and jumped up, ready to attack.

“Oh, I see. Your wolf is so ashamed that he’s abandoned you. You can’t shift, can you?” I mocked him, sensing his weakened wolf. Tank spit more blood in front of him and snarled before coming at me with a dagger.

I easily avoided him, disarming him quickly and landing several well placed punches. A roundhouse kick landed him back on the ground. I mistakenly allowed him to get too close to the boy. Tank reached for the boy from where he was hiding under the produce counter, but he was too slow. I grabbed a fist full of his shirt and yanked him back. I looked at the boy to make sure he was okay.

Something about his face distracted me. His eyes were so familiar as they locked onto mine and gazed into my soul. I knew for sure that I had never seen this boy before yesterday, but something about him called out to me. At that moment, I had lost focus, and Tank took the opportunity to stab me with his dagger. It dug into my thigh and I winced at the pain. The boy’s mouth formed a terrified O but I winked at him, smiling.

I wiped around, yanking the knife from my thigh and thrusting into Tank’s gut. I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and drug him towards where I had left my arrows. I reached down, my hand knowing exactly where they were despite their invisibility, and snatched up the quiver. I pulled out one arrow and plunged it into his shoulder. Stepping back, Tank dissolved away just like Zinn. I would have a lot of explaining to do back at the Base.