Paul's P.O.V.-
"Anastasia!" I burst through the busted remains of the door; the bulk of it was on shatters on the ground. One rapid glance around the room told me that she wasn't there. The place was a wreck- it was clear a fight had broke out. But there was no sign of Ana; Christian must have already gotten her outta here- thank god. The only sound I could hear at the moment was Hidoku climbing up the stairs to join me; he'd taken quite a beating too. His footsteps echoed down the hallway when all of a sudden an unfamiliar, low voice growled from the shadows in the corner of the room.
"T-That bastard…." The creature, which I soon realized was a wolf, lifted his upper half off the ground with both hands. He was a mess- a total, bloody mess. His neck all the way to his bottom jaw was covered in blood, plus he smelt horrible. I don't think he noticed or cared that I had arrived; his eyes were locked forwarded and his jaw was clenched in a vicious, vengeful fashion. One of his hand wiped his mouth as he struggled to stand up. It honestly took me a second to comprehend that I was looking at Eric Lincoln- still alive but barely- right now. I watched his feet stumble a little and his hands rolled into dangerous fists. "I'll kill him…. I'll kill them both," he hissed in a tone I'd never heard anyone use before.
I get it: he didn't get the chance to eat Ana because Christian got here first. He and Eric must have had a gory fight before Christian escaped with Ana. It looked like Christian actually bit Eric in the neck- a deadly move if Hidoku was to be believed. And yet, he didn't kill Eric; he was probably too distracted with get Ana outta this hell hole. Not that I blame him; my mind would have ran on the same logic. My hands also instinctively clenched into fists as I stared at the wolf. The wolf that abducted Ana, the wolf that tried to devour her alive….. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. Christian may not have killed this guy, but I can. No wolf is a match for my brute strength- I can take him down. Christian's not the only one who can protect Ana….
Without consciousness of what I was doing, I felt my fist fly into the first body part of Eric's that I could reach- it happened to be his arm. Wounded and profoundly shocked, the bastard made the vital mistake of spinning around to face me, only for me to clock him in the cheek. That dickhole fell straight back, only stopping when he hit the wall. A pained and alarmed gasp erupted from his lips; his eyes were as wide as dinner plates. I'm pretty sure there was some internal bleeding going on when his now limp body slid his bottom half to the floor, leaving a trail of thick blood along the wall. He kept gasping uncontrollably while I marched over to him, yanking him up by the collar of his shirt. Now he looked scared, which only made me angrier. Oh, so it's ok when Ana's terrified out of her wits, but it's a whole other thing when he's afraid? Screw this guy!
Eric visibly struggled to breathe as my hand gripped his shirt tighter. Our eyes locked; my protective instincts were going through the roof. "You better listen and listen good! If you ever so much as lay a finger on her ever again, you're going to be the one begging for your life! You got that?!" I gave him a hard shake for good measure. It was around then that Hidoku entered the room. "Paul!" He cried; it took him some time to pull me off of Eric. I managed to get one swift kick in his ribcage, breaking what few that weren't already broken, as the dishevelled, poor excuse of a carnivore scrambled out of the room. And when I say "scrambled", I don't mean fast by any meaning of the word. Both Hidoku and I watched him leave in disgust. Good thing the panda got here when he did too, otherwise Eric wouldn't be able to use his legs at all, never mind see.
Hidoku patted me on the back after he released my arm. Then he scanned around the room. "She's not here?" "Christian already got her," I turned to the door to leave. Or I did until Hidoku stopped me. I shot him a confused, monstrous glare. "What are you doing?!" I demanded clearly upset by this. It didn't help that his face remained stoic and firm. "Are you going after them?" He asked in a tone which made me madder. "Yes! Get out of my way!" "But she's with Christian now." "I don't care! I want to see her! I want to see she's alright with my own eyes!" Why am I explaining this? I shouldn't have to explain this. I felt floored however at Hidoku's shaking head.
"The lamb's fine. Christian will take good care of her." "I could give a damn about what Christian can do! I still want to see her!" "What else can you do for her?" "Wha-…. What do you mean "what else"?! I can do a lot for her!" Ok, that really made me mad. Why would he say something like that to me? After all I went through to help save her. But he just kept shaking his head in disapproval.
"Let her be with Christian; he's what she needs now, and vice versa. That's what you can do for her." "But I…." I wanted to continue but the panda quickly cut me off. "This is natural; this is right. That's how imprinting works…. I'm sorry, kid, but you never had a chance." My lips parted a sliver as I meditated what he'd just said to me. I never had a chance, did I? I really hated the way that sounded….
My eyes lowered a tad and the panda released my arm once he was sure I wouldn't bolt out of the room. My line of sight wandered into nowhere dejected. "Why? Why does he automatically get her? It isn't fair; I saw her first…. I…. I loved her first. Doesn't that count for anything?" "Of course it does. After all, if you never met her and developed the friendship you had, she'd be dead right now," Hidoku said, making me look at him. Hey yeah, I guess that's true too… The only reason I came is because I do love Ana…. I love her so much. That…. was enough; that was enough to get me here tonight.
Ana….. Ana…. No matter how hard I tried, her picture kept appearing over and over in my head. There's so much I want to tell you, I should have told you a long time ago…. You are my rose without a thorn, the sunlight that lit up my sky. Beautiful, penetrating sunlight…. Hidoku blinked at me as a small, light chuckle erupted from my lips.
"Remember when I said I can't stop wanting Ana? God, I can't believe how stupid I've been…. I should have told her; there's so much I should have said before tonight. If she was here now, I'd take her by the hand and hold onto her with all my might…. Like I'm holding onto the one thing I can't let go of. I'd then look in her eyes and tell her "I love you, Ana; I don't know when I started loving you, but dear god, I love you. And, without either of us realizing, I said it to you every day….. in ways neither of us knew. It was caught in the way I smiled at you, or how much I looked forward to hearing the sound of your voice….. Every part, every aspect of you made life easier. Even when I missed you…. I think that's when I unconsciously knew I loved you the most- in the ways I missed you every time you were gone"."
I finally paused and caught Hidoku watching me intently. A solemn, sad smile painted itself over my mouth; our eyes locked onto each other's. "I love her….." "And that's enough," the panda breathed, and I nodded. "That's enough….." Ana, regardless of what happens or who you end up choosing in the future, I still won't regret a thing. The final image was of Ana from years ago, back when we first met; she was smiling at me then…. Ana, the lamb I cherish so much… Did you know that meeting you was a blessing? Christian better know what that feels like. He better be worthy of you; to be able to conquer the world with his single hand, if you holding the other… I will hold him to that. After all….
We can't stop loving you.
The End.