Out of Darkness Ch. 04

He heard Jenna's calming voice. "Hush child. It will be over soon." Now that's strange. Jenna is much younger than Orsolya. Why would she say that? Orsolya and her brothers were insistent that Jenna was Leona's reincarnation. The weres did believe in reincarnation, but how to prove it true? He was distracted by the distant screams for help from Rudolf.

They stopped at the base of the mountain at the edge of the Baxter Pack property. Guillame looked at his betas. They were ready to hunt. "Rudolf, my pack wants vengeance, for Zsálya, for Leona, for Ártur, for all the others that died because of your cowardice. Are you ready to die, Rudolf?"

"Please, Guillame, have mercy. I'll go back to Europe. You'll never see me again." Rudolf fell to his knees. "Please, I will live out my days in hiding. What worse fate could I have but living in fear of Erobos?"

"Take off the chains." Guillame's voice was flat, emotionless.

Rudolf's body relaxed as he felt the shackles being removed. "Thank you, Guillame, thank you. You won't regret this. I will be out of your lives for good."

The wolves stood, their tails flagging out behind them, their ears pricked forwards. He heard their whines of frustration. He watched as the two betas dropped the shackles and backed away from him slowly. Rudolf waited for Guillame to tell him he was free. He watched as the betas shifted, shredding their clothes which now dropped to the desert floor. Rudolf was confused. They bared their teeth and snarled on either side of their Alpha. He looked around at the desolate area around him. It would take days for him to find his way to civilization but he could do it.

"Run, Rudolf." Guillame stood like stone, his voice quiet.

"What? Am I free?" Rudolf's voice shook.

"Run! We'll give you the same chance our little sister had. Now run, damn you!" Guillame shifted, the massive brown wolf watching Rudolf with ice-blue eyes.

Rudolf suddenly realized. His freedom would last until they killed him. He begged his wolf to shift so he could have some kind of chance at escape. His wolf ignored him. He accepted his death. He deserved it. Rudolf needed to accept it too.

Rudolf began to back up slowly, watching as the wolves mirrored his movements, keeping the distance between them. "Please, you must understand. Erobos would have killed us all if I didn't help him. You were all able to escape! You would have died too if I hadn't sent Guillame." He looked to the Alpha, trying to see past the killing machine in front of him. "Guillame, surely you can see that." He saw the subtle change in the brown wolf's stance and knew he didn't have much time. He turned and scrambled as far as he could up the hill before the wolves were upon him.

His screams echoed through the stillness of the desert.

-------------------------------------------------------

Kelly woke up screaming, feeling strong arms surrounding her shivering body. She felt the hard chest under her cheek and gentle hands stroking her hair.

"Shhh, it's all right. It was just a dream." Drago held her tight. Must have been some dream. Her whole body trembled and her heart was racing. He'd been watching her from the chair next to the bed and leapt up to hold her when she began screaming.

"It seemed so real! It was awful! There was blood everywhere." Her voice was tremulous as she tried to describe what she'd seen. She hoped she'd forget it as quickly as most dreams, but she had a strange feeling she would always remember.

"What did you dream?" His voice was calm, trying his best to reassure her she was safe in his arms.

She spoke quietly. "There was a man, and he was in the desert. He was surrounded by a pack of wolves! He was begging for his life. It was horrible." She held him tight as she tried to block out the images that were imprinted in her brain. "They - they tore him apart. And the worst part..." She pulled away from him for a moment to look into his understanding face. "The worst part was that I was happy they killed him. Drago, what's wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you, Kelly. You've been through hell in the last month. You're just stressed. Your mind is trying to deal with all that's happened. Or at least, that's what a psychiatrist might say." He squeezed her tight, not wanting to let her go. She was feeling more comfortable with him as the days went on. Her scent of lavender and orange had made its way into every part of him. Every bit of him felt alive now that she was a part of his life. He would do anything and everything he could to keep her safe from Erobos, or anyone else who wanted to take her from him.

The cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He never stopped caressing her hair as he fished it out and brought it to his ear. "Vai."

Kelly strained to understand his rapid Italian and hear the other end of the conversation. Who could have known the phone number on the throwaway phone he'd bought? Who was he talking to?

"Va bene, ho capito. Cosa? Ok, messa su. Ciao."

She could see the change in his demeanor as the person on the other end of the call changed. It was a woman. But who was she? His hand never stopped the slow movement in her hair.

"Per favore non piangere. Non lo farò. Lo prometto. Sì, spero di vedere presto anche. Okay, lo farò. Addio." He stowed the phone back in his shirt and let out a long sigh. "That was my parents. Dad has some ideas he's working on. Mom is just being a mom."

"They know what's going on?" When did he talk to his parents?

"I got word to them when we first left the island and gave them the cell number." No need to freak her out yet. Drago wouldn't mention he'd contacted them through their family bond when all hell broke loose, warning them to run. The only reason they used the phone was that they were too far apart now for the bond to be viable. "We have to lay low for a while. We'll stay here until tomorrow and then move on to another location. That's one good thing about the Euro Zone. It's easy to travel between countries without being tracked. They'll be expecting us to go to the U.S., but we'll wait it out a bit longer."

Drago laid down and pulled Kelly with him, holding her tightly to his chest. "I think you need the rest anyway." He could feel her heart beating against his chest.

"Me? What about you? I haven't seen you sleep since we started this days ago. Aren't you tired?" She absentmindedly began stroking his arm with her fingertips. She could feel the steady rise and fall of his chest as his breathing became deeper, more relaxed. She rested her head in the middle of his chest and could make out the even beat of his heart. She didn't think she'd ever felt so incredibly safe in her entire life. Could she fall in love with someone in just a few days? Or was this that "Stockholm Syndrome" thing they talked about? No, I don't think so.

"I don't need much sleep. Besides, who's going to guard you if I fall asleep?" He waited for the expected smart remark but the only answer he heard was her gentle breathing. He smiled and closed his eyes. They were safe here for the moment.

----------------------------------------------

Xylon found Alistair and Rhys sitting on the front porch of the main house as they watched the return of Guillame and his pack from the desert. He had to admit, his wolf felt some satisfaction at the swift justice meted out to Rudolf. Well, maybe not swift, but it was just!

The two old friends saw Xylon approaching and waited for him to drag a chair over. "Something on your mind, Xylon?" Alistair knew there was something. Normally Xylon was busy between meetings dealing with his laboratory or online research. And if not that, then he was on the phone with his mate. He'd been separated from her for over a month now. Since mating with Jenna, he could understand how upsetting that would be. Prior to this, he never understood what was so unsettling for a male to be away from his mate.

"I just had an interesting phone call. Silvano Cavallo and his mate need the Council's help. He wants to tell us everything he knows about Gary, about the Dire Wolves, and about the Sardinian Alpha."

"Why does he want to do that?" Rhys tipped his chair back, leaning it against the wall, looking over at his Greek friend.

"He's asking us to protect his son and his son's mate from Erobos." Xylon watched as both males riveted their attention to him. He thought that would get their attention.

"Well that certainly explains why young Drago was willing to risk death, doesn't it?" Alistair wished he could get all the answers he needed at one time instead of stringing it out like this.

"May I tell him yes, Alistair?" Xylon sat quietly, patiently.

"Of course, Xylon. The sooner we get some answers, the better. Tell him we will do all we can."