Chapter 172 White Noise of the Night

“Go with the civilians. I will stay behind and keep them here as long as I can,” Ashleigh offered, reaching back and pulling the two karambit her suit held for her.

Fiona smiled.

“You will stay, but only because you are not familiar with our territory enough to guide our people home safely. I have already sent a protective detail with them,” Fiona said. “You will stay and hold

this ground.”

Ashleigh nodded as two of the other military wolves stepped up beside Fiona.

“We’ll go in and shake up the nest,” one of them said with a snarl.

“You catch the ones that try to get away or head towards the civilians,” the other told Ashleigh.

Ashleigh once more nodded.

“You also are responsible for locating Caleb,” Fiona said.

Ashleigh looked at the proud Luna, the worried mother. She nodded..

“I will do my best,” she said, staring back out at the tree line where the Rogues would emerge from. “You should hurry and catch up with the escort group.”

Fiona laughed. Ashleigh looked at her as she removed the long formal jacket she had been wearing, tossing it to the ground. Fiona’s hair had been pinned up in rivets and curls. It hung in a mess now, and yet the glow of the fire gave her a wildness that caught Ashleigh’s breath in her throat.

Fiona smiled as her eyes took on that otherworldly glow.

“Why should you get to have all the fun?” she asked.

The sound of her bones cracked, and shifting came first. Then, her nose and mouth stretched into a muzzle, and the fur grew outward. Her transformation was seamless and quick, hardly a full ten seconds.

She was larger than most wolves and yet thin and sleek. Her fur was almost entirely red, with a small amount of white and black at the ends. In fact, her form resembled more of a fox than a classic wolf.

Fiona ran forward, followed immediately by the two other military wolves that had stayed behind. They ran to the tree line, spreading out and disappearing into the trees.

It didn’t take long before Ashleigh’s sensitive ears picked up the screams and shouts. Fiona and her team had found the invaders.

Ashleigh pressed her karambit back into place and shifted into her wolf to see the first of those trying to escape Fiona and her wolves. Ashleigh thought to herself that she wished she could see the Luna in action for just a moment.

But now was not the time for that.

Five men were running out of the forest. Two of them looked back into the trees raising their bows and taking aim. These were her first targets. She took off at full speed and jumped at the first one, her powerful jaws clamped down on his throat and ended his life in a moment.

Ashleigh quickly let go of the corpse and rushed the other man. He felt her approach just before she jumped at him. He didn’t have time to take aim, but he did shift his bow towards her.

She let out a slight yelp as the tip of the arrow bit into her flesh, but it wasn’t enough to stop her. Catching his arm between her teeth, she clamped her jaws shut until she felt the cracking of his bone. The force of her weight pulled down on the broken arm, finishing the tear and separating the arm at the elbow.

Ashleigh dropped the arm as the man screamed out in pain. She quickly shut him up.

An arrow landed beside her. She growled as she turned to see two of the three remaining men standing beside each other and taking aim at her.

She ran at them at full speed. Then, jumping above them, she forced her shift. Her swift movements caught them unaware as she was able to slip her hands under their chins, karambit in each hand. She dragged her blades across their throats as she landed behind them.

They each fell to their knees, sputtering and grabbing at their throats.

The last of the men that had escaped Fiona and her wolves stared at Ashleigh with anger in his eyes as he watched his friends fall. Then, he charged at her in his wolf form.

Ashleigh turned just as he jumped at her. She crossed her arms, holding him back from catching her with his jaws but still falling back and landing on the ground below her. She kicked him hard, flipping him off her and jumping to her feet.

The wolf charged at her again.

At the base of her wrist, Ashleigh pulled at what appeared to be a cufflink. Pulling at it, she loosened the strings into her hands, revealing a simple garrote.

Ashleigh shifted her weight as the wolf dove at her, letting it just barely pass her before she threw her weight in the other direction onto his back. The chord flew from one hand to the other, catching him under his chin. Ashleigh held tightly to each end, pulling back as her knee pressed hard into his back.

The man desperately tried to shift back to his human form, likely thinking that doing so would release her hold on him. But the shifting bones made it easier for Ashleigh to press her knee down harder until his spine cracked at the base of his skull, and he fell limp.

Putting the garrote back around her wrist, Ashleigh stood up and looked around. It didn’t look like any of the other wolves had escaped Fiona and her hunters.

Ashleigh turned back to the once beautiful event space, which was in ruins. Unfortunately, the fire in the first tent had spread to the second. Luckily, it was far enough away from the trees that it was unlikely to extend beyond the event space. Still, she needed to try and control that burn.

As she took a step towards her new task, she gasped and fell to her knees. A sharp stabbing pain spread like fire in her side. A knife being stabbed into her gut, she howled from the sudden pain, her eyes watered, and her breathing became ragged.

She touched her hand to her side. Pulling it away, she expected to see blood, but there was nothing.

“How…?” she whispered aloud when it dawned on her.

“Caleb…!”

A flurry of fear and anger swirled inside of her. Ashleigh got to her feet and looked around. There it was. The pull of their bond. Ashleigh ran at full speed towards a building she had not noticed before.

It was a short distance from the event, likely a supply post. But, as she got closer, she saw signs of explosions, fires, and charred wood.

‘The demolition team went after him!’ she thought, ‘Fiona was right! I should have looked for him from the start!’

Her heart was threatening to burst through her chest if she didn’t get there faster!

The door to the building barely hung by its last hinge. Inside, Ashleigh could see the fire was spreading. She couldn’t hear anything, feel anything. The pain was gone, but so was her connection to him.

Ashleigh rushed to the door. She looked into the burning room. The heat threatened her, but she didn’t care.

“Caleb!” she screamed. “Caleb!”

She pushed past the remains of a desk; a beam fell down, almost hitting her. She moved back, tripping on something at her feet.

Ashleigh caught herself against the wall, pulling her hands back immediately with a hiss as they touched the glowing embers of the wood. She looked down at what had tripped her.

Her heart stopped.

It was his wheelchair. His empty, bloodstained wheelchair.

“There!” a voice outside shouted. “It’s one of the Summer wolves!”

Ashleigh lifted her eyes to the door; she saw several Rogue wolves standing outside the building through the flames.

The chill spread through her veins, and small tremors reverberated across her flesh. This was how it always started. The cold fire inside of her was spreading and coming to life.

She felt a familiar numbness expanding over her mind. Her senses were falling away. Her pain, fear, and connection to the world around her simply dropped back into the white noise of the night.

The corner of her mouth tilted up, and her head cocked to the side as it all fell away. Only one thing remained in place of her connection to this world.

The frenzied reverie of rage that had made the berserkers famous in the first place.