Page 29 of A Skirl of Sorcery
Behind me, Thane and Silver’s snarls were growing more vicious. I resisted the urge to turn and look, and kept my gaze on the young werewolf.I’m coming for you, I promised.I’m going to eat you alive.In my mind’s eye, I was a large, sleek jaguar prowling through a jungle rather than a furry housecat padding along a city street.
It worked. Bushy Tail gave a tiny whine, showing that he was far more scared of me than I was of him. He backed up one step. Then another.
The other werewolves started to react. The two older males growled a warning in his direction and the older female nudged him with her muzzle, but his fear was infecting them. In my peripheral vision I saw the second young female look away from me in favour of the cobblestones before she also started to back away. One more, and I reckoned I’d win.
I was only two feet away from the group. I drew my lips over my teeth.I mean business, I projected.You should run while you still can.
I was within a whisker of succeeding when there was a sudden, high-pitched yelp of pain from behind me, too shrill for me to decipher whether it came from Silver or from Thane. It pierced the night – and it spurred the more antagonistic femalewerewolf to act. She moved so swiftly I scarcely glimpsed her body as she flew at me.
Although I managed to twist and avoid her sharp teeth, she still managed to knock me to the ground. I righted myself in a flash. My situation was suddenly more dangerous but it was far from desperate. As long as I avoided her jaws, I could still fight.
Flickering images of ways that I might beat her raced through my head. If I could skate underneath her, I’d be perfectly placed to rake my claws across her belly. She wouldn’t like that very much. Before I could tense my muscles and move, however, there was another blur of movement – ginger movement.
For fuck’s sake, Tiddles.
I hissed loudly to admonish her in the vain hope that she’d re-join He Who Roams Wide in the shadows but she didn’t even acknowledge me; her green-eyed focus was wholly on the female werewolf. She arched her back, spat ferociously and landed with perfect precision on the female’s back. She dug in her claws, dipped her head and took a bite.
Like pure wolves, werewolves have thick skin and even thicker fur so I knew that Tiddles hadn’t come close to drawing blood, but that didn’t matter. The shock of being attacked and ridden like a pony by a kitten sent the female wolf into panic. She swung first to her left then to her right as she tried to shake Tiddles off.
Tiddles simply bit her again.
I turned my head to the other werewolves and we stared at each other. The older, more battle-scarred wolf took a step forward but I knew he wasn’t planning to fight me; from the way his yellow eyes were flickering, it was clear that he’d recognised there was more magic to this situation than he could comprehend. That meant there was more danger, too. He didn’texactly submit to me but he did drop his head briefly and turn away. The four werewolves beside him followed his lead.
I returned my attention to Tiddles and miaowed at her with high-pitched insistence. She blinked at me; she was weighing up whether to listen or to continue baiting the female werewolf. Thankfully she extracted her claws and leapt away. Part of me expected the wolf to lunge after her in retaliation but she was too glad to be relieved of her clawed, fanged, feline burden. Without another glance she bounded after her departing companions.
Now there was only Silver.
The young werewolf was focused on Thane and I was certain that he’d not yet noticed the departure of his furry buddies. Blood was dripping from his ragged ear and there were bloody, matted patches across his body. I knew Thane; he would only have inflicted flesh wounds – but they would hurt.
Thane was bleeding in several places. His thick fur was obscuring the worst of the damage but I reckoned that most of his wounds were superficial. No doubt Silver had intended mortal damage but Thane had more than held his own.
The young werewolf was obviously tiring: his movements were growing sluggish. All I needed to do was make him realise his companions had abandoned him then this brawl would be over for good. I lifted my head, pricked my ears and emitted a shrill, ugly caterwaul. It was impressive – even Tiddles glanced at me in admiration.
Silver backed away from Thane and turned to assess if I posed a new threat. His eyes flicked to me then to the empty street beyond. He blinked.
Yeah, buster. You’re alone now.
His furred mouth dropped slightly.
So much for pack loyalty.
His gaze shifted left.
Not so much fun now you’re on your own, right?
His gaze flicked right.
This is where bullying gets you. Now you’re the one who’s outnumbered and in mortal danger.
I was prepared to wait for Silver to make the right decision by himself and I knew enough of Thane to believe he would do the same – but Tiddles wasn’t so patient. She wanted vengeance. She hissed loudly and sprang at Silver, raking his muzzle and drawing a few beads of blood. For Silver, that was enough. A second later he bounded away.
As soon as he vanished into the darkness, I coughed up my furball. Enough already.
It took me a moment or two to recover my equilibrium and for the tremors to subside. Then I straightened, ran a hand through my hair, placed my hands on my hips and glared at Thane. ‘What the hell? What were you thinking of wandering into a pack of werewolves?’ My irritation was genuine and he knew it.
He raised his nose and sniffed loudly then lifted a paw, pointed to me and then to his nose. Oh. ‘You scented me?’ I asked. ‘My smell distracted you, you came to find me and instead you found those dicks?’
He made a lupine attempt at a sheepish shrug and I rolled my eyes. At least that explained why he’d made such a schoolboy error, though it didn’t mean I approved.
