Kuro1YukiAren1Walker: Thanks!
Ern Estine 13624: Thank you!
Jazz91121: Thanks, Jazz!
Guest: Thank you so much!
SisBloodCarnivalOtaku: Thanks!
Jazzys mom: Thank you!
Firediva0: Thanks! Hm, I don't think I will be, but with me, you never know. For right now, I think the answer is no.
Hisuiryuu: Thank you! That will be explained later in the story!
MaxAngelOfDeath: Thank you for your review! I like those names, though I think I already have one. I'll find somewhere to put "Alura" though. Simply beautiful!
ForeverYorozuya: Thanks!
Kelly M. Black: Thank you!
Sora Arashitori: Thank you so much! The cookies were delicious! Oh, and please tell Mr. Pan that I said hello and to have a good day!
Ankhesenamun2: Thanks!
MandM7: Thank you!
HanyouExorcistAlchemist48: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!
Alaina Kuski: Thank you for your review!
Zesslover: Thanks!
Akkira Nala: Thank you! I think it's getting closer to that point, but something much bigger happens first (at least in my opinion)!
Rebellious Lover: Thanks! All is good!
The Lycanthrope Trilogy: Heart
Chapter 6: Attacked
A sharp howl jolts me awake.
Fou.
I bolt straight up, and after I make sure I had on pants and a shirt, I run out the door. Kanda and Alec get up at dawn every morning while my boyfriend usually lets me sleep in unless I have dawn patrol scheduled, but he quickly learned that I'm anything but a morning person.
"What happened?" I ask Reever as he runs out of the boys' wing. He says, "I don't know, but Fou and Klaud went hunting this morning near the town's edge."
"Am I supposed to find a deeper meaning in that?"
"That area is great for raccoons, opossums, and groundhogs, but lycanthropes risk getting shot in that area."
"With a gun?"
"Yeah. Ask Kanda. He's been shot a few dozen times."
My eyes widen at the new information as we run out of the Order and into the forest. I could smell blood mixed with sweat, and when Reever and I burst into the small clearing, we found a shocking sight. Lavi, Komui, Marie, and Miranda, who I assume were on dawn patrol, were already there.
Klaud was unconscious on the ground. Her pants were torn above the knees, and her shirt was gone, leaving her only in a black bra, which caused me to blush since I'd never seen one on a woman other than TV commercials. A long, bleeding gash marred her hip, and a black, spider web pattern stretched from it. Bruises covered her face, chest, and arms, and minor cuts bloodied her legs.
Fou wasn't much better, though she was clothed in half a shirt and shorts. Dirt covered her as well as cuts and bruises. She panted heavily, and I assumed she had carried Klaud back this far unless she had flown, but with as tired as she was, I doubted she would've had the energy to keep up a transformation.
Suddenly, a dark blue wolf and black cougar burst through the trees and quickly shift into anthros. Kanda knelt beside his "sister", seeming almost panicked. "What happened?"
Fou coughed, "Dark…drag…dragon…."
He nods and looks at Lavi. "Help with the pain."
"But she's unconscious," the redhead said, but he crouched beside her regardless. Kanda grimaced. "She won't be in a second."
The bluenette looked pained as he pressed his hands on the outer edge of the spider web pattern and put his mouth on the wound. At this, Klaud's eyes flashed open to the size of coconuts with fresh tears, and she released a strangled scream before Lavi kissed her. Even though Klaud was in obvious pain, her breathing evened slightly when Lavi's mouth was on hers, but I knew she hated it.
I watched the black pattern on her hip retract the longer Kanda treated the wound, but I wondered what exactly he was doing. Was it some sort of poison and he was sucking it out? He would be capable of it since he was a Shadow, but Marie looked rather distressed. After another moment, the beta took Kanda by the shoulders and began pulling him away, but the alpha growled a warning, and Marie backed off. Komui glanced at him and must have asked something in telepathy, to which Marie nodded, and the other lycanthrope darted toward the Order. What the heck?
"Alec, do you know what Marie's worried about?"
Kanda pulls away from Klaud for a moment before he attaches his mouth to her wound again.
Alec glanced at me. "Kanda hasn't told you about it yet?"
"About what exactly?"
Komui returns with a bottle of water and a bag of leaves. Confused, I ask, "What's up with the leaves?"
"Shadow Lotus. They're petals, not leaves."
I notice the petals are purple even though they look like maple leaves. "What's Shadow Lotus?"
Alec bites his lip as he watches Kanda and he was about to something when Marie says, "Kanda, that's enough. Her body can remove what's left of the poison."
A growl erupted from the bluenette. "I'm ridding her body of all the poison. Now shut up, and that's an order. If something happens, you're in charge."
