Chapter 8

　　RILEY: 　　A bang erupted in the air and it affected me so much that I fell to the ground. Meanwhile I was sitting when that happened. 　　I couldn't fathom what was going on except that I could see members of the pack running around like something was chasing them. And when I see Xavier approaching me swiftly with a worried look etched on his face, it made me realize something was wrong. 　　Another bang erupted in the air just when he got to me and helped me up to my feet. 　　"What's going on?" I had to ask, my mind trying to draw out the possibilities of what could have gone wrong around. 　　"We are under attack!" he hurriedly says as he holds my hand in an attempt to drag me away from there. 　　"By who?" 　　"Rogues!" 　　That was a word I didn't understand. However I'll come to understand the levity of the situation we're in when we had to stop all of a sudden. Our path has been suddenly blocked by two men dressed in clothings that didn't seem to match what I've seen around here. 　　The Dark Moon pack had a unique sense of clothing. A clothing that highlighted that they were members of the same pack. But these two standing in front of us definitely weren't from here. And the clubs they were holding proved they were going to attack us. 　　"Stay behind me," Xavier says but I have already moved further behind before that when the fear of being hit with those clubs creeped into me. 　　I couldn't even say anything to Xavier because there was surely no way I could handle myself out of this situation. I'll just let him handle it the best way he can while those two vile men don't come any close to me. 　　Before they could take any step close, Xavier lunged at them, dodging their clubs accurately. And in less than ten seconds, he has knocked them out cold to the ground. 　　"How did you do that?" I was in awe when I asked. I couldn't believe that one man without a weapon was capable of taking down two with weapons. 　　He ignores my question by saying instead, "We don't have time to talk. Let's go!" 　　Forcefully he grabs me by the wrist and starts to pull me off. I didn't protest but it didn't change the fact that he was hurting me badly. 　　"Where are we going?" 　　My mind was racing through the numerous possibilities of where we could be headed now that it looked like the pack had been penetrated by their enemies. So much for it being a safe place. 　　"I have to get you to the Alpha quarters fast. It's the safest place right now," he tells me. 　　"I thought the pack as a whole was safe enough to harbor me," I had to say. 　　"It is." 　　The irony. 　　But then as my mind went through the fact that the pack got accessed easily by outsiders, it means there can also be a way out of it too without much of a hassle. I just have to figure out how that's going to happen. 　　Something is thrown in our direction. I could feel it but there's no way I could avoid it. Except that I still have Xavier with me who instantly pushes me to the ground to prevent me from getting hurt. 　　When I look up, I see that there were more men dressed in similar outfits with that of the first two that attacked us. And by the head count, they looked more than what one man could handle. 　　"When did a Beta like you become the protector of a girl that doesn't fit in the context of a member of the Dark Moon?" 　　From behind some of the men standing in front and looking ready to launch at us came a man that looked a bit different from the rest of them. His outfit even seemed to be slightly different from theirs who showed just how unique he stood from them. 　　"When will you get tired of doing this, Garrett? Revenge isn't going to quench the hatred you have for us," Xavier responds to the man with displeasure oozing out his tone. 　　"Of course it won't," the man says. "But something else will," And that is when he has his eyes fixated on me, making me frightened instantly. What is going on? 　　"That won't happen on my watch," Xavier confronts him. With the look of things, I think I've been made a target. 　　The man smirks. "Then we'll have to take you out of this watch. What was that your name again? Oh yeah, soon-to-be-dead Xavier." 　　Without warning, about five of his men rushed into our midst. Xavier does a good job in holding them off but he gets hit about three times before he's able to knock them out. 　　He wasn't given breathing space when others come rushing at him. This time he received more hits and gets knocked to the ground when one of them slipped through and tried to grab me. 　　I scream out my lungs when I'm taken by the arm but receive a slap to my face in return. Xavier, on noticing this, stands up to his feet immediately and claws at the back of the head of the one who hit me and right before my eyes, blood drips out of the back of his head until he drops down lifeless to the ground. 　　I wasn't sure what to feel. I just witnessed the death of someone right in front of me. Even if it wasn't my doing, it happened in front of my eyes. 　　"You'll pay for this!" The man whom I'll call the leader of those gathered around shouts on top of his voice and in place lunges at Xavier. 　　However, right before he could get to him, something knocks him off midair and he is sent crashing to the ground. When whatever it is that hit him landed, I was able to see that it was a beast. 　　It was a huge beast. And not just any beast, it was a black wolf. And with the snarls that came from it as it stood and snapped at the intruders around, it looked like it was going to tear them apart until... 　　"Don't!" Xavier seemingly calls out to the wolf. "Let them go!" 　　After a while, the wolf stops snarling and this gives the rogues an opportunity to have a go at it until warriors of the Dark Moon pack come crowding the area. 　　The rogues are on their heels in no time and their leader calls out, "I'm not done with you! I'm not done with all of you!" 　　I could only watch in horror. The thought process of knowing now that I was this close to actually being whisked away was eating me up and it made me scared of staying in this pack longer than this. 　　"Are you okay?" Xavier asks as he pulls me up from the ground where I've been since I was slapped across the face by the man who's now gone. 　　"I want to go. I don't want any part of this nonsense happening here," is what I say without even thinking about my well-being. 　　The wolf that supposedly got us out of this mess turns around to look at us and I notice how it stares directly into my eyes like it was meaning to tell me something if it could talk. Funny how I wasn't scared that a beast like that was this close to us. 　　Perhaps it was magic. Perhaps it was something more than that. However it seemed unnatural to explain that the wolf suddenly shrunk into the size of a regular man. And when the man stood up to his feet, it was... 　　"Damien?" I whisper the name in surprise to what I just witnessed. "Did you just...?" 　　He says, "I made it clear to you before, Riley. I'm not like your kind. None of us here are."