"What do you mean 'if something happens'? Kanda, what are you talking about?" I ask worriedly.
No one replies, which doesn't calm me in any way.
The pattern on Klaud's hip disappeared, and Kanda pulled away and spat a black substance into the undergrowth. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Lavi pulled away from Klaud, who was unconscious again, while Komui knelt in front of Kanda and held out the bag of Shadow Lotus. "Eat all of them."
"I don't―"
"Doctor's orders," Komui cut. After he takes the bag, Kanda dumps the six petals into his palm and glares at them. Do they taste bad or something?
Komui stood. "Make sure to chew."
"I know that!" Kanda snapped before he stuffed the Shadow Lotus into his mouth and chewed. He looked utterly appalled as he did so and he struggled to swallow, but when he did, I ask, "What was that all about?"
"They think that my body won't process that much Shadow poison on its own," Kanda mutters. He opened his mouth to continue, but before he had a chance to, he moved so his back faced me and coughed. And a moment later, a thick, black liquid splattered the ground.
"Kanda!" I yelped and ran to his side as he heaved and spat the goo from his mouth. He shook his head and opened his mouth again, a mistake which resulted in another convulsion of his body and more of what I assumed was poison. I still didn't understand what was going on anyways. I mean, poison equals bad, but that's common knowledge. Why did he think he could ingest that much, however much "that much" is, poison without it hurting him?
I rub my boyfriend's back in an attempt to soothe him, but as I do this, I feel two hard bumps. At first, I assume the knobs are his shoulder blades and continue to comfort him, but after a moment, I realize if they are his shoulder blades, he has two sets of them. Confused, I lift his shirt to inspect the area and I find the bumps, though nothing else looked off.
"Kanda, what's wrong with your back?"
This caught Komui's attention. "What?"
I point. "There are knobs on his back."
"Dang it, Kanda!" Komui exclaimed. Kanda shook his head. "I'll heal."
Alec muttered, "You know, a lycanthrope I knew said the same thing. We buried her a week later."
I freaked out. "Kanda, do something!"
"No."
"Yes!"
"No."
"Kan―!"
He glared at me. That murderous, "shut up this instant" glare. "I said no and that's final."
"What would you have to do? What could be so bad that you wouldn't do it to save your life?"
Komui explained, "It's not that his body can't process it, but it takes time. About two weeks with this amount. He wouldn't be able to do any activities that would strain his body."
"I'd be bed-ridden," Kanda growled.
"Then be bed-ridden!" I insist. "I'd take care of you!"
"No," he stated.
"F…Fou?"
Everyone turns to the waking blonde on the ground, quickly followed by Kanda vomiting again. She glanced at the alpha and asked, "What…what's wrong, Kanda?"
It was unnoticeable to everyone but Lavi, Marie, and me, but I saw the way Kanda's shoulders drooped ever so slightly and he frown deepened. I hadn't heard Klaud call him by his name since the Riizen attack.
I looked at Klaud. "He just removed every bit of Shadow poison from your body. I'm not sure what would have happened to you if he hadn't, but he definitely was worried, regardless of why you hate him now."
She doesn't reply as she sits up with a grimace. The wound on her hip was smaller and not bleeding, but it obviously caused her pain when she moved. "I don't hate him. He's just a jerk."
"I could have told you that," I mutter. This went unnoticed to Kanda. "I've apologized a dozen times! What else do you want me to do, Klaud? I―"
I turn my face away as my boyfriend retched. It didn't smell bad, but I found it hard to see Kanda in this state.
oO_Oo_oO_Oo
After a few hours, Kanda was in bed with a half full trashcan beside him, and Klaud was in the infirmary, her hip thoroughly stitched. Minus Hevlaska and Lenalee, who were with Klaud, the rest of the pack gathered in the dining room.
Marie looked stressed, which I imagine happened when an alpha is injured. After a moment, he said, "Allen and I managed to talk Kanda into staying in bed to some extent. He won't be leaving the Order though. Until Kanda is able to resume his duties, I will take over as alpha and Lavi will be my beta."
I raised my hand, and even though Marie couldn't see me, I assumed he could hear it, and he said amusedly, "This is not a classroom."
I lower my hand. "Why are you appointing a beta? You didn't last time."
He smiles. "Since Kanda can't be alpha due to physical injury, if something happened to me, no one would be in charge."
"Okay."
"Anyways," Marie continued, "the dark dragon that attacked Klaud and Fou wasn't alone. According to Fou, there was a dark dragon, Riizen, two pixies, and an undetermined species. Allen?"
"Huh?" I ask stupidly, not sure how I entered the conversation.
Fou glances at me. "It was weak, but my power didn't affect it. Klaud had to kill it. It looked like an eagle made of liquid silver."
I think about this for a moment. "Well, half Light. It wouldn't be any of the new elements since none of them had Light in them."
"Could it be the Celestial creature?" Tiedoll asked. I shrug. "Anything's possible, but I doubt it. If it flies, I would put it with Air with it. We can't really know for certain right now, but we still have to name it."
As soon as it left my mouth, Lavi said, "Dark Media."
Everyone glanced at him, and he quickly added, "Just a suggestion!"
"Media it is," I say.
Marie nodded. "With that out of the way, I want to discuss patrol."
An hour later, everyone was unhappy. Three people had been murdered. Two holes were in their necks, and their bodies had less than a drop of blood left in them. The pack was sworn to secrecy due to a certain bluenette because we didn't know how he might react. He wouldn't take any time off duty, that's for sure. We also were assigned patrol. With Kanda, Lenalee, and Klaud excluded, there were thirteen members of the pack. Chaoji, Fou, and I were going to be full-time hunters. Hevlaska would stay at the Order. The other nine were separated into three groups of three for dawn, noon, and evening patrol and each covered a different part of the territory.
As I walked to the cabinet to get a glass, I heard, "Klaud, you'll reopen your wound!"
"I don't care!" the blonde growled before she disappeared into the tunnel that led to Kanda's room. Lenalee watched her run and then decided to join me at the bar. Everyone else was in bed at this point except Lenalee, Hevlaska, Alec, and I.
"Anything in particular?" I ask, my face in the refrigerator. She replies, "Milk is fine."
I prepare our glasses and hand one to her. "What's wrong with Klaud?"
"She's really freaked out."
"About what? I'm not trying to be nosy or anything―"
"I know," Lenalee cuts with a smile. "I don't really understand, unless she really hates Winters."
I raise an eyebrow. "She's pregnant?"
"She refuses to take the test, but she started vomiting for no reason and said her breasts hurt. Signs of pregnancy, but I can't say anything for certain until she takes the test."
"What's so hard about peeing on a stick?" I ask in all seriousness, and Lenalee nearly spits milk all over me. "What?"
"You just said it so seriously! And with a straight face, too!" she laughed.
"I thought of it as I serious question!" I defend. She wipes away a tear. "Okay, okay. I don't know why she won't take the test. I won't force her though."
I nod and shrug.
After a few minutes of conversation, Lenalee went into the boys' wing, where she slept with Lavi since a man sleeping in the girls' wing would be much more frowned upon than vice versa, though no one really cared. I glance at Alec, who was lounging on the couch and watching TV. "Are you going to sleep tonight?"
He laughed. "I will, but if it's okay with Kanda, I'll sleep on the couch tonight. I tend to talk to myself and I wouldn't want to keep you and him from sleep."
I shrug. "Okay, but you're always welcome to change your mind."
I stalk down the tunnel, and it didn't take long for my ears to pick up the sound of crying. Worried, I jog to the end.
My eyes widen. Klaud was in Kanda's arms, bawling her eyes out while the alpha stroked her hair and whispered soothing words. He glanced at me. "You and Alec, find somewhere else to sleep tonight."
I nod and turn away only to pause again when Kanda adds, "The next couple of nights actually."
I don't reply and continue down the tunnel. Alec glanced at me as I flopped onto the other couch and asked, "What are we watching?"
"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1. Bella just found out she's pregnant," Alec responded.
I nod and nuzzle into the blanket I had snagged from the back of the couch.
Oo_oO_Oo_oO
"Shh, it's okay, Klaud. We can get through this," Kanda whispered. The woman continued to cry and balled her fists in his shirt. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, Brother!"
He kissed her forehead. "It's not your fault."
"Yes, it is! I could've―!"
"No, you couldn't have," he said. He tipped her chin up to look at him and wiped away one of her tears with his thumb. "What happened happened. It's not your fault, okay? The pack―"
"No! The pack can't know!" Klaud protested. Kanda gazed at his "sister" as she cried herself to sleep. He hated that she blamed herself. He hated that she refused to tell the pack. But he wouldn't tell them. At some point, she'll have to explain, but for now, she can hide. Kanda wouldn't stop her, even if he didn't agree with it. She didn't trust everyone, especially the males, and while he can't even imagine how hard she's had it and how strong she had to be, he knows she'll say something eventually. Kanda knew Klaud hadn't accepted this yet. And he had no idea how she kept it a secret for two months. He wouldn't have been able to hide it this long.
After he planted one last kiss on Klaud's crown, he gently rolled her over him so he was on the outside. She would be more than ticked if he vomited Shadow poison on her at three in the morning.
Author Note: Ooh, what's going on? Any ideas? I'd love to hear from you, so please, Please, PLEASE REVIEW!